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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:17 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:17 -0700 |
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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/11881-0.txt b/11881-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..797c405 --- /dev/null +++ b/11881-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10859 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11881 *** + + THE SHADOW + OF THE NORTH + + A STORY OF OLD NEW YORK + AND A LOST CAMPAIGN + + BY + + JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + + + 1917 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Shadow of the North," while an independent story, in itself, is +also the second volume of the Great French and Indian War series which +began with "The Hunters of the Hills." All the important characters of +the first romance reappear in the second. + + + + +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 JUMÓNVILLE A French officer +LOUIS DE GALISONNIÈRE A young French officer +JEAN DE MÉZY A corrupt Frenchman +ARMAN GLANDELET A young Frenchman +PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo +PHILIBERT DROUILLAR 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 ONONDAGA + II. THE AMBUSH + III. THE SIGNAL + IV. THE PERILOUS PATH + V. THE RUNNER + VI. THE RETURN + VII. THE RED WEAPON + VIII. WARAIYAGEH + IX. THE WATCHER + X. THE PORT + X1. THE PLAY + XII. THE SLAVER + XIII. THE MEETING + XIV. THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + XV. THE FOREST FIGHT + + + + + + + THE SHADOW OF THE + NORTH + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ONONDAGA + + +Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, advanced with utmost caution through a +forest, so thick with undergrowth that it hid all objects twenty yards +away. He was not armed with a rifle, but carried instead a heavy bow, +while a quiver full of arrows hung over his shoulder. He wore less +clothing than when he was in the white man's school at Albany, his +arms and shoulders being bare, though not painted. + +The young Indian's aspect, too, had changed. The great struggle +between English and French, drawing with it the whole North American +wilderness, had begun and, although the fifty sachems still sought to +hold the Six Nations neutral, many of their bravest warriors were +already serving with the Americans and English, ranging the forest as +scouts and guides and skirmishers, bringing to the campaign an +unrivaled skill, and a faith sealed by the long alliance. + +Tayoga had thrown himself into the war heart and soul. Nothing could +diminish by a hair his hostility to the French and the tribes allied +with them. The deeds of Champlain and Frontenac were but of yesterday, +and the nation to which they belonged could never be a friend of the +Hodenosaunee. He trusted the Americans and the English, but his chief +devotion, by the decree of nature was for his own people, and now, +that fighting in the forest had occurred between the rival nations, he +shed more of the white ways and became a true son of the wilderness, +seeing as red men saw and thinking as red men thought. + +He was bent over a little, as he walked slowly among the bushes, in +the position of one poised for instant flight or pursuit as the need +might be. His eyes, black and piercing, ranged about incessantly, +nothing escaping a vision so keen and trained so thoroughly that he +not only heard everything passing in the wilderness, but he knew the +nature of the sound, and what had made it. + +The kindly look that distinguished Tayoga in repose had +disappeared. Unnumbered generations were speaking in him now, and the +Indian, often so gentle in peace, had become his usual self, stern and +unrelenting in war. His strong sharp chin was thrust forward. His +cheek bones seemed to be a little higher. His tread was so light that +the grass scarcely bent before his moccasins, and no leaves +rustled. He was in every respect the wilderness hunter and warrior, +fitted perfectly by the Supreme Hand into his setting, and if an enemy +appeared now he would fight as his people had fought for centuries, +and the customs and feelings of the new races that had come across the +ocean would be nothing to him. + +A hundred yards more, and he sat down by the trunk of a great oak, +convinced that no foe was near. His own five splendid senses had told +him so, and the fact had been confirmed by an unrivaled sentinel +hidden among the leaves over his head, a small bird that poured forth +a wonderful volume of song. Were any other coming the bird would cease +his melody and fly away, but Tayoga felt that this tiny feathered +being was his ally and would not leave because of him. The song had +wonderful power, too, soothing his senses and casting a pleasing +spell. His imaginative mind, infused with the religion and beliefs of +his ancestors, filled the forest with friendly spirits. Unseen, they +hovered in the air and watched over him, and the trees, alive, bent +protecting boughs toward him. He saw, too, the very spot in the +heavens where the great shining star on which Tododaho lived came out +at night and glittered. + +He remembered the time when he had gone forth in the dusk to meet +Tandakora and his friends, and how Tododaho had looked down on him +with approval. He had found favor in the sight of the great league's +founder, and the spirit that dwelt on the shining star still watched +over him. The Ojibway, whom he hated and who hated him in yet greater +measure, might be somewhere in the forest, but if he came near, the +feathered sentinel among the leaves over his head would give warning. + +Tayoga sat nearly half an hour listening to the song of the bird. He +had no object in remaining there, his errand bade him move on, but +there was no hurry and he was content merely to breathe and to feel +the glory and splendor of the forest about him. He knew now that the +Indian nature had never been taken out of him by the schools. He loved +the wilderness, the trees, the lakes, the streams and all their +magnificent disorder, and war itself did not greatly trouble him, +since the legends of the tribes made it the natural state of man. He +knew well that he was in Tododaho's keeping, and, if by chance, the +great chief should turn against him it would be for some grave fault, +and he would deserve his punishment. + +He sat in that absolute stillness of which the Indian by nature and +training was capable, the green of his tanned and beautifully soft +deerskin blending so perfectly with the emerald hue of the foliage +that the bird above his head at last took him for a part of the forest +itself and so, having no fear, came down within a foot of his head and +sang with more ecstasy than ever. It was a little gray bird, but +Tayoga knew that often the smaller a bird was, and the more sober its +plumage the finer was its song. He understood those musical notes +too. They expressed sheer delight, the joy of life just as he felt it +then himself, and the kinship between the two was strong. + +The bird at last flew away and the Onondaga heard its song dying among +the distant leaves. A portion of the forest spell departed with it, +and Tayoga, returning to thoughts of his task, rose and walked on, +instinct rather than will causing him to keep a close watch on earth +and foliage. When he saw the faint trace of a large moccasin on the +earth all that was left of the spell departed suddenly and he became +at once the wilderness warrior, active, alert, ready to read every +sign. + +He studied the imprint, which turned in, and hence had been made by an +Indian. Its great size too indicated to him that it might be that of +Tandakora, a belief becoming with him almost a certainty as he found +other and similar traces farther on. He followed them about a mile, +reaching stony ground where they vanished altogether, and then he +turned to the west. + +The fact that Tandakora was so near, and might approach again was not +unpleasant to him, as Tayoga, having all the soul of a warrior, was +anxious to match himself with the gigantic Ojibway, and since the war +was now active on the border it seemed that the opportunity might +come. But his attention must be occupied with something else for the +present, and he went toward the west for a full hour through the +primeval forest. Now and then he stopped to listen, even lying down +and putting his ear to the ground, but the sounds he heard, although +varied and many, were natural to the wild. + +He knew them all. The steady tapping was a woodpecker at work upon an +old tree. The faint musical note was another little gray bird singing +the delight of his soul as he perched himself upon a twig; the light +shuffling noise was the tread of a bear hunting succulent nuts; a +caw-caw so distant that it was like an echo was the voice of a +circling crow, and the tiny trickling noise that only the keenest ear +could have heard was made by a brook a yard wide taking a terrific +plunge over a precipice six inches high. The rustling, one great +blended note, universal but soft, was that of the leaves moving in +harmony before the gentle wind. + +The young Onondaga was sure that the forest held no alien +presence. The traces of Tandakora were hours old, and he must now be +many miles away with his band, and, such being the case, it was fit +time for him to choose a camp and call his friends. + +It pleased Tayoga, zealous of mind, to do all the work before the +others came, and, treading so lightly and delicately, that he would +not have alarmed a rabbit in the bush, he gathered together dead +sticks and heaped them in a little sunken place, clear of undergrowth. +Flint and steel soon lighted a fire, and then he sent forth his call, +the long penetrating whine of the wolf. The reply came from the north, +and, building his fire a little higher, he awaited the result, without +anxiety. + +The dry wood crackled and many little flames red or yellow arose. +Tayoga heaped dead leaves against the trunk of a tree and sat down +comfortably, his shoulders and back resting against the bark. Presently +he heard the first alien sound in the forest, a light tread approaching +That he knew was Willet, and then he heard the second tread, even +lighter than the first, and he knew that it was the footstep of Robert. + + +"All ready! It's like you, Tayoga," said Willet, as he entered the +open space. "Here you are, with the house built and the fire burning +on the hearth!" + +"I lighted the fire," said Tayoga, rising, "but Manitou made the +hearth, and built the house which is worthy of Him." + +He looked with admiration at the magnificent trees spreading away on +every side, and the foliage in its most splendid, new luxuriant green. + +"It is worthy, Tayoga," said Robert, whose soul was like that of the +Onondaga, "and it takes Manitou himself a century or more to grow +trees like these." + +"Some of them, I dare say, are three or four hundred years old or +more," said Willet, "and the forest goes west, so I've heard the +Indians say, a matter of near two thousand miles. It's pleasant to +know that if all the axes in the world were at work it couldn't all be +cut down in our time or in the time of our children." + +Tayoga's heart swelled with indignation at the idea that the forest +might be destroyed, but he said nothing, as he knew that Willet and +Robert shared his feeling. + +"Here's your rifle, Tayoga," said the hunter; "I suppose you didn't +have an occasion to use your bow and arrows." + +"No, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga, "but I might have had the +chance had I come earlier." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I saw on the grass a human trace. It was made by a foot clothed in a +moccasin, a large foot, a very large foot, the foot of a man whom we +all have cause to hate." + +"I take it you're speaking of Tandakora, the Ojibway." + +"None other. I cannot be mistaken. But the trail was cold. He and his +warriors have gone north. They may be thirty, forty miles from here." + +"Likely enough, Tayoga. They're on their way to join the force the +French are sending to the fort at the junction of the Monongahela and +the Alleghany. Perhaps St. Luc--and there isn't a cleverer officer in +this continent--is with them. I tell you, Tayoga, and you too, Robert, +I don't like it! That young Washington ought to have been sent earlier +into the Ohio country, and they should have given him a much larger +force. We're sluggards and all our governors are sluggards, except +maybe Shirley of Massachusetts. With the war just blazing up the +French are already in possession, and we're to drive 'em out, which +doubles our task. It was a great victory for us to keep the +Hodenosaunee on our side, or, in the main, neutral, but it's going to +be uphill work for us to win. The young French leaders are genuine +kings of the wilderness. You know that, Robert, as well as I do." + +"Yes," said the youth. "I know they're the men whom the English +colonies have good cause to fear." + +When he spoke he was thinking of St. Luc, as he had last seen him in +the vale of Onondaga, defeated in the appeal to the fifty sachems, but +gallant, well bred, showing nothing of chagrin, and sure to be a +formidable foe on the field of battle. He was an enemy of whom one +could be proud, and Robert felt an actual wish to see him again, even +though in opposing ranks. + +"We may come into contact with some of 'em," said the hunter. "The +French are using all their influence over the Indians, and are +directing their movements. I know that St. Luc, Jumonville, Beaujeu, +Dumas, De Villiers, De Courcelles and all their best men are in the +forest. It's likely that Tandakora, fierce and wild as he is, is +acting under the direction of some Frenchman. St. Luc could control +him." + +Robert thought it highly probable that the chevalier was in truth with +the Indians on the border, either leading some daring band or +gathering the warriors to the banner of France. His influence with +them would be great, as he understood their ways, adapted himself to +them and showed in battle a skill and daring that always make a +powerful appeal to the savage heart. The youth had matched himself +against St. Luc in the test of words in the vale of Onondaga, and now +he felt that he must match himself anew, but in the test of forest +war. + +Tayoga having lighted the fire, the hunter cooked the food over it, +while the two youths reposed calmly. Robert watched Willet with +interest, and he was impressed for the thousandth time by his great +strength, and the lightness of his movements. When he was younger, the +disparity in years had made him think of Willet as an old man, but he +saw now that he was only in early middle age. There was not a gray +hair on his head, and his face was free from wrinkles. + +An extraordinarily vivid memory of that night in Quebec when the +hunter had faced Boucher, the bully and bravo, reputed the best +swordsman of France, leaped up in Robert's mind. He had found no time +to think of Willet's past recently and he realized now that he knew +little about it. The origin of that hunter was as obscure as his +own. But the story of the past and its mysteries must wait. The +present was so great and overwhelming that it blotted out everything +else. + +"The venison and the bacon are ready," said Willet, "and you two lads +can fall on. You're not what I'd call epicures, but I've never known +your appetites to fail." + +"Nor will they," said Robert, as he and Tayoga helped +themselves. "What's the news from Britain, Dave? You must have heard a +lot when you were in Albany." + +"It's vague, Robert, vague. The English are slow, just as we Americans +are, too. They're going to send out troops, but the French have +dispatched a fleet and regiments already. The fact that our colonies +are so much larger than theirs is perhaps an advantage to them, as it +gives them a bigger target to aim at, and our people who are trying to +till their farms, will be struck down by their Indians from ambush." + +"And you see now what a bulwark the great League of the Hodenosaunee +is to the English," said Tayoga. + +"A fact that I've always foreseen," said Willet warmly. "Nobody knows +better than I do the power of the Six Nations, and nobody has ever +been readier to admit it." + +"I know, Great Bear. You have always been our true friend. If all the +white men were like you no trouble would ever arise between them and +the Hodenosaunee." + +Robert finished his food and resumed a comfortable place against a +tree. Willet put out the fire and he and Tayoga sat down in like +fashion. Their trees were close together, but they did not talk +now. Each was absorbed in his own thoughts and Robert had much to +think about. + +The war was going slowly. He had believed a great flare would come at +once and that everybody would soon be in the thick of action, but +since young Washington had been defeated by Coulon de Villiers at the +Great Meadows the British Colonies had spent much time debating and +pulling in different directions. The union for which his eager soul +craved did not come, and the shadow of the French power in the north, +reinforced by innumerable savages, hung heavy and black over the +land. Every runner brought news of French activities. Rumor painted as +impregnable the fort they had built where two rivers uniting formed +the Ohio, and it was certain that many bands already ranged down in +the regions the English called their own. + +Spring had lingered far into summer where they were, and the foliage +was not yet touched by heat. All the forest was in deep and heavy +green, hiding every object a hundred yards away, but from their +opening they saw a blue and speckless sky, which the three by and by +watched attentively, and with the same motive. Before the dark had +begun to come in the east they saw a thin dark line drawn slowly +across it, the trail of smoke. It might not have been noticed by eyes +less keen, but they understood at once that it was a signal. Robert +noted its drifting progress across the heavens, and then he said to +Willet: + +"How far from here do you calculate the base of that smoke is, Dave?" + +"A long distance, Robert. Several miles maybe. The fire, I've no +doubt, was kindled on top of a hill. It may be French speaking to +Indians, or Indians talking to Indians." + +"And you don't think it's people of ours?" + +"I'm sure it isn't. We've no hunters or runners in these parts, except +ourselves." + +"And it's not Tandakora," said the Onondaga. "He must be much farther +away." + +"But the signal may be intended for him," said the hunter. "It may be +carried to him by relays of smoke. I wish I could read that trail +across the sky." + +"It's thinning out fast," said Robert. "You can hardly see it! and now +it's gone entirely!" + +But the hunter continued to look thoughtfully at the sky, where the +smoke had been. He never underrated the activity of the French, and he +believed that a movement of importance, something the nature of which +they should discover was at hand. + +"Lads," he said, "I expected an easy night of good sleep for all three +of us, but I'm thinking instead that we'd better take to the trail, +and travel toward the place where that smoke was started." + +"It's what scouts would do," said Tayoga tersely. + +"And such we claim to be," said Robert. + +As the sun began to sink they saw far in the west another smoke, that +would have been invisible had it not been outlined against a fiery red +sky, across which it lay like a dark thread. It was gone in a few +moments, and then the dusk began to come. + +"An answer to the first signal," said Tayoga. "It is very likely that +a strong force is gathering. Perhaps Tandakora has come back and is +planning a blow." + +"It can't be possible that they're aiming it at us," said the hunter, +thoughtfully. "They don't know of our presence here, and if they did +we've too small a party for such big preparations." + +"Perhaps a troop of Pennsylvanians are marching westward," said +Tayoga, "and the French and their allies are laying a trap for them." + +"Then," said Robert, "there is but one thing for us to do. We must +warn our friends and save them from the snare." + +"Of course," said Willet, "but we don't know where they are, and +meanwhile we'd better wait an hour or two. Perhaps something will +happen that will help us to locate them." + +Robert and Tayoga nodded and the three remained silent while the night +came. The blazing red in the west faded rapidly and darkness swept +down over the wilderness. The three, each leaning against his tree, +did not move but kept their rifles across their knees ready at once +for possible use. Tayoga had fastened his bow over his back by the +side of his quiver, and their packs were adjusted also. + +Robert was anxious not so much for himself as for the unknown others +who were marching through the wilderness, and for whom the French and +Indians were laying an ambush. It had been put forward first as a +suggestion, but it quickly became a conviction with him, and he felt +that his comrades and he must act as if it were a certainty. But no +sound that would tell them which way to go came out of this black +forest, and they remained silent, waiting for the word. + +The night thickened and they were still uncertain what to do. Robert +made a silent prayer to the God of the white man, the Manitou of the +red man, for a sign, but none came, and infected strongly as he was +with the Indian philosophy and religion, he felt that it must be due +to some lack of virtue in himself. He searched his memory, but he +could not discover in what particular he had erred, and he was forced +to continue his anxious waiting, until the stars should choose to +fight for him. + +Tayoga too was troubled, his mind in its own way being as active as +Robert's. He knew all the spirits of earth, air and water were abroad, +but he hoped at least one of them would look upon him with favor, and +give him a warning. He sought Tododaho's star in the heavens, but the +clouds were too thick, and, eye failing, he relied upon his ear for +the signal which he and his young white comrade sought so earnestly. + +If Tayoga had erred either in omission or commission then the spirits +that hovered about him forgave him, as when the night was thickest +they gave the sign. It was but the faint fall of a foot, and, at +first, he thought a bear or a deer had made it, but at the fourth or +fifth fall he knew that it was a human footstep and he whispered to +his comrades: + +"Some one comes!" + +As if by preconcerted signal the three arose and crept silently into +the dense underbrush, where they crouched, their rifles thrust +forward. + +"It is but one man and he walks directly toward us," whispered Tayoga. + +"I hear him now," said Robert. "He is wearing moccasins, as his step +is too light for boots." + +"Which means that he's a rover like ourselves," said Willet. "Now he's +stopped. There isn't a sound. The man, whoever he is, has taken alarm, +or at least he's decided that it's best for him to be more +watchful. Perhaps he's caught a whiff from the ashes of our fire. He's +white or he wouldn't be here alone, and he's used to the forest, or he +wouldn't have suspected a presence from so little." + +"The Great Bear thinks clearly," said Tayoga. "It is surely a white +man and some great scout or hunter. He moved a little now to the +right, because I heard his buckskin brush lightly against a bush. I +think Great Bear is right about the fire. The wind has brought the +ashes from it to his nostrils, and he will lie in the bush long before +moving." + +"Which doesn't suit our plans at all," said Willet. "There's a +chance, just a chance, that I may know who he is. White men of the +kind to go scouting through the wilderness are not so plenty on the +border that one has to make many guesses. You lads move away a little +so you won't be in line if a shot comes, and I'll give a signal." + +Robert and Tayoga crept to other points in the brush, and the hunter +uttered a whistle, low but very clear and musical. In a moment or two, +a like answer came from a place about a hundred yards away, and Willet +rising, advanced without hesitation. Robert and Tayoga followed +promptly, and a tall figure, emerging from the darkness, came forward +to meet them. + +The stranger was a man of middle years, and of a singularly wild +appearance. His eyes roved continually, and were full of suspicion, +and of a sort of smoldering anger, as if he had a grievance against +all the world. His hair was long and tangled, his face brown with sun +and storm, and his dress more Indian than white. He was heavily armed, +and, whether seen in the dusk or in the light, his whole aspect was +formidable and dangerous. But Willet continued to advance without +hesitation. + +"Captain Jack," he said extending his hand. "We were not looking for +you tonight, but no man could be more welcome. These are young friends +of mine, brave warriors both, the white and the red, Robert Lennox, +who is almost a son to me, and Tayoga, the Onondaga, to whom I feel +nearly like a father too." + +Now Robert knew him, and he felt a thrill of surprise, and of the most +intense curiosity. Who along the whole border had not heard of Captain +Jack, known also as the Black Hunter, the Black Rifle and by many +other names? The tale had been told in every cabin in the woods how +returning home, he had found his wife and children tomahawked and +scalped, and how he had taken a vow of lifelong vengeance upon the +Indians, a vow most terribly kept. In all the villages in the Ohio +country and along the Great Lakes, the name of Black Rifle was spoken +with awe and terror. No more singular and ominous figure ever crossed +the pages of border story. + +He swept the two youths with questing glances, but they met his gaze +firmly, and while his eye had clouded at first sight of the Onondaga +the threatening look soon passed. + +"Friends of yours are friends of mine, Dave Willet," he said. "I know +you to be a good man and true, and once when I was at Albany I heard +of Robert Lennox, and of the great young warrior, Tayoga, of the clan +of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The young Onondaga's eyes flashed with pleasure, but he was silent. + +"How does it happen, Willet?" asked Black Rifle, "that we meet here in +the forest at such a time?" + +"We're on our way to the Ohio country to learn something about the +gathering of the French and Indian forces. Just before sundown we saw +smoke signals and we think our enemies are planning to cut off a force +of ours, somewhere here in the forest." + +Black Rifle laughed, but it was not a pleasant laugh. It had in it a +quality that made Robert shudder. + +"Your guesses are good, Dave," said Black Rifle. "About fifty men of +the Pennsylvania militia are in camp on the banks of a little creek +two miles from here. They have been sent out to guard the farthest +settlements. Think of that, Dave! They're to be a guard against the +French and Indians!" + +His face contracted into a wry smile, and Robert understood his +feeling of derision for the militia. + +"As I told you, they're in camp," continued Black Rifle. "They built a +fire there to cook their supper, and to show the French and Indians +where they are, lest they miss 'em in the darkness. They don't know +what part of the country they're in, but they're sure it's a long +distance west of Philadelphia, and if the Indians will only tell 'em +when they're coming they'll be ready for 'em. Oh, they're brave +enough! They'll probably all die with their faces to the enemy." + +He spoke with grim irony and Robert shuddered. He knew how helpless +men from the older parts of the country were in the depths of the +wilderness, and he was sure that the net was already being drawn about +the Pennsylvanians. + +"Are the French here too, Black Rifle?" asked Willet. + +The strange man pointed toward the north. + +"A band led by a Frenchman is there," he replied. "He is the most +skillful of all their men in the forest, the one whom they call +St. Luc." + +"I thought so!" exclaimed Robert. "I believed all the while he would +be here. I've no doubt he will direct the ambush." + +"We must warn this troop," said Willet, "and save 'em if they will let +us. You agree with me, don't you, Tayoga?" + +"The Great Bear is right." + +"And you'll back me up, of course, Robert. Will you help us too, Black +Rifle?" + +The singular man smiled again, but his smile was not like that of +anybody else. It was sinister and full of menace. It was the smile of +a man who rejoiced in sanguinary work, and it made Robert think again +of his extraordinary history, around which the border had built so +much of truth and legend. + +"I will help, of course," he replied. "It's my trade. It was my +purpose to warn 'em before I met you, but I feared they would not +listen to me. Now, the words of four may sound more real to 'em than +the words of one." + +"Then lead the way," said Willet. "'Tis not a time to linger." + +Black Rifle, without another word, threw his rifle over his shoulder +and started toward the north, the others falling into Indian file +behind him. A light, pleased smile played over his massive and rugged +features. More than the rest he rejoiced in the prospect of combat. +They did not seek battle and they fought only when they were compelled +to do so, but he, with his whole nature embittered forever by that +massacre of long ago, loved it for its own sake. He had ranged the +border, a torch of fire, for years, and now he foresaw more of the +revenge that he craved incessantly. + +He led without hesitation straight toward the north. All four were +accomplished trailers and the flitting figures were soundless as they +made their swift march through the forest. In a half hour they reached +the crest of a rather high hill and Black Rifle, stopping, pointed +with a long forefinger toward a low and dim light. + +"The camp of the Pennsylvanians," he said with bitter irony. "As I +told you, fearing lest the savages should miss 'em in the forest they +keep their fire burning as a beacon." + +"Don't be too hard on 'em, Black Rifle," said Willet. "Maybe they +come from Philadelphia itself, and city bred men can scarcely be +expected to learn all about the wilderness in a few days." + +"They'll learn, when it's too late, at the muzzles of the French and +Indian rifles," rejoined Black Rifle, abating a little his tone of +savage derision. + +"At least they're likely to be brave men," said Willet, "and now what +do you think will be our best manner of approaching 'em?" + +"We'll walk directly toward their fire, the four of us abreast. They'll +blaze away all fifty of 'em together, as soon as they see us, but the +darkness will spoil their aim, and at least one of us will be left +alive, able to walk, and able to tell 'em of their danger. We don't +know who'll be the lucky man, but we'll see." + +"Come, come, Captain Jack! Give 'em a chance! They may be a more +likely lot than you think. You three wait here and I'll go forward and +announce our coming. I dare say we'll be welcome." + +Willet advanced boldly toward the fire, which he soon saw consisted of +a great bed of coals, surrounded by sleepers. But the figures of men, +pacing back and forth, showed that the watch had not been neglected, +although in the deep forest such sentinels would be but little +protection against the kind of ambush the French and Indians were able +to lay. + +Not caring to come within the circle of light lest he be fired upon, +the hunter whistled, and when he saw that the sentinels were at +attention he whistled again. Then he emerged from the bushes, and +walked boldly toward the fire. + +"Who are you?" a voice demanded sharply, and a young man in a fine +uniform stood up in front of the fire. The hunter's quick and +penetrating look noted that he was tall, built well, and that his face +was frank and open. + +"My name is David Willet," he replied, "and I am sometimes called by +my friends, the Iroquois, the Great Bear. Behind me in the woods are +three comrades, young Robert Lennox, of New York and Albany; Tayoga, a +young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, and the famous hunter and border +fighter, of whom everybody has heard, Captain Jack, Black Hunter, or +Black Rifle as he has been called variously." + +"I know the name," replied the young man, "and yours too, Mr. +Willet. My own is Colden, James Colden of Philadelphia, and I am in +command of this troop, sent to guard the farthest settlements against +the French and Indians. Will you call your comrades, Mr. Willet? All +of you are welcome." + +The hunter whistled again, and Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle, +advancing from the forest, came within the area of half light cast by +the glow from the coals, young Captain Colden watching them with the +most intense curiosity as they approached. And well he might feel +surprise. All, even Robert, wore the dress of the wilderness, and +their appearance at such a time was uncommon and striking. Most of the +soldiers had been awakened by the voices, and were sitting up, rubbing +sleepy eyes. Robert saw at once that they were city men, singularly +out of place in the vast forest and the darkness. + +"We welcome you to our camp," said young Captain Colden, with dignity. +"If you are hungry we have food, and if you are without blankets we +can furnish them to you." + +Willet and Tayoga looked at Robert and he knew they expected him to +fill his usual role of spokesman. The words rushed to his lips, but +they were held there by embarrassment. The soldiers who had been +awakened were already going back to sleep. Captain Colden sat down on +a log and waited for them to state their wants. Then Robert spoke, +knowing they could not afford to delay. + +"We thank you, Captain Colden," he said, "for the offer of supper and +bed, but I must say to you, sir, that it's no time for either." + +"I don't take your meaning, Mr. Lennox." + +"Tayoga, Mr. Willet and Black Rifle, are the best scouts in the +wilderness, and before sunset they saw smoke on the horizon. Then they +saw smoke answering smoke, and Black Rifle has seen more. The French +and Indians, sir, are in the forest, and they're led, too, by +Frenchmen." + +Young James Colden was a brave man, and his eyes glittered. + +"We ask nothing better than to meet 'em," he said, "At the first +breath of dawn we'll march against 'em, if your friends will only be +so good as to show us the way." + +"It's not a matter of waiting until dawn, nor even of going to meet +'em. They'll bring the battle to us. You and your force, Captain +Colden, are surrounded already." + +The young captain stared at Robert, but his eyes were full of +incredulity. Several of the soldiers were standing near, and they too +heard, but the warning found no answer in their minds. Robert looked +around at the men asleep and the others ready to follow them, and, +despite his instinctive liking for Colden, his anger began to rise. + +"I said that you were surrounded," he repeated sharply, "and it's no +time, Captain Colden, for unbelief! Mr. Willet, Tayoga and I saw the +signals of the enemy, but Black Rifle here has looked upon the +warriors themselves. They're led too by the French, and the best of +all the French forest captains, St. Luc, is undoubtedly with them off +there." + +He waved his hand toward the north, and a little of the high color +left Colden's face. The youth's manner was so earnest and his words +were spoken with so much power of conviction that they could not fail +to impress. + +"You really mean that the French and Indians are here, that they're +planning to attack us tonight?" said the Philadelphian. + +"Beyond a doubt and we must be prepared to meet them." + +Colden took a few steps back and forth, and then, like the brave young +man he was, he swallowed his pride. + +"I confess that I don't know much of the forest, nor do my men," he +said, "and so I shall have to ask you four to help me." + +"We'll do it gladly," said Robert. "What do you propose, Dave?" + +"I think we'd better draw off some distance from the fire," replied +the hunter. "To the right there is a low hill, covered with thick +brush, and old logs thrown down by an ancient storm. It's the very +place." + +"Then," said Captain Colden briskly, "we'll occupy it inside of five +minutes. Up, men, up!" + +The sleepers were awakened rapidly, and, although they were awkward +and made much more noise than was necessary, they obeyed their +captain's sharp order, and marched away with all their arms and stores +to the thicket on the hill, where, as Willet had predicted, they found +also a network of fallen trees, affording a fine shelter and +defense. Here they crouched and Willet enjoined upon them the +necessity of silence. + +"Sir," said young Captain Colden, again putting down his pride, "I beg +to thank you and your comrades." + +"You don't owe us any thanks. It's just what we ought to have done," +said Willet lightly. "The wilderness often turns a false face to those +who are not used to it, and if we hadn't warned you we'd have deserved +shooting." + +The faint whine of a wolf came from a point far in the north. + +"It's one of their signals," said Willet. "They'll attack inside of an +hour." + +Then they relapsed into silence and waited, every heart beating hard. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE AMBUSH + + +Robert now had much experience of Indian attack and forest warfare, +but it always made a tremendous impression upon his vivid and uncommon +imagination. The great pulses in his throat and temples leaped, and +his ear became so keen that he seemed to himself to hear the fall of +the leaf in the forest. It was this acute sharpening of the senses, +the painting of pictures before him, that gave him the gift of golden +speech that the Indians had first noticed in him. He saw and heard +much that others could neither hear nor see, and the words to describe +it were always ready to pour forth. + +Willet and Tayoga were crouched near him, their rifles thrust forward +a little, and just beyond them was Captain Colden who had drawn a +small sword, more as an evidence of command than as a weapon. The +men, city bred, were silent, but the faces of some of them still +expressed amazement and incredulity. Robert's quick and powerful +imagination instantly projected itself into their minds, and he saw as +they saw. To them the cry of a wolf was the cry of a real wolf, the +forest was dark, lonely and uncomfortable, but it was empty of any +foe, and the four who had come to them were merely trying to create a +sense of their own importance. They began to move restlessly, and it +required Captain Colden's whispered but sharp command to still them +again. + +The cry of the wolf, used much by both the Indians and the borderers +as a signal, came now from the east, and after the lapse of a minute +it was repeated from the west. Call and answer were a relief to +Robert, whose faculties were attuned to such a high degree that any +relief to the strain, though it brought the certainty of attack, was +welcome. + +"You're sure those cries were made by our enemies?" said young Colden. + +"Beyond a doubt," replied Willet. "I can tell the difference between +the note and that of a genuine wolf, but then I've spent many years in +the wilderness, and I had to learn these things in order to live. +They'll send forward scouts, and they'll expect to find you and your +men around the fire, most of you asleep. When they miss you there +they'll try to locate you, and they'll soon trail us to these bushes." + +Captain James Colden had his share of pride, and much faith in +himself, but he had nobility of soul, too. + +"I believe you implicitly, Mr. Willet," he said. "If it had not been +for you and your friends the enemy would have been upon us when we +expected him not at all, and 'tis most likely that all of us would +have been killed and scalped. So, I thank you now, lest I fall in the +battle, and it be too late then to express my gratitude." + +It was a little bit formal, and a little bit youthful, but Willet +accepted the words in the fine spirit in which they were uttered. + +"What we did was no more than we should have done," he replied, "and +you'll pay us back. In such times as these everybody ought to help +everybody else. Caution your soldiers, captain, won't you, not to +make any noise at all. The wolf will howl no more, and I fancy their +scouts are now within two or three hundred yards of the fire. I'm glad +it's turned darker." + +The troop, hidden in the bushes, was now completely silent. The +Philadelphia men, used to contiguous houses and streets, were not +afraid, but they were appalled by their extraordinary position at +night, in the deep brush of an unknown wilderness with a creeping foe +coming down upon them. Many a hand quivered upon the rifle barrel, but +the heart of its owner did not tremble. + +The moonlight was scant and the stars were few. To the city men trees +and bushes melted together in a general blackness, relieved only by a +single point of light where the fire yet smoldered, but Robert, +kneeling by the side of Tayoga, saw with his trained eyes the separate +trunks stretching away like columns, and then far beyond the fire he +thought he caught a glimpse of a red feather raised for a moment above +the undergrowth. + +"Did you see!" he whispered to Tayoga. + +"Yes. It was a painted feather in the scalp lock of a Huron," replied +the Onondaga. + +"And where he is others are sure to be." + +"Well spoken, Dagaeoga. They have discovered already that the soldiers +are not by the fire, and now they will search for them." + +"They will lie almost flat on their faces and follow, a little, the +broad trail the city men have left." + +"Doubtless, Dagaeoga." + +Willet had already warned Captain Colden, and the soldiers were ready. +Tayoga was on Robert's right, and on his left was Black Rifle to whom +his attention was now attracted. The man's eyes were blazing in his +dark face, and his crouched figure was tense like that of a lion about +to spring. Face and attitude alike expressed the most eager +anticipation, and Robert shuddered. The ranger would add more lives to +the toll of his revenge, and yet the youth felt sympathy for him, too. +Then his mind became wholly absorbed in the battle, which obviously +was so close at hand. + +Their position was strong. Just behind them the thickets ended in a +cliff hard to climb, and on the right was an open space that the enemy +could not cross without being seen. Hence the chief danger was in +front and on the left, and most of the men watched those points. + +"I can see the bushes moving about a hundred yards away," whispered +Tayoga. "A warrior is there, but to fire at him would be shooting at +random." + +"Let them begin it. They'll open soon. They'll know by our absence +from the fire that we're looking for 'em." + +"Spoken well, Dagaeoga. You'll be a warrior some day." + +Robert smiled in the dark. Tayoga himself was so great a warrior that +he could preserve his sense of humor upon the eve of a deadly battle. +Robert also saw bushes moving now, but nothing was definite enough for +a shot, and he waited with his fingers on the trigger. + +"The enemy is at hand, Captain Colden," said Willet. "If you will look +very closely at the thicket about one hundred yards directly in front +of us you'll see the leaves shaking." + +"Yes, I can make out some movement there," said Colden. + +"They've discovered, of course, that we've left the fire, and they +know also where we are." + +"Do you think they'll try to rush us?" + +"Not at all. It's not the Indian way, nor is it the way either of the +French, who go with them. They know your men are raw--pardon +me--inexperienced troops, and they'll put a cruel burden upon your +patience. They may wait for hours, and they'll try in every manner to +wear them out, and to provoke them at last into some rash movement. +You'll have to guard most, Captain Colden, against the temper of your +troop. If you'll take advice from one who's a veteran in the woods, +you'd better threaten them with death for disobedience of orders." + +"As I said before, I'm grateful to you for any advice or suggestion, +Mr. Willet. This seems a long way from Philadelphia, and I'll confess +I'm not so very much at home here." + +He crawled among his men, and Willet and Robert heard him threatening +them in fierce whispers, and their replies that they would be cautious +and patient. It was well that Willet had given the advice, as a full +hour passed without any sign from the foe. Troops even more +experienced than the city men might well have concluded it was a false +alarm, and that the forest contained nothing more dangerous than a +bear. There was no sound, and Captain Colden himself asked if the +warriors had not gone away. + +"Not a chance of it," replied Willet. "They think they're certain of a +victory, and they would not dream of retiring." + +"And we have more long waiting in the dark to do?" + +"I warned you. There is no other way to fight such enemies. We must +never make the mistake of undervaluing them." + +Captain Colden sighed. He had a gallant heart, and he and his troop +had made a fine parade through the streets of Philadelphia, before he +started for the frontier, but he had expected to meet the French in +the open, perhaps with a bugle playing, and he would charge at the +head of his men, waving the neat small sword, now buckled to his side. +Instead he lay in a black thicket, awaiting the attack of creeping +savages. Nevertheless, he put down his pride for the third time, and +resolved to trust the four who had come so opportunely to his aid, and +who seemed to be so thoroughly at home in the wilderness. + +Another hour dragged its weary length away, and there was no sound of +anything stirring in the forest. The skies lightened a little as the +moon came out, casting a faint whitish tint over trees and bushes, but +the brave young captain was yet unable to see any trace of the enemy. + +"Do you feel quite sure that we're still besieged?" he whispered to +Willet. + +"Yes, Captain," replied the hunter, "and, as I said, patience is the +commodity we need most. It would be fatal for us to force the action, +but I don't think we have much longer to wait. Since they can't induce +us to take some rash step they're likely to make a movement soon." + +"I see the bushes waving again," said Tayoga. "It is proof that the +warriors are approaching. It would be well for the soldiers to lie +flat for a little while." + +Captain Colden, adhering to his resolution to take the advice of his +new friends, crept along the line, telling the men in sharp whispers +to hug the earth, a command that they obeyed willingly, as the +darkness, the silence and the mysterious nature of the danger had +begun to weigh heavily upon their nerves. + +Robert saw a bead of flame among the bushes, and heard a sharp report. +A bullet cut a bough over his head, and a leaf drifted down upon his +face. The soldiers shifted uneasily and began to thrust their rifles +forward, but again the stern command of the young captain prompted by +the hunter, held them down. + +"'Twas intended merely to draw us," said Willet. "They're sure we're +in this wood, but of course they don't know the exact location of our +men. They're hoping for a glimpse of the bright uniforms, but, if the +men keep very low, they won't get it." + +It was a tremendous trial for young and raw troops, but they managed +to still their nerves, and to remain crouched and motionless. A second +shot was fired soon, and then a third, but like the first they were +trial bullets and both went high. Black Rifle grew impatient. The +memory of his murdered family began to press upon him once more. The +night was black, but now it looked red to him. Lying almost flat, he +slowly pulled himself forward like a great wild beast, stalking its +prey. Colden looked at him, and then at Willet, who nodded. + +"Don't try to stop him," whispered the hunter, "because he'll go +anyhow. Besides, it's time for us to reply to their shots." + +The dark form, moving forward without noise, had a singular +fascination for Robert. His imagination, which colored and magnified +everything, made Black Rifle sinister and supernatural. The complete +absence of sound, as he advanced, heightened the effect. Not a leaf +nor a blade of grass rustled. Presently he stopped and Robert saw the +black muzzle of his rifle shoot forward. A stream of flame leaped +forth, and then the man quickly slid into a new position. + +A fierce shout came from the opposing thicket, and a half dozen shots +were fired. Bullets again cut twigs and leaves over Robert's head, but +all of them went too high. + +"Do you think Black Rifle hit his mark?" whispered Robert to Tayoga. + +"It is likely," replied the Onondaga, "but we may never know. I think +it would be well, Dagaeoga, for you and me to go toward the left. They +may try to creep around our flank, and we must meet them there." + +Willet and Colden approved of the plan, and a half dozen of the best +soldiers went with them, the movement proving to be wise, as within +five minutes a scattering fire was opened upon that point. The +soldiers fired two rash shots, merely aiming at the reports and the +general blackness, but Robert and Tayoga quickly reduced them to +control, insisting that they wait until they saw a foe, before pulling +trigger again. Then they sank back among the bushes and remained quite +still. + +Tayoga suddenly drew a deep and very long breath, which with him was +equivalent to an exclamation. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked Robert. + +"I saw a bit of a uniform, and I caught just a glimpse of a white +face." + +"An officer. Then we were right in our surmise that the French are +here, leading the warriors." + +"It was but a glimpse, but it showed the curve of his jaw and chin, +and I knew him. He is one who is beginning to be important in your +life, Dagaeoga." + +"St. Luc." + +"None other. I could not be mistaken. He is leading the attack upon +us. Perhaps Tandakora is with him. The Frenchman does not like the +Ojibway, but war makes strange comrades. That was close!" + +A bullet whistled directly between them, and Tayoga, kneeling, fired +in return. There was no doubt about his aim, as a warrior uttered the +death cry, and a fierce shout of rage from a dozen throats followed. +Robert, imaginative, ready to flame up in a moment, exulted, not +because a warrior had fallen, but because the flank attack upon his +own people had been stopped in the beginning. St. Luc himself would +have admitted that the Americans, or the English, as he would have +called them, were acting wisely. The soldiers, stirred by the +successful shot, showed again a great desire to fire at the black +woods, but Robert and the Onondaga still kept them down. + +A crackling fire arose behind them, showing that the main force had +engaged, and now and then the warriors uttered defiant cries. But +Robert had enough power of will to watch in front, sure that Willet +and Black Rifle were sufficient to guide the central defense. He +observed intently the segment of the circle in front of them, and he +wondered if St. Luc would appear there again, but he concluded that he +would not, since the failure of the attempted surprise at that point +would be likely to send him back to the main force. + +"Do you think they'll go away and concentrate in front?" he asked +Tayoga. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "They still think perhaps that they have +only the soldiers from the city to meet, and they may attempt a rush." + +Robert crept from soldier to soldier, cautioning every one to take +shelter, and to have his rifle ready, and they, being good men, though +without experience, obeyed the one who so obviously knew what he was +doing. Meantime the combat behind them proceeded with vigor, the shots +crashing in volleys, accompanied by shouts, and once by the cry of a +stricken soldier. It was evident that St. Luc was now pushing the +battle, and Robert was quite sure the attack on the flank would soon +come again. + +They did not wait much longer. The warriors suddenly leaped from the +undergrowth and rushed straight toward them, a white man now in front. +The light was sufficient for Robert to see that the leader was not +St. Luc, and then without hesitation he raised his rifle and fired. +The man fell, Tayoga stopped the rush of a warrior, and the bullets of +the soldiers wounded others. But their white leader was gone, and +Indians have little love for an attack upon a sheltered enemy. So the +charge broke, before it was half way to the defenders, and the savages +vanished in the thickets. + +The soldiers began to exult, but Robert bade them reload as fast as +possible, and keep well under cover. The warriors from new points +would fire at every exposed head, and they could not afford to relax +their caution for an instant. + +But it was a difficult task for the youthful veterans of the forest to +keep the older but inexperienced men from the city under cover. They +had an almost overpowering desire to see the Indians who were shooting +at them, and against whom they were sending their bullets. In spite of +every command and entreaty a man would raise his head now and then, +and one, as he did so, received a bullet between the eyes, falling +back quietly, dead before he touched the ground. + +"A brave lad has been lost," whispered Tayoga to Robert, "but he has +been an involuntary example to the rest." + +The Onondaga spoke in his precise school English, but he knew what he +was saying, as the soldiers now became much more cautious, and +controlled their impulse to raise up for a look, after every shot. +Another man was wounded, but the hurt was not serious and he went on +with his firing. Robert, seeing that the line on the flank could be +held without great difficulty, left Tayoga in command, and crept back +to the main force, where the bullets were coming much faster. + +Two of the soldiers in the center had been slain, and three had been +wounded, but Captain Colden had not given ground. He was sitting +behind a rocky outcrop and at the suggestion of Willet was giving +orders to his men. Oppressed at first by the ambush and weight of +responsibility he was exulting now in their ability to check the +savage onset. Robert was quite willing to play a little to his pride +and he said in the formal military manner: + +"I wish to report, sir, that all is going well on the southern flank. +One of our men has been killed, but we have made it impossible for the +enemy to advance there." + +"Thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the young captain with dignity. "We have +also had some success here, due chiefly to the good advice of +Mr. Willet, and the prowess and sharpshooting of the extraordinary man +whom you call Black Rifle. See him now!" + +He indicated a dark figure a little distance ahead, behind a clump of +bushes, and, as Robert looked, a jet of fire leaped from the muzzle of +the man's rifle, followed almost immediately by a cry in the forest. + +"I think he has slain more of our enemies than the rest of us +combined," said Captain Colden. + +Robert shuddered a little, but those who lived on the border became +used to strange things. The constant struggle for existence hardened +the nerves, and terrible scenes did not dwell long in the mind. He +bent forward for a better look, and a bullet cut the hair upon his +forehead. He started back, feeling as if he had been seared by +lightning and Willet looked at him anxiously. + +"The lead burned as it passed," the lad said, "but the skin is not +broken. I was guilty of the same rashness, for which I have been +lecturing the men on the flank." + +"I caught a glimpse of the fellow who fired the shot," said Willet. "I +think it was the Canadian, Dubois, whom we saw with St. Luc." + +"Tayoga saw St. Luc himself on the flank," said Robert, "and so there +is no doubt that he is leading the attack. The fact makes it certain +that it will be carried on with persistence." + +"We shall be here, still besieged, when day comes," said the hunter. +"It's lucky that the cliff protects us on one side." + +As if to disprove his assertion, all the firing stopped suddenly, and +for a long time the forest was silent. Fortunately they had water in +their canteens, and they were able to soothe the thirst of the wounded +men. They talked also of victory, and, knowing that it was only two or +three hours until dawn, Captain Colden's spirits rose to great +heights. He was sure now that the warriors, defeated, had gone away. +This Frenchman, St. Luc, of whom they talked, might be a great +partisan leader, but he would know when the price he was paying became +too high, and would draw off. + +The men believed their captain, and, despite the earnest protest of +the foresters, began to stir in the bushes shortly before dawn. A +rifle shot came from the opposing thickets and one of them would stir +no more. Captain Colden, appalled, was all remorse. He took the death +of the man directly to himself, and told Willet with emotion that all +advice of his would now be taken at once. + +"Let the men lie as close as they can," said the hunter. "The day will +soon be here." + +Robert found shelter behind the trunk of a huge oak, and crouched +there, his nerves relaxing. He did not believe any further movement of +the enemy would come now. As the great tension passed for a time he +was conscious of an immense weariness. The strain upon all the +physical senses and upon the mind as well made him weak. It was a +luxury merely to sit there with his back against the bark and rest. +Near him he heard the soldiers moving softly, and now and then a +wounded man asking for water. A light breeze had sprung up, and it had +upon his face the freshness of the dawn. He wondered what the day +would bring. The light that came with it would be cheerful and +uplifting, but it would disclose their covert, at least in part, and +St. Luc might lead both French and Indians in one great rush. + +"Better eat a little," said Tayoga, who had returned to the center. +"Remember that we have plenty of food in our knapsacks, nor are our +canteens empty." + +"I had forgotten it," said Robert, and he ate and drank sparingly. The +breeze continued to freshen, and in the east the dawn broke, gray, +turning to silver, and then to red and gold. The forest soon stood +out, an infinite tracery in the dazzling light, and then a white fleck +appeared against the wall of green. + +"A flag of truce!" exclaimed Captain Colden. "What can they want to +say to us?" + +"Let the bearer of the flag appear first," suggested Willet, "and then +we'll talk with 'em." + +The figure of a man holding up a white handkerchief appeared and it +was St. Luc himself, as neat and irreproachable as if he were +attending a ball in the Intendant's palace at Quebec. Robert knew that +he must have been active in the battle all through the night, but he +showed no signs of it. He wore a fine close-fitting uniform of dark +blue, and the handkerchief of lace was held aloft on the point of a +small sword, the golden hilt of which glittered in the morning +sunlight. He was a strange figure in the forest, but a most gallant +one, and to Robert's eyes a chevalier without fear and without +reproach. + +"I know that you speak good French, Mr. Lennox," said Captain +Colden. "Will you go forward and meet the Frenchman? You will perhaps +know what to say to him, and, if not, you can refer to Mr. Willet and +myself." + +"I will do my best, sir," said Robert, glad of the chance to meet +St. Luc face to face again. He did not know why his heart leaped so +every time he saw the chevalier, but his friendship for him was +undeniable. It seemed too that St. Luc liked him, and Robert felt +sure that whatever hostility his official enemy felt for the English +cause there was none for him personally. + +Unconsciously he began to arrange his own attire of forest green, +beautifully dyed and decorated deerskin, that he might not look less +neat than the man whom he was going to meet. St. Luc was standing +under the wide boughs of an oak, his gold hilted rapier returned to +its sheath and his white lace handkerchief to its pocket. The smile of +welcome upon his face as he saw the herald was genuine. + +"I salute you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "and wish you a very good +morning. I learned that you were in the force besieged by us, and it's +a pleasure to see that you've escaped unhurt. When last we met the +honors were yours. You fairly defeated me at the word play in the vale +of Onondaga, but you will admit that the savage, Tandakora, played +into your hands most opportunely. You will admit also that word play +is not sword play, and that in the appeal to the sword we have the +advantage of you." + +"It may seem so to one who sees with your eyes and from your +position," said Robert, "but being myself I'm compelled to see with my +own eyes and from our side. I wish to say first, however, Chevalier de +St. Luc, that since you have wished me a very good morning I even wish +you a better." + +St. Luc laughed gayly. + +"You and I will never be enemies. It would be against nature," he +said. + +"No, we'll never be enemies, but why is it against nature?" + +"Perhaps I was not happy in my phrase. We like each other too well, +and--in a way--our temperaments resemble too much to engender a mutual +hate. But we'll to business. Mine's a mission of mercy. I come to +receive the surrender of your friends and yourself, since continued +resistance to us will be vain!" + +Robert smiled. His gift of golden speech was again making its presence +felt. He had matched himself against St. Luc before the great League +of the Hodenosaunee in the vale of Onondaga, and they had spoken where +all might hear. Now they two alone could hear, but he felt that the +test was the same in kind. He knew that his friends in the thickets +behind him were watching, and he was equally sure that French and +savages in the thickets before him were watching too. He had no doubt +the baleful eyes of Tandakora were glaring at him at that very moment, +and that the fingers of the Ojibway were eager to grasp his scalp. The +idea, singularly enough, caused him amusement, because his imagination, +vivid as usual, leaped far ahead, and he foresaw that his hair would +never become a trophy for Tandakora. + +"You smile, Mr. Lennox," said St. Luc. "Do you find my words so +amusing?" + +"Not amusing, chevalier! Oh, no! And if, in truth, I found them so I +would not be so impolite as to smile. But there is a satisfaction in +knowing that your official enemy has underrated the strength of your +position. That is why my eyes expressed content--I would scarcely call +it a smile." + +"I see once more that you're a master of words, Mr. Lennox. You play +with them as the wind sports among the leaves." + +"But I don't speak in jest, Monsieur de St. Luc. I'm not in command +here. I'm merely a spokesman a herald or a messenger, in whichever way +you should choose to define me. Captain James Colden, a gallant young +officer of Philadelphia, is our leader, but, in this instance, I don't +feel the need of consulting him. I know that your offer is kindly, +that it comes from a generous soul, but however much it may disappoint +you I must decline it. Our resistance in the night has been quite +successful, we have inflicted upon you much more damage than you have +inflicted upon us, and I've no doubt the day will witness a battle +continued in the same proportion." + +St. Luc threw back his head and laughed, not loud, but gayly and with +unction. Robert reddened, but he could not take offense, as he saw +that none was meant. + +"I no longer wonder at my defeat by you in the vale of Onondaga," said +the chevalier, "since you're not merely a master of words, you're a +master-artist. I've no doubt if I listen to you you'll persuade me +it's not you but we who are besieged, and it would be wise for us to +yield to you without further ado." + +"Perhaps you're not so very far wrong," said Robert, recovering his +assurance, which was nearly always great. "I'm sure Captain Colden +would receive your surrender and treat you well." + +The eyes of the two met and twinkled. + +"Tandakora is with us," said St. Luc, "and I've a notion he wouldn't +relish it. Perhaps he distrusts the mercy he would receive at the +hands of your Onondaga, Tayoga. And at this point in our dialogue, +Mr. Lennox, I want to apologize to you again, for the actions of the +Ojibway before the war really began. I couldn't prevent them, but, +since there is genuine war, he is our ally, and I must accord to him +all the dignities and honors appertaining to his position." + +"You're rather deft with words yourself, Monsieur de St. Luc. Once, at +New York, I saw a juggler with balls who could keep five in the air at +the same time, and in some dim and remote way you make me think of +him. You'll pardon the illustration, chevalier, because I really mean +it as a compliment." + +"I pardon gladly enough, because I see your intentions are good. We +both play with words, perhaps because the exercise tickles our fancy, +but to return to the true spirit and essence of things, I warn you +that it would be wise to surrender. My force is very much greater than +Captain Colden's, and has him hemmed in. If my Indian allies suffer +too much in the attack it will be difficult to restrain them. I'm not +stating this as a threat--you know me too well for that--but to make +the facts plain, and to avoid something that I should regret as much +as you." + +"I don't think it necessary to consult Captain Colden, and without +doing so I decline your offer. We have food to eat, water to drink +and bullets to shoot, and if you care to take us you must come and do +so." + +"And that is the final answer? You're quite sure you don't wish to +consult your superior officer, Captain Colden?" + +"Absolutely sure. It would waste the time of all of us." + +"Then it seems there is nothing more to say, and to use your own +fanciful way of putting it, we must go back from the play of words to +the play of swords." + +"I see no alternative." + +"And yet I hope that you will survive the combat, Mr. Lennox." + +"I've the same hope for you, Chevalier de St. Luc." + +Each meant it, and, in the same high manner of the day, they saluted +and withdrew. Robert, as he walked back to the thickets in which the +defenders lay, felt that Indian eyes were upon him, and that perhaps +an Indian bullet would speed toward him, despite St. Luc. Tandakora +and the savages around him could not always be controlled by their +French allies, as was to be shown too often in this war. His sensitive +mind once more turned fancy into reality and the hair on his head +lifted a little, but pride would not let him hasten his steps. + +No gun was fired, and, with an immense relief, he sank down behind a +fallen log, and by the side of Colden and Willet. + +"What did the Frenchman want?" asked the young captain. + +"Our instant and unconditional surrender. Knowing how you felt about +it, I gave him your refusal at once." + +"Well done, Mr. Lennox." + +"He said that in case of a rush and heavy loss by his Indians he +perhaps would not be able to control them in the moment of victory, +which doubtless is true." + +"They will know no moment of victory. We can hold them off." + +"Where is Tayoga?" asked Robert of Willet. + +The hunter pointed westward. + +"Why, the cliff shuts off the way in that direction!" said Robert. + +"Not to a good climber." + +"Do you mean, then, that Tayoga is gone?" + +"I saw him go. He went while you were talking with St. Luc." + +"Why should Tayoga leave us?" + +"He saw another smoke against the sky. It was but a faint trace. Only +an extremely keen eye would have noticed it, and having much natural +curiosity, Tayoga is now on his way to see who built the fire that +made the smoke." + +"And it may have been made by friends." + +"That's our hope." + +Robert drew a long breath and looked toward the west. The sky was now +clear there, but he knew that Tayoga could not have made any mistake. +Then, his heart high once more, he settled himself down to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SIGNAL + + +The day advanced, brilliant with sunshine, and the forces of St. Luc +were quiet. For a long time, not a shot was fired, and it seemed to +the besieged that the forest was empty of human beings save themselves. +Robert did not believe the French leader would attempt a long siege, +since an engagement could not be conducted in that manner in the +forest, where a result of some kind must be reached soon. Yet it was +impossible to tell what plan St. Luc had in mind, and they must wait +until Tayoga came. + +Young Captain Colden was in good spirits. It was his first taste of +wilderness warfare, and he knew that he had done well. The dead were +laid decently among the bushes to receive Christian burial later, if +the chance came, and the wounded, their hurts bound up, prepared to +take what part they could in a new battle. Robert crept to the edge +of the cliff, and looked toward the west, whence Tayoga had gone. He +saw only a dazzling blue sky, unflecked by anything save little white +clouds, and there was nothing to indicate whether the mission of his +young Onondaga comrade would have any success. He crept back to the +side of Willet. + +"Have you any opinion, Dave, about the smoke that Tayoga saw," he +asked. + +"None, Robert, just a hope. It might have been made by another French +and Indian band, most probably it was, but there is a chance, too, +that friends built the fire." + +"If it's a force of any size it could hardly be English. I don't +think any troop of ours except Captain Colden's is in this region." + +"We can't look for help from our own race." + +Robert was silent, gazing intently into the west, whence Tayoga had +gone. He recognized the immense difficulties of their position. +Indians, if an attack or two of theirs failed, would be likely to go +away, but the French, and especially St. Luc, would increase their +persistence and hold them to the task. He returned to the forest, and +his attention was drawn once more by Black Rifle. The man was lying +almost flat in the thicket, and evidently he had caught a glimpse of a +foe, as he was writhing slowly forward like a great beast of prey, and +his eyes once more had the expectant look of one who is going to +strike. Robert considered him. He knew that the man's whole nature +had been poisoned by the great tragedy in his life, and that it gave +him a sinister pleasure to inflict blows upon those who had inflicted +the great blow upon him. Yet he would be useful in the fierce war that +was upon them and he was useful now. + +Black Rifle crept forward two or three yards more, and, after he had +lain quite still for a few moments, he suddenly thrust out his rifle +and fired. A cry came from the opposing thicket and Robert heard the +sharpshooter utter a deep sigh of satisfaction. He knew that St. Luc +was one warrior less, which was good for the defense, but he shuddered +a little. He could never bring himself to steal through the bushes and +shoot an unseeing enemy. Still Black Rifle was Black Rifle, and being +what he was he was not to be judged as other men were. + +After a half hour's silence, the besiegers suddenly opened fire from +five or six points, sending perhaps two score bullets into the wood, +clipping off many twigs and leaves which fell upon the heads of the +defenders. Captain Colden did not forget to be grateful to Willet for +his insistence that the soldiers should always lie low, as the hostile +lead, instead of striking, now merely sent a harmless shower upon +them. But the fusillade was brief, Robert, in truth, judging that it +had been against the commands of St. Luc, who was too wise a leader to +wish ammunition to be wasted in random firing. At the advice of +Willet, Captain Colden would not let his men reply, restraining their +eagerness, and silence soon returned. + +It was nearly noon now and a huge golden sun shone over the vast +wilderness in which two little bands of men fought, mere motes in the +limitless sea of green. Robert ate some venison, and drank a little +water from the canteen of a friendly soldier. Then his thoughts turned +again to Tayoga. The Onondaga was a peerless runner, he had been gone +long now, and what would he find at the base of the smoke? If it had +been the fire of an enemy then he would be back in the middle of the +afternoon, and they would be in no worse case than before. They might +try to escape in the night down the cliff, but it was not likely that +vigilant foes would permit men, clumsy in the woods like the soldiers, +to steal away in such a manner. + +The earlier hours of the afternoon were passed by the sharpshooters on +either side trying to stalk one another. Although Robert had no part +in it, it was a savage play that alternately fascinated and repelled +him. He had no way to tell exactly, but he believed that two more of +the Indians had fallen, while a soldier received a wound. A bullet +grazed Black Rifle's head, but instead of daunting him it seemed to +give him a kind of fierce joy, and to inspire in him a greater desire +to slay. + +These efforts, since they achieved no positive results, soon died +down, and both sides lay silent in their coverts. Robert made himself +as comfortable as he could behind a log, although he longed to stand +upright, and walk about once more like a human being. It was now +mid-afternoon and if the smoke had meant nothing good for them it was +time for Tayoga to be back. It was not conceivable that such a +marvelous forester and matchless runner could have been taken, and, +since he had not come, Robert's heart again beat to the tune of hope. + +Willet with whom he talked a little, was of like opinion. He looked to +Tayoga to bring them help, and, if he failed their case, already hard, +would become harder. The hunter did not conceal from himself the +prowess and skill of St. Luc and he knew too, that the savage +persistency of Tandakora was not to be held lightly. Like Robert he +gazed long into the blue west, which was flecked only by little clouds +of white. + +"A sign! A sign!" he said. "If we could only behold a sign!" + +But the heavens said nothing. The sun, a huge ball of glowing copper, +was already far down the Western curve, and the hunter's heart beat +hard with anxiety. He felt that if help came it should come soon. But +little water was left to the soldiers, although their food might last +another day, and the night itself, now not far away, would bring the +danger of a new attack by a creeping foe, greatly superior in +numbers. He turned away from the cliff, but Robert remained, and +presently the youth called in a sharp thrilling whisper: + +"Dave! Dave! Come back!" + +Robert had continued to watch the sky and he thought he saw a faint +dark line against the sea of blue. He rubbed his eyes, fearing it was +a fault of vision, but the trace was still there, and he believed it +to be smoke. + +"Dave! Dave! The signal! Look! Look!" he cried. + +The hunter came to the edge of the cliff and stared into the west. A +thread of black lay across the blue, and his heart leaped. + +"Do you believe that Tayoga has anything to do with it?" asked Robert. + +"I do. If it were our foes out there he'd have been back long since." + +"And since it may be friends they've sent up this smoke, hoping we'll +divine what they mean." + +"It looks like it. Tayoga is a sharp lad, and he'll want to put heart +in the soldiers. It must be the Onondaga, and I wish I knew what his +smoke was saying." + +Captain Colden joined them, and they pointed out to him the trace +across the sky which was now broadening, explaining at the same time +that it was probably a signal sent up by Tayoga, and that he might be +leading a force to their aid. + +"What help could he bring?" asked the captain. + +Willet shook his head. + +"I can't answer you there," he replied; "but the smoke has +significance for us. Of that I feel sure. By sundown we'll know what +it means." + +"And that's only about two hours away," said Captain Colden. "Whatever +happens we'll hold out to the last. I suppose, though, that St. Luc's +force also will see the smoke." + +"Quite likely," replied Willet, "and the Frenchman may send a runner, +too, to see what it means, but however good a runner he may be he'll +be no match for Tayoga." + +"That's sure," said Robert. + +So great was his confidence in the Onondaga that it never occurred to +him that he might be killed or taken, and he awaited his certain +return, either with or without a helping force. He lay now near the +edge of the cliff, whence he could look toward the west, the point of +hope, whenever he wished, ate another strip of venison, and took +another drink of water out of a friendly canteen. + +The west was now blazing with terraces of red and yellow, rising above +one another, and the east was misty, gray and dim. Twilight was not +far away. The thread of smoke that had lain against the sky above the +forest was gone, the glittering bar of red and gold being absolutely +free from any trace. St. Luc's force opened fire again, bullets +clipping twigs and leaves, but the defense lay quiet, except Black +Rifle, who crept back and forth, continually seeking a target, and +pulling the trigger whenever he found it. + +The misty gray in the east turned to darkness, in the west the sun +went down the slope of the world, and the brilliant terraces of color +began to fade. The firing ceased and another tense period of quiet, +hard, to endure, came. At the suggestion of the hunter Colden drew in +his whole troop near the cliff and waited, all, despite their +weariness and strain, keeping the keenest watch they could. + +But Robert, instead of looking toward the east, where St. Luc's force +was, invariably looked into the sunset, because it was there that +Tayoga had gone, and it was there that they had seen the smoke, of +which they expected so much. The terraces of color, already grown dim, +were now fading fast. At the top they were gone altogether, and they +only lingered low down. But on the forest the red light yet blazed. +Every twig and leaf seemed to stand individual and distinct, black +against a scarlet shield. But it was for merely a few minutes. Then +all the red glow disappeared, like a great light going out suddenly, +and the western forest as well as the eastern, lay in a gray gloom. + +It always seemed to Robert that the last going of the sunset that day +was like a signal, because, when the night swept down, black and +complete everywhere, there was a burst of heavy firing from the south +and a long exultant yell. No bullet sped through the thickets, where +the defenders lay, and Willet cried: + +"Tayoga! Tayoga and help! Ah, here they come! The Mohawks!" + +Tayoga, panting from exertion, sprang into the bushes among them, and +he was followed by a tall figure in war paint, lofty plumes waving +from his war bonnet. Behind him came many warriors, and others were +already on the flanks, spreading out like a fan, filing rapidly and +shouting the war whoop. Robert recognized at once the great figure +that stood before them. It was Daganoweda, the young Mohawk chief of +his earlier acquaintance, whom he had met both on the war path and at +the great council of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga. Had +his been the right to choose the man who was to come to their aid, the +Mohawk would have been his first choice. Robert knew his intense +hatred of the French and their red allies, and he also knew his fierce +courage and great ability in battle. + +The soldiers looked in some alarm at the painted host that had sprung +among them, but Willet and Robert assured them insistently that these +were friends, and the sound of the battle they were already waging on +the flank with St. Luc's force, was proof enough. + +"Captain Colden," said Robert, not forgetful that an Indian likes the +courtesies of life, and can take his compliments thick, "this is the +great young Mohawk Chief, Daganoweda, which in our language means 'The +Inexhaustible' and such he is, inexhaustible in resource and courage +in battle, and in loyalty to his friends." + +Daganoweda smiled and extended his hand in the white man's fashion. +Young Colden had the tact to shake it heartily at once and to say in +English, which the young Mohawk chief understood perfectly: + +"Daganoweda, whatever praise of you Mr. Lennox has given it's not half +enough. I confess now although I would not have admitted it before, +that if you had not come we should probably have been lost." + +He had made a friend for life, and then, without further words the two +turned to the battle. But Robert remained for a minute beside Tayoga, +whose chest was still heaving with his great exertions. + +"Where did you find them?" he asked. + +"Many miles to the west, Lennox. After I descended the cliff I was +pursued by Huron skirmishers, and I had to shake them off. Then I ran +at full speed toward the point where the smoke had risen, knowing that +the need was great, and I overtook Daganoweda and the Mohawks. Their +first smoke was but that from a camp-fire, as being in strong force +they did not care who saw them, but the last, just before the sunset, +was sent up as a signal by two warriors whom we left behind for the +purpose. We thought you might take it to mean that help was coming." + +"And so we did. How many warriors has Daganoweda?" + +"Fifty, and that is enough. Already they push the Frenchman and his +force before them. Come, we must join them, Dagaeoga. The breath has +come back into my body and I am a strong man again!" + +The two now quickly took their places in the battle in the night and +the forest, the position of the two forces being reversed. The +soldiers and the Mohawks were pushing the combat at every point, and +the agile warriors extending themselves on the flanks had already +driven in St. Luc's skirmishers. Black Rifle, uttering fierce shouts, +was leading a strong attack in the center. The firing was now rapid +and much heavier than it had been at any time before. Flashes of flame +appeared everywhere in the thicket. Above the crackle of rifles and +muskets swelled the long thrilling war cry of the Mohawks, and back in +fierce defiance came the yells of the Hurons and Abenakis. + +Willet joined Robert and the two, with Tayoga, saw that the soldiers +fought well under cover. The young Philadelphians, in the excitement +of battle and of a sudden and triumphant reversal of fortune, were +likely to expose themselves rashly, and the advice of the forest +veterans was timely. Captain Colden saw that it was taken, although +two more of his men were slain as they advanced and several were +wounded. But the issue was no longer doubtful. The weight that the +Mohawks had suddenly thrown into the battle was too great. The force +of St. Luc was steadily driven northward, and Daganoweda's alert +skirmishers on the flanks kept it compressed together. + +Robert knew how bitter the defeat would be to St. Luc, but the +knowledge did not keep his exultation from mounting to a high pitch. +St. Luc might strive with all his might to keep his men in the battle, +but the Frenchmen could not be numerous, and it was the custom of +Indians, once a combat seemed lost, to melt away like a mist. They +believed thoroughly that it was best to run away and fight another +day, and there was no disgrace in escaping from a stricken field. + +"They run! They run! And the Frenchmen must run with them!" exclaimed +Black Rifle. As he spoke, a bullet grazed his side and struck a +soldier behind him, but the force pressed on with the ardor fed by +victory. Willet did not try any longer to restrain them, although he +understood full well the danger of a battle in the dark. But he knew +that Daganoweda and his Mohawks, experienced in every forest wile, +would guard them against surprise, and he deemed it best now that they +should strike with all their might. + +Robert seldom saw any of the warriors before him, and he did not once +catch a glimpse of a Frenchman. Whenever his rifle was loaded he +fired at a flitting form, never knowing whether or not his bullet +struck true, and glad of his ignorance. His sensitive and imaginative +mind became greatly excited. The flashes of flame in the thickets were +multiplied a hundred fold, a thousand little pulses beat heavily in +his temples, and the shouts of the savages seemed to fill the forest. +But he pressed on, conscious that the enemy was disappearing before +them. + +In his eagerness he passed ahead of Willet and Tayoga and came very +near to St. Luc's retreating line. His foot became entangled in +trailing vines and he fell, but he was up in an instant, and he fired +at a shadowy figure not more than twenty feet in advance. In his haste +he missed, and the figure, turning, raised a rifle. There was a fair +moonlight and Robert saw the muzzle of the weapon bearing directly +upon him, and he knew too that the rifle was held by firm hands. His +vivid and sensitive imagination at once leaped into intense life. His +own weapon was empty and his last moment had come. He saw the strong +brown hands holding the rifle, and then his gaze passed on to the face +of St. Luc. He saw the blue eyes of the Frenchman, as they looked down +the sights, open wide in a kind of horror. Then he abruptly dropped +the muzzle, waved one hand to Robert, and vanished in the thickets and +the darkness. + +The battle was over. There were a few dying shots, scattered beads of +flame, an occasional shout of triumph from the Mohawks, a defiant yell +or two in reply from the Hurons and the Abenakis, and then the trail +of the combat swept out of the sight and hearing of Robert, who stood +dazed and yet with a heart full of gratitude. St. Luc had held his +life upon the pressure of a trigger, and the trigger would have been +pulled had he not seen before it was too late who stood before the +muzzle of his rifle. The moonlight was enough for Robert to see that +look of horror in his eyes when he recognized the target. And then the +weapon had been turned away and he had gone like a flash! Why? For +what reason had St. Luc spared him in the heat and fury of a desperate +and losing battle? It must have been a powerful motive for a man to +stay his bullet at such a time! + +"Wake up, lad! Wake up! The battle has been won!" + +Willet's heavy but friendly hand fell upon his shoulder, and Robert +came out of his daze. He decided at once that he would say nothing +about the meeting with St. Luc, and merely remarked in a cryptic +manner: + +"I was stunned for a moment by a bullet that did not hit me. Yes, +we've won, Dave, thanks to the Mohawks." + +"Thanks to Daganoweda and his brave Mohawks, and to Tayoga, and to the +gallant Captain Colden and his gallant men. All of us together have +made the triumph possible. I understand that the bodies of only two +Frenchmen have been found and that neither was that of St. Luc. Well, +I'm glad. That Frenchman will do us great damage in this war, but he's +an honorable foe, and a man of heart, and I like him." + +A man of heart! Yes, truly! None knew it better than Robert, but again +he kept his own counsel. He too was glad that his had not been one of +the two French bodies found, but there was still danger from the +pursuing Mohawks, who would hang on tenaciously, and he felt a sudden +thrill of alarm. But it passed, as he remembered that the chevalier +was a woodsman of experience and surpassing skill. + +Tayoga came back to them somewhat blown. He had followed the fleeing +French and Indian force two or three miles. But there was a limit even +to his nerves and sinews of wrought steel. He had already run thirty +miles before joining in the combat, and now it was time to rest. + +"Come, Tayoga," said the hunter, "we'll go back to the ground our lads +have defended so well, and eat, drink and sleep. The Mohawks will +attend to all the work that's left, which isn't much. We've earned our +repose." + +Captain Colden, slightly wounded in the arm, appeared and Willet gave +him the high compliments that he and his soldiers deserved. He told +him it was seldom that men unused to the woods bore themselves so well +in an Indian fight, but the young captain modestly disclaimed the +chief merit, replying that he and his detachment would surely have +been lost, had it not been for Willet and his comrades. + +Then they went back to the ground near the cliff, where they had made +their great fight, and Willet although the night was warm, wisely had +a large fire built. He knew the psychological and stimulating effect +of heat and light upon the lads of the city, who had passed through +such a fearful ordeal in the dark and Indian-haunted forest. He +encouraged them to throw on more dead boughs, until the blaze leaped +higher and higher and sparkled and roared, sending up myriads of +joyous sparks that glowed for their brief lives among the trees and +then died. No fear of St. Luc and the Indians now! That fierce fringe +of Mohawks was a barrier that they could never pass, even should they +choose to return, and no such choice could possibly be theirs! The +fire crackled and blazed in increasing volume, and the Philadelphia +lads, recovering from the collapse that had followed tremendous +exertions and excitement, began to appreciate the extent of their +victory and to talk eagerly with one another. + +But the period of full rest had not yet come. Captain Colden made them +dig with their bayonets shallow graves for their dead, six in number. +Fluent of speech, his sensitive mind again fitting into the deep +gravity of the situation, Robert said a few words above them, words +that he felt, words that moved those who heard. Then the earth was +thrown in and stones and heavy boughs were placed over all to keep +away the digging wolves or other wild animals. + +The wounded were made as comfortable as possible before the fire, and +in the light of the brilliant flames the awe created by the dead +quickly passed. Food was served and fresh water was drunk, the +canteens being refilled from a spring that Tayoga found a quarter of a +mile away. Then the soldiers, save six who had been posted as guard, +stretched themselves on grass or leaves, and fell asleep, one by +one. Tayoga who had made the greatest physical effort followed them to +the land of slumber, but Captain Colden sat and talked with Robert and +Willet, although it was now far past midnight. + +The bushes parted and a dark figure, making no sound as it came, +stepped into the circle of light. It was Black Rifle and his eyes +still glittered, but he said nothing. Robert thought he saw upon his +face a look of intense satisfaction and once more he shuddered a +little. The man lay down with his rifle beside him, and fell asleep, +his hands still clutching his weapon. + +Before dawn Daganoweda and the Mohawks came back also, and Robert in +behalf of them all thanked the young chief in the purest Mohawk, and +with the fine phrasing and apt allegory so dear to the Indian heart. +Daganoweda made a fitting reply, saying that the merit did not belong +to him but to Manitou, and then, leaving a half dozen of his warriors +to join in the watch, he and the others slept before the fire. + +"It was well that you played so strongly upon the feelings of the +Mohawks at that test in the vale of Onondaga, Robert," said Willet. "If +you had not said over and over again that the Quebec of the French was +once the Stadacona of the Mohawks they would not have been here +tonight to save us. They say that deeds speak louder than words, but +when the same man speaks with both words and deeds people have got to +hear." + +"You give me too much credit, Dave. The time was ripe for a Mohawk +attack upon the French." + +"Aye, lad, but one had to see a chance and use it. Now, join all +those fellows in sleep. We won't move before noon." + +But Robert's brain was too active for sleep just yet. While his +imaginative power made him see things before other people saw them, he +also continued to see them after they were gone. The wilderness battle +passed once more before him, and when he brushed his eyes to thrust it +away, he looked at the sleeping Mohawks and thought what splendid +savages they were. The other tribes of the Hodenosaunee were still +holding to their neutrality--all that was asked of them--but the +Mohawks, with the memories of their ancient wrongs burning in their +hearts, had openly taken the side of the English, and tonight their +valor and skill had undoubtedly saved the American force. Daganoweda +was a hero! And so was Tayoga, the Onondaga, always the first of red +men to Robert. + +His heated brain began to grow cool at last. The vivid pictures that +had been passing so fast before his eyes faded. He saw only reality, +the blazing fire, the dusky figures lying motionless before it, and +the circling wall of dark woods. Then he slept. + +Willet was the only white man who remained awake. He saw the great +fire die, and the dawn come in its place. He felt then for the first +time in all that long encounter the strangeness of his own position. +The wilderness, savages and forest battle had become natural to him, +and yet his life had once been far different. There was a taste of a +distant past in that fierce duel at Quebec when he slew the bravo, +Boucher, a deed for which he had never felt a moment's regret, and yet +when he balanced the old times against the present, he could not say +which had the advantage. He had found true friends in the woods, men +who would and did risk their own lives to save his. + +The dawn came swiftly, flooding the earth with light. Daganoweda and +many of the Mohawk warriors awoke, but the young Philadelphia captain +and his men slept on, plunged in the utter stupor of exhaustion. +Tayoga, who had made a supreme effort, both physical and mental, also +continued to sleep, and Robert, lying with his feet to the coals, +never stirred. + +Daganoweda shook himself, and, so shaking, shook the last shred of +sleep from his eyes. Then he looked with pride at his warriors, those +who yet lay upon the ground and those who had arisen. He was a young +chief, not yet thirty years of age, and he was the bloom and flower of +Mohawk courage and daring. His name, Daganoweda, the Inexhaustible, +was fully deserved, as his bravery and resource were unlimited. But +unlike Tayoga, he had in him none of the priestly quality. He had not +drunk or even sipped at the white man's civilization. The spirituality +so often to be found in the Onondagas was unknown to him. He was a +warrior first, last and all the time. He was Daganoweda of the Clan of +the Turtle, of the Nation Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, +of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, and he craved no glory save +that to be won in battle, which he craved all the time. + +Daganoweda, as he looked at his men, felt intense satisfaction, +because the achievement of his Mohawks the night before had been +brilliant and successful, but he concealed it from all save himself. It +was not for a chief who wished to win not one victory, but a hundred +to show undue elation. But he turned and for a few moments gazed +directly into the sun with unwinking eyes, and when he shifted his +gaze away, a great tide of life leaped in his veins. + +Then he gave silent thanks. Like all the other Indians in North +America the Mohawks personified and worshipped the sun, which to them +was the mighty Dweller in Heaven, almost the same as Manitou, a great +spirit to whom sacrifices and thanksgivings were to be made. The sun, +an immortal being, had risen that morning and from his seat in the +highest of the high heavens he had looked down with his invincible eye +which no man could face more than a few seconds, upon his favorite +children, the Mohawks, to whom he had given the victory. Daganoweda +bowed a head naturally haughty and under his breath murmured thanks +for the triumph given and prayers for others to come. + +The warriors built the fire anew and cooked their breakfasts. They had +venison and hominy of three kinds according to the corn of which it +was made, _Onaogaant_ or the white corn, _Ticne_ or the red corn, and +_Hagowa_ or the white flint corn. They also had bear meat and dried +beans. So their breakfast was abundant, and they ate with the appetite +of warriors who had done mighty deeds. + +Daganoweda and Willet, as became great men, sat together on a log and +were served by a warrior who took honor from the task. Black Rifle sat +alone a little distance away. He would have been welcome in the +company of the Mohawk chief and the hunter, but, brooding and solitary +in mind, he wished to be alone and they knew and respected his wish. +Daganoweda glanced at him more than once as he remained in silence, +and always there was pity in his looks. And there was admiration too, +because Black Rifle was a great warrior. The woods held none greater. + +When Robert awoke it was well on toward noon and he sprang up, +refreshed and strong. + +"You've had quite a nap, Robert," said Willet, who had not slept at +all, "but some of the soldiers are still sleeping, and Tayoga has just +gone down to the spring to bathe his face." + +"Which I also will do," said Robert. + +"And when you come back food will be ready for you." + +Robert found Tayoga at the spring, flexing his muscles, and taking +short steps back and forth. "It was a great run you made," said the +white youth, "and it saved us. There's no stiffness, I hope?" + +"There was a little, Dagaeoga, but I have worked it out of my +body. Now all my muscles are as they were. I am ready to make another +and equal run." + +"It's not needed, and for that I'm thankful. St. Luc will not come +back, nor will Tandakora, I think, linger in the woods, hoping for a +shot. He knows that the Mohawk skirmishers will be too vigilant." + +As they went back to the fire for their food they heard a droning song +and the regular beat of feet. Some of the Mohawks were dancing the +Buffalo Dance, a dance named after an animal never found in their +country, but which they knew well. It was a tribute to the vast energy +and daring of the nations of the Hodenosaunee that they should range +in such remote regions as Kentucky and Tennessee and hunt the buffalo +with the Cherokees, who came up from the south. + +They called the dance Dageyagooanno, and it was always danced by men +only. One warrior beat upon the drum, _ganojoo_, and another used +_gusdawasa_ or the rattle made of the shell of a squash. A dozen +warriors danced, and players and dancers alike sang. It was a most +singular dance and Robert, as he ate and drank, watched it with +curious interest. + +The warriors capered back and forth, and often they bent themselves +far over, until their hands touched the ground. Then they would arch +their backs, until they formed a kind of hump, and they leaped to and +fro, bellowing all the time. The imitation was that of a buffalo, +recognizable at once, and, while it was rude and monotonous, both +dancing and singing preserved a rhythm, and as one listened +continuously it soon crept into the blood. Robert, with that singular +temperament of his, so receptive to all impressions, began to feel +it. Their chant was of war and victory and he stirred to both. He was +on the warpath with them, and he passed with them through the thick of +battle. + +They danced for a long time, quitting only when exhaustion +compelled. By that time all the soldiers were awake and Captain Colden +talked with the other leaders, red and white. His instructions took +him farther west, where he was to build a fort for the defense of the +border, and, staunch and true, he did not mean to turn back because he +had been in desperate battle with the French and their Indian allies. + +"I was sent to protect a section of the frontier," he said to Willet, +"and while I've found it hard to protect my men and myself, yet I must +go on. I could never return to Philadelphia and face our people +there." + +"It's a just view you take, Captain Colden," said Willet. + +"I feel, though, that my men and I are but children in the +woods. Yesterday and last night proved it. If you and your friends +continue with us our march may not be in vain." + +Willet glanced at Robert, and then at Tayoga. + +"Ours for the present, at least, is a roving commission," said young +Lennox. "It seems to me that the best we can do is to go with Captain +Colden." + +"I am not called back to the vale of Onondaga," said Tayoga, "I would +see the building of this fort that Captain Colden has planned." + +"Then we three are agreed," said the hunter. "It's best not to speak +to Black Rifle, because he'll follow his own notions anyway, and as +for Daganoweda and his Mohawks I think they're likely to resume their +march northward against the French border." + +"I'm grateful to you three," said Captain Colden, "and, now that it's +settled, we'll start as soon as we can." + +"Better give them all a good rest, and wait until the morning," said +the hunter. + +Again Captain Colden agreed with him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PERILOUS PATH + + +After a long night of sleep and rest, the little troop resumed its +march the next morning. The wounded fortunately were not hurt so +badly that they could not limp along with the others, and, while the +surgery of the soldiers was rude, it was effective nevertheless. +Daganoweda, as they had expected, prepared to leave them for a raid +toward the St. Lawrence. But he said rather grimly that he might +return, in a month perhaps. He knew where they were going to build +their fort, and unless Corlear and all the other British governors +awoke much earlier in the morning it was more than likely that the +young captain from Philadelphia would need the help of the Mohawks +again. + +Then Daganoweda said farewell to Robert, Tayoga, Willet and Black +Rifle, addressing each according to his quality. Them he trusted. He +knew them to be great warriors and daring rovers of the wilderness. +He had no advice for them, because he knew they did not need it, but +he expected them to be his comrades often in the great war, and he +wished them well. To Tayoga he said: + +"You and I, oh, young chief of the Onondagas, have hearts that beat +alike. The Onondagas do well to keep aloof from the white man's +quarrels for the present, and to sit at peace, though watchful, in the +vale of Onondaga, but your hopes are with our friends the English and +you in person fight for them. We Mohawks know whom to hate. We know +that the French have robbed us more than any others. We know, that +their Quebec is our Stadacona. So we have dug up the tomahawk and last +night we showed to Sharp Sword and his men and Tandakora the Ojibway +how we could use it." + +Sharp Sword was the Iroquois name for St. Luc, who had already proved +his great ability and daring as a forest leader. + +"The Ganeagaono are now the chief barrier against the French and their +tribes," said Tayoga. + +The brilliant eyes of Daganoweda glittered in his dark face. He knew +that Tayoga would not pay the Mohawks so high a compliment unless he +meant it. + +"Tayoga," he said, "we belong to the leading nations of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, you to the Onundahgaono and I to the +Ganeagaono. You are first in the council and we are first on the +warpath. It was Tododaho, the Onondaga, who first formed the great +League and it was Hayowentha, the Mohawk, who combed the snakes out of +his hair and who strengthened it and who helped him to build it so +firmly that it shall last forever. Brothers are we, and always shall +be." + +He touched his forehead in salute, and the Onondaga touched his in +reply. + +"Aye, brothers are we," he said, "Mohawk and Onondaga, Onondaga and +Mohawk. The great war of the white kings which draws us in it has +come, but I know that Hayowentha watches over his people, and Tododaho +over his. In the spring when I went forth in the night to fight the +Hurons I gazed off there in the west where shines the great star on +which Tododaho makes his home, and I saw him looking down upon me, and +casting about me the veil of his protection." + +Daganoweda looked up at the gleaming blue of the heavens, and his eyes +glittered again. He believed every word that Tayoga said. + +"As Tododaho watches over you, so Hayowentha watches over me," he +said, "and he will bring me back in safety and victory from the +St. Lawrence. Farewell again, my brother." + +"Farewell once more, Daganoweda!" + +The Mohawk chief plunged into the forest, and his fifty warriors +followed him. Like a shadow they were gone, and the waving bushes gave +back no sign that they had ever been. Captain Colden rubbed his eyes +and then laughed. + +"I never knew men to vanish so swiftly before," he said, "but last +night was good proof that they were here, and that they came in +time. I suppose it's about the only victory of which we can make +boast." + +He spoke the full truth. From the St. Lawrence to the Ohio the border +was already ravaged with fire and sword. Appeals for help were pouring +in from the distant settlements, and the governors of New York, +Pennsylvania and Massachusetts scarcely knew what to do. France had +struck the first blow, and she had struck hard. Young Washington, +defeated by overwhelming numbers, was going back to Virginia, and +Duquesne, the fort of the French at the junction of the Monongahela +and Allegheny, was a powerful rallying place for their own forces and +the swarming Indian bands, pouring out of the wilderness, drawn by the +tales of unlimited scalps and plunder. + +The task before Captain Colden's slender force was full of danger. His +numbers might have been five times as great and then they would not +have been too many to build and hold the fort he was sent to build and +hold. But he had no thought of turning back, and, as soon as +Daganoweda and the Mohawks were gone, they started, bending their +course somewhat farther toward the south. At the ford of a river +twenty men with horses carrying food, ammunition and other supplies +were to meet them, and they reckoned that they could reach it by +midnight. + +The men with the horses had been sent from another point, and it was +not thought then that there was any danger of French and Indian attack +before the junction was made, but the colonial authorities had +reckoned without the vigor and daring of St. Luc. Now the most cruel +fears assailed young Captain Colden, and Robert and the hunter could +not find much argument to remove them. It was possible that the second +force had been ambushed also, and, if so, it had certainly been +destroyed, being capable of no such resistance as that made by +Colden's men, and without the aid of the three friends and the +Mohawks. And if the supplies were gone the expedition would be +useless. + +"Don't be downhearted about it, captain," said Willet. "You say +there's not a man in the party who knows anything about the +wilderness, and that they've got just enough woods sense to take them +to the ford. Well, that has its saving grace, because now and then, +the Lord seems to watch over fool men. The best of hunters are trapped +sometimes in the forest, when fellows who don't know a deer from a +beaver, go through 'em without harm." + +"Then if there's any virtue in what you say we'll pray that these men +are the biggest fools who ever lived." + +"Smoke! smoke again!" called Robert cheerily, pointing straight ahead. + +Sure enough, that long dark thread appeared once more, now against the +western sky. Willet laughed. + +"They're the biggest fools in the forest, just as you hoped, Captain," +he said, "and they've taken no more harm than if they had built their +fires in a Philadelphia street. They've set themselves down for the +night, as peaceful and happy as you please. If that isn't the campfire +of your men with the pack horses then I'll eat my cap." + +Captain Colden laughed, but it was the slightly hysterical laugh of +relief. He was bent upon doing his task, and, since the Lord had +carried him so far through a mighty danger, the disappointment of +losing the supplies would have been almost too much to bear. + +"You're sure it's they, Mr. Willet?" he said. + +"Of course. Didn't I tell you it wasn't possible for another such +party of fools to be here in the wilderness, and that the God of the +white man and the Manitou of the red man taking pity on their +simplicity and innocence have protected them?" + +"I like to think what you say is true, Mr. Willet." + +"It's true. Be not afraid that it isn't. Now, I think we'd better stop +here, and let Robert and Tayoga go ahead, spy 'em out and make +signals. It would be just like 'em to blaze away at us the moment they +saw the bushes move with our coming." + +Captain Colden was glad to take his advice, and the white youth and +the red went forward silently through the forest, hearing the sound of +cheerful voices, as they drew near to the campfire which was a large +one blazing brightly. They also heard the sound of horses moving and +they knew that the detachment had taken no harm. Tayoga parted the +bushes and peered forth. + +"Look!" he said. "Surely they are watched over by Manitou!" + +About twenty men, or rather boys, for all of them were very young, +were standing or lying about a fire. A tall, very ruddy youth in the +uniform of a colonial lieutenant was speaking to them. + +"Didn't I tell you, lads," he said, "there wasn't an Indian nearer +than Fort Duquesne, and that's a long way from here! We've come a +great distance and not a foe has appeared anywhere. It may be that the +French vanish when they hear this valiant Quaker troop is coming, but +it's my own personal opinion they'll stay pretty well back in the west +with their red allies." + +The youth, although he called himself so, did not look much like a +Quaker to Robert. He had a frank face and merry eyes, and manner and +voice indicated a tendency to gayety. Judging from his words he had no +cares and Indians and ambush were far from his thoughts. Proof of this +was the absence of sentinels. The men, scattered about the fire, were +eating their suppers and the horses, forty in number, were grazing in +an open space. It all looked like a great picnic, and the effect was +heightened by the youth of the soldiers. + +"As the Great Bear truly said," whispered Tayoga, "Manitou has watched +over them. The forest does not hold easier game for the taking, and +had Tandakora known that they were here he would have come seeking +revenge for his loss in the attack upon Captain Colden's troop." + +"You're right as usual, Tayoga, and now we'd better hail them. But +don't you come forward just yet. They don't know the difference +between Indians and likely your welcome would be a bullet." + +"I will wait," said Tayoga. + +"I tell you, Carson," the young lieutenant was saying in an oratorical +manner, "that they magnify the dangers of the wilderness. The ford at +which we were to meet Colden is just ahead, and we've come straight to +it without the slightest mishap. Colden is no sluggard, and he should +be here in the morning at the latest. Do you find anything wrong with +my reasoning, Hugh?" + +"Naught, William," replied the other, who seemed to be second in +command. "Your logic is both precise and beautiful. The dangers of the +border are greatly exaggerated, and as soon as we get together a good +force all these French and Indians will flee back to Canada. Ah, who +is this?" + +Both he and his chief turned and faced the woods in astonishment. A +youth had stepped forth, and stood in full view. He was taller than +either, but younger, dressed completely in deerskin, although superior +in cut and quality to that of the ordinary borderer, his complexion +fair beneath his tan, and his hair light. He gazed at them steadily +with bright blue eyes, and both the first lieutenant and the second +lieutenant of the Quaker troop saw that he was no common person. + +"Who are you?" repeated William Wilton, who was the first lieutenant. + +"Who are you?" repeated Hugh Carson, who was the second lieutenant. + +"My name is Robert Lennox," replied the young stranger in a mellow +voice of amazing quality, "and you, I suppose, are Lieutenant William +Wilton, the commander of this little troop." + +He spoke directly to the first lieutenant, who replied, impressed as +much by the youth's voice as he was by his appearance: + +"Yes, such is my name. But how did you know it? I don't recall ever +having met you before, which doubtless is my loss." + +"I heard it from an associate of yours, your chief in command, Captain +James Colden, and I am here with a message from him." + +"And so Colden is coming up? Well, we beat him to the place of +meeting. We've triumphed with ease over the hardships of the +wilderness." "Yes, you arrived first, but he was delayed by a matter +of importance, a problem that had to be solved before he could resume +his march." + +"You speak in riddles, sir." + +"Perhaps I do for the present, but I shall soon make full +explanations. I wish to call first a friend of mine, an +Indian--although you say there are no Indians in the forest--a most +excellent friend of ours. Tayoga, come!" + +The Onondaga appeared silently in the circle of light, a splendid +primeval figure, drawn to the uttermost of his great height, his lofty +gaze meeting that of Wilton, half in challenge and half in +greeting. Robert had been an impressive figure, but Tayoga, owing to +the difference in race, was even more so. The hands of several of the +soldiers moved towards their weapons. + +"Did I not tell you that he was a friend, a most excellent friend of +ours?" said Robert sharply. "Who raises a hand against him raises a +hand against me also, and above all raises a hand against our +cause. Lieutenant Wilton, this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee. He is a +prince, as much a prince as any in Europe. His mind and his valor have +both been expended freely in our service, and they will be expended +with equal freedom again." + +Robert's tone was so sharp and commanding that Wilton, impressed by +it, saluted the Onondaga with the greatest courtesy, and Tayoga bowed +gravely in reply. + +"You're correct in assuming that my name is Wilton," said the young +lieutenant. "I'm William Wilton, of Philadelphia, and I beg to present +my second in command, Hugh Carson, of the same city." + +He looked questioningly at Robert, who promptly responded: + +"My name is Lennox, Robert Lennox, and I can claim either Albany or +New York as a home." + +"I think I've heard of you," said Wilton. "A rumor came to +Philadelphia about a man of that name going to Quebec on an errand for +the governor of New York." + +"I was the messenger," said Robert, "but since the mission was a +failure it may as well be forgotten." + +"But it will not be forgotten. I've heard that you bore yourself with +great judgment and address. Nevertheless, if your modesty forbids the +subject we'll come back to another more pressing. What did you mean +when you said Captain Colden's delay was due to the solution of a +vexing problem?" + +"It had to do with Indians, who you say are not to be found in these +forests. I could not help overhearing you, as I approached your camp." + +Wilton reddened and then his generous impulse and sense of truth came +to his aid. + +"I'll admit that I'm careless and that my knowledge may be small!" he +exclaimed. "But tell me the facts, Mr. Lennox. I judge by your face +that events of grave importance have occurred." + +"Captain Colden, far east of this point, was attacked by a strong +force of French and Indians under the renowned partisan leader, +St. Luc. Tayoga, David Willet, the hunter, the famous ranger Black +Rifle and I were able to warn him and give him some help, but even +then we should have been overborne and destroyed had not a Mohawk +chief, Daganoweda, and a formidable band come to our aid. United, we +defeated St. Luc and drove him northward. Captain Colden lost several +of his men, but with the rest he is now marching to the junction with +you." + +Wilton's face turned gray, but in a moment or two his eyes brightened. + +"Then a special Providence has been watching over us," he said. "We +haven't seen or heard of an Indian." + +His tone was one of mingled relief and humor, and Robert could not +keep from laughing. + +"At all events," he said, "you are safe for the present. I'll remain +with you while Tayoga goes back for Captain Colden." + +"If you'll be so good," said Wilton, who did not forget his manners, +despite the circumstances. "I've begun to feel that we have more eyes, +or at least better ones, with you among us. Where is that Indian? You +don't mean to say he's gone?" + +Robert laughed again. Tayoga, after his fashion, had vanished in +silence. + +"He's well on his way to Captain Colden now," he said, exaggerating a +little for the sake of effect. "He'll be a great chief some day, and +meanwhile he's the fastest runner in the whole Six Nations." + +Colden and his troop arrived soon, and the two little commands were +united, to the great joy of all. Lieutenant Wilton had passed from +the extreme of confidence to the utmost distrust. Where it had not +been possible for an Indian to exist he now saw a scalplock in every +bush. + +"On my honor," he said to Colden, "James, I was never before in my +life so happy to see you. I'm glad you have the entire command now. As +Mr. Lennox said, Providence saved me so far, but perhaps it wouldn't +lend a helping hand any longer." + +The pack horses carried surgical supplies for the wounded, and Willet +and Black Rifle were skillful in using them. All of the hurt, they +were sure would be well again within a week, and there was little to +mar the general feeling of high spirits that prevailed in the +camp. Wilton and Carson were lads of mettle, full of talk of +Philadelphia, then the greatest city in the British Colonies, and +related to most of its leading families, as was Colden too, his family +being a branch of the New York family of that name. Robert was at home +with them at once, and they were eager to hear from him about Quebec +and the latest fashions of the French, already the arbiters of +fashion, and recognized as such, despite the war between them, by +English and Americans. + +"I had hoped to go to Quebec myself," said Wilton reflectively, "but I +suppose it's a visit that's delayed for a long time now." + +"How does it happen that you, a Quaker, are second in command here?" +asked Robert. + +"It must be the belligerency repressed through three or four +generations and breaking out at last in me," replied Wilton, his eyes +twinkling. "I suppose there's just so much fighting in every family, +and if three or four generations in succession are peaceful the next +that follows is likely to be full of warlike fury. So, as soon as the +war began I started for it. It's not inherent in me. As I said, it's +the confined ardor of generations bursting forth suddenly in my +person. I'm not an active agent. I'm merely an instrument." + +"It was the same warlike fury that caused you to come here, build your +fire and set no watch, expecting the woods to be as peaceful as +Philadelphia?" said Colden. + +Wilton colored. + +"I didn't dream the French and Indians were so near," he replied +apologetically. + +"If comparisons are valuable you needn't feel any mortification about +it, Will," said Colden. "I was just about as careless myself, and all +of us would have lost our scalps, if Willet, Lennox and Tayoga hadn't +come along." + +Wilton was consoled. But both he and Colden after the severe lesson +the latter had received were now all for vigilance. Many sentinels had +been posted, and since Colden was glad to follow the advice of Willet +and Tayoga they were put in the best places. They let the fire die +early, as the weather had now become very warm, and all of them, save +the watch soon slept. The night brought little coolness with it, and +the wind that blew was warm and drying. Under its touch the leaves +began to crinkle up at the edge and turn brown, the grass showed signs +of withering and Willet, who had taken charge of the guard that night, +noticed that summer was passing into the brown leaf. It caused him a +pang of disappointment. + +Great Britain and the Colonies had not yet begun to move. The +Provincial legislatures still wrangled, and the government at London +was provokingly slow. There was still no plan of campaign, the great +resources of the Anglo-Saxons had not yet been brought together for +use against the quick and daring French, and while their slow, patient +courage might win in the end, Willet foresaw a long and terrible war +with many disasters at the beginning. + +He was depressed for the moment. He knew what an impression the early +French successes would make on the Indian tribes, and he knew, too, as +he heard the wind rustling through the dry leaves, that there would be +no English campaign that year. One might lead an army in winter on the +good roads and through the open fields of Europe, but then only +borderers could make way through the vast North American wilderness in +the deep snows and bitter cold, where Indian trails alone existed. The +hunter foresaw a long delay before the British and Colonial forces +moved, and meanwhile the French and Indians would be more strongly +planted in the territory claimed by the rival nations, and, while in +law possession was often nine points, it seemed in war to be ten +points and all. + +As he walked back and forth Black Rifle touched him on the arm. + +"I'm going, Dave," he said. "They don't need me here any +longer. Daganoweda and his Mohawks, likely enough, will follow the +French and Indians, and have another brush with 'em. At any rate, it's +sure that St. Luc and Tandakora won't come back, and these young men +can go on without being attacked again and build their fort. But +they'll be threatened there later on, and I'll come again with a +warning." + +"I know you will," said Willet. "Wherever danger appears on the +border, Black Rifle, there you are. I see great and terrible days +ahead for us all." + +"And so do I," said Black Rifle. "This continent is on fire." + +The two shook hands, and the somber figure of Black Rifle disappeared +in the forest. Willet looked after him thoughtfully, and then resumed +his pacing to and fro. + +They made an early start at dawn of a bright hot day, crossed the +ford, and resumed their long march through the forest which under the +light wind now rustled continually with the increasing dryness. + +But the company was joyous. The wounded were put upon the pack horses, +and the others, young, strong and refreshed by abundant rest, went +forward with springing steps. Robert and Tayoga walked with the three +Philadelphians. Colden already knew the quality of the Onondaga, and +respected and admired him, and Wilton and Carson, surprised at first +at his excellent English education, soon saw that he was no ordinary +youth. The five, each a type of his own, were fast friends before the +day's march was over. Wilton, the Quaker, was the greatest talker of +them all, which he declared was due to suppression in childhood. + +"It's something like the battle fever which will come out along about +the fourth or fifth generation," he said. "I suppose there's a certain +amount of talk that every man must do in his lifetime, and, having +been kept in a state of silence by my parents all through my youth, +I'm now letting myself loose in the woods." + +"Don't apologize, Will," said Colden. "Your chatter is harmless, and +it lightens the spirits of us all." + +"The talker has his uses," said Tayoga gravely. "My friend Lennox, +known to the Hodenosaunee as Dagaeoga, is golden-mouthed. The gift of +great speech descends upon him when time and place are fitting." + +"And so you're an orator, are you?" said Carson, looking at Robert. + +Young Lennox blushed. + +"Tayoga is my very good friend," he replied, "and he gives me praise I +don't deserve." + +"When one has a gift direct from Manitou," said the Onondaga, gravely, +"it is not well to deny it. It is a sign of great favor, and you must +not show ingratitude, Dagaeoga." + +"He has you, Lennox," laughed Wilton, "but you needn't say more. I +know that Tayoga is right, and I'm waiting to hear you talk in a +crisis." + +Robert blushed once more, but was silent. He knew that if he protested +again the young Philadelphians would chaff him without mercy, and he +knew at heart also that Tayoga's statement about him was true. He +remembered with pride his defeat of St. Luc in the great test of words +in the vale of Onondaga. But Wilton's mind quickly turned to another +subject. He seemed to exemplify the truth of his own declaration that +all the impulses bottled up in four or five generations of Quaker +ancestors were at last bursting out in him. He talked more than all +the others combined, and he rejoiced in the freedom of the wilderness. + +"I'm a spirit released," he said. "That's why I chatter so." + +"Perhaps it's just as well, Will, that while you have the chance you +should chatter to your heart's content, because at any time an Indian +arrow may cut short your chance for chattering," said Carson. + +"I can't believe it, Hugh," said Wilton, "because if Providence was +willing to preserve us, when we camped squarely among the Indians, put +out no guards, and fairly asked them to come and shoot at us, then it +was for a purpose and we'll be preserved through greater and +continuous dangers." + +"There may be something in it, Will. I notice that those who deserve +it least are often the chosen favorites of fortune." + +"Which seems to be a hit at your superior officer, but I'll pass it +over, Hugh, as you're always right at heart though often wrong in the +head." + +Although the young officers talked much and with apparent lightness, +the troop marched with vigilance now. Willet and Tayoga, and Colden, +who had profited by bitter experience, saw to it. The hunter and the +Onondaga, often assisted by Robert, scouted on the flanks, and three +or four soldiers, who developed rapid skill in the woods, were soon +able to help. But Tayoga and Willet were the main reliance, and they +found no further trace of Indians. Nevertheless the guard was never +relaxed for an instant. + +Robert found the march not only pleasant but exhilarating. It +appealed to his imaginative and sensitive mind, which magnified +everything, and made the tints more vivid and brilliant. To him the +forests were larger and grander than they were to the others, and the +rivers were wider and deeper. The hours were more intense, he lived +every second of them, and the future had a scope and brilliancy that +few others would foresee. In company with youths of his own age coming +from the largest city of the British colonies, the one that had the +richest social traditions, his whole nature expanded, and he cast away +much of his reserve. Around the campfires in the evening he became one +of the most industrious talkers, and now and then he was carried away +so much by his own impulse that all the rest would cease and listen to +the mellow, golden voice merely for the pleasure of hearing. Then +Tayoga and Willet would look at each other and smile, knowing that +Dagaeoga, though all unconsciously, held the center of the stage, and +the others were more than willing for him to hold it. + +The friendships of the young ripen fast, and under such circumstances +they ripen faster than ever. Robert soon felt that he had known the +three young Philadelphians for years, and a warm friendship, destined +to last all their lives, in which Tayoga was included, was soon +formed. Robert saw that his new comrades, although they did not know +much of the forest, were intelligent, staunch and brave, and they saw +in him all that Tayoga and Willet saw, which was a great deal. + +The heat and dryness increased, and the brown of leaf and grass +deepened. Nearly all the green was gone now, and autumn would soon +come. The forest was full of game, and Willet and Tayoga kept them +well supplied, yet their progress became slower. Those who had been +wounded severely approached the critical stage, and once they stopped +two days until all danger had passed. + +Three days later a fierce summer storm burst upon them. Tayoga had +foreseen it, and the whole troop was gathered in the lee of a hill, +with all their ammunition protected by blankets, canvas and the skins +of deer that they had killed. But the young Philadelphians, +unaccustomed to the fury of the elements in the wilderness, looked +upon it with awe. + +In the west the lightning blazed and the thunder crashed for a long +time. Often the forest seemed to swim in a red glare, and Robert +himself was forced to shut his eyes before the rapid flashes of +dazzling brightness. Then came a great rushing of wind with a mighty +rain on its edge, and, when the wind died, the rain fell straight down +in torrents more than an hour. + +Although they kept their ammunition and other supplies dry the men +themselves were drenched to the bone, but the storm passed more +suddenly than it had come. The clouds parted on the horizon, then all +fled away. The last raindrop fell and a shining sun came out in a hot +blue sky. As the men resumed a drooping march their clothes dried fast +in the fiery rays and their spirits revived. + +When night came they were dry again, and youth had taken no harm. The +next day they struck an Indian trail, but both Willet and Tayoga said +it had been made by less than a dozen warriors, and that they were +going north. + +"It's my belief," said Willet, "that they were warriors from the Ohio +country on their way to join the French along the Canadian border." + +"And they're not staying to meet us," said Colden. "I'm afraid, Will, +it'll be some time before you have a chance to show your unbottled +Quaker valor." + +"Perhaps not so long as you think," replied Wilton, who had plenty of +penetration. "I don't claim to be any great forest rover, although I +do think I've learned something since I left Philadelphia, but I +imagine that our building of a fort in the woods will draw 'em. The +Indian runners will soon be carrying the news of it, and then they'll +cluster around us like flies seeking sugar." + +"You're right, Mr. Wilton," said Willet. "After we build this fort +it's as sure as the sun is in the heavens that we'll have to fight for +it." + +Two days later they reached the site for their little fortress which +they named Fort Refuge, because they intended it as a place in which +harried settlers might find shelter. It was a hill near a large creek, +and the source of a small brook lay within the grounds they intended +to occupy, securing to them an unfailing supply of good water in case +of siege. + +Now, the young soldiers entered upon one of the most arduous tasks of +the war, to build a fort, which was even more trying to them than +battle. Arms and backs ached as Colden, Wilton and Carson, advised by +Willet, drove them hard. A strong log blockhouse was erected, and then +a stout palisade, enclosing the house and about an acre of ground, +including the precious spring which spouted from under a ledge of +stone at the very wall of the blockhouse itself. Behind the building +they raised a shed in which the horses could be sheltered, as all of +them foresaw a long stay, dragging into winter with its sleet and +snow, and it was important to save the animals. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga had a roving commission, and, as they could +stay with Colden and his command as long as they chose, they chose +accordingly to remain where they thought they could do the most +good. Robert took little part in the hunting, but labored with the +soldiers on the building, although it was not the kind of work to +which his mind turned. + +The blockhouse itself, was divided into a number of rooms, in which +the soldiers who were not on guard could sleep, and they had blankets +and the skins of the larger animals the hunters killed for +beds. Venison jerked in great quantities was stored away in case of +siege, and the whole forest was made to contribute to their +larder. The work was hard, but it toughened the sinews of the young +soldiers, and gave them an occupation in which they were interested. +Before it was finished they were joined by another small detachment +with loaded pack horses, which by the same kind of miracle had come +safely through the wilderness. Colden now had a hundred men, fifty +horses and powder and lead for all the needs of which one could think. + +"If we only had a cannon!" he said, looking proudly at their new +blockhouse, "I think I'd build a platform for it there on the roof, +and then we could sweep the forest in every direction. Eh, Will, my +lad?" + +"But as we haven't," said Wilton, "we'll have to do the sweeping with +our rifles." + +"And our men are good marksmen, as they showed in that fight with +St. Luc. But it seems a world away from Philadelphia, doesn't it, +Will? I wonder what they're doing there!" + +"Counting their gains in the West India trade, looking at the latest +fashions from England that have come on the ships up the Delaware, +building new houses out Germantown way, none of them thinking much of +the war, except old Ben Franklin, who pegs forever at the governor of +the Province, the Legislature, and every influential man to take +action before the French and Indians seize the whole border." + +"I hope Franklin will stir 'em up, and that they won't forget us out +here in the woods. For us at least the French and Indians are a +reality." + +Meanwhile summer had turned into autumn, and autumn itself was +passing. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RUNNER + + +Fort Refuge, the stronghold raised by young arms, was the most distant +point in the wilderness held by the Anglo-American forces, and for a +long time it was cut off entirely from the world. No message came out +of the great forest that rimmed it round, but Colden had been told to +build it and hold it until he had orders to leave it, and he and his +men waited patiently, until word of some kind should come or they +should be attacked by the French and Indian forces that were gathering +continually in the north. + +They saw the autumn reach its full glory. The wilderness glowed in +intense yellows and reds. The days grew cool, and the nights cold, the +air was crisp and fresh like the breath of life, the young men felt +their muscles expand and their courage rise, and they longed for the +appearance of the enemy, sure that behind their stout palisade they +would be able to defeat whatever numbers came. + +Tayoga left them early one morning for a visit to his people. The +leaves were falling then under a sharp west wind, and the sky had a +cold, hard tint of blue steel. Winter was not far away, but the day +suited a runner like Tayoga who wished to make speed through the +wilderness. He stood for a moment or two at the edge of the forest, a +strong, slender figure outlined against the brown, waved his hand to +his friends watching on the palisade, and then disappeared. + +"A great Indian," said young Wilton thoughtfully. "I confess that I +never knew much about the red men or thought much about them until I +met him. I don't recall having come into contact with a finer mind of +its kind." + +"Most of the white people make the mistake of undervaluing the +Indians," said Robert, "but we'll learn in this war what a power they +are. If the Hodenosaunee had turned against us we'd have been beaten +already." + +"At any rate, Tayoga is a noble type. Since I had to come into the +forest I'm glad to meet such fellows as he. Do you think, Lennox, that +he'll get through safely?" + +Robert laughed. + +"Get through safely?" he repeated. "Why, Tayoga is the fastest runner +among the Indian nations, and they train for speed. He goes like the +wind, he never tires, night and day are the same to him, he's so light +of foot that he could pass through a band of his own comrades and they +would never know he was there, and yet his own ears are so keen that +he can hear the leaves falling a hundred yards away. The path from +here to the vale of Onondaga may be lined on either side with the +French and the hostile tribes, standing as thick as trees in the +forest, but he will flit between them as safely and easily as you and +I would ride along a highroad into Philadelphia. He will arrive at the +vale of Onondaga, unharmed, at the exact minute he intends to arrive, +and he will return, reaching Fort Refuge also on the exact day, and at +the exact hour and minute he has already selected." + +The young Quaker surveyed Robert with admiration and then laughed. + +"What they tell of you is true," he said. "In truth that was a most +gorgeous and rounded speech you made about your friend. I don't recall +finer and more flowing periods! What vividness! What imagery! I'm +proud to know you, Lennox!" + +Robert reddened and then laughed. + +"I do grow enthusiastic when I talk about Tayoga," he said, "but +you'll see that what I predict will come to pass. He's probably told +Willet just when he'll be back at Fort Refuge. We'll ask him." + +The hunter informed them that Tayoga intended to take exactly ten +days. + +"This is Monday," he said. "He'll be here a week from next Thursday at +noon." + +"But suppose something happens to detain him," said Wilton, "suppose +the weather is too bad for traveling, or suppose a lot of other things +that can happen easily." + +Willet shrugged his shoulders. + +"In such a case as this where Tayoga is concerned," he said, "we don't +suppose anything, we go by certainties. Before he left, Tayoga +settled the day and the hour when he would return and it's not now a +problem or a question. He has disposed of the subject." + +"I can't quite see it that way," said Wilton tenaciously. "I admit +that Tayoga is a wonderful fellow, but he cannot possibly tell the +exact hour of his return from such a journey as the one he has +undertaken." + +"You wait and see," said the hunter in the utmost good nature. "You +think you know Tayoga, but you don't yet know him fully." + +"If I were not a Quaker I'd wager a small sum of money that he does +not come at the time appointed," said Wilton. + +"Then it's lucky for your pocket that you're a Quaker," laughed +Willet. + +It turned much colder that very afternoon, and the raw edge of winter +showed. The wind from the northwest was bitter and the dead leaves +fell in showers. At dusk a chilling rain began, and the young +soldiers, shivering, were glad enough to seek the shelter of the +blockhouse, where a great fire was blazing on the broad hearth. They +had made many rude camp stools and sitting down on one before the +blaze Wilton let the pleasant warmth fall upon his face. + +"I'm sorry for Tayoga," he said to Robert. "Just when you and Willet +were boasting most about him this winter rain had to come and he was +no more than fairly started. He'll have to hunt a den somewhere in the +forest and crouch in it wrapped in his blanket." + +Robert smiled serenely. + +"Den! Crouch! Wrapped in his blanket! What do you mean?" he asked in +his mellow, golden voice. "Are you speaking of my friend, Tayoga, of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee? Can it be possible, Wilton, that you are referring +to him, when you talk of such humiliating subterfuges?" + +"I refer to him and none other, Lennox. I see him now, stumbling about +in the deep forest, looking for shelter." + +"No, Wilton, you don't see Tayoga. You merely see an idle figment of a +brain that does not yet fully know my friend, the great young Onondaga. +But _I_ see him, and I see him clearly. I behold a tall, strong figure, +head slightly bent against the rain, eyes that see in the dark as well +as yours see in the brightest sunlight, feet that move surely and +steadily in the path, never stumbling and never veering, tireless +muscles that carry him on without slackening." + +"Dithyrambic again, Lennox. You are certainly loyal to your friend. As +for me, I'm glad I'm not out there in the black and wet forest. No +human being can keep to his pace at such a time." + +Robert again smiled serenely, but he said nothing more. His confidence +was unlimited. Presently he wrapped around his body a rude but +serviceable overcoat of beaver skin that he had made for himself, and +went out. The cold, drizzling icy rain that creeps into one's veins +was still falling, and he shivered despite his furs. He looked toward +the northeast whither Tayoga's course took him, and he felt sorry for +his red comrade, but he never doubted that he was speeding on his way +with sure and unfaltering step. + +The sentinels, mounted on the broad plank that ran behind the +palisade, were walking to and fro, wrapped to their eyes. A month or +two earlier they might have left everything on such a night to take +care of itself, but now they knew far better. Captain Colden, with the +terrible lesson of the battle in the bush, had become a strict +disciplinarian, and Willet was always at his elbow with unobtrusive +but valuable advice which the young Philadelphian had the good sense +to welcome. + +Robert spoke to them, and one or two referred to the Indian runner who +had gone east, saying that he might have had a better night for his +start. The repetition of Wilton's words depressed Robert for a moment, +but his heart came back with a bound. Nothing could defeat +Tayoga. Did he not know his red comrade? The wilderness was like a +trimmed garden to him, and neither rain, nor hail, nor snow could stop +him. + +As he said the word "hail" to himself it came, pattering upon the dead +leaves and the palisade in a whirlwind of white pellets. Again he +shivered, and knowing it was no use to linger there returned inside, +where most of the men had already gone to sleep. He stretched himself +on his blanket and followed them in slumber. When he awoke the next +morning it was still hailing, and Wilton said in a serious tone that +he hoped Tayoga would give up the journey and come back to Fort +Refuge. + +"I like that Onondaga," he said, "and I don't want him to freeze to +death in the forest. Why, the earth and all the trees are coated with +ice now, and even if a man lives he is able to make no progress." + +Once more Robert smiled serenely. + +"You're thinking of the men you knew in Philadelphia, Will," he +said. "They, of course, couldn't make such a flight through a white +forest, but Tayoga is an altogether different kind of fellow. He'll +merely exert himself a little more, and go on as fast as ever." + +Wilton looked at the vast expanse of glittering ice, and then drew the +folds of a heavy cloak more closely about his body. + +"I rejoice," he said, "that it's the Onondaga and not myself who has +to make the great journey. I rejoice, too, that we have built this +fort. It's not Philadelphia, that fine, true, comfortable city, but +it's shelter against the hard winter that I see coming so fast." + +Colden, still following the advice of Willet, kept his men busy, +knowing that idleness bred discontent and destroyed discipline. At +least a dozen soldiers, taught by Willet and Robert, had developed +into excellent hunters, and as the game was abundant, owing to the +absence of Indians, they had killed deer, bear, panther and all the +other kinds of animals that ranged these forests. The flesh of such as +were edible was cured and stored, as they foresaw the day when many +people might be in Fort Refuge and the food would be needed. The skins +also were dressed and were put upon the floor or hung upon the +walls. The young men working hard were happy nevertheless, as they +were continually learning new arts. And the life was healthy to an +extraordinary degree. All the wounded were as whole as before, and +everybody acquired new and stronger muscles. + +Their content would have been yet greater in degree had they been able +to learn what was going on outside, in that vast world where France +and Britain and their colonies contended so fiercely for the +mastery. But they looked at the wall of the forest, and it was a +blank. They were shut away from all things as completely as Crusoe on +his island. Nor would they hear a single whisper until Tayoga came +back--if he came back. + +On the second day after the Onondaga's departure the air softened, but +became darker. The glittering white of the forest assumed a more +somber tinge, clouds marched up in solemn procession from the +southwest, and mobilized in the center of the heavens, a wind, touched +with damp, blew. Robert knew very well what the elements portended and +again he was sorry for Tayoga, but as before, after the first few +moments of discouragement his courage leaped up higher than ever. His +brilliant imagination at once painted a picture in which every detail +was vivid and full of life, and this picture was of a vast forest, +trees and bushes alike clothed in ice, and in the center of it a +slender figure, but straight, tall and strong, Tayoga himself speeding +on like the arrow from the bow, never wavering, never weary. Then his +mind allowed the picture to fade. Wilton might not believe Tayoga +could succeed, but how could this young Quaker know Tayoga as he knew +him? + +The clouds, having finished their mobilization in the center of the +heavens, soon spread to the horizon on every side. Then a single great +white flake dropped slowly and gracefully from the zenith, fell within +the palisade, and melted before the eyes of Robert and Wilton. But it +was merely a herald of its fellows which, descending at first like +skirmishers, soon thickened into companies, regiments, brigades, +divisions and armies. Then all the air was filled with the flakes, and +they were so thick they could not see the forest. + +"The first snow of the winter and a big one," said Wilton, "and again +I give thanks for our well furnished fort. There may be greater +fortresses in Europe, and of a certainty there are many more famous, +but there is none finer to me than this with its' stout log walls, its +strong, broad roofs, and its abundance of supplies. Once more, though, +I'm sorry for your friend, Tayoga. A runner may go fast over ice, if +he's extremely sure of foot and his moccasins are good, but I know of +no way in which he can speed like the gull in its flight through deep +snow." + +"Not through the snow, but he may be on it," said Robert. + +"And how on it, wise but cryptic young sir?" + +"Snow shoes." + +"But he took none with him and had none to take." + +"Which proves nothing. The Indians often hide in the forest articles +they'll need at some far day. A canoe may be concealed in a thicket at +the creek's edge, a bow and arrows may be thrust away under a ledge, +all awaiting the coming of their owner when he needs them most." + +"The chance seems too small to me, Lennox. I can't think a pair of +snow shoes will rise out of the forest just when Tayoga wants 'em, +walk up to him and say: 'Please strap us on your feet.' I make +concession freely that the Onondaga is a most wonderful fellow, but he +can't work miracles. He does not hold such complete mastery over the +wilderness that it will obey his lightest whisper. I read fairy tales +in my youth and they pleased me much, but alas! they were fairy +tales! The impossible doesn't happen!" + +"Who's the great talker now? Your words were flowing then like the +trickling of water from a spout. But you're wrong, Will, about the +impossible. The impossible often happens. Great spirits like Tayoga +love the impossible. It draws them on, it arouses their energy, they +think it worth while. I've seen Tayoga more than once since he +started, as plainly as I see you, Will. Now, I shut my eyes and I +behold him once more. He's in the forest. The snow is pouring down. It +lies a foot deep on the ground, the boughs bend with it, and sometimes +they crack under it with a report like that of a rifle. The tops of +the bushes crowned with white bend their weight toward the ground, the +panthers, the wolves, and the wildcats all lie snug in their +dens. It's a dead world save for one figure. Squarely in the center of +it I see Tayoga, bent over a little, but flying straight forward at a +speed that neither you nor I could match, Will. His feet do not sink +in the snow. He skims upon it like a swallow through the air. His feet +are encased in something long and narrow. He has on snow shoes and he +goes like the wind!" + +"You do have supreme confidence in the Onondaga, Lennox!" + +"So would you if you knew him as I do, Will, a truth I've told you +several times already." + +"But he can't provide for every emergency!" + +"Must I tell you for the twentieth time that you don't know Tayoga as +I know him?" + +"No, Lennox, but I'll wait and see what happens." + +The fall of snow lasted the entire day and the following night. The +wilderness was singularly beautiful, but it was also inaccessible, +comfortable for those in the fort, but outside the snow lay nearly two +feet deep. + +"I hope that vision of yours comes true," said Wilton to Robert, as +they looked at the forest. "They say the Highland Scotch can go into +trances or something of that kind, and look into the future, and I +believe the Indians claim the gift, but I've never heard that English +and Americans assumed the possession of such powers." + +"I'm no seer," laughed Robert. "I merely use my imagination and +produce for myself a picture of things two or three days ahead." + +"Which comes to the same thing. Well, we'll see. I take so great an +interest in the journey of your Onondaga friend that somehow I feel +myself traveling along with him." + +"I know I'm going with him or I wouldn't have seen him flying ahead on +his snow shoes. But come, Will, I've promised to teach you how to sew +buckskin with tendons and sinews, and I'm going to see that you do +it." + +The snow despite its great depth was premature, because on the fourth +day soft winds began to blow, and all the following night a warm rain +fell. It came down so fast that the whole earth was flooded, and the +air was all fog and mist. The creek rose far beyond its banks, and the +water stood in pools and lakes in the forest. + +"Now, in very truth, our friend Tayoga has been compelled to seek a +lair," said Wilton emphatically. "His snow shoes would be the +sorriest of drags upon his feet in mud and water, and without them he +will sink to his knees. The wilderness has become impassable." + +Robert laughed. + +"I see no way out of it for him," said Wilton. + +"But I do." + +"Then what, in Heaven's name, is it?" + +"I not only see the way for Tayoga, but I shut my eyes once more and I +see him using it. He has put away his snow shoes, and, going to the +thick bushes at the edge of a creek, he has taken out his hidden +canoe. He has been in it some time, and with mighty sweeps of the +paddle, that he knows so well how to use, it flies like a wild duck +over the water. Now he passes from the creek into a river flowing +eastward, and swollen by the floods to a vast width. The rain has +poured upon him, but he does not mind it. The powerful exercise with +the paddles dries his body, and sends the pleasant warmth through +every vein. His feet and ankles rest, after his long flight on the +snow shoes, and his heart swells with pleasure, because it is one of +the easiest parts of his journey. His rifle is lying by his side, and +he could seize it in a moment should an enemy appear, but the forest +on either side of the stream is deserted, and he speeds on unhindered. +There may be better canoemen in the world than Tayoga, but I doubt +it." + +"Come, come, Lennox! You go too far! I can admit the possibility of +the snow shoes and their appearance at the very moment they're needed, +but the evocation of a river and a canoe at the opportune instant puts +too high a strain upon credibility." + +"Then don't believe it unless you wish to do so," laughed Robert, "but +as for me I'm not only believing it, but I'm almost at the stage of +knowing it." + +The flood was so great that all hunting ceased for the time, and the +men stayed under shelter in the fort, while the fires were kept +burning for the sake of both warmth and cheer. But they were on the +edge of the great Ohio Valley, where changes in temperature are often +rapid and violent. The warm rain ceased, the wind came out of the +southwest cold and then colder. The logs of the buildings popped with +the contracting cold all through the following night and the next dawn +came bright, clear and still, but far below zero. The ice was thick +on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered. The trees and +bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver +mail. Breath curled away like smoke from the lips. + +"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in +the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it until a thaw +comes." + +Robert laughed with genuine amusement and also with a certain scorn. + +"I've told you many times, Will," he said, "that you didn't know all +about Tayoga, but now it seems that you know nothing about him." + +"Well, then, wherein am I wrong, Sir Robert the Omniscient?" asked +Wilton. + +"In your assumption that Tayoga would not foresee what was +coming. Having spent nearly all his life with nature he has naturally +been forced to observe all of its manifestations, even the most +delicate. And when you add to these necessities the powers of an +exceedingly strong and penetrating mind you have developed faculties +that can cope with almost anything. Tayoga foresaw this big freeze, +and I can tell you exactly what he did as accurately as if I had been +there and had seen it. He kept to the river and his canoe almost until +the first thin skim of ice began to show. Then he paddled to land, and +hid the canoe again among thick bushes. He raised it up a little on +low boughs in such a manner that it would not touch the water. Thus it +was safe from the ice, and so leaving it well hidden and in proper +condition, and situation, he sped on." + +"Of course you're a master with words, Robert, and the longer they are +the better you seem to like 'em, but how is the Onondaga to make speed +over the ice which now covers the earth? Snow shoes, I take it, would +not be available upon such a smooth and tricky surface, and, at any +rate, he has left them far behind." + +"In part of your assumption you're right, Will. Tayoga hasn't the +snow shoes now, and he wouldn't use 'em if he had 'em. He foresaw the +possibility of the freeze, and took with him in his pack a pair of +heavy moose skin moccasins with the hair on the outside. They're so +rough they do not slip on the ice, especially when they inclose the +feet of a runner, so wiry, so agile and so experienced as Tayoga. Once +more I close my eyes and I see his brown figure shooting through the +white forest. He goes even faster than he did when he had on the snow +shoes, because whenever he comes to a slope he throws himself back +upon his heels and lets himself slide down the ice almost at the speed +of a bird darting through the air." + +"If you're right, Lennox, your red friend is not merely a marvel, but +a series of marvels." + +"I'm right, Will. I do not doubt it. At the conclusion of the tenth +day when Tayoga arrives on the return from the vale of Onondaga you +will gladly admit the truth." + +"There can be no doubt about my gladness, Lennox, if it should come +true, but the elements seem to have conspired against him, and I've +learned that in the wilderness the elements count very heavily." + +"Earth, fire and water may all join against him, but at the time +appointed he will come. I know it." + +The great cold, and it was hard, fierce and bitter, lasted two +days. At night the popping of the contracting timbers sounded like a +continuous pistol fire, but Willet had foreseen everything. At his +instance, Colden had made the young soldiers gather vast quantities of +fuel long ago from a forest which was filled everywhere with dead +boughs and fallen timber, the accumulation of scores of years. + +Then another great thaw came, and the fickle climate proceeded to show +what it could do. When the thaw had been going on for a day and a +night a terrific winter hurricane broke over the forest. Trees were +shattered as if their trunks had been shot through by huge cannon +balls. Here and there long windrows were piled up, and vast areas were +a litter of broken boughs. + +"As I reckon, and allowing for the marvels you say he can perform, +Tayoga is now in the vale of Onondaga, Lennox," said Wilton. "It's +lucky that he's there in the comfortable log houses of his own people, +because a man could scarcely live in the forest in such a storm as +this, as he would be beaten to death by flying timbers." + +"This time, Will, you're wrong in both assumptions. Tayoga has +already been to the vale of Onondaga. He has spent there the half day +that he allowed to himself, and now on the return journey has left the +vale far behind him. I told you how sensitive he was to the changes of +the weather, and he knew it was coming several hours before it +arrived. He sought at once protection, probably a cleft in the rock, +or an opening of two or three feet under a stony ledge. He is lying +there now, just as snug and safe as you please, while this storm, +which covers a vast area, rages over his head. There is much that is +primeval in Tayoga, and his comfort and safety make him fairly enjoy +the storm. As he lies under the ledge with his blanket drawn around +him, he is warm and dry and his sense of comfort, contrasting his +pleasant little den with the fierce storm without, becomes one of +luxury." + +"I suppose of course, Lennox, that you can shut your eyes and see him +once more without any trouble." + +"In all truth and certainty I can, Will. He is lying on a stone shelf +with a stone ledge above him. His blanket takes away the hardness of +the stone that supports him. He sees boughs and sticks whirled past by +the storm, but none of them touches him. He hears the wind whistling +and screaming at a pitch so fierce that it would terrify one unused to +the forest, but it is only a song in the ears of Tayoga. It soothes +him, it lulls him, and knowing that he can't use the period of the +storm for traveling, he uses it for sleep, thus enabling him to take +less later on when the storm has ceased. So, after all, he loses +nothing so far as his journey is concerned. Now his lids droop, his +eyes close, and he slumbers while the storm thunders past, unable to +touch him." + +"You do have the gift, Lennox. I believe that sometimes your words are +music in your own ears, and inspire you to greater efforts. When the +war is over you must surely become a public man--one who is often +called upon to address the people." + +"We'll fight the war first," laughed Robert. + +The storm in its rise, its zenith and its decline lasted several +hours, and, when it was over, the forest looked like a wreck, but +Robert knew that nature would soon restore everything. The foliage of +next spring would cover up the ruin and new growth would take the +place of the old and broken. The wilderness, forever restoring what +was lost, always took care of itself. + +A day or two of fine, clear winter weather, not too cold, followed, +and Willet went forth to scout. He was gone until the next morning and +when he returned his face was very grave. + +"There are Indians in the forest," he said, "not friendly warriors of +the Hodenosaunee, but those allied with the enemy. I think a +formidable Ojibway band under Tandakora is there, and also other +Indians from the region of the Great Lakes. They may have started +against us some time back, but were probably halted by the bad +weather. They're in different bodies now, scattered perhaps for +hunting, but they'll reunite before long." + +"Did you see signs of any white men, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"Yes, French officers and some soldiers are with 'em, but I don't +think St. Luc is in the number. More likely it's De Courcelles and +Jumonville, whom we have such good cause to remember." + +"I hope so, Dave, I'd rather fight against those two than against +St. Luc." + +"So would I, and for several reasons. St. Luc is a better leader than +they are. They're able, but he's the best of all the French." + +That afternoon two men who ventured a short distance from Fort Refuge +were shot at, and one was wounded slightly, but both were able to +regain the little fortress. Willet slipped out again, and reported the +forest swarming with Indians, although there was yet no indication of +a preconcerted attack. Still, it was well for the garrison to keep +close and take every precaution. + +"And this shuts out Tayoga," said Wilton regretfully to Robert. "He +may make his way through rain and flood and sleet and snow and +hurricane, but he can never pass those watchful hordes of Indians in +the woods." + +Once more the Onondaga's loyal friend laughed. "The warriors turn +Tayoga back, Will?" he said. "He will pass through 'em just as if +they were not there. The time will be up day after tomorrow at noon, +and then he will be here." + +"Even if the Indians move up and besiege us in regular form?" + +"Even that, and even anything else. At noon day after tomorrow Tayoga +will be here." + +Another man who went out to bring in a horse that had been left +grazing near the fort was fired upon, not with rifles or muskets but +with arrows, and grazed in the shoulder. He had, however, the presence +of mind to spring upon the animal's back and gallop for Fort Refuge, +where the watchful Willet threw open the gate to the stockade, let him +in, then quickly closed and barred it fast. A long fierce whining cry, +the war whoop, came from the forest. + +"The siege has closed in already," said Robert, "and it's well that we +have no other men outside." + +"Except Tayoga," said Wilton. + +"The barrier of the red army doesn't count so far as Tayoga is +concerned. How many times must I tell you, Will, that Tayoga will come +at the time appointed?" + +After the shout from the woods there was a long silence that weighed +upon the young soldiers, isolated thus in the wintry and desolate +wilderness. They were city men, used to the streets and the sounds of +people, and their situation had many aspects that were weird and +appalling. They were hundreds of miles from civilization, and around +them everywhere stretched a black forest, hiding a tenacious and cruel +foe. But on the other hand their stockade was stout, they had plenty +of ammunition, water and provisions, and one victory already to their +credit. After the first moments of depression they recalled their +courage and eagerly awaited an attack. + +But the attack did not come and Robert knew it would not be made, at +least not yet. The Indians were too wary to batter themselves to +pieces against the palisade, and the Frenchmen with them, skilled in +forest war, would hold them back. + +"Perhaps they've gone away, realizing that we're too strong for 'em," +said Wilton. + +"That's just what we must guard against," said Robert. "The Indian +fights with trick and stratagem. He always has more time than the +white man, and he is wholly willing to wait. They want us to think +they've left, and then they'll cut off the incautious." + +The afternoon wore on, and the silence which had grown oppressive +persisted. A light pleasant wind blew through the forest, which was +now dry, and the dead bark and wintry branches rustled. To many of the +youths it became a forest of gloom and threat, and they asked +impatiently why the warriors did not come out and show themselves like +men. Certainly, it did not become Frenchmen, if they were there to +lurk in the woods and seek ambush. + +Willet was the pervading spirit of the defense. Deft in word and +action, acknowledging at all times that Colden was the commander, thus +saving the young Philadelphian's pride in the presence of his men, he +contrived in an unobtrusive way to direct everything. The guards were +placed at suitable intervals about the palisade, and were instructed +to fire at anything suspicious, the others were compelled to stay in +the blockhouse and take their ease, in order that their nerves might +be steady and true, when the time for battle came. The cooks were also +instructed to prepare an unusually bountiful supper for them. + +Robert was Willet's right hand. Next to the hunter he knew most about +the wilderness, and the ways of its red people. There was no +possibility that the Indians had gone. Even if they did not undertake +to storm the fort they would linger near it, in the hope of cutting +off men who came forth incautiously, and at night, especially if it +happened to be dark, they would be sure to come very close. + +The palisade was about eight feet high, and the men stood on a +horizontal plank three feet from the ground, leaving only the head to +project above the shelter, and Willet warned them to be exceedingly +careful when the twilight came, since the besiegers would undoubtedly +use the darkness as a cover for sharp-shooting. Then both he and +Robert looked anxiously at the sun, which was just setting behind the +black waste. + +"The night will be dark," said the hunter, "and that's bad. I'm afraid +some of our sentinels will be picked off. Robert, you and I must not +sleep until tomorrow. We must stay on watch here all the while." + +As he predicted, the night came down black and grim. Vast banks of +darkness rolled up close to the palisade, and the forest showed but +dimly. Then the warriors proved to the most incredulous that they had +not gone far away. Scattered shots were fired from the woods, and one +sentinel who in spite of warnings thrust his head too high above the +palisade, received a bullet through it falling back dead. It was a +terrible lesson, but afterwards the others took no risks, although +they were anxious to fire on hostile figures that their fancy saw for +them among the trees. Willet, Robert and Colden compelled them to +withhold their fire until a real and tangible enemy appeared. + +Later in the night burning arrows were discharged in showers and fell +within the palisade, some on the buildings. But they had pails, and an +unfailing spring, and they easily put out the flames, although one man +was struck and suffered both a burn and a bruise. + +Toward midnight a terrific succession of war whoops came, and a great +number of warriors charged in the darkness against the palisade. The +garrison was ready, and, despite the darkness, poured forth such a +fierce fire that in a few minutes the horde vanished, leaving behind +several still forms which they stole away later. Another of the young +Philadelphians was killed, and before dawn he and his comrade who had +been slain earlier in the evening were buried behind the blockhouse. + +At intervals in the remainder of the night the warriors fired either +arrows or bullets, doing no farther damage except the slight wounding +of one man, and when day came Willet and Robert, worn to the bone, +sought a little rest and sleep in the blockhouse. They knew that +Golden could not be surprised while the sun was shining, and that the +savages were not likely to attempt anything serious until the +following night So they felt they were not needed for the present. + +Robert slept until nearly noon, when he ate heartily of the abundant +food one of the young cooks had prepared, and learned that beyond an +occasional arrow or bullet the forest had given forth no threat. His +own spirits rose high with the day, which was uncommonly brilliant, +with a great sun shining in the center of the heavens, and not a cloud +in the sky. Wilton was near the blockhouse and was confident about +the siege, but worried about Tayoga. + +"You tell me that the Indians won't go away," he said, "and if you're +right, and I think you are, the Onondaga is surely shut off from Fort +Refuge." + +Robert smiled. + +"I tell you for the last time that he will come at the appointed +hour," he said. + +A long day began. Hours that seemed days in themselves passed, and +quiet prevailed in the forest, although the young soldiers no longer +had any belief that the warriors had gone away. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RETURN + + +It was near the close of a day that had been marked by little +demonstration from the enemy, and the young officers, growing used to +the siege, attained a philosophical state of mind. They felt sure they +could hold the palisade against any number of enemies, and the +foresight of Willet, Robert and Tayoga had been so great that by no +possibility could they be starved out. They began now to have a +certain exultation. They were inside comfortable walls, with plenty +to eat and drink, while the enemy was outside and must forage for +game. + +"If it were not for Tayoga," said Wilton to Robert, "I should feel +more than satisfied with the situation. But the fate of your Onondaga +friend sticks in my mind. Mr. Willet, who knows everything, says we're +surrounded completely, and I don't wish him to lose his life in an +attempt to get through at a certain time, merely on a point of honor." + +"It's no point of honor, Will. It's just the completion of a plan at +the time and place chosen. Do you see anything in that tall tree to +the east of the palisade?" + +"Something appears to be moving up the trunk, but as it's on the far +side, I catch only a glimpse of it." + +"That's an Indian warrior, seeking a place for a shot at us. He'll +reach the high fork, but he'll always keep well behind the body of the +tree. It's really too far for a bullet, but I think it would be wise +for us to slip back under cover." + +The sharpshooter reached his desired station and fired, but his bullet +fell short. He tried three more, all without avail, and then Willet +picked him off with his long and deadly rifle. Robert shut his eyes +when he saw the body begin its fall, but his vivid imagination, so +easily excited, made him hear its thump when it struck the earth. + +"And so ends that attempt!" he said. + +An hour later he saw a white flag among the trees, and when Willet +mounted the palisade two French officers came forward. Robert saw at +once that they were De Courcelles and Jumonville, and his heart beat +hard. They linked him with Quebec, in which he had spent some +momentous days, and despite their treachery to him he did not feel +hatred of them at that moment. + +"Will you stay with me, Mr. Willet, and you also, Mr. Lennox, while I +talk to them?" asked Captain Colden. "You know these Frenchmen better +than I do, and their experience is so much greater than mine that I +need your help." + +Robert and the hunter assented gladly. Robert, in truth, was very +curious to hear what these old friends and enemies of his had to say, +and he felt a thrill when the two recognized and saluted him in the +most friendly fashion, just as if they had never meant him any harm. + +"Chance brings about strange meetings between us, Mr. Lennox," said De +Courcelles. "It gives me pleasure to note that you have not yet taken +any personal harm from our siege." + +"Nor you nor Monsieur de Jumonville, from our successful defense," +replied Robert in the same spirit. + +"You have us there. The points so far are in your favor, although only +superficially so, as I shall make clear to you presently." + +Then De Courcelles turned his attention to Colden, who he saw was the +nominal leader of the garrison. + +"My name," he said, "is Auguste de Courcelles, a colonel in the +service of His Majesty, King Louis of France. My friend is Captain +Francois de Jumonville, and we have the honor to lead the numerous and +powerful force of French and Indians now besieging you." + +"And my name is Colden, Captain James Colden," replied the young +officer. "I've heard of you from my friends, Mr. Lennox and +Mr. Willet, and I have the honor of asking you what I can do for you." + +"You cannot do for us more than you can do for yourself, Captain +Colden. We ask the surrender of your little fort, and of your little +garrison, which we freely admit has defended itself most +gallantly. It's not necessary for us to make an assault. You're deep +in the wilderness, we can hold you here all winter, and help cannot +possibly come to you. We guarantee you good treatment in Canada, where +you will be held until the war is over." + +Young Colden smiled. They were standing before the single gate in the +palisade, and he looked back at the solid buildings, erected by the +hands of his own men, with the comfortable smoke curling up against +the cold sky. And he looked also at the wintry forest that curved in +every direction. + +"Colonel de Courcelles," he said, "it seems to me that we are in and +you are out. If it comes to holding us here all winter we who have +good houses can stand it much better than you who merely have the +forest as a home, where you will be rained upon, snowed upon, hailed +upon, and maybe frozen. Why should we exchange our warm house for your +cold forest?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned. There was a humorous inflection in +Colden's tone that did not please him, and the young officer's words +also had a strong element of truth. + +"It's not a time to talk about houses and forests," he said, somewhat +haughtily. "We have here a formidable force capable of carrying your +fort, and, for that reason, we demand your surrender. Indians are +always inflamed by a long and desperate resistance and while Captain +de Jumonville and I will do our best to restrain them, it's possible +that they may escape from our control in the hour of victory." + +Young Colden smiled again. With Willet at his right hand and Robert at +his left, he acquired lightness of spirit. + +"A demand and a threat together," he replied. "For the threat we +don't care. We don't believe you'll ever see that hour of victory in +which you can't control your Indians, and there'll be no need for you, +Colonel de Courcelles, to apologize for a massacre committed by your +allies, and which you couldn't help. We're also growing used to +requests of surrender. + +"There was your countryman, St. Luc, a very brave and skillful man, who +asked it of us, but we declined, and in the end we defeated him. And +if we beat St. Luc without the aid of a strong fort, why shouldn't we +beat you with it, Colonel de Courcelles?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned once more, and Captain de Jumonville +frowned with him. + +"You don't know the wilderness, Captain Colden," he said, "and you +don't give our demand the serious consideration to which it is +entitled. Later on, the truth of what I tell you may bear heavily upon +you." + +"I may not know the forest as you do, Colonel de Courcelles, but I +have with me masters of woodcraft, Mr. Lennox and Mr. Willet, with +whom you're already acquainted." + +"We've had passages of various kinds with Colonel de Courcelles, both +in the forest and at Quebec," said Robert, quietly. + +Both De Courcelles and Jumonville flushed, and it became apparent that +they were anxious to end the interview. + +"This, I take it, is your final answer," the French Colonel said to +the young Philadelphia captain. + +"It is, sir." + +"Then what may occur rests upon the knees of the gods." + +"It does, sir, and I'm as willing as you to abide by the result." + +"And I have the honor of bidding you good day." + +"An equally great honor is mine." + +The two French officers were ceremonious. They lifted their fine, +three-cornered hats, and bowed politely, and Colden, Willet and Robert +were not inferior in courtesy. Then the Frenchmen walked away into the +forest, while the three Americans went inside the palisade, where the +heavy gate was quickly shut behind them and fastened securely. But +before he turned back Robert thought he saw the huge figure of +Tandakora in the forest. + +When the French officers disappeared several shots were fired and the +savages uttered a long and menacing war whoop, but the young soldiers +had grown used to such manifestations, and, instead of being +frightened, they felt a certain defiant pleasure. + +"Yells don't hurt us," said Wilton to Robert. "Instead I feel my +Quaker blood rising in anger, and I'd rejoice if they were to attack +now. A very heavy responsibility rests upon me, Robert, since I've to +fight not only for myself but for my ancestors who wouldn't fight at +all. It rests upon me, one humble youth, to bring up the warlike +average of the family." + +"You're one, Will, but you're not humble," laughed Robert. "I believe +that jest of yours about the still, blood of generations bursting +forth in you at last is not a jest wholly. When it comes to a pitched +battle I expect to see you perform prodigies of valor." + +"If I do it won't be Will Wilton, myself, and I won't be entitled to +any credit. I'll be merely an instrument in the hands of fate, working +out the law of averages. But what do you think those French officers +and their savage allies will do now, Robert, since Colden, so to +speak, has thrown a very hard glove in their faces?" + +"Draw the lines tighter about Fort Refuge. It's cold in the forest, +but they can live there for a while at least. They'll build fires and +throw up a few tepees, maybe for the French. But their anger and their +desire to take us will make them watch all the more closely. They'll +draw tight lines around this snug little, strong little fort of ours." + +"Which removes all possibility that your friend Tayoga will come at +the appointed time." + +Robert glared at him. + +"Will," he said, "I've discovered that you have a double nature, +although the two are never struggling for you at the same time." + +"That is I march tandem with my two natures, so to speak?" + +"They alternate. At times you're a sensible boy." + +"Boy? I'm older than you are!" + +"One wouldn't think it. But a well bred Quaker never interrupts. As I +said, you're quite sensible at times and you ought to thank me for +saying so. At other times your mind loves folly. It fairly swims and +dives in the foolish pool, and it dives deepest when you're talking +about Tayoga. I trust, foolish young, sir, that I've heard the last +word of folly from you about the arrival of Tayoga, or rather what you +conceive will be his failure to arrive. Peace, not a word!" + +"At least let me say this," protested Wilton. "I wish that I could +feel the absolute confidence in any human being that you so obviously +have in the Onondaga." + +The night came, white and beautiful. It was white, because the Milky +Way was at its brightest, which was uncommonly bright, and every star +that ever showed itself in that latitude came out and danced. The +heavens were full of them, disporting themselves in clusters on +spangled seas, and the forest was all in light, paler than that of +day, but almost as vivid. + +The Indians lighted several fires, well beyond rifle shot, and the +sentinels on the palisade distinctly saw their figures passing back +and forth before the blaze Robert also noticed the uniforms of +Frenchmen, and he thought it likely that De Courcelles and Jumonville +had with them more soldiers than he had supposed at first. The fires +burned at different points of the compass, and thus the fort was +encircled completely by them. Both young Lennox and Willet knew they +had been lighted that way purposely, that is in order to show to the +defenders that a belt of fire and steel was drawn close about them. + +To Wilton at least the Indian circle seemed impassable, and despite +the enormous confidence of Robert he now had none at all himself. It +was impossible for Tayoga, even if he had triumphed over sleet and +snow and flood and storm, to pass so close a siege. He would not +speak of it again, but Robert had allowed himself to be deluded by +friendship. He felt sorry for his new friend, and he did not wish to +see his disappointment on the morrow. + +Wilton was in charge of the guard until midnight, and then he slept +soundly until dawn, awakening to a brilliant day, the fit successor of +such a brilliant night. The Indian fires were still burning and he +could see the warriors beside them sleeping or eating at leisure. +They still formed a complete circle about the fort, and while the +young Quaker felt safe inside the palisade, he saw no chance for a +friend outside. Robert joined him presently but, respecting his +feelings, the Philadelphian said nothing about Tayoga. + +The winter, it seemed, was exerting itself to show how fine a day it +could produce. It was cold but dazzling. A gorgeous sun, all red and +gold, was rising, and the light was so vivid and intense that they +could see far in the forest, bare of leaf. Robert clearly discerned +both De Courcelles and Jumonville about six hundred yards away, +standing by one of the fires. Then he saw the gigantic figure of +Tandakora, as the Ojibway joined them. Despite the cold, Tandakora +wore little but the breechcloth, and his mighty chest and shoulders +were painted with many hideous devices. In the distance and in the +glow of the flames his size was exaggerated until he looked like one +of the giants of ancient mythology. + +Robert was quite sure the siege would never be raised if the voice of +the Ojibway prevailed in the allied French and Indian councils. +Tandakora had been wounded twice, once by the hunter and once by the +Onondaga, and a mind already inflamed against the Americans and the +Hodenosaunee cherished a bitter personal hate. Robert knew that +Willet, Tayoga and he must be eternally on guard against his murderous +attacks. + +The savages built their fires higher, as if in defiance and +triumph. They could defend themselves against cold, because the forest +furnished unending fuel, but rain or hail, sleet or snow would bring +severe hardship. The day, however, favored them to the utmost. It +had seemed at dawn that it could not be more brilliant, but as the +morning advanced the world fairly glowed with color. The sky was +golden save in the east, where it burned in red, and the trunks and +black boughs of the forest, to the last and least little twig, were +touched with it until they too were clothed in a luminous glow. + +The besiegers seemed lazy, but Robert knew that the watch upon the +fort and its approaches was never neglected for an instant. A fox +could not steal through their lines, unseen, and yet he never doubted. +Tayoga would come, and moreover he would come at the time +appointed. Toward the middle of the morning the Indians shot some +arrows that fell inside the palisade, and uttered a shout or two of +defiance, but nobody was hurt, and nobody was stirred to action. The +demonstration passed unanswered, and, after a while, Wilton called +Robert's attention to the fact that it was only two hours until +noon. Robert did not reply, but he knew that the conditions could not +be more unfavorable. Rain or hail, sleet or snow might cover the +passage of a warrior, but the dazzling sunlight that enlarged twigs +two hundred yards away into boughs, seemed to make all such efforts +vain. Yet he knew Tayoga, and he still believed. + +Soon a stir came in the forest, and they heard a long, droning +chant. A dozen warriors appeared coming out of the north, and they +were welcomed with shouts by the others. + +"Hurons, I think," said Willet. "Yes, I'm sure of it. They've +undoubtedly sent away for help, and it's probable that other bands +will come about this time." He reckoned right, as in half an hour a +detachment of Abenakis came, and they too were received with approving +shouts, after which food was given to them and they sat luxuriously +before the fires. Then three runners arrived, one from the north, one +from the west, and one from the east, and a great shout of welcome was +uttered for each. + +"What does it mean?" Wilton asked Robert. + +"The runners were sent out by De Courcelles and Tandakora to rally +more strength for our siege. They've returned with the news that +fresh forces are coming, as the exultant shout from the warriors +proves." + +The young Philadelphian's heart sank. He knew that it was only a half +hour until noon, and noon was the appointed time. Nor did the heavens +give any favoring sign. The whole mighty vault was a blaze of gold and +blue. Nothing could stir in such a light and remain hidden from the +warriors. Wilton looked at his comrade and he caught a sudden glitter +in his eyes. It was not the look of one who despaired. Instead it was +a flash of triumph, and the young Philadelphian wondered. Had Robert +seen a sign, a sign that had escaped all others? He searched the +forest everywhere with his own eyes, but he could detect nothing +unusual. There were the French, and there were the Indians. There were +the new warriors, and there were the three runners resting by the +fires. + +The runners rose presently, and the one who had come out of the north +talked with Tandakora, the one who had come out of the west stood near +the edge of the forest with an Abenaki chief and looked at the +fort. The one who had come out of the east joined De Courcelles +himself and they came nearer to the fort than any of the others, +although they remained just beyond rifle shot. Evidently De Courcelles +was explaining something to the Indian as once he pointed toward the +blockhouse. + +Wilton heard Robert beside him draw a deep breath, and he turned in +surprise. The face of young Lennox was tense and his eyes fairly +blazed as he gazed at De Courcelles and the warrior. Then looking back +at the forest Robert uttered a sudden sharp, Ah! the release of +uncontrollable emotion, snapping like a pistol shot. + +"Did you see it, Will? Did you see it?" he exclaimed. "It was quicker +than lightning!" + +The Indian runner stooped, snatched the pistol from the belt of De +Courcelles, struck him such a heavy blow on the head with the butt of +it that he fell without a sound, and then his brown body shot forward +like an arrow for the fort. + +"Open the gate! Open the gate!" thundered Willet, and strong arms +unbarred it and flung it back in an instant. The brown body of Tayoga +flashed through, and, in another instant, it was closed and barred +again. + +"He is here with five minutes to spare!" said Robert as he left the +palisade with Wilton, and went toward the blockhouse to greet his +friend. + +Tayoga, painted like a Micmac and stooping somewhat hitherto, drew +himself to his full height, held out his hand in the white man's +fashion to Robert, while his eyes, usually so calm, showed a passing +gleam of triumph. + +"I said, Tayoga, that you would be back on time, that is by noon +today," said Robert, "and though the task has been hard you're with us +and you have a few minutes to spare. How did you deceive the sharp +eyes of Tandakora?" + +"I did not let him see me, knowing he would look through my disguise, +but I asked the French colonel to come forward with me at once and +inspect the fort, knowing that it was my only chance to enter here, +and he agreed to do so. You saw the rest, and thus I have come. It is +not pleasant to those who besiege us, as your ears tell you." + +Fierce yells of anger and disappointment were rising in the +forest. Jumonville and two French soldiers had rushed forward, seized +the reviving De Courcelles and were carrying him to one of the fires, +where they would bind up his injured head. But inside the fort there +was only exultation at the arrival of Tayoga and admiration for his +skill. He insisted first on being allowed to wash off the Micmac +paint, enabling him to return to his true character. Then he took food +and drink. + +"Tayoga," said Wilton, "I believed you could not come. I said so often +to Lennox. You would never have known my belief, because Lennox would +not have told it to you, but I feel that I must apologize to you for +the thought. I underrated you, but I underrated you because I did not +believe any human being could do what you have done." + +Tayoga smiled, showing his splendid white teeth. "Your thoughts did +me no wrong," he said in his precise school English, "because the +elements and chance itself seemed to have conspired against me." + +Later he told what he had heard in the vale of Onondaga where the +sachems and chiefs kept themselves well informed concerning the +movements of the belligerent nations. The French were still the more +active of the rival powers, and their energy and conquests were +bringing the western tribes in great numbers to their flag. Throughout +the Ohio country the warriors were on the side of the French who were +continuing the construction of the powerful fortress at the junction +of the Alleghany and the Monongahela. The French were far down in the +province of New York, and they held control of Lake Champlain and of +Lake George also. More settlements had been cut off, and more women +and children had been taken prisoners into Canada. + +But the British colonies and Great Britain too would move, so Tayoga +said. They were slow, much slower than Canada, but they had the +greater strength and the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga knew +it. They could not be moved from their attitude of friendliness toward +the English, and the Mohawks openly espoused the English side. The +American, Franklin, was very active, and a great movement against Fort +Duquesne would be begun, although it might not start until next +spring. An English force under an English general was coming across +the sea, and the might of England was gathering for a great blow. + +The Onondaga had few changes in the situation to report, but he at +least brought news of the outside world, driving away from the young +soldiers the feeling that they were cut off from the human +race. Wilton was present when he was telling of these things and when +he had finished Robert asked: + +"How did you make your way through the great snow, Tayoga?" + +"It is well to think long before of difficulties," he replied. "Last +year when the winter was finished I hid a pair of snow shoes in this +part of the forest, and when the deep snow came I found them and used +them." + +Robert glanced at Wilton, whose eyes were widening. + +"And the great rain and flood, how did you meet that obstacle?" asked +Robert. + +"That, too, was forethought. I have two canoes hidden in this region, +and it was easy to reach one of them, in which I traveled with speed +and comfort, until I could use it no longer. Then I hid it away again +that it might help me another time." + +"And what did you do when the hurricane came, tearing up the bushes, +cutting down the trees, and making the forest as dangerous as if it +were being showered by cannon balls?" + +"I crept under a wide ledge of stone in the side of a hill, where I +lay snug, dry and safe." + +Wilton looked at Tayoga and Robert, and then back at the Onondaga. + +"Is this wizardry?" he cried. + +"No," replied Robert. + +"Then it's singular chance." + +"Nor that either. It was the necessities that confronted Tayoga in the +face of varied dangers, and my knowledge of what he would be likely to +do in either case. Merely a rather fortunate use of the reasoning +faculties, Will." + +Willet, who had come in, smiled. + +"Don't let 'em make game of you, Mr. Wilton," he said, "but there's +truth in what Robert tells you. He understands Tayoga so thoroughly +that he knows pretty well what he'll do in every crisis." + +After the Onondaga had eaten he wrapped himself in blankets, went to +sleep in one of the rooms of the blockhouse and slept twenty-four +hours. When he awoke he showed no signs of his tremendous journey and +infinite dangers. He was once more the lithe and powerful Tayoga of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee. + +The besiegers meanwhile undertook no movement, but, as if in defiance, +they increased the fires in the red ring around the fort and they +showed themselves ostentatiously. Robert several times saw De +Courcelles with a thick bandage about his head, and he knew that the +Frenchman's mortification and rage at being tricked so by the Onondaga +must be intense. + +Now the weather began to grow very cold again, and Robert saw the +number of tepees in the forest increase. The Indians, not content +with the fires, were providing themselves with good shelters, and to +every one it indicated a long siege. There was neither snow, nor hail, +but clear, bitter, intense cold, and again the timbers of the +blockhouse and outbuildings popped as they contracted under the lower +temperature. + +The horses were pretty well sheltered from the cold, and Willet, with +his usual foresight, had suggested before the siege closed in that a +great deal of grass be cut for them, though should the French and +Indians hang on for a month or two, they would certainly become a +problem. Food for the men would last indefinitely, but a time might +arrive when none would be left for the horses. + +"If the pinch comes," said Willet, "we know how to relieve it." + +"How?" asked Colden. + +"We'll eat the horses." + +Colden made a wry face. + +"It's often been done in Europe," said the hunter. "At the famous +sieges of Leyden and Haarlem, when the Dutch held out so long against +the Spanish, they'd have been glad enough to have had horseflesh." + +"I look ahead again," said Robert, hiding a humorous gleam in his eyes +from Colden, "and I see a number of young men behind a palisade which +they have held gallantly for months. They come mostly from +Philadelphia and they call themselves Quakers. They are thin, awfully +thin, terribly thin, so thin that there is scarcely enough to make a +circle for their belts. They have not eaten for four days, and they +are about to kill their last horse. When he is gone they will have to +live on fresh air and scenery." + +"Now I know Lennox that you're drawing on your imagination and that +you're a false prophet," said Colden. + +"I hope my prediction won't come true, and I don't believe it will," +said Robert cheerfully. + +Several nights later when there was no moon, and no stars, Willet and +Tayoga slipped out of the fort. Colden was much opposed to their +going, fearing for their lives, and knowing, too, how great a loss +they would be if they were taken or slain, but the hunter and the +Onondaga showed the utmost confidence, assuring him they would return +in safety. + +Colden became quite uneasy for them after they had been gone some +hours, and Robert, although he refused to show it, felt a trace of +apprehension. He knew their great skill in the forest, but Tandakora +was a master of woodcraft too, and the Frenchmen also were experienced +and alert. As he, Colden, Wilton and Carson watched at the palisade he +was in fear lest a triumphant shout from the Indian lines would show +that the hunter and the Onondaga had been trapped. + +But the long hours passed without an alarm and about three o'clock in +the morning two shadows appeared at the palisade and whispered to +them. Robert felt great relief as Willet and Tayoga climbed silently +over. + +"We're half frozen," said the hunter. "Take us into the blockhouse and +over the fire we'll tell you all we've seen." + +They always kept a bed of live coals on the hearth in the main +building, and the two who had returned bent over the grateful heat, +warming their hands and faces. Not until they were in a normal +physical condition did Colden or Robert ask them any questions and +then Willet said: + +"Their ring about the fort is complete, but in the darkness we were +able to slip through and then back again. I should judge that they +have at least three hundred warriors and Tandakora is first among +them. There are about thirty Frenchmen. De Courcelles has taken off +his bandage, but he still has a bruise where Tayoga struck +him. Peeping from the bushes I saw him and his face has grown more +evil. It was evident to me that the blow of Tayoga has inflamed his +mind. He feels mortified and humiliated at the way in which he was +outwitted, and, as Tandakora also nurses a personal hatred against us, +it's likely that they'll keep up the siege all winter, if they think +in the end they can get us. + +"Their camp, too, shows increasing signs of permanency. They've built +a dozen bark huts in which all the French, all the chiefs and some of +the warriors sleep, and there are skin lodges for the rest. Oh, it's +quite a village! And they've accumulated game, too, for a long time." + +Colden looked depressed. + +"We're not fulfilling our mission," he said. "We've come out here to +protect the settlers on the border, and give them a place of +refuge. Instead, it looks as if we'd pass the winter fighting for our +own lives." + +"I think I have a plan," said Robert, who had been very thoughtful. + +"What is it?" asked Colden. + +"I remember something I read in our Roman history in the school at +Albany. It was an event that happened a tremendously long time ago, +but I fancy it's still useful as an example. Scipio took his army over +to Africa to meet Hannibal, and one night his men set fire to the +tents of the Carthaginians. They destroyed their camp, created a +terrible tumult, and inflicted great losses." + +Tayoga's eyes glistened. + +"Then you mean," he said, "that we are to burn the camp of the French +and their allies?" + +"No less." + +"It is a good plan. If Great Bear and the captain agree to it we will +do it." + +"It's fearfully risky," said Colden. + +"If Great Bear and I can go out once and come back safely," said +Tayoga, "we can do it twice." + +The young captain looked at Willet. + +"It's the best plan," said the hunter. "Robert hasn't read his Roman +history in vain." + +"Then it's agreed," said Colden, "and as soon as another night as dark +as this comes we'll try it." + +The plan being formed, they waited a week before a night, pitchy +black, arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RED WEAPON + + +The night was admirably suited to their purpose--otherwise they would +not have dared to leave Fort Refuge--and Willet, Tayoga and Robert +alone undertook the task. Wilton, Carson and others were anxious to +go, but, as an enterprise of such great danger required surpassing +skill, the three promptly ruled them out. The hunter and young Lennox +would have disguised themselves as Indians, but as they did not have +any paint in the fort they were compelled to go forth in their own +garb. + +The cold had softened greatly, and, as heavy clouds had come with it, +there was promise of snow, which in truth the three hoped would fall, +since it would be an admirable cloak for their purpose. But in any +event theirs was to be a perilous path, and Colden shook hands with +the three as they lowered themselves softly from the palisade. + +"Come back," he whispered. "If you find the task too dangerous let it +go and return at once. We need you here in the fort." + +"We'll come back as victors," Robert replied with confidence. Then he +and his comrades crouched, close against the palisade and +listened. The Indian fires showed dimly in the heavy dusk, and they +knew that sentinels were on watch in the woods, but still keeping in +the shadow of the palisade they went to the far side, where the Indian +line was thinner. Then they dropped to hand and knee and crept toward +the forest. + +They stopped at intervals, lying flat upon the ground, looking with +all their eyes and listening with all their ears. They saw ahead but +one fire, apparently about four hundred yards away, and they heard +only a light damp wind rustling the dry boughs and bushes. But they +knew they could not afford to relax their caution by a hair, and they +continued a slow creeping progress until they reached the woods. Then +they rested on their elbows in a thicket, and took long breaths of +relief. They had been a quarter of an hour in crossing the open and it +was an immense relief to sit up again. They kept very close together, +while their muscles recovered elasticity, and still used their eyes +and ears to the utmost. It was impossible to say that a warrior was +not near crouching in the thicket as they were, and they did not +intend to run any useless risk. Moreover, if the alarm were raised +now, they would escape into the fort, and await another chance. + +But they neither heard nor saw a hostile presence. In truth, they saw +nothing that betokened a siege, save the dim light flickering several +hundred yards ahead of them, and they resumed their advance, bent so +low that they could drop flat at the first menace. Their eyes looked +continually for a sentinel, but they saw none. + +"Don't you think the wind is rising a bit, Tayoga?" whispered the +hunter. + +"Yes," replied the Onondaga. + +"And it feels damper to the face?" + +"Yes, Great Bear." + +"And it doesn't mean rain, because the air's too cold, but it does +mean snow, for which the air is just right, and I think it's coming, +as the clouds grow thicker and thicker all the time." + +"Which proves that we are favored. Tododaho from his great and shining +star, that we cannot see tonight, looks down upon us and will help us, +since we have tried to do the things that are right. We wish the snow +to come, because we wish a veil about us, while we confound our +enemies, and Tododaho will send it." + +He spoke devoutly and Robert admired and respected his faith, the +center of which was Manitou, and Manitou in the mind of the Christian +boy was the same as God. He also shared the faith of Tayoga that +Tododaho would wrap the snow like a white robe about them to hide them +from their enemies. Meanwhile the three crept slowly toward the fire, +and Robert felt something damp brush his face. It was the first flake +of snow, and Tododaho, on his shining star, was keeping his unspoken +promise. + +Tayoga looked up toward the point in the heavens where the great +chief's star shone on clear nights, and, even in the dark, Robert saw +the spiritual exaltation on his face. The Onondaga never doubted for +an instant. The mighty chief who had gone away four centuries ago had +answered the prayer made to him by one of his loyal children, and was +sending the snow that it might be a veil before them while they +destroyed the camp of their enemies. The soul of Tayoga leaped +up. They had received a sign. They were in the care of Tododaho and +they could not fail. + +Another flake fell on Robert's face and a third followed, and then +they came down in a white and gentle stream that soon covered him, +Willet and Tayoga and hung like a curtain before them. He looked back +toward the fort, but the veil there also hung between and he could not +see it. Then he looked again, and the dim fire had disappeared in the +white mist. + +"Will it keep their huts and lodges from burning?" he whispered to +the hunter. + +Willet shook his head. + +"If we get a fire started well," he said, "the snow will seem to feed +it rather than put it out. It's going to help us in more ways than +one, too. I'd expected that we'd have to use flint and steel to touch +off our blaze, but as they're likely to leave their own fire and seek +shelter, maybe we can get a torch there. Now, you two boys keep close +to me and we'll approach that fire, or the place where it was." + +They continued a cautious advance, their moccasins making no sound in +the soft snow, all objects invisible at a distance of twelve or +fifteen feet. Yet they saw one Indian warrior on watch, although he +did not see or hear them. He was under the boughs of a small tree and +was crouched against the trunk, protecting himself as well as he could +from the tumbling flakes. He was a Huron, a capable warrior with his +five senses developed well, and in normal times he was ambitious and +eager for distinction in his wilderness world, but just now he did not +dream that any one from the fort could be near. So the three passed +him, unsuspected, and drew close to the fire, which now showed as a +white glow through the dusk, sufficient proof that it was still +burning. Further progress proved that the warriors had abandoned it +for shelter, and they left the next task to Tayoga. + +The Onondaga lay down in the snow and crept forward until he reached +the fire, where he paused and waited two or three minutes to see that +his presence was not detected. Then he took three burning sticks and +passed them back swiftly to his comrades. Willet had already discerned +the outline of a bark hut on his right and Robert had made out another +on his left. Just beyond were skin tepees. They must now act quickly, +and each went upon his chosen way. + +Robert approached the hut on the left from the rear, and applied the +torch to the wall which was made of dry and seasoned bark. Despite the +snow, it ignited at once and burned with extraordinary speed. The +roar of flames from the right showed that the hunter had done as well, +and a light flash among the skin tepees was proof that Tayoga was not +behind them. + +The besieging force was taken completely by surprise. The three had +imitated to perfection the classic example of Scipio's soldiers in the +Carthaginian camp. The confusion was terrible as French and Indians +rushed for their lives from the burning huts and lodges into the +blinding snow, where they saw little, and, for the present, understood +less. Tayoga who, in the white dusk readily passed for one of their +own, slipped here and there, continually setting new fires, traveling +in a circle about the fort, while Robert and Willet kept near him, but +on the inner side of the circle and well behind the veil of snow. + +The huts and lodges burned fiercely. Where they stood thickest each +became a lofty pyramid of fire and then blended into a mighty mass of +flames, forming an intense red core in the white cloud of falling +snow. French soldiers and Indian warriors ran about, seeking to save +their arms, ammunition and stores, but they were not always +successful. Several explosions showed that the flames had reached +powder, and Robert laughed to himself in pleasure. The destruction of +their powder was a better result than he had hoped or foreseen. + +The hunter uttered a low whistle and Tayoga throwing down his torch, +at once joined him and Robert who had already cast theirs far from +them. + +"Back to the fort!" said Willet. "We've already done 'em damage they +can't repair in a long time, and maybe we've broken up their camp for +the winter! What a godsend the snow was!" + +"It was Tododaho who sent it," said Tayoga, reverently. "They almost +make a red ring around our fort. We have succeeded because the mighty +chief, the founder of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who went +away to his star four centuries ago, willed for us to succeed. How +splendidly the fires burn! Not a hut, not a lodge will be left!" + +"And it's time for us to be going," said the hunter. "Men like De +Courcelles, Jumonville and Tandakora will soon bring order out of all +that tumult, and they'll be looking for those who set the torch. The +snow is coming down heavier and heavier and it hides our flight, +although it is not able to put out the fires. You're right, Tayoga, +about Tododaho pouring his favor upon us." + +It was easy for the three to regain the palisade, and they were not +afraid of mistaken bullets fired at them for enemies, since Colden and +Wilton had warned the soldiers that they might expect the return of +the three. Tododaho continued to watch over, them as they reached the +palisade, at the point where the young Philadelphia captain himself +stood upon the raised plank behind it. + +"Captain Colden! Captain Colden!" called Willet through the white +cloud. + +"Is it you, Mr. Willet?" exclaimed Colden. "Thank God you've +come. I've been in great fear for you! I knew that you had set the +fires, because my own eyes tell me so, but I didn't know what had +become of you." + +"I'm here, safe and well." + +"And Mr. Lennox?" + +"Here, unhurt, too," replied Robert. + +"And the Onondaga?" + +"All right and rejoicing that we have done even more than we hoped to +do," said Tayoga, in his measured and scholastic English. + +The three, coated with snow until they looked like white bears, +quickly scaled the wall, and received the joyous welcome, given to +those who have done a great deed, and who return unhurt to their +comrades. Colden, Wilton and Carson shook their hands again and again +and Robert knew that it was due as much to pleasure at the return as +at the destruction of the besieging camp. + +The entire population of Fort Refuge was at the palisade, heedless of +the snow, watching the burning huts and lodges. There was no wind, but +cinders and ashes fell near them, to be covered quickly with white. +Fierce yells now came from the forest and arrows and bullets were +fired at the fort, but they were harmless and the defenders did not +reply. + +The flames began to decline by and by, then they sank fast, and after +a while the snow which still came down as if it meant never to stop +covered everything. The circling white wall enveloped the stronghold +completely, and Robert knew that the disaster to the French and +Indians had been overwhelming. Probably all of them had saved their +lives, but they had lost ammunition--the explosions had told him +that--much of their stores, and doubtless all of their food. They +would have to withdraw, for the present at least. + +Robert felt immense exultation. They had struck a great blow, and it +was he who had suggested the plan. His pride increased, although he +hid it, when Willet put his large hand on his shoulder and said: + +"'Twas well done, Robert, my lad, and 'twould not have been done at +all had it not been for you. Your mind bred the idea, from which the +action flowed." + +"And you think the French and Indians have gone away now?" + +"Surely, lad! Surely! Indians can stand a lot, and so can French, but +neither can stand still in the middle of a snow that bids fair to be +two feet deep and live. They may have to travel until they reach some +Indian village farther west and north." + +"Such being the case, there can be no pressing need for me just at +present, and I think I shall sleep. I feel now as if I were bound to +relax." + +"The best thing you could do, and I'll take a turn between the +blankets myself." + +Robert had a great sleep. Some of the rooms in the blockhouse offered +a high degree of frontier comfort, and he lay down upon a soft couch +of skins. A fine fire blazing upon a stone hearth dried his deerskin +garments, and, when he awoke about noon, he was strong and thoroughly +refreshed. The snow was still falling heavily. The wilderness in its +white blanket was beautiful, but it did not look like a possible home +to Robert now. His vivid imagination leaped up at once and pictured +the difficulties of any one struggling for life, even in that vast +white silence. + +Willet and Tayoga were up before him, and they were talking of another +expedition to see how far the besieging force had gone, but while they +were discussing it a figure appeared at the edge of the forest. + +"It's a white man," exclaimed Wilton, "and so it must be one of the +Frenchmen. He's a bold fellow walking directly within our range. What +on earth can he want?" + +One of the guards on the palisade raised his rifle, but Willet +promptly pushed down the muzzle. + +"That's no Frenchman," he said. + +"Then who is it?" asked Wilton. + +"He's clothed in white, as any one walking in this snow is bound to +be, but I could tell at the first glimpse that it was none other than +our friend, Black Rifle." + +"Coming to us for refuge, and so our fort is well named." + +"Not for refuge. Black Rifle has taken care of himself too long in the +wilderness to be at a loss at any time. I suspect that he has +something of importance to tell us or he would not come at all." + +At the command of Colden the great gate was thrown open that the +strange rover might enter in all honor, and as he came in, apparently +oblivious of the storm, his eyes gleamed a little at the sight of +Willet, his friend. + +"You've come to tell us something," said the hunter. + +"So I have," said Black Rifle. + +"Brush off the snow, warm yourself by the fire, and then we'll +listen." + +"I can tell it now. I don't mind the snow. I saw from a distance the +great fire last night, when the camp of the French and Indians +burned. It was clever to destroy their huts and lodges, and I knew at +once who did it. Such a thing as that could not have happened without +you having a hand in it, Dave Willet. I watched to see what the +French and Indians would do, and I followed them in their hurried +retreat into the north. I hid in the snowy bushes, and heard some of +their talk, too. They will not stop until they reach a village a full +hundred miles from here. The Frenchmen, De Courcelles and Jumonville +are mad with anger and disappointment, and so is the Indian chief +Tandakora." + +"And well they may be!" jubilantly exclaimed Captain Colden, off whose +mind a great weight seemed to have slid. "It was splendid tactics to +burn their home over their heads. I wouldn't have thought of it +myself, but since others have thought of it, and, it has succeeded so +admirably, we can now do the work we were sent here to do." + +Tayoga and Willet made snow-shoes and went out on them a few days +later, confirming the report of Black Rifle. Then small parties were +sent forth to search the forest for settlers and their families. Robert +had a large share in this work, and sometimes he looked upon terrible +things. In more than one place, torch and tomahawk had already done +their dreadful work, but in others they found the people alive and +well, still clinging to their homes. It was often difficult, even in +the face of imminent danger, to persuade them to leave, and when they +finally went, under mild compulsion, it was with the resolve to return +to their log cabins in the spring. + +Fort Refuge now deserved its name. There were many axes, with plenty +of strong and skillful arms to wield them, and new buildings were +erected within the palisade, the smoke rising from a half dozen +chimneys. They were rude structures, but the people who occupied +them, used all their lives to hardships, did not ask much, and they +seemed snug and comfortable enough to them. Fires always blazed on the +broad stone hearths and the voices of children were heard within the +log walls. The hands of women furnished the rooms, and made new +clothes of deerskin. + +The note of life at Fort Refuge was comfort and good cheer. They felt +that they could hold the little fortress against any force that might +come. The hunters, Willet, Tayoga and Black Rifle at their head, +brought in an abundance of game. There was no ill health. The little +children grew mightily, and, thus thrown together in a group, they had +the happiest time they had ever known. Robert was their hero. No other +could tell such glorious tales. He had read fairy stories at Albany, +and he not only brought them all from the store of his memory but he +embroidered and enlarged them. He had a manner with him, too. His +musical, golden voice, his vivid eyes and his intense earnestness of +tone, the same that had impressed so greatly the fifty sachems in the +vale of Onondaga, carried conviction. If one telling a tale believed +in it so thoroughly himself then those who heard it must believe in it +too. + +Robert fulfilled a great mission. He was not the orator, the golden +mouthed, for nothing. If the winter came down a little too fiercely, +his vivid eyes and gay voice were sufficient to lift the +depression. Even the somber face of Black Rifle would light up when he +came near. Nor was the young Quaker, Wilton, far behind him. He was a +spontaneously happy youth, always bubbling with good nature, and he +formed an able second for Lennox. + +"Will," said Robert, "I believe it actually gives you joy to be here +in this log fortress in the snow and wilderness. You do not miss the +great capital, Philadelphia, to which you have been used all your +life." + +"No, I don't, Robert. I like Fort Refuge, because I'm free from +restraints. It's the first time my true nature has had a chance to +come out, and I'm making the most of the opportunity. Oh, I'm +developing! In the spring you'll see me the gayest and most reckless +blade that ever came into the forest." + +The deep snow lasted a long time. More snowshoes were made, but only +six or eight of the soldiers learned to use them well. There were +sufficient, however, as Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle were +already adepts, and they ranged the forest far in all directions. They +saw no further sign of French or Indians, but they steadily increased +their supply of game. + +Christmas came, January passed and then the big snow began to +melt. New stirrings entered Robert's mind. He felt that their work at +Fort Refuge was done. They had gathered into it all the outlying +settlers who could be reached, and Colden, Wilton and Carson were now +entirely competent to guard it and hold it. Robert felt that he and +Willet should return to Albany, and get into the main current of the +great war. Tayoga, of course, would go with them. + +He talked it over with Willet and Tayoga, and they agreed with him at +once. Black Rifle also decided to depart about the same time, and +Colden, although grieved to see them go, could say nothing against it. +When the four left they received an ovation that would have warmed the +heart of any man. As they stood at the edge of the forest with their +packs on their backs, Captain Colden gave a sharp command. Sixty +rifles turned their muzzles upward, and sixty fingers pulled sixty +triggers. Sixty weapons roared as one, and the four with dew in their +eyes, lifted their caps to the splendid salute. Then a long, shrill +cheer followed. Every child in the fort had been lifted above the +palisade, and they sent the best wishes of their hearts with those who +were going. + +"That cheer of the little ones was mostly for you, Robert," said +Willet, when the forest hid them. + +"It was for all of us equally," said Robert modestly. + +"No, I'm right and it must help us to have the good wishes of little +children go with us. If they and Tododaho watch over us we can't come +to much harm." + +"It is a good omen," said Tayoga soberly. "When I lie down to sleep +tonight I shall hear their voices in my ear." + +Black Rifle now left them, going on one of his solitary expeditions +into the wilderness and the others traveled diligently all the day, +but owing to the condition of the earth did not make their usual +progress. Most of the snow had melted and everything was dripping +with water. It fell from every bough and twig, and in every ravine and +gully a rivulet was running, while ponds stood in every +depression. Many swollen brooks and creeks had to be forded, and when +night came they were wet and soaked to the waist. + +But Tayoga then achieved a great triumph. In the face of difficulties +that seemed insuperable, he coaxed a fire in the lee of a hill, and +the three fed it, until it threw out a great circle of heat in which +they warmed and dried themselves. When they had eaten and rested a +long time they put out the fire, waited for the coals and ashes to +cool, and then spread over them their blankets, thus securing a dry +base upon which to sleep. They were so thoroughly exhausted, and they +were so sure that the forest contained no hostile presence that all +three went to sleep at the same time and remained buried in slumber +throughout the night. + +Tayoga was the first to awake, and he saw the dawn of a new winter +day, the earth reeking with cold damp and the thawing snow. He +unrolled himself from his blankets and arose a little stiffly, but +with a few movements of the limbs all his flexibility returned. The +air was chill and the scene in the black forest of winter was +desolate, but Tayoga was happy. Tododaho on his great shining star had +watched over him and showered him with favors, and he had no doubt +that he would remain under the protection of the mighty chief who had +gone away so long ago. + +Tayoga looked down at his comrades, who still slept soundly, and +smiled. The three were bound together by powerful ties, and the events +of recent months had made them stronger than ever. In the school at +Albany he had absorbed much of the white man's education, and, while +his Indian nature remained unchanged, he understood also the white +point of view. He could meet both Robert and Willet on common ground, +and theirs was a friendship that could not be severed. + +Now he made a circle about their camp, and, being assured that no +enemy was near, came back to the point where Robert and Willet yet +slept. Then he took his flint and steel, and, withdrawing a little, +kindled a fire, doing so as quietly as he could, in order that the two +awaking might have a pleasant surprise. When the little flames were +licking the wood, and the sparks began to fly upwards, he shook Robert +by the shoulder. + +"Arise, sluggard," he said. "Did not our teacher in Albany tell us it +was proof of a lazy nature to sleep while the sun was rising? The fire +even has grown impatient and has lighted itself while you abode with +Tarenyawagon (the sender of dreams). Get up and cook our breakfast, +Oh, Heavy Head!" + +Robert sat up and so did Willet. Then Robert drew his blankets about +his body and lay down again. + +"You've done so well with the fire, Tayoga, and you've shown such a +spirit," he said, "that it would be a pity to interfere with your +activity. Go ahead, and awake me again when breakfast is ready." + +Tayoga made a rush, seized the edge of his blanket and unrolled it, +depositing Robert in the ashes. Then he darted away among the bushes, +avoiding the white youth's pursuit. Willet meanwhile warmed himself by +the fire and laughed. + +"Come back, you two," he said. "You think you're little lads again at +your school in Albany, but you're not. You're here in the wilderness, +confronted by many difficulties, all of which you can overcome, and +subject to many perils, all of which you know how to avoid." + +"I'll come," said Robert, "if you promise to protect me from this +fierce Onondaga chief who is trying to secure my scalp." + +"Tayoga, return to the fire and cook these strips of venison. Here is +the sharp stick left from last night. Robert, take our canteens, find +a spring and fill them with fresh water. By right of seniority I'm in +command this morning, and I intend to subject my army to extremely +severe discipline, because it's good for it. Obey at once!" + +Tayoga obediently took the sharpened stick and began to fry strips of +venison. Robert, the canteens over his shoulder, found a spring near +by and refilled them. Like Tayoga, the raw chill of the morning and +the desolate forest of winter had no effect upon him. He too, was +happy, uplifted, and he sang to himself the song he had heard De +Galissonnière sing: + + "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." + +All that seemed far away now, yet the words of the song brought it +back, and his extraordinary imagination made the scenes at Bigot's +ball pass before his eyes again, almost as vivid as reality. Once more +he saw the Intendant, his portly figure swaying in the dance, his red +face beaming, and once more he beheld the fiery duel in the garden +when the hunter dealt with Boucher, the bully and bravo. + +Quebec was far away. He had been glad to go to it, and he had been +glad to come away, too. He would be glad to go to it again, and he +felt that he would do so some day, though the torrent of battle now +rolled between. He was still humming the air when he came back to the +fire, and saluting Willet politely, tendered a canteen each to him and +Tayoga. + +"Sir David Willet, baronet and general," he said, "I have the honor to +report to you that in accordance with your command I have found the +water, spring water, fine, fresh, pure, as good as any the northern +wilderness can furnish, and that is the best in the world. Shall I +tender it to you, sir, on my bended knee!" + +"No, Mr. Lennox, we can dispense with the bended knee, but I am glad, +young sir, to note in your voice the tone of deep respect for your +elders which sometimes and sadly is lacking." + +"If Dagaeoga works well, and always does as he is bidden," said +Tayoga, "perhaps I'll let him look on at the ceremonies when I take my +place as one of the fifteen sachems of the Onondaga nation." + +While they ate their venison and some bread they had also brought with +them, they discussed the next stage of their journey, and Tayoga made +a suggestion. Traveling would remain difficult for several days, and +instead of going directly to Albany, their original purpose, they +might take a canoe, and visit Mount Johnson, the seat of Colonel +William Johnson, who was such a power with the Hodenosaunee, and who +was in his person a center of important affairs in North America. For +a while, Mount Johnson might, in truth, suit their purpose better than +Albany. + +The idea appealed at once to both Robert and Willet. Colonel Johnson, +more than any one else could tell them what to do, and owing to his +strong alliance, marital and otherwise, with the Mohawks, they were +likely to find chiefs of the Ganeagaono at his house or in the +neighborhood. + +"It is agreed," said Willet, after a brief discussion. "If my +calculations be correct we can reach Mount Johnson in four days, and I +don't think we're likely to cross the trail of an enemy, unless +St. Luc is making some daring expedition." + +"In any event, he's a nobler foe than De Courcelles or Jumonville," +said Robert. + +"I grant you that, readily," said the hunter. "Still, I don't think +we're likely to encounter him on our way to Mount Johnson." + +But on the second day they did cross a trail which they attributed to +a hostile force. It contained, however, no white footsteps, and not +pausing to investigate, they continued their course toward their +destination. As all the snow was now gone, and the earth was drying +fast, they were able almost to double their speed and they pressed +forward, eager to see the celebrated Colonel William Johnson, who was +now filling and who was destined to fill for so long a time so large a +place in the affairs of North America. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WARAIYAGEH + + +Now, a few pleasant days of winter came. The ground dried under +comparatively warm winds, and the forest awoke. They heard everywhere +the ripple of running water, and wild animals came out of their +dens. Tayoga shot a young bear which made a welcome addition to their +supplies. + +"I hold that there's nothing better in the woods than young bear," +said Willet, as he ate a juicy steak Robert had broiled over the +coals. "Venison is mighty good, especially so when you're hungry, but +you can get tired of it. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"It is true," replied the Onondaga. "Fat young bear is very fine. None +of us wants one thing all the time, and we want something besides +meat, too. The nations of the Hodenosaunee are great and civilized, +much ahead of the other red people, because they plant gardens and +orchards and fields, and have grain and vegetables, corn, beans, +squash and many other things good for the table." + +"And the Iroquois, while they grow more particular about the table, +remain the most valiant of all the forest people. I see your point, +Tayoga. Civilization doesn't take anything from a man's courage and +tenacity. Rather it adds to them. There are our enemies, the French, +who are as brave and enduring as anybody, and yet they're the best +cooks in the world, and more particular about their food than any +other nation." + +"You always speak of the French with a kind of affection, Dave," said +Robert. + +"I suppose I do," said the hunter. "I have reasons." + +"As I know now, Dave, you've been in Paris, can't you tell us +something about the city?" + +"It's the finest town in the world, Robert, and they've the brightest, +gayest life there, at least a part of 'em have, but things are not +going right at home with the French. They say a whole nation's fortune +has been sunk in the palace at Versailles, and the people are growing +poorer all the time, but the government hopes to dazzle 'em by waging +a successful and brilliant war over here. I repeat, though, Robert, +that I like the French. A great nation, sound at the core, splendid +soldiers as we're seeing, and as we're likely to see for a long time +to come." + +They pushed on with all speed toward Mount Johnson, the weather still +favoring them, making their last camp in a fine oak grove, and +reckoning that they would achieve their journey's end before noon the +next day. They did not build any fire that night, but when they rose +at dawn they saw the smoke of somebody else's fire on the eastern +horizon. + +"It couldn't be the enemy," said Willet. "He wouldn't let his smoke go +up here for all the world to see, so near to the home of Colonel +William Johnson and within the range of the Mohawks." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "It is likely to be some force of Colonel +Johnson himself, and we can advance with certainty." + +Looking well to their arms in the possible contingency of a foe, they +pushed forward through the woodland, the smoke growing meanwhile as if +those who had built the fire either felt sure of friendly territory, +or were ready to challenge the world. The Onondaga presently held up a +hand and the three stopped. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"I wish to sing a song." + +"Then sing it, Tayoga." + +A bird suddenly gave forth a long, musical, thrilling note. It rose in +a series of trills, singularly penetrating, and died away in a +haunting echo. A few moments of silence and then from a point in the +forest in front of them another bird sang a like song. + +"They are friends," said Tayoga, who was the first bird, "and it may +be, since we are within the range of the Mohawks, that it is our +friend, the great young chief Daganoweda, who replied. I do not think +any one else could sing a song so like my own." + +"I'm wagering that it's Daganoweda and nobody else," said Willet +confidently, and scorning cover now they advanced at increased speed +toward the fire. + +A splendid figure, tall, heroic, the nose lofty and beaked like that +of an ancient Roman, the feather headdress brilliant and defiant like +that of Tayoga, came forward to meet them, and Robert saw with intense +pleasure that it was none other than Daganoweda himself. Nor was the +delight of the young Mohawk chieftain any less--the taciturnity and +blank faces of Indians disappeared among their friends--and he came +forward, smiling and uttering words of welcome. + +"Daganoweda," said Willet, "the sight of you is balm to the eyes. Your +name means in our language, 'The Inexhaustible' and you're an +inexhaustible friend. You're always appearing when we need you most, +and that's the very finest kind of a friend." + +"Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga come out of the great wilderness," +said Daganoweda, smiling. + +"So we do, Daganoweda. We've been there a long time, but we were not +so idle." + +"I have heard of the fort that was built in the forest and how the +young white soldiers with the help of Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga +beat off the French and the savage tribes." + +"I supposed that runners of the Hodenosaunee would keep you +informed. Well, the fort is there and our people still hold it, and we +are here, anxious to get back into the main stream of big events. Who +are at the fire, Daganoweda?" + +"Waraiyageh (Colonel William Johnson) himself is there. He was fishing +yesterday, it being an idle time for a few days, and with ten of my +warriors I joined him last night. He will be glad to see you, Great +Bear, whom he knows. And he will be glad to meet Tayoga and Dagaeoga +who are to bear great names." + +"Easy, Daganoweda, easy!" laughed Willet. + +"These are fine lads, but don't flatter 'em too much just yet. They've +done brave deeds, but before this war is over they'll have to do a lot +more. We'll go with you and meet Colonel Johnson." + +As they walked toward the fire a tall, strongly built man, of middle +years, dressed in the uniform of an English officer, came forward to +meet them. His face, with a distinct Irish cast, was frank, open and +resolute. + +"Ah, Willet, my friend," he said, extending his hand. "So you and I +meet again, and glad I am to hold your fingers in mine once more. A +faithful report has come to us of what you did in Quebec, and it seems +the Willet of old has not changed much." + +The hunter reddened under his tan. + +"It was forced upon me, colonel," he said. + +Colonel William Johnson laughed heartily. + +"And he who forced it did not live to regret it," he said. "I've heard +that French officers themselves did not blame you, but as for me, +knowing you as I do, I'd have expected no less of David Willet." + +He laughed again, and his laugh was deep and hearty. Robert, looking +closely at him, thought him a fine, strong man, and he was quite sure +he would like him. The colonel glanced at him and Tayoga, and the +hunter said: + +"Colonel Johnson, I wish to present Tayoga, who is of the most ancient +blood of the Onondagas, a member of the Clan of the Bear, and destined +to be a great chief. A most valiant and noble youth, too, I assure +you, and the white lad is Robert Lennox, to whom I stand in the place +of a father." + +"I have heard of Tayoga," said Colonel Johnson, "and his people and +mine are friends." + +"It is true," said Tayoga, "Waraiyageh has been the best friend among +the white people that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have ever +had. He has never tricked us. He has never lied to us, and often he +has incurred great hardship and danger to help us." + +"It is pleasant in my ears to hear you say so, Tayoga," said Colonel +Johnson, "and as for Mr. Lennox, who, my eyes tell me is also a noble +and gallant youth, it seems to me I've heard some report of him +too. You carried the private letters from the Governor of New York to +the Marquis Duquesne, Governor General of Canada?" + +"I did, sir," replied Robert. + +"And of course you were there with Willet. Your mission, I believe, +was kept as secret as possible, but I learned at Albany that you bore +yourself well, and that you also gave an exhibition with the sword." + +It was Robert's turn to flush. + +"I'm a poor swordsman, sir," he said, "by the side of Mr. Willet." + +"Good enough though, for the occasion. But come, I'll make an end to +badinage. You must be on your way to Mount Johnson." + +"That was our destination," said Willet. + +"Then right welcome guests you'll be. I have a little camp but a short +distance away. Molly is there, and so is that young eagle, her +brother, Joseph Brant. Molly will see that you're well served with +food, and after that you shall stay at Mount Johnson as long as you +like, and the longer you'll stay the better it will please Molly and +me. You shall tell us of your adventures, Mr. Lennox, and about that +Quebec in which you and Mr. Willet seem to have cut so wide a swath +with your rapiers." + +"We did but meet the difficulties that were forced upon us," protested +Willet. + +Colonel Johnson laughed once more, and most heartily. + +"If all people met in like fashion the difficulties that were forced +upon them," he said, "it would be a wondrous efficient world, so much +superior to the world that now is that one would never dream they had +been the same. But just beyond the hill is our little camp which, for +want of a better name, I'll call a bower. Here is Joseph, now, coming +to meet us." + +An Indian lad of about eleven years, but large and uncommonly strong +for his age, was walking down the hill toward them. He was dressed +partly in civilized clothing, and his manner was such that he would +have drawn the notice of the observing anywhere. His face was open +and strong, with great width between the eyes, and his gaze was direct +and firm. Robert knew at once that here was an unusual boy, one +destined if he lived to do great things. His prevision was more than +fulfilled. It was Joseph Brant, the renowned Thayendanegea, the most +famous and probably the ablest Indian chief with whom the white men +ever came into contact. + +"This is Joseph Brant, the brother of Molly, my wife, and hence my +young brother-in-law," said Colonel Johnson. "Joseph, our new friends +are David Willet, known to the Hodenosaunee as the Great Bear, Robert +Lennox, who seems to be in some sort a ward of Mr. Willet, and Tayoga, +of the Clan of the Bear, of your great brother nation, Onondaga." + +Young Thayendanegea saluted them all in a friendly but dignified +way. He, like Tayoga, had a white education, and spoke perfect, but +measured English. + +"We welcome you," he said. "Colonel Johnson, sir, my sister has +already seen the strangers from the hill, and is anxious to greet +them." + +"Molly, for all her dignity, has her fair share of curiosity," laughed +Colonel Johnson, "and since it's our duty to gratify it, we'll go +forward." + +Robert had heard often of Molly Brant, the famous Mohawk wife of +Colonel, afterward Sir William Johnson, a great figure in that region +in her time, and he was eager to see her. He beheld a woman, young, +tall, a face decidedly Iroquois, but handsome and lofty. She wore the +dress of the white people, and it was of fine material. She obviously +had some of the distinguished character that had already set its seal +upon her young brother, then known as Keghneghtada, his famous name of +Thayendanegea to come later. Her husband presented the three, and she +received them in turn in a manner that was quiet and dignified, +although Robert could see her examining them with swift Indian eyes +that missed nothing. And with his knowledge of both white heart and +red heart, of white manner and red manner, he was aware that he stood +in the presence of a great lady, a great lady who fitted into her +setting of the vast New York wilderness. So, with the ornate manner +of the day, he bent over and kissed her hand as he was presented. + +"Madam," he said, "it is a great pleasure to us to meet Colonel +Johnson here in the forest, but we have the unexpected and still +greater pleasure of meeting his lady also." + +Colonel Johnson laughed, and patted Robert on the shoulder. + +"Mr. Willet has been whispering to me something about you," he +said. "He has been telling me of your gift of speech, and by my faith, +he has not told all of it. You do address the ladies in a most +graceful fashion, and Molly likes it. I can see that." + +"Assuredly I do, sir," said she who had been Molly Brant, the Mohawk, +but who was now the wife of the greatest man in the north +country. "Tis a goodly youth and he speaks well. I like him, and he +shall have the best our house can offer." + +Colonel Johnson's mellow laugh rang out again. + +"Spoken like a woman of spirit, Molly," he said. "I expected none the +less of you. It's in the blood of the Ganeagaono and had you answered +otherwise you would have been unworthy of your cousin, Daganoweda, +here." + +The young Mohawk chieftain smiled. Johnson, who had married a girl of +their race, could jest with the Mohawks almost as he pleased, and +among themselves and among those whom they trusted the Indians were +fond of joking and laughter. + +"The wife of Waraiyageh not only has a great chief for a husband," he +said, "but she is a great chief herself. Among the Wyandots she would +be one of the rulers." + +The women were the governing power in the valiant Wyandot nation, and +Daganoweda could pay his cousin no higher compliment. + +"We talk much," said Colonel Johnson, "but we must remember that our +friends are tired. They've come afar in bad weather. We must let them +rest now and give them refreshment." + +He led the way to the light summer house that he had called a +bower. It was built of poles and thatch, and was open on the eastern +side, where it faced a fine creek running with a strong current. A +fire was burning in one corner, and a heavy curtain of tanned skins +could be draped over the wide doorway. Articles of women's apparel +hung on the walls, and others indicating woman's work stood +about. There were also chairs of wicker, and a lounge covered with +haircloth. It was a comfortable place, the most attractive that Robert +had seen in a long time, and his eyes responded to it with a glitter +that Colonel Johnson noticed. + +"I don't wonder that you like it, lad," he said. "I've spent some +happy hours here myself, when I came in weary or worn from hunting or +fishing. But sit you down, all three of you. I'll warrant me that +you're weary enough, tramping through this wintry forest. Blunt, shove +the faggots closer together and make up a better fire." + +The command was to a white servant who obeyed promptly, but Madame +Johnson herself had already shifted the chairs for the guests, and had +taken their deerskin cloaks. Without ceasing to be the great lady she +moved, nevertheless, with a lightness of foot and a celerity that was +all a daughter of the forest. Robert watched her with fascinated eyes +as she put the summer house in order and made it ready for the comfort +of her guests. Here was one who had acquired civilization without +losing the spirit of the wild. She was an educated and well bred +woman, the wife of the most powerful man in the colonies, and she was +at the same time a true Mohawk. Robert knew as he looked at her that +if left alone in the wilderness she could take care of herself almost +as well as her cousin, Daganoweda, the young chief. + +Then his gaze shifted from Molly Brant to her brother. Despite his +youth all his actions showed pride and unlimited confidence in +himself. He stood near the door, and addressed Robert in English, +asking him questions about himself, and he also spoke to Tayoga, +showing him the greatest friendliness. + +"We be of the mighty brother nations, Onondaga and Mohawk, the first +of the great League," he said, "and some day we will sit together in +the councils of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga." + +"It is so," said Tayoga gravely, speaking to the young lad as man to +man. "We will ever serve the Hodenosaunee as our fathers before us +have done." + +"Leave the subject of the Hodenosaunee," said Colonel Johnson +cheerily. "I know that you lads are prouder of your birth than the old +Roman patricians ever were, but Mr. Willet, Mr. Lennox and I were not +fortunate enough to be born into the great League, and you will +perhaps arouse our jealousy or envy. Come, gentlemen, sit you down +and eat and drink." + +His Mohawk wife seconded the request and food and drink were +served. Robert saw that the bower was divided into two rooms the one +beyond them evidently being a sleeping chamber, but the evidences of +comfort, even luxury, were numerous, making the place an oasis in the +wilderness. Colonel Johnson had wine, which Robert did not touch, nor +did Tayoga nor Daganoweda, and there were dishes of china or silver +brought from England. He noticed also, and it was an unusual sight in +a lodge in the forest, about twenty books upon two shelves. From his +chair he read the titles, Le Brun's "Battles of Alexander," a bound +volume of _The Gentleman's Magazine,_ "Roderick Random," and several +others. Colonel Johnson's eyes followed him. + +"I see that you are a reader," he said. "I know it because your eyes +linger upon my books. I have packages brought from time to time from +England, and, before I came upon this expedition, I had these sent +ahead of me to the bower that I might dip into them in the evenings if +I felt so inclined. Reading gives us a wider horizon, and, at the same +time, takes us away from the day's troubles." + +"I agree with you heartily, sir," said Robert, "but, unfortunately, we +have little time for reading now." + +"That is true," sighed Colonel Johnson. "I fear it's going to be a +long and terrible war. What do you see, Joseph?" + +Young Brant was sitting with his face to the door, and he had risen +suddenly. + +"A runner comes," he replied. "He is in the forest beyond the creek, +but I see that he is one of our own people. He comes fast." + +Colonel Johnson also arose. + +"Can it be some trouble among the Ganeagaono?" he said. + +"I think not," said the Indian boy. + +The runner emerged from the wood, crossed the creek and stood in the +doorway of the bower. He was a tall, thin young Mohawk, and he panted +as if he had come fast and long. + +"What is it, Oagowa?" asked Colonel Johnson. + +"A hostile band, Hurons, Abenakis, Caughnawagas, and others, has +entered the territory of the Ganeagaono on the west," replied the +warrior. "They are led by an Ojibway chief, a giant, called +Tandakora." + +Robert uttered an exclamation. + +"The name of the Ojibway attracts your attention," said Colonel +Johnson. + +"We've had many encounters with him," replied the youth. "Besides +hating the Hodenosaunee and all the white people, I think he also has +a personal grievance against Mr. Willet, Tayoga and myself. He is the +most bitter and persistent of all our enemies." + +"Then this man must be dealt with. I can't go against him +myself. Other affairs press too much, but I can raise a force with +speed." + +"Let me go, sir, against Tandakora!" exclaimed young Brant eagerly and +in English. + +Colonel Johnson looked at him a moment, his eyes glistening, and then +he laughed, not with irony but gently and with approval. + +"Truly 'tis a young eagle," he said, "but, Joseph, you must remember +that your years are yet short of twelve, and you still have much time +to spend over the books in which you have done so well. If I let you +be cut off at such an early age you can never become the great chief +you are destined to be. Bide a while, Joseph, and your cousin, +Daganoweda, will attend to this Ojibway who has wandered so far from +his own country." + +Young Brant made no protest. Trained in the wonderful discipline of +the Hodenosaunee he knew that he must obey before he could command. He +resumed his seat quietly, but his eager eyes watched his tall cousin, +the young Mohawk chieftain, as Colonel Johnson gave him orders. + +"Take with you the warriors that you have now, Daganoweda," he +said. "Gather the fifty who are now encamped at Teugega. Take thirty +more from Talaquega, and I think that will be enough. I don't know +you, Daganoweda, and I don't know your valiant Mohawk warriors, if you +are not able to account thoroughly for the Ojibway and his men. Don't +come back until you've destroyed them or driven them out of your +country." + +Colonel Johnson's tone was at once urgent and complimentary. It +intimated that the work was important and that Daganoweda would be +sure to do it. The Mohawk's eyes glittered in his dark face. He lifted +his hand in a salute, glided from the bower, and a moment later he and +his warriors passed from sight in the forest. + +"That cousin of yours, Molly, deserves his rank of chief," said +Colonel Johnson. "The task that he is to do I consider as good as done +already. Tandakora was too daring, when he ventured into the lands of +the Ganeagaono. Now, if you gentlemen will be so good as to be our +guests we'll pass the night here, and tomorrow we'll go to Mount +Johnson." + +It was agreeable to Robert, Willet and Tayoga, and they spent the +remainder of the day most pleasantly at the bower. Colonel Johnson, +feeling that they were three whom he could trust, talked freely and +unveiled a mind fitted for great affairs. + +"I tell you three," he said, "that this will be one of the most +important wars the world has known. To London and Paris we seem lost +in the woods out here, and perhaps at the courts they think little of +us or they do not think at all, but the time must come when the New +World will react upon the Old. Consider what a country it is, with its +lakes, its forests, its rivers, and its fertile lands, which extend +beyond the reckoning of man. The day will arrive when there will be a +power here greater than either England or France. Such a land cannot +help but nourish it." + +He seemed to be much moved, and spoke a long time in the same vein, +but his Indian wife never said a word. She moved about now and then, +and, as before, her footsteps making no noise, being as light as those +of any animal of the forest. + +The dusk came up to the door. They heard the ripple of the creek, but +could not see its waters. Madam Johnson lighted a wax candle, and +Colonel Johnson stopped suddenly. + +"I have talked too much. I weary you," he said. + +"Oh, no, sir!" protested Robert eagerly. "Go on! We would gladly +listen to you all night." + +"That I think would be too great a weight upon us all," laughed +Colonel Johnson. "You are weary. You must be so from your long +marching and my heavy disquisitions. We'll have beds made for you +three and Joseph here. Molly and I sleep in the next room." + +Robert was glad to have soft furs and a floor beneath him, and when he +lay down it was with a feeling of intense satisfaction. He liked +Colonel William Johnson, and knew that he had a friend in him. He was +anxious for advancement in the great world, and he understood what it +was to have powerful support. Already he stood high with the +Hodenosaunee, and now he had found favor with the famous Waraiyageh. + +They left in the morning for Mount Johnson, and there were horses for +all except the Indians, although one was offered to Tayoga. But he +declined to ride--the nations of the Hodenosaunee were not horsemen, +and kept pace with them at the long easy gait used by the Indian +runner. Robert himself was not used to the saddle, but he was glad +enough to accept it, after their great march through the wilderness. + +The weather continued fine for winter, crisp, clear, sparkling with +life and the spirits of all were high. Colonel Johnson beckoned to +Robert to ride by the side of him and the two led the way. Kegneghtada, +despite his extreme youth, had refused a horse also, and was swinging +along by the side of Tayoga, stride for stride. A perfect understanding +and friendship had already been established between the Onondaga and +the Mohawk, and as they walked they talked together earnestly, young +Brant bearing himself as if he were on an equal footing with his +brother warrior, Tayoga. Colonel Johnson looked at them, smiled +approval and said to Robert: + +"I have called my young brother-in-law an eagle, and an eagle he truly +is. We're apt to think, Mr. Lennox, that we white people alone gather +our forces and prepare for some aim distant but great. But the Indian +intellect is often keen and powerful, as I have had good cause to +know. Many of their chiefs have an acuteness and penetration not +surpassed in the councils of white men. The great Mohawk whom we call +King Hendrick probably has more intellect than most of the sovereigns +on their thrones in Europe. And as for Joseph, the lad there who so +gallantly keeps step with the Onondaga, where will you find a white +boy who can excel him? He absorbs the learning of our schools as fast +as any boy of our race whom I have ever known, and, at the same time, +he retains and improves all the lore and craft of the red people." + +"You have found the Mohawks a brave and loyal race," said Robert, +knowing the colonel was upon a favorite theme of his. + +"That I have, Mr. Lennox. I came among them a boy. I was a trader +then, and I settled first only a few miles from their largest town, +Dyiondarogon. I tried to keep faith with them and as a result I found +them always keeping faith with me. Then, when I went to Oghkwaga, I +had the same experience. The Indians were defrauded in the fur trade +by white swindlers, but dishonesty, besides being bad in itself, does +not pay, Mr. Lennox. Bear that in mind. You may cheat for a while with +success, but in time nobody will do business with you. Though you, I +take it, will never be a merchant." + +"It is not because I frown upon the merchant's calling, sir. I esteem +it a high and noble one. But my mind does not turn to it." + +"So I gather from what I have seen of you, and from what Mr. Willet +tells me. I've been hearing of your gift of oratory. You need not +blush, my lad. If we have a gift we should accept it thankfully, and +make the best use of it we can. You, I take it, will be a lawyer, then +a public man, and you will sway the public mind. There should be grand +occasions for such as you in a country like this, with its unlimited +future." + +They came presently into a region of cultivation, fields which would +be green with grain in the spring, showing here and there, and the +smoke from the chimney of a stout log house rising now and then. +Where a creek broke into a swift white fall stood a grist mill, and +from a wood the sound of axes was heard. + +Robert's vivid imagination, which responded to all changes, kindled at +once. He liked the wilderness, and it always made a great impression +upon him, and he also took the keenest interest and delight in +everything that civilization could offer. Now his spirit leaped up to +meet what lay before him. + +He found at Mount Johnson comfort and luxury that he had not expected, +an abundance of all that the wilderness furnished, mingled with +importations from Europe. He slept in a fine bed, he looked into more +books, he saw on the walls reproductions of Titian and Watteau, and +also pictures of race horses that had made themselves famous at +Newmarket, he wrote letters to Albany on good paper, he could seal +them with either black or red wax, and there were musical instruments +upon one or two of which he could play. + +Robert found all these things congenial. The luxury or what might have +seemed luxury on the border, had in it nothing of decadence. There was +an air of vigor, and Colonel Johnson, although he did not neglect his +guests, plunged at once and deeply into business. A little village, +dependent upon him and his affairs had grown up about him, and there +were white men more or less in his service, some of whom he sent at +once on missions for the war. Through it all his Indian wife glided +quietly, but Robert saw that she was a wonderful help, managing with +ease, and smoothing away many a difficulty. + +Despite the restraint of manner, the people at Mount Johnson were full +of excitement. The news from Canada and also from the west became +steadily more ominous. The French power was growing fast and the +warriors of the wild tribes were crowding in thousands to the Bourbon +banner. Robert heard again of St. Luc and of some daring achievement +of his, and despite himself he felt as always a thrill at the name, +and a runner also brought the news that more French troops had gone +into the Ohio country. + +The fourth night of their stay at Mount Johnson Robert remained awake +late. He and young Brant, the great Thayendanegea that was to be, had +already formed a great friendship, the beginning of which was made +easier by Robert's knowledge of Indian nature and sympathy with +it. The two wrapped in fur cloaks had gone a little distance from the +house, because Brant said that a bear driven by hunger had come to the +edge of the village, and they were looking for its tracks. But Robert +was more interested in observing the Indian boy than in finding the +foot prints of the bear. + +"Joseph," he said, "you expect, of course, to be a great warrior and +chief some day." + +The boy's eyes glittered. + +"There is nothing else for which I would care," he replied. "Hark, +Dagaeoga, did you hear the cry of a night bird?" + +"I did, Joseph, but like you I don't think it's the voice of a real +bird. It's a signal." + +"So it is, and unless I reckon ill it's the signal of my cousin +Daganoweda, returning from the great war trail that he has trod +against the wild Ojibway, Tandakora." + +The song of a bird trilled from his own throat in reply, and then from +the forest came Daganoweda and his warriors in a dusky file. Robert +and young Brant fell in with them and walked toward the house. Not a +word was spoken, but the eyes of the Mohawk chieftain were gleaming, +and his bearing expressed the very concentrated essence of haughty +pride. At the house they stopped, and, young Brant going in, brought +forth Colonel Johnson. + +"Well, Daganoweda," said the white man. + +"I met Tandakora two days' journey north of Mount Johnson," replied +the Mohawk. "His numbers were equal to our own, but his warriors were +not the warriors of the Hodenosaunee. Six of the Ganeagaono are gone, +Waraiyageh, and sixteen more have wounds, from which they will +recover, but when Tandakora began his flight toward Canada eighteen of +his men lay dead, eight more fell in the pursuit, which was so fast +that we bring back with us forty muskets and rifles." + +"Well done, Daganoweda," said Colonel Johnson. "You have proved +yourself anew a great warrior and chief, but you did not have to prove +it to me. I knew it long ago. Fine new rifles, and blankets of blue or +red or green have just come from Albany, half of which shall be +distributed among your men in the morning." + +"Waraiyageh never forgets his friends," said the appreciative Mohawk. + +He withdrew with his warriors, knowing that the promise would be kept. + +"Why was I not allowed to go with them?" mourned young Brant. + +Colonel Johnson laughed and patted his shiny black head. + +"Never mind, young fire-eater," he said. "We'll all of us soon have +our fill of war--and more." + +Robert was present at the distribution of rifles and blankets the next +morning, and he knew that Colonel Johnson had bound the Mohawks to him +and the English and American cause with another tie. Daganoweda and +his warriors, gratified beyond expression, took the war path again. + +"They'll remain a barrier between us and the French and their allies," +said Colonel Johnson, "and faith we'll need 'em. The other nations of +the Hodenosaunee wish to keep out of the war, but the Mohawks will be +with us to the last. Their great chief, King Hendrick, is our devoted +friend, and so is his brother, Abraham. This, too, in spite of the bad +treatment of the Ganeagaono by the Dutch at Albany. O, I have nothing +to say against the Dutch, a brave and tenacious people, but they have +their faults, like other races, and sometimes they let avarice +overcome them! I wish they could understand the nations of the +Hodenosaunee better. Do what you can at Albany, Mr. Lennox, with that +facile tongue of yours, to persuade the Dutch--and the others +too--that the danger from the French and Indians is great, and that we +must keep the friendship of the Six Nations." + +"I will do my best, sir," promised Robert modestly. "I at least ought +to know the power and loyalty of the Hodenosaunee, since I have been +adopted into the great League and Tayoga, an Onondaga, is my brother, +in all but blood." + +"And I stand in the same position," said Willet firmly. "We +understand, sir, your great attachment for the Six Nations, and the +vast service you have done for the English among them. If we can +supplement it even in some small degree we shall spare no effort to do +so." + +"I know it, Mr. Willet, and yet my heart is heavy to see the land I +love devastated by fire and sword." + +Colonel Johnson loaned them horses, and an escort of two of his own +soldiers who would bring back the horses, and they started for Albany +amid many hospitable farewells. + +"You and I shall meet again," said young Brant to Robert. + +"I hope so," said Robert. + +"It will be as allies and comrades on the battle field." + +"But you are too young, Joseph, yet to take part in war." + +"I shall not be next year, and the war will not be over then, so my +brother, Colonel William Johnson says, and he knows." + +Robert looked at the sturdy young figure and the eager eyes, and he +knew that the Indian lad would not be denied. + +Then the little party rode into the woods, and proceeded without event +to Albany. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WATCHER + + +It was with emotion that Robert came to Albany, an emotion that was +shared by his Onondaga comrade, Tayoga, who had spent a long time in a +white school there. The staid Dutch town was the great outpost of the +Province of New York in the wilderness, and although his temperament +was unlike that of the Dutch burghers he had innumerable pleasant +memories of it, and many friends there. It was, in his esteem, too, a +fine town, on its hills over-looking that noble river, the Hudson, and +as the little group rode on he noted that despite the war its +appearance was still peaceful and safe. + +Their way led along the main street which was broad and with grass on +either side. The solid Dutch houses, with their gable ends to the +street, stood every one on its own lawn, with a garden behind +it. Every house also had a portico in front of it, on which the people +sat in summer evenings, or where they visited with one another. Except +that it was hills where the old country was flat, it was much like +Holland, and the people, keen and thrifty, had preserved their +national customs even unto the third and fourth generations. Robert +understood them as he understood the Hodenosaunce, and, with his +adaptable temperament, and with his mind that could understand so +readily the minds of others, he was able to meet them on common +ground. As they rode into the city he looked questioningly at Willet, +and the hunter, understanding the voiceless query, smiled. + +"We couldn't think of going to any other place," he said. "If we did +we could never secure his forgiveness." + +"I shall be more than glad to see him. A right good friend of ours, +isn't he, Tayoga?" + +"Though his tongue lashes us his heart is with us," replied the +Onondaga. "He is a great white chief, three hundred pounds of +greatness." + +They stopped before one of the largest of the brick houses, standing +on one of the widest and neatest of the lawns, and Robert and Tayoga, +entering the portico, knocked upon the door with a heavy brass +knocker. They heard presently the rattle of chains inside, and the +rumble of a deep, grumbling voice. Then the two lads looked at each +other and laughed, laughed in the careless, joyous way in which youth +alone can laugh. + +"It is he, Mynheer Jacobus himself, come to let us in," said Robert. + +"And he has not changed at all," said Tayoga. "We can tell that by +the character of his voice on the other side of the door." + +"And I would not have him changed." + +"Nor would I." + +The door was thrown open, but as all the windows were closed there was +yet gloom inside. Presently something large, red and shining emerged +from the dusk and two beams of light in the center of the redness +played upon them. Then the outlines of a gigantic human figure, a man +tall and immensely stout, were disclosed. He wore a black suit with +knee breeches, thick stockings and buckled shoes, and his powdered +hair was tied in a queue. His eyes, dazzled at first by the light from +without, began to twinkle as he looked. Then a great blaze of joy +swept over his face, and he held out two fat hands, one to the white +youth and one to the red. + +"Ah, it iss you, Robert, you scapegrace, and it iss you, Tayoga, you +wild Onondaga! It iss a glad day for me that you haf come, but I +thought you both dead, und well you might be, reckless, thoughtless +lads who haf not the thought uf the future in your minds." + +Robert shook the fat hand in both of his and laughed. + +"You are the same as of old, Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "and before +Tayoga and I saw you, but while we heard you, we agreed that there had +been no change, and that we did not want any." + +"And why should I change, you two young rascals? Am I not goot enough +as I am? Haf I not in the past given the punishment to both uf you und +am I not able to do it again, tall and strong as the two uf you haf +grown? Ah, such foolish lads! Perhaps you haf been spared because pity +wass taken on your foolishness. But iss it Mynheer Willet beyond you? +That iss a man of sense." + +"It's none other than Dave, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. + +"Then why doesn't he come in?" exclaimed Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. "He +iss welcome here, doubly, triply welcome, und he knows it." + +"Dave! Dave! Hurry!" called Robert, "or Mynheer Jacobus will chastise +you. He's so anxious to fall on your neck and welcome you that he +can't wait!" + +Willet came swiftly up the brick walk, and the hands of the two big +men met in a warm clasp. + +"You see I've brought the boys back to you again, Jacob," said the +hunter. + +"But what reckless lads they've become," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. "I +can see the mischief in their eyes now. They wass bad enough when they +went to school here und lived with me, but since they've run wild in +the forests this house iss not able to hold them." + +"Don't you worry, Jacob, old friend. These arms and shoulders of mine +are still strong, and if they make you trouble I will deal with +them. But we just stopped a minute to inquire into the state of your +health. Can you tell us which is now the best inn in Albany?" + +The face of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman flamed, and his eyes blazed in the +center of it, two great red lights. + +"Inn! Inn!" he roared in his queer mixture of English, Dutch and +German accent "Iss it that your head hass been struck by lightning und +you haf gone crazy? If there wass a thousand inns at Albany you und +Robert und Tayoga could not stop at one uf them. Iss not the house uf +Jacobus Huysman good enough for you?" + +Robert, Tayoga and the hunter laughed aloud. + +"He did but make game of you, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "We will +alter your statement and say if there were a thousand inns in Albany +you could not make us stay at any one of them. Despite your commands +we would come directly to your house." + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman permitted himself to smile. But his voice +renewed its grumbling tone. + +"Ever the same," he said. "You must stay here, although only the good +Lord himself knows in what condition my house will be when you +leave. You are two wild lads. It iss not so strange uf you, Robert +Lennox, who are white, but I would expect better uf Tayoga, who is to +be a great Onondaga chief some day." + +"You make a great mistake, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "Tayoga is +far worse than I am. All the mischief that I have ever done was due to +his example and persuasion. It is my misfortune that I have a weak +nature, and I am easily led into evil by my associates." + +"It iss not so. You are equally bad. Bring in your baggage und I will +see if Caterina, der cook, cannot find enough for you three, who +always eat like raging lions." + +The soldiers, who were to return immediately to Colonel William +Johnson, rode away with their horses, and Robert, Tayoga and Willet +took their packs into the house of Mynheer Huysman, who grumbled +incessantly while he and a manservant and a maidservant made them as +comfortable as possible. + +"Would you und Tayoga like to haf your old room on the second floor?" +he said to Robert. + +"Nothing would please us better," replied the lad. + +"Then you shall haf it," said Mynheer, as he led the way up the stair +and into the room. "Do you remember, Tayoga, how wild you wass when +you came here to learn the good ways und bad ways uf the white +people?" + +"I do," replied Tayoga, "and the walls and the roof felt oppressive to +me, although we have stout log houses of our own in our villages. But +they were not our own walls and our own roof, and there was the great +young warrior, Lennox, whom we now call Dagaeoga, who was to stay in +the same room and even in the same bed with me. Do you wonder that I +felt like climbing out of a window at night, and escaping into the +woods?" + +"You were eleven then," said Robert, "and I was just a shade +younger. You were as strange to me as I was to you, and I thought, in +truth, that you were going to run away into the wilderness. But you +didn't, and you began to learn from books faster than I thought was +possible for one whose mind before then had been turned in another +direction." + +"But you helped me, Dagaeoga. After our first and only battle in the +garden, which I think was a draw, we became allies." + +"Und you united against me," said Mynheer Huysman. + +"And you helped me with the books," continued Tayoga. "Ah, those first +months were hard, very hard!" + +"And you taught me the use of the bow and arrow," continued Robert, +"and new skill in both fishing and hunting." + +"Und the two uf you together learned new tricks und new ways uf making +my life miserable," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. + +"But you must admit, Jacob," said Willet, "that they were not the +worst boys in the world." + +"Well, not the worst, perhaps, David, because I don't know all the +boys uf all the countries in the world, but when you put an Onondaga +lad und an American lad together in alliance it iss hard to find any +one who can excel them, because they haf the mischief uf two nations." + +"But you are tremendously glad to see them again, Jacob. Don't deny +it. I read it over and over again in your eyes." + +Willet's own eyes twinkled as he spoke, and he saw also that there was +a light in those of the big Dutchman. But Huysman would admit +nothing. + +"Here iss your room," he said to Robert and Tayoga. + +Robert saw that it was not changed. All the old, familiar objects were +there, and they brought to him a rush of emotion, as inanimate things +often do. On a heavy mahogany dresser lay two worn volumes that he +touched affectionately. One was his Caesar and the other his +algebra. Once he had hated both, but now he thought of them tenderly +as links with, the peaceful boyhood that was slipping away. Hanging +from a hook on the wall was an unstrung bow, the first weapon of the +kind with which he had practiced under the teaching of Tayoga. He +passed his hand over it gently and felt a thrill at the touch of the +wood. + +Tayoga, also was moving about the room. On a small shelf lay an +English dictionary and several readers. They too were worn. He had +spent many a grieving hour over them when he had come from the +Iroquois forests to learn the white man's lore. He recalled how he had +hated them for a time, and how he had looked out of his school windows +at the freedom for which he had longed. But he was made of wrought +steel, both mind and body, and always the white youth, Lennox, his +comrade, was at his elbow in those days of his scholastic infancy to +help him. It had been a great episode in the life of Tayoga, who had +the intellect of a mighty chief, the mind of Pontiac or Thayendanegea, +or Tecumseh, or Sequoia. He had forced himself to learn and in +learning his books he had learned also to like the people of another +race around him who were good to him and who helped him in the first +hard days on the new road. So the young Onondaga felt an emotion much +like that of Robert as he walked about the room and touched the old +familiar things. Then he turned to Huysman. + +"Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "you have a mighty body, and you have in +it a great heart. If all the men at Albany were like you there would +never be any trouble between them and the Hodenosaunee." + +"Tayoga," said Huysman, "you haf borrowed Robert's tongue to cozen und +flatter. I haf not a great heart at all. I haf a very bad heart. I +could not get on in this world if I didn't." + +Tayoga laughed musically, and Mynheer Jacobus gruffly bidding them not +to destroy anything, while he was gone, departed to see that Caterina, +the Dutch cook, fat like her master, should have ready a dinner, +drawing upon every resource of his ample larder. It is but truth to +say that the heart of Mynheer Jacobus was very full. A fat old +bachelor, with no near kin, his heart yearned over the two lads who +had spent so long a period in his home, and he knew them, too, for +what they were, each a fine flower of his own racial stock. + +They were to remain several days in Albany, and after dinner they +visited Alexander McLean, the crusty teacher who had given them such a +severe drilling in their books. Master McLean allowed himself a few +brief expressions of pleasure when they came into his house, and then +questioned them sharply: + +"Do you remember any of your ancient history, Tayoga?" he asked. "Are +the great deeds of the Greeks and Romans still in your mind?" + +"At times they are, sir," replied the young Onondaga. + +"Um-m. Is that so? What was the date of the battle of Zama?" + +"It was fought 202 B.C., sir." + +"You're correct, but it must have been only a lucky guess. I'll try +you again. What was the date of the battle of Hastings?" + +"It was fought 1066 A.D., sir." + +"Very good. Since you have answered correctly twice it must be +knowledge and not mere surmise on your part. Robert, whom do you +esteem the greatest of the Greek dramatic poets?" + +"Sophocles, sir." + +"Why?" + +"Because he combined the vigor and power of Aeschylus with the polish +and refinement of Euripides." + +"Correct. I see that you remember what I told you, as you have quoted +almost my exact words. And now, lads, be seated, while I order +refreshments for you." + +"We thank you, sir," said Robert, "but 'tis less than an hour since we +almost ate ourselves to death at the house of Mynheer Jacobus +Huysman." + +"A good man, Jacob, but too fat, and far too brusque in speech, +especially to the young. I'll warrant me he has been addressing +upbraiding words to you, finding fault, perhaps, with your manners and +your parts of speech." + +The two youths hid their smiles. + +"Mynheer Jacobus was very good to us," said Robert. "Just as you are, +Master McLean." + +"I am not good to you, if you mean by it weakness and softness of +heart. Never spoil the young. Speak sternly to them all the time. Use +the strap and the rod freely upon them and you may make men of them." + +Again Robert and Tayoga hid their smiles, but each knew that he had a +soft place in the heart of the crusty teacher, and they spent a +pleasant hour with him. That night they slept in their old room at +Mynheer Huysman's and two days later they and Willet went on board a +sloop for New York, where they intended to see Governor de +Lancey. Before they left many more alarming reports about the French +and Indians had come to Albany. They had made new ravages in the north +and west, and their power was spreading continually. France was +already helping her colonists. When would England help hers? + +But Robert forgot all alarm in the pleasure of the voyage. It was a +good sloop, it had a stout Dutch captain, and with a favoring wind +they sped fast southward. Pride in the splendid river swelled in +Robert's soul and he and Tayoga, despite the cold, sat together on the +deck, watching the lofty shores and the distant mountains. + +But Willet, anxious of mind, paced back and forth. He had seen much +at Albany that did not please him. The Indian Commissioners were +doing little to cement the alliance with the Hodenosaunee. The +Mohawks, alone of the great League, were giving aid against the +French. The others remained in their villages, keeping a strict +neutrality. That was well as far as it went, but the hunter had hoped +that all the members of the Hodenosaunee would take the field for the +English. He believed that Father Drouillard would soon be back among +the Onondagas, seeking to sway his converts to France, and he dreaded, +too, the activity and persistency of St. Luc. + +But he kept his anxieties from Robert, knowing how eagerly the lad +anticipated his arrival in New York, and not blaming him at all for +it, since New York, although inferior in wealth, size and power to +Philadelphia, and in leadership to Boston, was already, in the eye of +the prophets, because of its situation, destined to become the first +city of America. And Willet felt his own pulses beat a little faster +at the thought of New York, a town that he knew well, and already a +port famous throughout the world. + +Tayoga, although he wore his Indian dress, attracted no particular +attention from Captain Van Zouten and his crew. Indians could be seen +daily at Albany, and along the river, and they had been for +generations a part of American life. Captain Van Zouten, in truth, +noticed the height and fine bearing of the Onondaga, but he was a +close mouthed Dutchman, and if he felt like asking questions he put +due Dutch restraint upon himself. + +The wind held good all day long, and the sloop flew southward, leaving +a long white trail in the blue water, but toward night it rose to a +gale, with heavy clouds that promised snow. Captain Hendrick Van +Zouten looked up with some anxiety at his sails, through which the +wind was now whistling, and, after a consultation with his mate, +decided to draw into a convenient cove and anchor for the night. + +"I'm sorry," he said to Willet, "that our voyage to New York will be +delayed, but there'll be nasty weather on the river, and I don't like +to risk the sloop in it. But I didn't promise you that I'd get you to +the city at any particular time." + +"We don't blame wind, weather and water upon you, Captain Van Zouten," +laughed Willet, "and although I'm no seaman if you'd have consulted me +I too would have suggested shelter for the night." + +Captain Van Zouten breathed his relief. + +"If my passengers are satisfied," he said, "then so am I." + +All the sails were furled, the sloop was anchored securely in a cove +where she could not injure herself, no matter how fiercely the wind +might beat, and Robert and Tayoga, wrapped in their fur cloaks, stood +on her deck, watching the advance of the fierce winter storm, and +remembering those other storms they had passed through on Lake +Champlain, although there was no danger of Indians here. + +It began to snow heavily, and a fierce wind whistled among the +mountains behind them, lashing the river also into high waves, but the +sloop was a tight, strong craft, and it rocked but little in its snug +cove. Despite snow, wind and darkness Robert, Tayoga and the hunter +remained a long, time on deck. The Onondaga's feather headdress had +been replaced by a fur cap, similar to those now worn by Robert and +Willet, and all three were wrapped in heavy cloaks of furs. + +Robert was still thinking of New York, a town that he knew to some +extent, and yet he was traveling toward it with a feeling akin to that +with which he had approached Quebec. It was in a way and for its time +a great port, in which many languages were spoken and to which many +ships came. Despite its inferiority in size it was already the chief +window through which the New World looked upon the Old. He expected +to see life in the seething little city at the mouth of the Hudson and +he expected also that a crisis in his fortunes would come there. + +"Dave," he said to the hunter, "have you any plans for us in New +York?" + +"They've not taken very definite shape," replied Willet, "but you know +you want to serve in the war, and so do I. A great expedition is +coming out from England, and in conjunction with a Colonial force it +will march against Fort Duquesne. The point to which that force +advances is bound to be the chief scene of action." + +"And that, Dave, is where we want to go." + +"With proper commissions in the army. We must maintain our dignity and +station, Robert." + +"Of course, Dave. And you, Tayoga, are you willing to go with us?" + +"It is far from the vale of Onondaga," replied the young Indian, "but +I have already made the great journey to Quebec with my comrades, +Dagaeoga and the Great Bear. I am willing to see more of the world of +which I read in the books at Albany. If the fortunes of Dagaeoga take +him on another long circle I am ready to go with him." + +"Spoken like a warrior, Tayoga," said the hunter. "I have some +influence, and if we join the army that is to march against Fort +Duquesne I'll see that you receive a place befitting your Onondaga +rank and your quality as a man." + +"And so that is settled," said Robert. "We three stand together no +matter what may come." + +"Stand together it is, no matter what may come," said Willet. + +"We are, perhaps, as well in one place as in another," said Tayoga +philosophically, "because wherever we may be Manitou holds us in the +hollow of his hand." + +A great gust of wind came with a shriek down one of the gorges, and +the snow was whipped into their faces, blinding them for a moment. + +"It is good to be aboard a stout sloop in such a storm," said Robert, +as he wiped his eyes clear. "It would be hard to live up there on +those cliffs in all this driving white winter." + +A deep rumbling sound came back from the mountains, and he felt a +chill that was not of the cold creep into his bones. + +"It is the wind in the deep gorges," said Tayoga, "but the winds +themselves are spirits and the mountains too are spirits. On such a +wild night as this they play together and the rumbling you hear is +their voices joined in laughter." + +Robert's vivid mind as usual responded at once to Tayoga's imagery, +and his fancy went as far as that of the Onondaga, and perhaps +farther. He filled the air with spirits. They lined the edge of the +driving white storm. They flitted through every cleft and gorge, and +above every ridge and peak. They were on the river, and they rode upon +the waves that were pursuing one another over its surface. Then he +laughed a little at himself. + +"My fancy is seeing innumerable figures for me," he said, "where my +eyes really see none. No human being is likely to be abroad on the +river on such a night as this." + +"And yet my own eyes tell me that I do see a human being," said +Tayoga, "one that is living and breathing, with warm blood running in +his veins." + +"A living, breathing man! where, Tayoga?" + +"Look at the sloping cliff above us, there where the trees grow close +together. Notice the one with the boughs hanging low, and by the dark +trunk you will see the figure. It is a tall man with his hat drawn low +over his eyes, and a heavy cloak wrapped closely around his body." + +"I see him now, Tayoga! What could a man want at such a place on such +a night? It must be a farmer out late, or perhaps a wandering hunter!" + +"Nay, Dagaeoga, it is not a farmer, nor yet a wandering hunter. The +shoulders are set too squarely. The figure is too upright. And even +without these differences we would be sure that it is not the farmer, +nor yet the wandering hunter, because it is some one else whom we +know." + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" + +"Look! Look closely, Dagaeoga!" + +"Now the wind drives aside the white veil of snow and I see him +better. His figure is surely familiar!" + +"Aye, Dagaeoga, it is! And do you not know him?" + +"St. Luc! As sure as we live, Tayoga, it's St. Luc." + +"Yes," said the hunter, who had not spoken hitherto. "It's St. Luc, +and I could reach him from here with a rifle shot." + +"But you must not! You must not fire upon him!" exclaimed Robert. + +Willet laughed. + +"I wasn't thinking of doing so," he said. "And now it's too +late. St. Luc has gone." + +The dark figure vanished from beside the trunk, and Robert saw only +the lofty slope, and the whirling snow. He passed his hands before his +eyes. + +"Did we really see him?" he said. + +"We beheld him alive and in the flesh," replied the hunter, "deep down +in His Britannic Majesty's province of New York." + +"What could have brought him here at such a time?" + +"The cause of France, no doubt. He speaks English as well as you and +I, and he is probably in civilian clothing, seeking information for +his country. I know something of St. Luc. He has in him a spice of the +daring and romantic. Luck and adventure would appeal to him. He +probably knows already what forces we have at Albany and Kingston and +what is their state of preparation. Valuable knowledge for Quebec, +too." + +"Do you think St. Luc will venture to New York?" + +"Scarce likely, lad. He can obtain about all he wishes to know without +going so far south." + +"I'm glad of that, Dave. I shouldn't want him to be captured and +hanged as a spy." + +"Nor I, Robert. St. Luc is the kind of man who, if he falls at all in +this war, should fall sword in hand on the battle field. He must know +this region or he would not dare to come here, on such a terrible +night. He has probably gone now to shelter. And, since there is +nothing more to be seen we might do the same." + +But Robert and Tayoga were not willing to withdraw yet. Well wrapped +and warm, they found a pleasure in the fierce storm that raged among +the mountains and over the river, and their own security on the deck +of the stout sloop, fastened so safely in the little cove. They +listened to the wind rumbling anew like thunder through the deep +gorges and clefts, and they saw the snow swept in vast curtains of +white over the wild river. + +"I wonder what we shall find in New York, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"We shall find many people, of many kinds, Dagaeoga, but what will +happen to us there Manitou alone knows. But he has us in his +keeping. Look how he watched over us in Quebec, and look how the sword +of the Great Bear was stretched before you when your enemies planned +to slay you." + +"That's true, Tayoga. I don't look forward to New York with any +apprehension, but I do wonder what fate has prepared for us there." + +"We must await it with calm," said Tayoga philosophically. + +The Onondaga himself was not a stranger to New York. He had gone there +once with the chiefs of the Hodenosaunee for a grand council with the +British and provincial authorities, and he had gone twice with Robert +when they were schoolboys together in Albany. His enlightened mind, +without losing any of its dignity and calm, took a deep interest in +everything he saw at the port, through which the tide of nations +already flowed. He had much of the quality shown later by the fiery +Thayendanegea, who bore himself with the best in London and who was +their equal in manners, though the Onondaga, while as brave and daring +as the Mohawk, was gentler and more spiritual, being, in truth, what +his mind and circumstances had made him, a singular blend of red and +white culture. + +Willet, also wrapped in a long fur cloak, came from the cabin of the +sloop and looked at the two youths, each of whom had such a great +place in his heart. Both were white with snow as they stood on the +deck, but they did not seem to notice it. + +"Come now," said the hunter with assumed brusqueness. "You needn't +stand here all night, looking at the river, the cliffs and the +storm. Off to your berths, both of you." + +"Good advice, or rather command, Dave," said Robert, "and we'll obey +it." + +Their quarters were narrow, because sloops plying on the river in +those days were not large, but the three who slept so often in the +forest were not seekers after luxury. Robert undressed, crept into his +bunk, which was not over two feet wide, and slept soundly until +morning. After midnight the violence of the storm abated. It was still +snowing, but Captain Van Zouten unfurled his sails, made for the +middle of the river, and, when the sun came up over the eastern hills, +the sloop was tearing along at a great rate for New York. + +So when Robert awoke and heard the groaning of timbers and the creak +of cordage he knew at once that they were under way and he was +glad. The events of the night before passed rapidly through his mind, +but they seemed vague and indistinct. At first he thought the vision +of St. Luc on the cliff in the storm was but a dream, and he had to +make an effort of the will to convince himself that it was +reality. But everything came back presently, as vivid as it had been +when it occurred, and rising he dressed and went on deck. Tayoga and +Willet were already there. + +"Sluggard," said the Onondaga. "The French warships would capture you +while you are still in the land of dreams." + +"We'll find no French warships in the Hudson," retorted Robert, "and +as for sluggards, how long have you been on deck yourself, Tayoga?" + +"Two minutes, but much may happen in two minutes. Look, Dagaeoga, we +come now into a land of plenty. See, how many smokes rise on either +shore, and the smoke is not of camps, but of houses." + +"It comes from strong Dutch farmhouses, and from English manor houses, +Tayoga. They nestle in the warm shelter of the hills or at the mouths +of the creeks. Surely, the world cannot furnish a nobler scene." + +All the earth was pure white from the fallen snow, but the river +itself was a deep blue, reflected from the dazzling blue of the sky +overhead. The air, thin and cold, was exhilarating, and as the sloop +fled southward a panorama, increasing continually in magnificence, +unfolded before them. Other vessels appeared upon the river, and +Captain Van Zouten gave them friendly signals. Tiny villages showed +and the shores were an obvious manifestation of comfort and opulence. + +"I have heard that the French, if their success continues, mean to +attack Albany," said Robert, "but we must stop them there, Dave. We +can never let them invade such a region as this." + +"They'll invade it, nevertheless," said the hunter, "unless stout arms +and brave hearts stop them. We can drive both French and Indians back, +if we ever unite. There lies the trouble. We must get some sort of +concentrated action." + +"And New York is the best place to see whether it will be done or +not." + +"So it is." + +The wind remained favorable all that day, the next night there was a +calm, but the following day they drew near to New York, Captain Van +Zouten assuring them he would make a landing before sunset. + +He was well ahead of his promise, because the sun was high in the +heavens when the sloop began to pass the high, wooded hills that lie +at the upper end of Manhattan Island, and they drew in to their +anchorage near the Battery. They did not see the stone government +buildings that had marked Quebec, nor the numerous signs of a fortress +city, but they beheld more ships and more indications of a great +industrial life. + +"Every time I come here," said Willet, "it seems to me that the masts +increase in number. Truly it is a good town, and an abundant life +flows through it." + +"Where shall we stop, Dave?" asked Robert. "Do you have a tavern in +mind?" + +"Not a tavern," replied the hunter. "My mind's on a private house, +belonging to a friend of mine. You have not met him because he is at +sea or in foreign parts most of the time. Yet we are assured of a +welcome." + +An hour later they said farewell to Captain Van Zouten, carried their +own light baggage, and entered the streets of the port. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PORT + + +The three walked toward the Battery, and, while Tayoga attracted more +attention in New York than in Quebec, it was not undue. The city was +used to Indians, especially the Iroquois, and although comments were +made upon Tayoga's height and noble appearance there was nothing +annoying. + +Meanwhile the two youths were using their excellent eyes to the +full. Although the vivid imagination of Robert had foreseen a great +future for New York he did not dream how vast it would be. Yet all +things are relative, and the city even then looked large to him and +full of life, both size and activity having increased visibly since +his last visit. Some of the streets were paved, or at least in part, +and the houses, usually of red brick, often several stories in height, +were comfortable and strong. Many of them had lawns and gardens as at +Albany, and the best were planted with rows of trees which would +afford a fine shade in warm weather. Above the mercantile houses and +dwellings rose the lofty spire of St. George's Chapel in Nassau +Street, which had been completed less than three years before, and +which secured Robert's admiration for its height and impressiveness. + +The aspect of the whole town was a mixture of English and Dutch, but +they saw many sailors who were of neither race. Some were brown men +with rings in their ears, and they spoke languages that Robert did not +understand. But he knew that they came from far southern seas and that +they sailed among the tropic isles, looming large then in the world's +fancy, bringing with them a whiff of romance and mystery. + +The sidewalks in many places were covered with boxes and bales brought +from all parts of the earth, and stalwart men were at work among +them. The pulsing life and the air of prosperity pleased Robert. His +nature responded to the town, as it had responded to the woods, and +his imagination, leaping ahead, saw a city many times greater than the +one before his eyes, though it still stopped far short of the gigantic +reality that was to come to pass. + +"It's not far now to Master Hardy's," said Willet cheerfully. "It's +many a day since I've seen trusty old Ben, and right glad I'll be to +feel the clasp of his hand again." + +On his way Willet bought from a small boy in the street a copy each of +the _Weekly Post-Boy_ and of the _Weekly Gazette_ and _Mercury_, +folding them carefully and putting them in an inside pocket of his +coat. + +"I am one to value the news sheets," he said. "They don't tell +everything, but they tell something and 'tis better to know something +than nothing. Just a bit farther, my lads, and we'll be at the steps +of honest Master Hardy. There, you can see where fortunes are made and +lost, though we're a bit too late to see the dealers!" + +He pointed to the Royal Exchange, a building used by the merchants at +the foot of Broad Street, a structure very unique in its plan. It +consisted of an upper story resting upon arches, the lower part, +therefore, being entirely open. Beneath these arches the merchants met +and transacted business, and also in a room on the upper floor, where +there were, too, a coffee house and a great room used for banquets, +and the meetings of societies, the Royal Exchange being in truth the +beginning of many exchanges that now mark the financial center of the +New World. + +"Perhaps we'll see the merchants there tomorrow," said Willet. "You'll +note the difference between New York and Quebec. The French capital +was all military. You saw soldiers everywhere, but this is a town of +merchants. Now which, think you, will prevail, the soldiers or the +merchants?" + +"I think that in the end the merchants will win," replied Robert. + +"And so do I. Now we have come to the home of Master Hardy. See you +the big brick house with high stone steps? Well, that is his, and I +repeat that he is a good friend of mine, a good friend of old and of +today. I heard that in Albany, which tells me we will find him here +in his own place." + +But the big brick house looked to Robert and Tayoga like a fortress, +with its massive door and iron-barred windows, although friendly smoke +rose from a high chimney and made a warm line against the frosty blue +air. + +Willet walked briskly up the high stone steps and thundered on the +door with a heavy brass knocker. The summons was quickly answered and +the door swung back, revealing a tall, thin, elderly man, neatly +dressed in the fashion of the time. He had the manner of one who +served, although he did not seem to be a servant. Robert judged at +once that he was an upper clerk who lived in the house, after the +custom of the day. + +"Is Master Benjamin within, Jonathan?" asked Willet. + +The tall man blinked and then stared at the hunter in astonishment. + +"Is it in very truth you, Master Willet?" he exclaimed. + +"None other. Come, Jonathan, you know my voice and my face and my +figure very well. You could not fail to recognize me anywhere. So +cease your doubting. My young friends here are Robert Lennox, of whom +you know, and Tayoga, a coming chief of the Clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, known to you +as the Six Nations. He's impatient of disposition and unless you +answer my question speedily I'll have him tomahawk you. Come now, is +Master Benjamin within?" + +"He is, Mr. Willet. I had no intent to delay my answer, but you must +allow something to surprise." + +"I grant you pardon," said the hunter whimsically. "Robert and +Tayoga, this is Master Jonathan Pillsbury, chief clerk and man of +affairs for Master Benjamin Hardy. They are two old bachelors who live +in the same house, and who get along well together, because they're so +unlike. As for Master Jonathan, his heart is not as sour as his face, +and you could come to a worse place than the shop of Benjamin and +Jonathan. Master Jonathan, you will take particular notice of +Mr. Lennox. He is well grown and he appears intelligent, does he not?" + +The old clerk blinked again, and then his appraising eyes swept over +Robert. + +"'Twould be hard to find a nobler youth," he said. + +"I thought you would say so, and now lead us, without further delay, +to Master Hardy." + +"Who is it who demands to be led to me?" thundered a voice from the +rear of the house. "I seem to know that voice! Ah, it's Willet! Good +old Willet! Honest Dave, who wields the sharpest sword in North +America!" + +A tall, heavy man lunged forward. "Lunged" was the word that described +it to Robert, and his impetuous motion was due to the sight of Willet, +whom he grasped by both hands, shaking them with a vigor that would +have caused pain in one less powerful than the hunter, and as he shook +them he uttered exclamations, many of them bordering upon oaths and +all of them pertaining to the sea. + +Robert's eyes had grown used to the half light of the hall, and he +took particular notice of Master Benjamin Hardy who was destined to +become an important figure in his life, although he did not then dream +of it. He saw a tall man of middle age, built very powerfully, his +face burnt almost the color of an Indian's by the winds and suns of +many seas. But his hair was thick and long and the eyes shining in the +face, made dark by the weather, were an intensely bright blue. Robert, +upon whom impressions were so swift and vivid, reckoned that here was +one capable of great and fierce actions, and also with a heart that +contained a large measure of kindness and generosity. + +"Dave," said the tall man, who carried with him the atmosphere of the +sea, "I feared that you might be dead in those forests you love so +well, killed and perhaps scalped by the Hurons or some other savage +tribe. You've abundant hair, Dave, and you'd furnish an uncommonly +fine scalp." + +"And I feared, Benjamin, that you'd been caught in some smuggling +cruise near the Spanish Main, and had been put out of the way by the +Dons. You love gain too much, Ben, old friend, and you court risks too +great for its sake." + +Master Benjamin Hardy threw back his head and laughed deeply and +heartily. The laugh seemed to Robert to roll up spontaneously from his +throat. He felt anew that here was a man whom he liked. + +"Perchance 'tis the danger that draws me on," said Master Hardy. "You +and I are much alike, Dave. In the woods, if all that I hear be true, +you dwell continually in the very shadow of danger, while I incur it +only at times. Moreover, I am come to the age of fifty years, the head +is still on my shoulders, the breath is still in my body, and Master +Jonathan, to whom figures are Biblical, says the balance on my books +is excellent." + +"You talk o'er much, Ben, old friend, but since it's the way of +seafaring men and 'tis cheerful it does not vex my ears. You behold +with me, Tayoga, a youth of the best blood of the Onondaga nation, one +to whom you will be polite if you wish to please me, Benjamin, and +Master Robert Lennox, grown perhaps beyond your expectations." + +Master Benjamin turned to Robert, and, as Master Jonathan had done, +measured him from head to foot with those intensely bright blue eyes +of his that missed nothing. + +"Grown greatly and grown well," he said, "but not beyond my +expectations. In truth, one could predict a noble bough upon such a +stem. But you and I, Dave, having many years, grow garrulous and +forget the impatience of youth. Come, lads, we'll go into the +drawing-room and, as supper was to have been served in half an hour, +I'll have the portions doubled." + +Robert smiled. + +"In Albany and New York alike," he said, "they welcome us to the +table." + +"Which is the utmost test of hospitality," said Master Benjamin. + +They went into a great drawing-room, the barred windows of which +looked out upon a busy street, warehouses and counting houses and +passing sailors. Robert was conscious all the while that the brilliant +blue eyes were examining him minutely. His old wonder about his +parentage, lost for a while in the press of war and exciting events, +returned. He felt intuitively that Master Hardy, like Willet, knew who +and what he was, and he also felt with the same force that neither +would reply to any question of his on the subject. So he kept his +peace and by and by his curiosity, as it always did, disappeared +before immediate affairs. + +The drawing-room was a noble apartment, with dark oaken beams, a +polished oaken floor, upon which eastern rugs were spread, and heavy +tables of foreign woods. A small model of a sloop rested upon one +table and a model of a schooner on another. Here and there were great +curving shells with interiors of pink and white, and upon the walls +were curious long, crooked knives of the Malay Islands. Everything +savored of the sea. Again Robert's imagination leaped up. The blazing +hues of distant tropic lands were in his eyes, and the odors of +strange fruits and flowers were in his nostrils. + +"Sit down, Dave," said Master Benjamin, "and you, too, Robert and +Tayoga. I suppose you did not come to New Amsterdam--how the name +clings!--merely to see me." + +"That was one purpose, Benjamin," replied Willet, "but we had others +in mind too." + +"To join the war, I surmise, and to get yourselves killed?" + +"The first part of your reckoning is true, Benjamin, but not the +second. We would go to the war, in which we have had some part +already, but not in order that we may be killed." + +"You suffer from the common weakness. One entering war always thinks +that it's the other man and not he who will be killed. You're too old +for that, David." + +Willet laughed. + +"No, Benjamin," he said, "I'm not too old for it, and I never will +be. It's the belief that carries us all through danger." + +"Which way did you think of going in these warlike operations?" + +"We shall join the force that comes out from England." + +"The one that will march against Fort Duquesne?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"I hear that it's to be commanded by a general named Braddock, Edward +Braddock. What do you know of him?" + +"Nothing." + +"But you do know, David, that regular army officers fare ill in the +woods as a rule. You've told me often that the savages are a tricky +lot, and, fighting in the forest in their own way, are hard to beat." + +"You speak truth, Benjamin, and I'll not deny it, but there are many +of our men in the woods who know the ways of the Indians and of the +French foresters. They should be the eyes and ears of General +Braddock's army." + +"Well, maybe! maybe! David, but enough of war for the present. One +cannot talk about it forever. There are other things under the +sun. You will let these lads see New Amsterdam, will you not? Even +Tayoga can find something worth his notice in the greatest port of the +New World." + +"Is any play being given here?" asked Robert. + +"Aye, we're having plays almost nightly," replied Master Hardy, "and +they're being presented by some very good actors, too. Lewis Hallam, +who came several years ago from Goodman's Fields Theater in England, +and his wife, known on the stage as Mrs. Douglas, are offering the +best English plays in New York. Hallam is said to be extremely fine +in Richard III, in which tragedy he first appeared here, and he gives +it tomorrow night." + +"Then we're going," said Robert eagerly. "I would not miss it for +anything." + +"I had some thought of going myself, and if Dave hasn't changed, he +has a fine taste for the stage. I'll send for seats and we'll go +together." + +Willet's eyes sparkled. + +"In truth I'll go, too, and right gladly," he said. "You and I, +Benjamin, have seen the plays of Master Shakespeare together in +London, and 'twill please me mightily to see one of them again with +you in New York. Jonathan, here, will be of our company, too, will he +not?" + +Master Pillsbury pursed his lips and his expression became severe. + +"'Tis a frivolous way of passing the time," he said, "but it would be +well for one of serious mind to be present in order that he might +impose a proper dignity upon those who lack it." + +Benjamin Hardy burst into a roar of laughter. Robert had never known +any one else to laugh so deeply and with such obvious spontaneity and +enjoyment. His lips curled up at each end, his eyes rolled back and +then fairly danced with mirth, and his cheeks shook. It was +contagious. Not only did Master Benjamin laugh, but the others had to +laugh, not excluding Master Jonathan, who emitted a dry cackle as +became one of his habit and appearance. + +"Do you know, Dave, old friend," said Hardy, "that our good Jonathan +is really the most wicked of us all? I go upon the sea on these +cruises, which you call smuggling, and what not, and of which he +speaks censoriously, but if they do not show a large enough profit on +his books he rates me most severely, and charges me with a lack of +enterprise. And now he would fain go to the play to see that we +observe the proper decorum there. My lads, you couldn't keep the +sour-visaged old hypocrite from it." + +Master Jonathan permitted himself a vinegary smile, but made no other +reply, and, a Dutch serving girl announcing that supper was ready, +Master Hardy led them into the dining-room, where a generous repast +was spread. But the room itself continued and accentuated the likeness +of a ship. The windows were great portholes, and two large swinging +lamps furnished the light. Pictures of naval worthies and of sea +actions lined the walls. Two or three of the battle scenes were quite +spirited, and Robert regarded them with interest. + +"Have you fought in any of those encounters, Mr. Hardy?" he asked. + +Willet laid a reproving hand upon his shoulder. + +"'Twas a natural question of yours, Robert," he said, "but 'tis the +fashion here and 'tis courtesy, too, never to ask Benjamin about his +past life. Then he has no embarrassing questions to answer." + +Robert reddened and Hardy broke again into that deep, spontaneous +laughter which, in time, compelled all the others to laugh too and +with genuine enjoyment. + + +"Don't believe all that David tells you, Robert, my brave macaroni," +he said. "I may not answer your questions, but faith they'll never +prove embarrassing. Bear in mind, lad, that our trade being +restricted by the mother country and English subjects in this land not +having the same freedom as English subjects in England, we must resort +to secrecy and stratagem to obtain what our fellow subjects on the +other side of the ocean may obtain openly. And when you grow older, +Master Robert, you will find that it's ever so in the world. Those to +whom force bars the way will resort to wiles and stratagems to achieve +their ends. The fox has the cunning that the bear lacks, because he +hasn't the bear's strength. Lads, you two will sit together on this +side of the table, Jonathan, you take the side next to the portholes, +and David, you and I will preside at the ends. Benjamin, David and +Jonathan, it has quite a Biblical sound, and at least the friendship +among the three of us, despite the sourness of Master Pillsbury, with +which I bear as best I can, is equal to that of David and +Jonathan. Now, lads, fall on and see which of you can keep pace with +me, for I am a mighty trencherman." + +"Meanwhile tell us what is passing here," said Willet. + +In the course of the supper Hardy talked freely of events in New York, +where a great division of councils still prevailed. Shirley, the +warlike and energetic governor of Massachusetts, had urged De Lancy, +the governor of New York, to join in an expedition against the French +in Canada, but there had been no agreement. Later, a number of the +royal governors expected to meet at Williamsburg in Virginia with +Dinwiddie, the governor of that province. + +"At present there are plans for four enterprises, every one of an +aspiring nature," he said. "One expedition is to reduce Nova Scotia +entirely, another, under Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, is to +attack the French at Fort Niagara, Sir William Johnson with militia +and Mohawks is to head a third against Crown Point. The fourth, which +I take to be the most important, is to be led by General Braddock +against Fort Duquesne, its object being the recovery of the Ohio +country. I cannot vouch for it, but such plans, I hear, will be +presented at the conference of the governors at Williamsburg." + +"As we mean to go to Williamsburg ourselves," said Willet, "we'll see +what fortune General Braddock may have. But now, for the sake of the +good lads, we'll speak of lighter subjects. Where is the play of +Richard III to be given, Benjamin?" + +"Mr. Hallam has obtained a great room in a house that is the property +of Rip Van Dam in Nassau Street. He has fitted it up in the fashion +of a stage, and his plays are always attended by a great concourse of +ladies and gentlemen. Boston and Philadelphia say New York is light +and frivolous, but I suspect that something of jealousy lies at the +core of the charge. We of New Amsterdam--again the name leaps to my +lips--have a certain freedom in our outlook upon life, a freedom which +I think produces strength and not weakness. Manners are not morals, +but I grow heavy and it does not become a seafaring man to be +didactic. What is it, Piet?" + +The door of the dining-room opened, admitting a serving man who +produced a letter. + +"It comes by the Boston post," he said, handing it to Master Hardy. + +"Then it must have an importance which will not admit delay in the +reading," said Master Hardy. "Your pardon, friends, while I peruse +it." + +He read it carefully, read it again with the same care, and then his +resonant laughter boomed forth with such volume and in such continuity +that he was compelled to take a huge red handkerchief and wipe the +tears from his eyes. + +"What is it, Benjamin, that amuses you so vastly?" asked Willet. + +"A brave epistle from one of my captains, James Dunbar, a valiant man +and a great mariner. In command of the schooner, _Good Hope_, he was +sailing from the Barbados with a cargo of rum and sugar for Boston, +which furnishes a most excellent market for both, when he was +overhauled by the French privateer, _Rocroi_." + +"What do you find to laugh at in the loss of a good ship and a fine +cargo?" + +"Did I say they were lost? Nay, David, I said nothing of the kind. You +don't know Dunbar, and you don't know the _Good Hope_, which carries a +brass twelve-pounder and fifteen men as valiant as Dunbar himself. He +returned the attack of the _Rocroi_ with such amazing skill and +fierceness that he was able to board her and take her, with only three +of his men wounded and they not badly. Moreover, they found on board +the privateer a large store of gold, which becomes our prize of +war. And Dunbar and his men shall have a fair share of it, too. How +surprised the Frenchies must have been when Dunbar and his sailors +swarmed aboard." + +"'Tis almost our only victory," said Willet, "and I'm right glad, +Benjamin, it has fallen to the lot of one of your ships to win it." + +The long supper which was in truth a dinner was finished at +last. Hardy made good his boast, proving that he was a mighty +trencherman. Pillsbury pressed him closest, and the others, although +they did well, lingered at some distance in the rear. Afterward they +walked in the town, observing its varied life, and at a late hour +returned to Hardy's house which he called a mansion. + +Robert and Tayoga were assigned to a room on the second floor, and +young Lennox again noted the numerous evidences of opulence. The +furniture was mostly of carved mahogany, and every room contained +articles of value from distant lands. + +"Tayoga," said Robert, "what do you think of it all?" + +"I think that the man Hardy is shrewd, Dagaeoga, shrewd like one of +our sachems, and that he has an interest in you, greater than he would +let you see. Do you remember him, Lennox?" + +"No, I can't recall him, Tayoga. I've heard Dave speak of him many +times, but whenever we were in New York before he was away, and we did +not even come to his house. But he and Dave are friends of many +years. I think that long ago they must have been much together." + +"Truly there is some mystery here, but it can wait. In its proper +time the unknown becomes the known." + +"So it does, Tayoga, and I shall not vex my mind about the +matter. Just now, what I wish most of all is sleep." + +"I wish it too, Lennox." + +But Robert did not sleep well, his nerves being attuned more highly +than he had realized. Some of the talk that had passed between Willet +and Hardy related obviously to himself, and in the quiet of the room +it came back to him. He had not slept more than an hour when he awoke, +and, being unable to go to sleep again, sat up in bed. Tayoga was deep +in slumber, and Robert finally left the bed and went to the window, +the shutter of which was not closed. It was a curious, round window, +like a huge porthole, but the glass was clear and he had a good view +of the street. He saw one or two sailors swaying rather more than the +customary motion of a ship, pass by, and then a watchman carrying a +club in one hand and a lantern in the other, and blowing his frosty +breath upon his thick brown beard, indicating that the night although +bright was very cold. + +He looked through the glass at least a half hour, and then turned back +to the bed, but found himself less inclined than ever to +sleep. Throwing his coat over his shoulders, he opened the unlocked +door and went into the hall, intending to walk back and forth a +little, believing that the easy exercise would induce desire for +sleep. + +He was surprised to find a thread of light in the dusk of the hall, at +a time when he was quite sure everybody in the house except himself +was buried in slumber, and when he traced it he found it came from +another room farther down. It was, upon the instant, his belief that +robbers had entered. In a port like New York, where all nations come, +there must be reckless and desperate men who would hesitate at no risk +or crime. + +He moved cautiously along the hall, until he reached the door from +which the light shone. It was open about six inches, not allowing a +look into the room except at the imminent risk of discovery, but by +placing his ear at the sill he would be able to hear the footsteps of +men if they were moving within. The sound of voices instead came to +him, and as he listened he was able to note that it was two men +talking in low tones. Undoubtedly they were robbers, who were common +in all great towns in those days, and this must be a chamber in which +Master Hardy kept many valuables. Doubtless they were assured that +everybody was deep in slumber, or they would be more cautious. + +Driven by an intense curiosity, Robert edged his head a little farther +forward, and was able to look into the room, where, to his intense +amazement, he saw no robbers at all, but Willet and Master Hardy +seated at a small table opposite each other, with a candle, account +books and papers between. Hardy had been reading a paper, and stopping +at intervals to talk about it with the hunter. + +"As you see, David," he said, "the list of the ships is three larger +than it was five years ago. One was lost to the Barbary corsairs, +another was wrecked on the coast of the Brazils, but we have five new +ones." + +"You have done well, Benjamin, but I knew you would," said the hunter. + +"With the help of Jonathan. Don't forget him, David. In name he is my +head clerk, and he pretends to serve me, but at times I think he is my +master. A shrewd Massachusetts man, David, uncommonly shrewd, and +loyal too." + +"And the lands, Benjamin?" + +"They're in abeyance, and are likely to be for some years, their title +depending upon the course of events which are now in train." + +"And they're uncertain, Benjamin, as uncertain as the winds. But give +me your honest opinion of the lad, Benjamin. Have I done well with +him?" + +"None could have done better. He's an eagle, David. I marked him +well. Spirit, imagination, force; youth and honesty looking out of his +eyes. But have you no fears, David, that you will get him killed in +the wars?" + +"I could not keep him from going to them if I would, Benjamin. There +my power stops. You old sailors have superstitions or beliefs, and I, +a landsman, have a conviction, too. The invisible prophets tell me +that he will not be killed." + +"I don't laugh at such things, David. The greatness and loneliness of +the sea does breed superstition in mariners. I know there is no such +thing as the supernatural, and yet I am swayed at times by the +unknown." + +"At least I will watch over him as best I can, and he has uncommon +skill in taking care of himself." + +Robert's will triumphed over a curiosity that was intense and burning, +and he turned away. He knew they were speaking of him, and he seemed +to be connected with great affairs. It was enough to stir the most +apathetic youth, and he was just the opposite. It required the utmost +exertion of a very strong mind to pull himself from the door and then +to drag his unwilling feet along the hall. Matter was in complete +rebellion and mind was compelled to win its triumph, unaided, but win +it did and kept the victory. + +He reached his own room and softly closed the door behind him. Tayoga +was still sleeping soundly. Robert went again to the window. His eyes +were turned toward the street, but he did not see anything there, +because he was looking inward. The talk of Willet and Hardy came back +to him. He could say it over, every word, and none could deny that it +was charged with significance. But he knew intuitively that neither of +them would answer a single one of his questions, and he must wait for +time and circumstance to disclose the truth. Nor could he bear to tell +them that he had been listening at the door, despite the fact that it +had been brought about by accident, and that he had come away, when he +might have heard more. + +Having resigned himself to necessity, he went back to bed and now, +youth triumphing over excitement, he soon slept. The next morning, +directly after breakfast, the three elders and the two lads went to +the Royal Exchange, where there was soon a great concourse of +merchants, clerks and seafaring men. Master Hardy was received with +great respect, and many congratulations were given to him, when he +told the story of the _Good Hope_ and Captain Dunbar. In one of the +rooms above the pillars he met another captain of his who had arrived +the day before at New York itself. + +This captain, a New England man, Eliphalet Simmons, had brought his +schooner from the Mediterranean, and he told in a manner as brief and +dry as his own log how he had outsailed one Barbary corsair by day, +and by changing his course had tricked another in the night. But the +voyage had been most profitable, and Master Jonathan duly entered the +amount of gain in an account book, with a reward of ten pounds to +Captain Simmons, five pounds to the first mate, three pounds to the +second mate, and one pound to every member of the crew for their +bravery and seamanship. + +Captain Simmons' thanks were as brief and dry as his report, but +Robert saw his eyes glisten, and knew that he was not lacking in +gratitude. After the business was settled and the rewards adjusted +they adjourned to a coffee house near Hanover Square where very good +Madeira was brought and served to the men, Robert and Tayoga +declining. Then Benjamin, David and Jonathan drank to the health of +Eliphalet, while the two lads, the white and the red, devoted their +attention to the others in the coffee house, of whom there were at +least a dozen. + +One who sat at a table very near was already examining Tayoga with the +greatest curiosity. He wore the uniform of an English second +lieutenant, very trim, and very red, he had an exceeding ruddiness of +countenance, he was tall and well built, and he was only a year or two +older than Robert. His curiosity obviously had been aroused by the +appearance of Tayoga in the full costume of an Iroquois. It was +equally evident to Robert that he was an Englishman, a member of the +royal forces then in New York. Americans still called themselves +Englishmen and Robert instantly had a feeling of kinship for the young +officer who had a frank and good face. + +The English youth's hat was lying upon the table beside him, and a +gust of wind blowing it upon the floor, rolled it toward Robert, who +picked it up and tendered it to its owner. + +"Thanks," said the officer. "'Twas careless of me." + +"By no means," said Robert. "The wind blows when it pleases, and you +were taken by surprise." + +The Englishman smiled, showing very white and even teeth. + +"I haven't been very long in New York," he said, "but I find it a +polite and vastly interesting town. My name is Grosvenor, Alfred +Grosvenor, and I'm a second lieutenant in the regiment of Colonel +Brandon, that arrived but recently from England." + +Master Hardy looked up and passed an investigating eye over the young +Englishman. + +"You're related to one of the ducal families of England," he said, +"but your own immediate branch of it has no overplus of wealth. Still, +your blood is reckoned highly noble in England, and you have an +excellent standing in your regiment, both as an officer and a man." + +Young Grosvenor's ruddy face became ruddier. + +"How do you happen to know so much about me?" he asked. But there was +no offense in his tone. + +Hardy smiled, and Pillsbury, pursing his thin lips, measured Grosvenor +with his eyes. + +"I make it my business," replied Hardy, "to discover who the people +are who come to New York. I'm a seafaring man and a merchant and I +find profit in it. It's true, in especial, since the war has begun, +and New York begins to fill with the military. Many of these sprightly +young officers will be wishing to borrow money from me before long, +and it will be well for me to know their prospects of repayment." + +The twinkle in his eye belied the irony of his words, and the +lieutenant laughed. + +"And since you're alone," continued the merchant, "we ask you to join +us, and will be happy if you accept. This is Mr. Robert Lennox, of +very good blood too, and this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who, +among his own people has a rank corresponding to a prince of the blood +among yours, and who, if you value such things, is entitled therefore +to precedence over all of us, including yourself. Mr. David Willet, +Mr. Jonathan Pillsbury and Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who is myself, +complete the catalogue." + +He spoke in a tone half whimsical, half earnest, but the young +Englishman, who evidently had a friendly and inquiring mind, received +it in the best spirit and gladly joined them. He was soon deep in the +conversation, but his greatest interest was for Tayoga, from whom he +could seldom take his eyes. It was evident to Robert that he had +expected to find only a savage in an Indian, and the delicate manners +and perfect English of the Onondaga filled him with surprise. + +"I would fain confess," he said at length, "that America is not what I +expected to find. I did not know that it contained princes who could +put some of our own to shame." + +He bowed to Tayoga, who smiled and replied: + +"What small merit I may possess is due to the training of my people." + +"Do you expect early service, Lieutenant Grosvenor?" Mr. Hardy asked. + +"Not immediate--I think I may say so much," replied the Englishman, +"but I understand that our regiment will be with the first force that +takes the field, that of General Braddock. 'Tis well known that we +intend to march against Fort Duquesne, an expedition that should be +easy. A powerful army like General Braddock's can brush aside any +number of forest rovers." + +Robert and Willet exchanged glances, but the face of Tayoga remained a +mask. + +"It's not well to take the French and Indians too lightly," said +Mr. Hardy with gravity. + +"But wandering bands can't face cannon and the bayonet." + +"They don't have to face 'em. They lie hid on your flank and cut you +down, while your fire and steel waste themselves on the uncomplaining +forest." + +They were words which were destined to come back to Robert some day +with extraordinary force, but for the present they were a mere +generalization that did not stay long in his mind. + +"Our leaders will take all the needful precautions," said young +Grosvenor with confidence. + +Mr. Hardy did not insist, but spoke of the play they expected to +witness that evening, suggesting to Lieutenant Grosvenor if he had +leave, that he go with them, an invitation that was accepted promptly +and with warmth. The liking between him and Robert, while of sudden +birth, was destined to be strong and permanent. There was much +similarity of temperament. Grosvenor also was imaginative and +curious. His mind invariably projected itself into the future, and he +was eager to know. He had come to America, inquiring, without +prejudices, wishing to find the good rather than the bad, and he +esteemed it a great stroke of fortune that he should make so early the +acquaintance of two such remarkable youths as Robert and Tayoga. The +three men with them were scarcely less interesting, and he knew that +in their company at the play they would talk to him of strange new +things. He would be exploring a world hidden from him hitherto, and +nothing could have appealed to him more. + +"You landed a week ago," said Hardy. + +"Truly, sir," laughed Grosvenor, "you seem to know not only who I am, +but what I do." + +"And then, as you've had a certain amount of military duty, although +'tis not excessive, you've had little chance to see this most +important town of ours. Can you not join this company of mine at my +house for supper, and then we'll all go together to the play? I'll +obtain your seat for you." + +"With great pleasure, sir," replied Grosvenor. "'Twill be easy for me +to secure the needed leave, and I'll be at your house with +promptness." + +He departed presently for his quarters, and the three men also went +away together on an errand of business, leaving Robert and Tayoga to +go whithersoever they pleased and it pleased them to wander along the +shores of the port. Young Lennox was impressed more than ever by the +great quantity of shipping, and the extreme activity of the town. The +war with France, so far from interfering with this activity, had but +increased it. + +Privateering was a great pursuit of the day, all nations deeming it +legal and worthy in war, and bold and enterprising merchants like +Mr. Hardy never failed to take advantage of it. The weekly news sheets +that Willet had bought contained lists of vessels captured already, +and Robert's hasty glances showed him that at least sixty or seventy +had been taken by the privateers out of New York. Most of the prizes +had been in the West India trade, although some had been captured far +away near the coast of Africa, and nearly all had been loaded richly. + +They saw several of the privateers in port, armed powerfully, and as +they were usually built for speed, Robert admired their graceful +lines. He felt anew the difference between military Quebec and +commercial New York. Quebec was prepared to send forth forces for +destruction, but, here, life-giving commerce flowed in and flowed out +again through arteries continually increasing in number and +power. Once again came to him the thought that the merchant more than +the soldier was the builder of a great nation. The impression made +upon him was all the more vivid because New York, even in the middle +of the eighteenth century, when it was in its infancy, surprised even +travelers from Europe with its manifold activities and intense energy. + +After a day, long but of extraordinary interest, they returned to the +house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor joined them in half an hour, and +then, after another abundant supper, they all went to the play. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PLAY + + +They were all arrayed in their very best clothes, even Master Jonathan +having powdered his hair, and tied it in an uncommonly neat queue, +while his buckled shoes, stockings and small clothes, though of +somewhat ancient fashion, were of fine quality. Mr. Hardy gazed at him +admiringly. + +"Jonathan," he said, "you are usually somewhat sour of visage, but +upon occasion you can ruffle it with the best macaroni of them all." + +Master Jonathan pursed his lips, and smiled with satisfaction. All of +them, in truth, presented a most gallant appearance, but by far the +most noticeable figure was that of Tayoga. Indians often appeared in +New York, but such Indians as the young Onondaga were rare +anywhere. He rose half a head above the ordinary man, and he wore the +costume of a chief of the mighty League of the Hondenosaunee, the +feathers in his lofty headdress blowing back defiantly with the +wind. He attracted universal, and at the same time respectful, +attention. + +They were preceded by a stout link boy who bore aloft a blazing torch, +and as they walked toward the building in Nassau Street, owned by Rip +Van Dam, in which the play was to be given, they overtook others who +were upon the same errand. A carriage drawn by two large white horses +conveyed Governor de Lancey and his wife, and another very much like +it bore his brother-in-law, the conspicuous John Watts, and +Mrs. Watts. All of them saw Mr. Hardy and his party and bowed to them +with great politeness. Robert already understood enough of the world +to know that it denoted much importance on the part of the merchant. + +"A man of influence in our community," said Master Benjamin, speaking +of Mr. Watts. "An uncommonly clear mind and much firmness and +decision. He will leave a great name in New York." + +As he spoke they overtook a tall youth about twenty-three years old, +walking alone, and dressed in the very latest fashion out of +England. Mr. Hardy hailed him with great satisfaction and asked him to +join them. + +"Master Edward Charteris,[A] who is soon to become a member of the +Royal Americans," he said to the others. "He is a native of this town +and belongs to one of our best families here. When he does become a +Royal American he will probably have the finest uniform in his +regiment, because Edward sets the styles in raiment for young men of +his age here." + +[Footnote A: The story of Edward Charteris, and his adventures at +Ticonderoga and Quebec are told in the author's novel, "A Soldier of +Manhattan."] + +Charteris smiled. It was evident that he and the older man were on the +most friendly footing. But he held himself with dignity and had pride, +qualities which Robert liked in him. His manner was most excellent +too, when Mr. Hardy introduced all of his party in turn, and he +readily joined them, speaking of his pleasure in doing so. + +"I shall be able to exchange my seat and obtain one with you," he +said. "We shall be early, but I am glad of it. Mr. Hallam and his fine +company have been performing in Philadelphia, and as we now welcome +them back to New York, nearly all the notable people of our city will +be present. Unless Mr. Hardy wishes to do so, it will give me pleasure +to point them out to you." + +"No, no!" exclaimed Master Benjamin. "The task is yours, Edward, my +lad. You can put more savor and unction into it than I can." + +"Then let it be understood that I'm the guide and expounder," laughed +Charteris. + +"He has a great pride in his city, and it won't suffer from his +telling," said Master Benjamin. + +They were now in Nassau Street near the improvised theater, and many +other link boys, holding aloft their torches, were preceding their +masters and mistresses. Heavy coaches were rolling up, and men and +women in gorgeous costumes were emerging from them. The display of +wealth was amazing for a town in the New World, but Mr. Hardy and his +company quickly went inside and obtained their seats, from which they +watched the fashion of New York enter. Charteris knew them all, and +to many of them he was related. + +The number of De Lanceys was surprising and there was also a profusion +of Livingstons, the two families between them seeming to dominate the +city, although they lived in bitter rivalry, as Charteris whispered to +Robert. There were also Wattses and Morrises and Crugers and Waltons +and Van Rensselaers, Van Cortlandts and Kennedys and Barclays and +Nicolls and Alexanders, and numerous others that endured for +generations in New York. The diverse origin of these names, English, +Scotch, Dutch and Huguenot French, showed even at such an early date +the cosmopolitan nature of New York that it was destined to maintain. + +Robert was intensely interested. Charteris' fund of information was +wonderful, and he flavored it with a salt of his own. He not only knew +the people, but he knew all about them, their personal idiosyncrasies, +their rivalries and jealousies. Robert soon gathered that New York was +not only a seething city commercially, but socially as well. Family +was of extreme importance, and the great landed proprietors who had +received extensive grants along the Hudson in the earlier days from +the Dutch Government, still had and exercised feudal rights, and were +as full of pride and haughtiness as ducal families in Europe. Class +distinctions were preserved to the utmost possible extent, and, while +the original basis of the town had been Dutch, the fashion was now +distinctly English. London set the style for everything. + +When they were all seated, the display of fine dress and jewels was +extraordinary, just as the wealth and splendor shown in some of the +New York houses had already attracted the astonished attention of many +of the British officers, to whom the finest places in their own +country were familiar. + +And while Robert was looking so eagerly, the party to which he +belonged did not pass unnoticed by any means. Master Benjamin Hardy +was well known. He was bold and successful and he was a man of great +substance. He had qualities that commanded respect in colonial New +York, and people were not averse to being seen receiving his friendly +nod. And those who surrounded him and who were evidently his guests +were worthy of notice too. There was Edward Charteris, as well born as +any in the hall, and a pattern in manners and dress for the young men +of New York, and there was the tall youth with the tanned face, and +the wonderful, vivid eyes, who must surely, by his appearance, be the +representative of some noble family, there was the young Indian chief, +uncommon in height and with the dignity and majesty of the forest, an +Indian whose like had never been seen in New York before, and there +was the gigantic Willet, whose massive head and calm face were so +redolent of strength. Beyond all question it was a most unusual and +striking company that Master Benjamin Hardy had brought with him, and +old and young whispered together as they looked at them, especially at +Robert and Tayoga. + +Mr. Hardy was conscious of the stir he had made, and he liked it, not +for himself alone, but also for another. He glanced at Robert and saw +how finely and clearly his features were cut, how clear was the blue +of his eyes and the great width between them, and he drew a long +breath of satisfaction. + +"'Tis a good youth. Nature, lineage and Willet have done well," he +said to himself. + +More of the fashion of New York came in and then a group of British +officers, several of whom nodded to Grosvenor. + +"The tall man with the gray hair at the temples is my colonel, +Brandon," he said. "Very strict, but just to his men, and we like +him. He spent some years in the service of the East India Company, in +one of the hottest parts of the peninsula. That's why he's so brown, +and it made his blood thin, too. He can't endure cold. The officer +with him is one of our majors, Apthorpe. He has had less experience +than the colonel, but thinks he knows more. His opinion of the French +is very poor. Believes we ought to brush 'em aside with ease." + +"I hope you don't think that way, Grosvenor," said Robert. "We in this +country know that the French is one of the most valiant races the +world has produced." + +"And so do most thinking Englishmen. The only victories we boast much +about are those we have won over the French, which shows that we +consider them foes worthy of anybody's steel. But the play is going to +begin, I believe. The hall is well filled now, and I'm not trying to +make an appeal to your local pride, Lennox, when I tell you 'tis an +audience that will compare well with one at Drury Lane or Covent +Garden for splendor, and for variety 'twill excel it." + +Robert was pleased secretly. Although more identified with Albany than +New York, he considered himself nevertheless one of the people who +belonged to the city at the mouth of the Hudson, and he felt already +its coming greatness. + +"We call ourselves Englishmen," he said modestly, "and we hope to +achieve as much as the older Englishmen, our brethren across the +seas." + +"Have you seen many plays, Lennox?" + +"But few, and none by great actors like Mr. Hallam and Mrs. Douglas. I +suppose, Grosvenor, you've seen so many that they're no novelty to +you." + +"I can scarcely lay claim to being such a man about town as that. I +have seen plays, of course, and some by the great Master Will, and I +do confess that the mock life I behold beyond the footlights often +thrills me more than the real life I see this side of them. Once, I +witnessed this play 'Richard III,' which we are now about to see, and +it stirred me so I could scarce contain myself, though some do say +that our Shakespeare has made the hunchback king blacker than he +really was." + +Presently a little bell rang, the curtain rolled up, and Robert passed +into an enchanted land. To vivid and imaginative youth the great style +and action of Shakespeare make an irresistible appeal. Robert had +never seen one of the mighty bard's plays before, and now he was in +another world of romance and tragedy, suffused with poetry and he was +held completely by the spell. Shakespeare may have blackened the +character of the hunchback, but Robert believed him absolutely. To +him Richard was exactly what the play made him. + +Although the stage was but a temporary one, built in the hall of Rip +Van Dam, it was large, the seating capacity was great and Hallam and +his wife were among the best actors of their day, destined to a long +career as stars in the colonies, and also afterward, when they ceased +to be colonies. They and an able support soon took the whole audience +captive, and all, fashionable and unfashionable alike, hung with +breathless attention upon the play. Robert forgot absolutely +everything around him, Willet was carried back to days of his youth, +and Master Benjamin Hardy, who at heart was a lover of adventure and +romance, responded to the great speeches the author has written for +his characters. Tayoga did not stir, his face of bronze was unmoved, +but now and then his dark eyes gleamed. + +In reality the influence of the tragedy upon Tayoga was as great as it +was upon Robert. The Onondaga had an unusual mind and being sent at an +early age to school at Albany he had learned that the difference +between white man and red was due chiefly to environment. Their hopes +and fears, their rivalries and ambitions were, in truth, about the +same. He had seen in some chief a soul much like that of humpbacked +Richard, but, as he looked and listened, he also had a certain feeling +of superiority. As he saw it, the great League, the Hodenosaunee, was +governed better than England when York and Lancaster were tearing it +to pieces. The fifty old sachems in the vale of Onondaga would decide +more wisely and more justly than the English nobles. Tayoga, in that +moment, was prouder than ever that he was born a member of the Clan of +the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, and doubtless his patron saint, +Tododaho, in his home on the great, shining star, agreed with him. + +The first act closed amid great applause, several recalls of smiling +and bowing actors followed, and then, during the wait, came a great +buzz of talk. Robert shook himself and returned to the world. + +"What do you like best about it, Lennox?" asked Grosvenor. + +"The poetry. The things the people say. Things I've thought often +myself, but which I haven't been able to put in a way that makes them +strike upon you like a lightning flash." + +"I think that describes Master Will. In truth, you've given me a +description for my own feelings. Once more I repeat to you, Lennox, +that 'tis a fine audience. I see here much British and Dutch wealth, +and people whose lives have been a continuous drama." + +"Truly it's so," said Robert, and, as his examining eye swept the +crowd, he almost rose in his seat with astonishment, with difficulty +suppressing a cry. Then he charged himself with being a fool. It could +not be so! The thing was incredible! The man might look like him, but +surely he would not be so reckless as to come to such a place. + +Then he looked again, and he could no longer doubt. The stranger sat +near the door and his dress was much like that of a prosperous +seafaring man of the Dutch race. But Robert knew the blue eyes, lofty +and questing like those of the eagle, and he was sure that the reddish +beard had grown on a face other than the one it now adorned. It was +St. Luc, whom he knew to be romantic, adventurous, and ready for any +risk. + +Robert moved his body forward a little, in order that it might be +directly between Tayoga and the Frenchman, it being his first impulse +to shelter St. Luc from the next person who was likely to recognize +him. But the Onondaga was not looking in that direction. The young +English officer, moved by his intense interest, had engaged him in +conversation continually, surprised that Tayoga should know so much +about the white race and history. + +Robert looked so long at St. Luc, and with such a fixed and powerful +gaze, that at last the chevalier turned and their eyes met. Robert's +said: + +"Why are you here? Your life is in danger every moment. If caught you +will be executed as a spy." + +"I'm not afraid," replied the eyes of St. Luc. "You alone have seen me +as I am." + +"But others will see you." + +"I think not." + +"How do you know that I will not proclaim at once who you are?" + +"You will not because you do not wish to see me hanged or shot." + +Then the eyes of St. Luc left Robert and wandered ever the audience, +which was now deeply engrossed in talk, although the Livingstons and +the De Lanceys kept zealously away from one another, and the families +who were closely allied with them by blood, politics or business also, +stayed near their chiefs. Robert began to fancy that he might have +been mistaken, it was not really St. Luc, he had allowed an imaginary +resemblance to impose upon him, but reflection told him that it was no +error. He would have known the intense gaze of those burning blue eyes +anywhere. He was still careful to keep his own body between Tayoga and +the Frenchman. + +The curtain rose and once more Robert fell under the great writer's +spell. Vivid action and poetic speech claimed him anew, and for the +moment he forgot St. Luc. When the second act was finished, and while +the applause was still filling the hall, he cast a fearful glance +toward the place where he had seen the chevalier. Then, in truth, he +rubbed his eyes. No St. Luc was there. The chair in which he had sat +was not empty, but was occupied by a stolid, stout Dutchman, who +seemed not to have moved for hours. + +It had been a vision, a figment of the fancy, after all! But it was +merely an attempt of the will to persuade himself that it was so. He +could not doubt that he had seen St. Luc, who, probably listening to +some counsel of providence, had left the hall. Robert felt an immense +relief, and now he was able to assume his best manner when Mr. Hardy +began to present him and Tayoga to many of the notables. He met the +governor, Mr. Watts, and more De Lanceys, Wilsons and Crugers than he +could remember, and he received invitations to great houses, and made +engagements which he intended to keep, if it were humanly +possible. Willet and Hardy exchanged glances when they noticed how +easily he adapted himself to the great world of his day. He responded +here as he had responded in Quebec, although Quebec and New York, each +a center in its own way, were totally unlike. + +The play went on, and Robert was still absorbed in the majestic +lines. At the next intermission there was much movement in the +audience. People walked about, old acquaintances spoke and strangers +were introduced to one another. Robert looked sharply for St. Luc, but +there was no trace of him. Presently Mr. Hardy was introducing him to +a heavy man, dressed very richly, and obviously full of pride. + +"Mynheer Van Zoon," he said, "this is young Robert Lennox. He has been +for years in the care of David Willet, whom you have met in other and +different times. Robert, Mynheer Van Zoon is one of our greatest +merchants, and one of my most active rivals." + +Robert was about to extend his hand, but noticing that Mynheer Van +Zoon did not offer his he withheld his own. The merchant's face, in +truth, had turned to deeper red than usual, and his eyes lowered. He +was a few years older than Hardy, somewhat stouter, and his heavy +strong features showed a tinge of cruelty. The impression that he made +upon Robert was distinctly unfavorable. + +"Yes, I have met Mr. Willet before," said Van Zoon, "but so many years +have passed that I did not know whether he was still living. I can say +the same about young Mr. Lennox." + +"Oh, they live hazardous lives, but when one is skilled in meeting +peril life is not snuffed out so easily," rejoined Mr. Hardy who +seemed to be speaking from some hidden motive. "They've returned to +civilization, and I think and trust, Adrian, that we'll hear more of +them than for some years past. They're especial friends of mine, and I +shall do the best I can for them, even though my mercantile rivalry +with you absorbs, of necessity, so much of my energy." + +Van Zoon smiled sourly, and then Robert liked him less than ever. + +"The times are full of danger," he said, "and one must watch to keep +his own." + +He bowed, and turned to other acquaintances, evidently relieved at +parting with them. + +"He does not improve with age," said Willet thoughtfully. + +Robert was about to ask questions concerning this Adrian Van Zoon, who +seemed uneasy in their presence, but once more he restrained himself, +his intuition telling him as before that neither Willet nor Master +Hardy would answer them. + +The play moved on towards its dramatic close and Robert was back in +the world of passion and tragedy, of fancy and poetry. Van Zoon was +forgotten, St. Luc faded quite away, and he was not conscious of the +presence of Tayoga, or of Grosvenor, or of any of his friends. +Shakespeare's _Richard_ was wholly the humpbacked villain to him, and +when he met his fate on Bosworth Field he rejoiced greatly. As the +curtain went down for the last time he saw that Tayoga, too, was +moved. + +"The English king was a wicked man," he said, "but he died like a +great chief." + +They all passed out now, the street was filled with carriages and the +torches of the link boys and there was a great hum of conversation. +St. Luc returned to Robert's mind, but he kept to himself the fact +that he had been in the theater. It might be his duty to state to the +military that he had seen in the city an important Frenchman who must +have come as a spy, but he could not do so. Nor did he feel any +pricklings of the conscience about it, because he believed, even if he +gave warning of St. Luc's presence, the wary chevalier would escape. + +They stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching the carriages, great +high-bodied vehicles, roll away. Mr. Hardy had a carriage of his own, +but the distance between his house and the theater was so short that +he had not thought it necessary to use it. The night was clear, very +cold and the illusion of the play was still upon the younger members +of his group. + +"You liked it?" said Mr. Hardy, looking keenly at Robert. + +"It was another and wonderful world to me," replied the youth. + +"I thought it would make a great appeal to you," said Master Benjamin. +"Your type of mind always responds quickly to the poetic drama. Ah, +there goes Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon. He has entered his carriage +without looking once in our direction." + +He and Willet and Master Jonathan laughed together, softly but with +evident zest. Whatever the feeling between them and whatever the cause +might be, Robert felt that they had the advantage of Mynheer Van Zoon +that night and were pushing it. They watched the crowd leave and the +lights fade in the darkness, and then they walked back together to the +solid red brick house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor took leave of +them, all promising that the acquaintance should be continued. + +"A fine young man," said Mr. Hardy, thoughtfully. "I wish that more +of his kind would come over. We can find great use for them in this +country." + +Charteris also said farewell to them, telling them that his own house +was not far away, and offering them his services in any way they +wished as long as they remained in the city. + +"Another fine young man," said Master Benjamin, as the tall figure of +Charteris melted away in the darkness. "A good representative of our +city's best blood and manners, and yes, of morals, too." + +Robert went alone the next morning to the new public library, founded +the year before and known as the New York Society Library, a novelty +then and a great evidence of municipal progress. The most eminent men +of the city, appointed by Governor de Lancey, were its trustees, and, +the collection already being large, Robert spent a happy hour or two +glancing through the books. History and fiction appealed most to him, +but he merely looked a little here and there, opening many volumes. He +was proud that the intelligence and enterprise of New York had founded +so noble an institution and he promised himself that if, in the time +to come, he should be a permanent resident of the city, his visits +there would be frequent. + +When he left the library it was about noon, the day being cloudy and +dark with flurries of snow, those who were in the streets shivering +with the raw cold. Robert drew his own heavy cloak closely about him, +and, bending his head a little, strolled toward the Battery, in order +to look again at the ships that came from so many parts of the +earth. A stranger, walking in slouching fashion, and with the collar +of his coat pulled well up about his face, shambled directly in his +way. When Robert turned the man turned also and said in a low tone: + +"Mr. Lennox!" + +"St. Luc!" exclaimed Robert. "Are you quite mad? Don't you know that +your life is in danger every instant?" + +"I am not mad, nor is the risk as great as you think. Walk on by my +side, as if you knew me." + +"I did not think, chevalier, that your favorite role was that of a +spy." + +"Nor is it. This New York of yours is a busy city, and a man, even a +Frenchman, may come here for other reasons than to learn military +secrets." + +Robert stared at him, but St. Luc admonished him again to look in +front of him, and walk on as if they were old acquaintances on some +business errand. + +"I don't think you want to betray me to the English," he said. + +"No, I don't," said Robert, "though my duty, perhaps, should make me +do so." + +"But you won't. I felt assured of it, else I should not have spoken to +you." + +"What duty, other than that of a spy, can have brought you to New +York?" + +"Why make it a duty? It is true the times are troubled, and full of +wars, but one, on occasion, may seek his pleasure, nevertheless. Let +us say that I came to New York to see the play which both of us +witnessed last night. 'Twas excellently done. I have seen plays +presented in worse style at much more pretentious theaters in +Paris. Moreover I, a Frenchman, love Shakespeare. I consider him the +equal of our magnificent Molière." + +"Which means that if you were not a Frenchman you would think him +better." + +"A pleasant wit, Mr. Lennox. I am glad to see it in you. But you will +admit that I have come a long distance and incurred a great risk to +attend a play by a British author given in a British town, though it +must be admitted that the British town has strong Dutch +lineaments. Furthermore, I do bear witness that I enjoyed the play +greatly. 'Twas worth the trouble and the danger." + +"Since you insist, chevalier, that you came so great a distance and +incurred so great a risk merely to worship at the shrine of our +Shakespeare, as one gentleman to another I cannot say that I doubt +your word. But when we sailed down the Hudson on a sloop, and were +compelled to tie up in a cove to escape the wrath of a storm, I saw +you on the slope above me." + +"I saw you, too, then, Mr. Lennox, and I envied you your snug place on +the sloop. That storm was one of the most unpleasant incidents in my +long journey to New York to see Shakespeare's 'Richard III.' Still, +when one wishes a thing very badly one must be willing to pay a high +price for it. It was a good play by a good writer, the actors were +most excellent, and I have had sufficient reward for my trouble and +danger." + +The collar of his cloak was drawn so high now that it formed almost a +hood around his head and face, but he turned a little, and Robert saw +the blue eyes, as blue as his own, twinkling with a humorous light. It +was borne upon him with renewed force that here was a champion of +romance and high adventure. St. Luc was a survival. He was one of +those knights of the Middle Ages who rode forth with lance and sword +to do battle, perhaps for a lady's favor, and perhaps to crush the +infidel. His own spirit, which had in it a lightness, a gayety and a +humor akin to St. Luc's, responded at once. + +"Since you found the play most excellent, and I had the same delight, +I presume that you will stay for all the others. Mr. Hallam and his +fine company are in New York for two weeks, if not longer. Having come +so far and at such uncommon risks, you will not content yourself with +a single performance?" + +"Alas! that is the poison in my cup. The leave of absence given me by +the Governor General of Canada is but brief, and I can remain in this +city and stronghold of my enemy but a single night." + +They passed several men, but none took any notice of them. The day had +increased in gloominess. Heavy clouds were coming up from the sea, +enveloping the solid town in a thick and somber atmosphere. Snow +began to fall and a sharp wind drove the flakes before it. Pedestrians +bent forward, and drew their cloaks or coats about their faces to +protect themselves from the storm. + +"The weather favors us," said St. Luc. "The people of New York +defending themselves from the wind and the flakes will have no time to +be looking for an enemy among them." + +"Where are we going, chevalier?" + +"That I know not, but being young, healthy and strong, perhaps we walk +in a circle for the sake of exercise." + +"For which also you have come to New York--in order that you may walk +about our Battery and Bowling Green." + +"True! Quite true! You have a most penetrating mind, Mr. Lennox, and +since we speak of the objects of my errand here I recall a third, but +of course, a minor motive." + +"I am interested in that third and minor motive, Chevalier de +St. Luc." + +"I noticed last night at the play that you were speaking to a +merchant, one Adrian Van Zoon." + +"'Tis true, but how do you know Van Zoon?" + +"Let it suffice, lad, that I know him and know him well. I wish you to +beware of him." + +He spoke with a sudden softness of tone that touched Robert, and there +could be no doubt that his meaning was good. They were still walking +in the most casual manner, their faces bent to the driving snow, and +almost hidden by the collars of their cloaks. + +"What can Adrian Van Zoon and I have in common?" asked Robert. + +"Lad, I bid thee again to beware of him! Look to it that you do not +fall into his treacherous hands!" + +His sudden use of the pronoun "thee," and his intense earnestness, +stirred Robert deeply. + +"Friends seem to rise around me, due to no merit of mine," he +said. "Willet has always watched over me. Tayoga is my brother. +Jacobus Huysman has treated me almost as his own son, and +Master Benjamin Hardy has received me with great warmth of heart. And +now you deliver to me a warning that I cannot but believe is given +with the best intent. But again I ask you, why should I fear Adrian +Van Zoon?" + +"That, lad, I will not tell you, but once more I bid you beware of +him. Think you, I'd have taken such a risk to prepare you for a +danger, if it were not real?" + +"I do not. I feel, Chevalier de St. Luc, that you are a friend in +truth. Shall I speak of this to Mr. Willet? He will not blame me for +hiding the knowledge of your presence here." + +"No. Keep it to yourself, but once more I tell you beware of Adrian +Van Zoon. Now you will not see me again for a long time, and perhaps +it will be on the field of battle. Have no fears for my safety. I can +leave this solid town of yours as easily as I entered it. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" said Robert, with a real wrench at the heart. St. Luc left +him and walked swiftly in the direction of St. George's Chapel. The +snow increased so much and was driving so hard that in forty or fifty +paces he disappeared entirely and Robert, wishing shelter, went back +to the house of Benjamin Hardy, moved by many and varied emotions. + +He could not doubt that St. Luc's warning was earnest and important, +but why should he have incurred such great risks to give it? What was +he to Adrian Van Zoon? and what was Adrian Van Zoon to him? And what +did the talk at night between Willet and Hardy mean? He, seemed to be +the center of a singular circle of complications, of which other +people might know much, but of which he knew nothing. + +Mr. Hardy's house was very solid, very warm and very comfortable. He +was still at the Royal Exchange, but Mr. Pillsbury had come home, and +was standing with his back to a great fire, his coattails drawn under +either arm in front of him. A gleam of warmth appeared in his solemn +eyes at the sight of Robert. + +"A fierce day, Master Robert," he said. "'Tis good at such a time to +stand before a red fire like this, and have stout walls between one +and the storm." + +"Spoken truly, Master Jonathan," said Robert, as he joined him before +the fire, and imitated his position. + +"You have been to our new city library? We are quite proud of it." + +"Yes, I was there, but I have also been thinking a little." + +"Thought never hurts one. We should all be better if we took more +thought upon ourselves." + +"I was thinking of a man whom we saw at the play last night, the +merchant, Adrian Van Zoon." + +Master Jonathan let his coattails fall from under his arms, and then +he deliberately gathered them up again. + +"A wealthy and powerful merchant. He has ships on many seas." + +"I have inferred that Mr. Hardy does not like him." + +"Considering my words carefully, I should say that Mr. Hardy does not +like Mr. Van Zoon and that Mr. Van Zoon does not like Mr. Hardy." + +"I'm not seeking to be intrusive, but is it just business rivalry?" + +"You are not intrusive, Master Robert. But my knowledge seldom extends +beyond matters of business." + +"Which means that you might be able to tell me, but you deem it wiser +not to do so." + +"The storm increases, Master Robert. The snow is almost blinding. I +repeat that it is a most excellent fire before which we are +standing. Mr. Hardy and your friends will be here presently and we +shall have food." + +"It seems to me, Master Jonathan, that the people of New York eat much +and often." + +"It sustains life and confers a harmless pleasure." + +"To return a moment to Adrian Van Zoon. You say that his ships are +upon every sea. In what trade are they engaged, mostly?" + +"In almost everything, Master Robert. They say he does much +smuggling--but I don't object to a decent bit of smuggling--and I fear +that certain very fast vessels of his know more than a little about +the slave trade." + +"I trust that Mr. Hardy has never engaged in such a traffic." + +"You may put your mind at rest upon that point, Master Robert. No +amount of profit could induce Mr. Hardy to engage in such commerce." + +Mr. Hardy, Tayoga and Willet came in presently, and the merchant +remained a while after his dinner. The older men smoked pipes and +talked together and Robert and Tayoga looked out at the driving snow. +Tayoga had received a letter from Colonel William Johnson that +morning, informing him that all was well at the vale of Onondaga, and +the young Onondaga was pleased. They were speaking of their expected +departure to join Braddock's army, but they had heard from Willet that +they were to remain longer than they had intended in New York, as the +call to march demanded no hurry. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SLAVER + + +Robert spent more days in New York, and they were all pleasant. His +own handsome face and winning manner would have made his way anywhere, +but it became known universally that a great interest was taken in him +by Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who was a great figure in the city, a man not +to be turned lightly into an enemy. It also seemed that some mystery +enveloped him--mystery always attracts--and the lofty and noble figure +of the young Onondaga, who was nearly always by his side, heightened +the romantic charm he had for all those with whom he came in +contact. Both Hardy and Willet urged him to go wherever he was asked +by the great, and clothes fitted to such occasions were provided +promptly. + +"I am not able to pay for these," said Robert to Willet when he was +being measured for the first of his fine raiment. + +"Don't trouble yourself about it," said the hunter, smiling, "I have +sufficient to meet the bills, and I shall see that all your tailors +are reimbursed duly. Some one must always look after a man of +fashion." + +"I wish I knew more than I do," said Robert in troubled tones, +"because I've a notion that the money with which you will pay my +tailor comes from the till of Master Benjamin Hardy. It's uncommon +strange that he does so much for me. I'm very grateful, but surely +there must be some motive behind it." + +He glanced at Willet to see how he took his words, but the hunter +merely smiled, and Robert knew that the smile was a mask through which +he could not penetrate. + +"Take the goods the gods provide thee," said the hunter. + +"I will," said Robert, cheerfully, "since it seems I can't do anything +else." + +And he did. His response to New York continued to be as vigorous as it +had been to Quebec, and while New York lacked some of the brilliancy, +some of the ultimate finish that, to his mind, had distinguished +Quebec, it was more solid, there was more of an atmosphere of +resource, and it was all vastly interesting. Charteris proved himself +a right true friend, and he opened for him whatever doors he cared to +enter that Mr. Hardy may have left unlocked. He was also thrown much +with Grosvenor, and the instinctive friendship between the two ripened +fast. + +On the fifth day of his stay in New York a letter came out of the +wilderness from Wilton at Fort Refuge. It had been brought by an +Oneida runner to Albany, and was sent thence by post to New York. + +Wilton wrote that time would pass rather heavily with them in the +little fortress, if the hostile Indians allowed it. Small bands now +infested that region, and the soldiers were continually making marches +against them. The strange man, whom they called Black Rifle, was of +vast help, guiding them and saving them from ambush. + +Wilton wrote that he missed Philadelphia, which was certainly the +finest city outside of Europe, but he hoped to go back to it, seasoned +and improved by life in the woods. New York, where he supposed Robert +now to be, was an attractive town, in truth, a great port, but it had +not the wealth and cultivation of Philadelphia, as he hoped to show +Robert some day. Meanwhile he wished him well. + +Robert smiled. He had pleasant memories of Wilton, Colden, Carson and +the others, and while he was making new friends he did not commit the +crime of forgetting old ones. It was his hope that he should meet them +all again, not merely after the war, but long before. + +In his comings and goings among the great of their day Robert kept a +keen eye for the vision of St. Luc. He half hoped, half feared that +some time in the twilight or the full dusk of the night he would see +in some narrow street the tall figure wrapped in its great cloak. But +the chevalier did not appear, and Robert felt that he had not really +come as a spy upon the English army and its preparations. He must have +gone, days since. + +He met Adrian Van Zoon three times, that is, he was in the same room +with him, although they spoke together only once. The merchant had in +his presence an air of detachment. He seemed to be one who continually +carried a burden, and a stripling just from the woods could not long +have a place, either favorable or unfavorable, in his memory. Robert +began to wonder if St. Luc had net been mistaken. What could a man +born and bred in France, and only in recent years an inhabitant of +Canada, know of Adrian Van Zoon of New York? What, above all, could he +know that would cause him to warn Robert against him? But this, like +all his other questions, disappeared in the enjoyments of the +moment. Nature, which had been so kind in giving to him a vivid +imagination, had also given with it an intense appreciation. He liked +nearly everything, and nearly everybody, he could see a rosy mist +where the ordinary man saw only a cloud, and just now New York was so +kind to him that he loved it all. + +A week in the city and he attended a brilliant ball given by William +Walton in the Walton mansion, in Franklin Square, then the most +elaborate and costly home in North America. It was like a great +English country house, with massive brick walls and woodwork, all +imported and beautifully carved. The staircase in particular made of +dark ebony was the wonder of its day, and, in truth, the whole +interior was like that of a palace, instead of a private residence, at +that time, in America. + +Robert enjoyed himself hugely. He realized anew how close was the +blood relationship among all those important families, and he was +already familiar with their names. The powerful sponsorship of Mr. +Hardy had caused them to take him in as one of their number, and for +that reason he liked them all the more. He was worldly wise enough +already to know that we are more apt to call a social circle snobbish +when we do not belong to it. Now, he was a welcome visitor at the best +houses in New York, and all was rose to him. + +Adrian Van Zoon, who had not only wealth but strong connections, was +there, but, as on recent occasions he took no notice of Robert, until +late in the evening when the guests were dancing the latest Paris and +London dances in the great drawing-room. Robert was resting for a +little space and as he leaned against the wall the merchant drew near +him and addressed him with much courtesy. + +"I fear, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I have spoken to you rather +brusquely, for which I offer many apologies. It was due, perhaps, to +the commercial rivalries of myself and Mr. Hardy, in whose house you +are staying. It was but natural for me to associate you with him." + +"I wish to be linked with him," said Robert, coldly. "I have a great +liking and respect for Mr. Hardy." + +Mynheer Van Zoon laughed and seemed not at all offended. + +"The answer of a lad, and a proper one for a lad," he said. "'Tis well +to be loyal to one's friends, and I must admit, too, that Mr. Hardy is +a man of many high qualities, a fact that a rivalry in business +extending over many years, has proved to me. He and I cannot become +friends, but I do respect him." + +He had imparted some warmth to his tone, and his manner bore the +appearance of geniality. Robert, so susceptible to courtesy in others, +began to find him less repellent. He rejoined in the same polite +manner, and Mynheer Van Zoon talked to him a little while as a busy +man of middle age would speak to a youth. He asked him of his +experiences at Quebec, of which he had heard some rumor, and Robert, +out of the fullness of his mind, spoke freely on that subject. + +"Is it true," asked Mynheer Van Zoon, "that David Willet in a duel +with swords slew a famous bravo?" + +"It's quite true," replied Robert. "I was there, and saw it with my +own eyes. Pierre Boucher was the man's name, and never was a death +more deserved." + +"Willet is a marvel with the sword." + +"You knew him in his youth, Mynheer Van Zoon?" + +"I did not say that. It is possible that I was thinking of some one +who had talked to me about him. But, whatever thought may have been in +my mind, David Willet and I are not likely to tread the same path. I +repeat, Master Lennox, that although my manner may have seemed to you +somewhat brusque in the past, I wish you well. Do you remain much +longer in New York?" + +"Only a few days, I think." + +"And you still find much of interest to see?" + +"Enough to occupy the remainder of my time. I wish to see a bit of +Long Island, but tomorrow I go to Paulus Hook to find one Nicholas +Suydam and to carry him a message from Colonel William Johnson, which +has but lately come to me in the post. I suppose it will be easy to +get passage across the Hudson." + +"Plenty of watermen will take you for a fare, but if you are familiar +with the oars yourself it would be fine exercise for a strong youth +like you to row over and then back again." + +"It's a good suggestion, as I do row, and I think I'll adopt it." + +Mynheer Van Zoon passed on a moment or two later, and Robert, with his +extraordinary susceptibility to a friendly manner, felt a pleasant +impression. Surely St. Luc, who at least was an official enemy, did +not know the truth about Van Zoon! And if the Frenchman did happen to +be right, what did he have to fear in New York, surrounded by friends? + +The evening progressed, but Mynheer Van Zoon left early, and then in +the pleasures of the hour, surrounded by youth and brightness, Robert +forgot him, too. A banquet was served late, and there was such a +display of silver and gold plate that the British officers themselves +opened their eyes and later wrote letters to England, telling of the +amazing prosperity and wealth of New York, as proven by what they had +seen in the Walton and other houses. + +Robert did not go back to the home of Mr. Hardy, until a very late +hour, and he slept late the next day. When he rose he found that all +except himself had gone forth for one purpose or another, but it +suited his own plan well, as he could now take the letter of Colonel +William Johnson to his friend, Master Nicholas Suydam, in Paulus +Hook. It was another dark, gloomy day, but clouds and cold had little +effect on his spirits, and when he walked along the shore of the North +River, looking for a boat, he met the chaff of the watermen with +humorous remarks of his own. They discouraged his plan to row himself +across, but being proud of his skill he clung to it, and, having +deposited two golden guineas as security for its return, he selected a +small but strong boat and rowed into the stream. + +A sharp wind was blowing in from the sea, but he was able to manage +his little craft with ease, and, being used to rough water, he enjoyed +the rise and dip of the waves. A third of the way out and he paused +and looked back at New York, the steeple of St. George's showing +above the line of houses. He could distinguish from the mass other +buildings that he knew, and his heart suddenly swelled with affection +for this town, in which he had received such a warm welcome. He would +certainly live here, when the wars were over, and he could settle down +to his career. + +Then he turned his eyes to the inner bay, where he saw the usual +amount of shipping, sloops, schooners, brigs and every other kind of +vessel known to the times. Behind them rose the high wooded shores of +Staten Island, and through the channel between it and Long Island +Robert saw other ships coming in. Truly, it was a noble bay, +apparently made for the creation of a great port, and already busy man +was putting it to its appointed use. Then he looked up the Hudson at +the lofty Palisades, the precipitous shores facing them, and his eyes +came back to the stream. Several vessels under full sail were steering +for the mouth of the Hudson, but he looked longest at a schooner, +painted a dark color, and very trim in her lines. He saw two men +standing on her decks, and two or three others visible in her rigging. + +Evidently she was a neat and speedy craft, but he was not there to +waste his time looking at schooners. The letter of Colonel William +Johnson to Master Nicholas Suydam in Paulus Hook must be delivered, +and, taking up his oars, he rowed vigorously toward the hamlet on the +Jersey shore. + +When he was about two-thirds of the way across he paused to look back +again, but the air was so heavy with wintry mists that New York did +not show at all. He was about to resume the oars once more when the +sound of creaking cordage caused him to look northward. Then he +shouted in alarm. The dark schooner was bearing down directly upon +him, and was coming very swiftly. A man on the deck whom he took to be +the captain shouted at him, but when Robert, pulling hard, shot his +boat ahead, it seemed to him that the schooner changed her course +also. + +It was the last impression he had of the incident, as the prow of the +schooner struck his boat and clove it in twain. He jumped +instinctively, but his head received a glancing blow, and he did not +remember anything more until he awoke in a very dark and close +place. His head ached abominably, and when he strove to raise a hand +to it he found that he could not do so. He thought at first that it +was due to weakness, a sort of temporary paralysis, coming from the +blow that he dimly remembered, but he realized presently that his +hands were bound, tied tightly to his sides. + +He moved his body a little, and it struck against wood on either +side. His feet also were bound, and he became conscious of a swaying +motion. He was in a ship's bunk and he was a prisoner of somebody. He +was filled with a fierce and consuming rage. He had no doubt that he +was on the schooner that had run him down, nor did he doubt either +that he had been run down purposely. Then he lay still and by long +staring was able to make out a low swaying roof above him and very +narrow walls. It was a strait, confined place, and it was certainly +deep down in the schooner's hold. A feeling of horrible despair seized +him. The darkness, his aching head, and his bound hands and feet +filled him with the worst forebodings. Nor did he have any way of +estimating time. He might have been lying in the bunk at least a week, +and he might now be far out at sea. + +In misfortune, the intelligent and imaginative suffer most because +they see and feel everything, and also foresee further misfortunes to +come. Robert's present position brought to him in a glittering train +all that he had lost. Having a keen social sense his life in New York +had been one of continuing charm. Now the balls and receptions that +he had attended at great houses came back to him, even more brilliant +and vivid than their original colors had been. He remembered the many +beautiful women he had seen, in their dresses of silk or satin, with +their rosy faces and powdered hair, and the great merchants and feudal +landowners, and the British and American officers in their bright new +uniforms, talking proudly of the honors they expected to win. + +Then that splendid dream was gone, vanishing like a mist before a +wind, and he was back in the swaying darkness of the bunk, hands and +feet bound, and head aching. All things are relative. He felt now if +only the cruel cords were taken off his wrists and ankles he could be +happy. Then he would be able to sit up, move his limbs, and his head +would stop aching. He called all the powers of his will to his +aid. Since he could not move he would not cause himself any increase +of pain by striving to do so. He commanded his body to lie still and +compose itself and it obeyed. In a little while his head ceased to +ache so fiercely, and the cords did not bite so deep. + +Then he took thought. He was still sure that he was on board the +schooner that had run him down. He remembered the warning of St. Luc +against Adrian Van Zoon, and Adrian Van Zoon's suggestion that he row +his own boat across to Paulus Hook. But it seemed incredible. A +merchant, a rich man of high standing in New York, could not plan his +murder. Where was the motive? And, if such a motive did exist, a man +of Van Zoon's standing could not afford to take so great a risk. In +spite of St. Luc and his faith in him he dismissed it as an +impossibility. If Van Zoon had wished his death he would not have +been taken out of the river. He must seek elsewhere the reason of his +present state. + +He listened attentively, and it seemed to him that the creaking and +groaning of the cordage increased. Once or twice he thought he heard +footsteps over his head, but he concluded that it was merely the +imagination. Then, after an interminable period of waiting, the door +to the room opened and a man carrying a ship's lantern entered, +followed closely by another. Robert was able to turn on his side and +stare at them. + +The one who carried the lantern was short, very dark, and had gold +rings in his ears. Robert judged him to be a Portuguese. But his +attention quickly passed to the man behind him, who was much taller, +rather spare, his face clean shaven, his hard blue eyes set close +together. Robert knew instinctively that he was master of the ship. + +"Hold up the lantern, Miguel," the tall man said, "and let's have a +look at him." + +The Portuguese obeyed. + +Then Robert felt the hard blue eyes fastened upon him, but he raised +himself as much as he could and gave back the gaze fearlessly. + +"Well, how's our sailorman?" said the captain, laughing, and his +laughter was hideous to the prisoner. + +"I don't understand you," said Robert. + +"My meaning is plain enough, I take it." + +"I demand that you set me free at once and restore me to my friends in +New York." + +The tall man laughed until he held his sides, and the short man +laughed with him, laugh for laugh. Their laughter so filled Robert +with loathing and hate that he would have attacked them both had he +been unbound. + +"Come now, Peter," said the captain at last. "Enough of your grand +manner. You carry it well for a common sailor, and old Nick himself +knows where you got your fine clothes, but here you are back among +your old comrades, and you ought to be glad to see 'em." + +"What do you mean?" asked the astonished Robert. + +"Now, don't look so surprised. You can keep up a play too long. You +know as well as we do that you're plain Peter Smith, an able young +sailorman, when you're willing, who deserted us in Baltimore three +months ago, and you with a year yet to serve. And here's your +particular comrade, Miguel, so glad to see you. When we ran your boat +down, all your own fault, too, Miguel jumped overboard, and he didn't +dream that the lad he was risking his life to save was his old +chum. Oh, 'twas a pretty reunion! And now, Peter, thank Miguel for +bringing you back to life and to us." + +A singular spirit seized Robert. He saw that he was at the mercy of +these men, who utterly without scruple wished for some reason to hold +him. He could be a player too, and perhaps more was to be won by being +a player. + +"I'm sorry," he said, "but I was tempted by the follies of the land, +and I've had enough of 'em. If you'll overlook it and let the past be +buried, captain, you'll have no better seaman than Peter Smith. +You've always been a just but kind man, and so I throw myself on your +mercy." + +The captain and Miguel exchanged astonished glances. + +"I know you'll do it, captain," Robert went on in his most winning +tones, "because, as I've just said, you've always been a kind man, +especially kind to me. I suppose when I first signed with you that I +was as ignorant and awkward a land lubber as you ever saw. But your +patient teaching has made me a real sailor. Release me now, and I +think that in a few hours I will be fit to go to work again." + +"Cut the lashings, Miguel," said the captain. + +Miguel's sharp knife quickly severed them, and Robert sat up in the +bunk. When the blood began to flow freely in the veins, cut off +hitherto, he felt stinging pains at first, but presently heavenly +relief came. The captain and Miguel stood looking at him. + +"Peter," said the captain, "you were always a lad of spirit, and I'm +glad to get you back, particularly as we have such a long voyage ahead +of us. One doesn't go to the coast of Africa, gather a cargo of slaves +and get back in a day." + +In spite of himself Robert could not repress a shudder of horror. A +slaver and he a prisoner on board her! He might be gone a year or +more. Never was a lad in worse case, but somewhere in him was a spark +of hope that refused to be extinguished. He gave a more imperious +summons than ever to his will, and it returned to his aid. + +"You've been kind to Peter Smith. Few captains would forgive what I've +done, but I'll try to make it up to you. How long are we out from New +York?" he said. + +"It might be an hour or it might be a day or what's more likely it +might be two days. You see, Peter, a lad who gets a crack on the head +like yours lies still and asleep for a long time. Besides, it don't +make any difference to you how long we've been out. So, just you stay +in your bunk a little while longer, and Miguel will bring you +something to eat and drink." + +"Thank you, captain. You're almost a father to me." + +"That's a good lad, Peter. I am your father, I'm the father of all my +crew, and don't forget that a father sometimes has to punish his +children, so just you stay in your bunk till you're bid to come out of +it." + +"Thank you, captain. I wouldn't think of disobeying you. Besides, I'm +too weak to move yet." + +The captain and Miguel went out, and Robert heard them fastening the +door on the outside. Then the darkness shut him in again, and he lay +back in his bunk. The spark of hope somewhere in his mind had grown a +little larger. His head had ceased to ache and his limbs were +free. The physical difference made a mental difference yet +greater. Although there seemed to be absolutely no way out, he would +find one. + +The door was opened again, and Miguel, bearing the ship's lantern in +one hand and a plate of food in the other, came in. It was rough food +such as was served on rough ships, but Robert sat up and looked at it +hungrily. Miguel grinned, and laughed until the gold hoops in his ears +shook. + +"You, Peter Smith," he said. "Me terrible glad to see you again. Miss +my old comrade. Mourn for him, and then when find him jump into the +cold river to save him." + +"It's true," said Robert, "it was a long and painful parting, but here +we are, shipmates again. It was good of you, Miguel, to risk your life +to save me, and now that we've had so many polite interchanges, +suppose you save me from starving to death and pass that plate of +food." + +"With ver' good will, Peter. Eat, eat with the great heartiness, +because we have ver', ver' hard work before us and for a long +time. The captain will want you to do as much work in t'ree mont' as +t'ree men do, so you can make up the t'ree mont' you have lost." + +"Tell him I'm ready. I've already confessed all my sins to him." + +"He won't let you work as sailor at first. He make you help me in the +cook's galley." + +"I'm willing to do that too. You know I can cook. You'll remember, +Miguel, how I helped you in the Mediterranean, and how I did almost +all your work that time you were sick, when we were cruising down to +the Brazils?" + +Miguel grinned. + +"You have the great courage, you Peter," he said. "You always +have. Feel better now?" + +"A lot, Miguel. The bread was hard, I suppose, and better potatoes +have been grown, but I didn't notice the difference. That was good +water, too. I've always thought that water was a fine drink. And now, +Miguel, hunger and thirst being satisfied, I'll get up and stretch my +limbs a while. Then I'll be ready to go to work." + +"I tell you when the captain wants you. Maybe an hour from now, maybe +two hours." + +He took his lantern and the empty plate and withdrew, but Robert heard +him fastening the door on the outside again. Evidently they did not +yet wholly trust the good intentions of Peter Smith, the deserter, +whom they had recaptured in the Hudson. But the spark of hope lodged +somewhere in the mind of Peter Smith was still growing and +glowing. The removal of the bonds from his wrist and ankles had +brought back a full and free circulation, and the food and water had +already restored strength to one so young and strong. He stood up, +flexed his muscles and took deep breaths. + +He had no familiarity with the sea, but he was used to navigation in +canoes and boats on large and small lakes in the roughest kind of +weather, and the rocking of the schooner, which continued, did not +make him seasick, despite the close foul air of the little room in +which he was locked. He still heard the creaking of cordage and now he +heard the tumbling of waves too, indicating that the weather was +rough. He tried to judge by these sounds how fast the schooner was +moving, but he could make nothing of it. Then he strained his memory +to see if he could discover in any manner how long he had been on the +vessel, but the period of his unconsciousness remained a mystery, +which he could not unveil by a single second. + +Long stay in the room enabled him to penetrate its dusk a little, and +he saw that its light and air came in normal times from a single small +porthole, closed now. Nevertheless a few wisps of mist entered the +tiny crevices, and he inferred the vessel was in a heavy fog. He was +glad of it, because he believed the schooner would move slowly at such +a time, and anything that impeded the long African journey was to his +advantage. + +A period which seemed to be six hours but which he afterward knew to +be only one, passed, and his door swung back for the third time. The +face of Miguel appeared in the opening and again he grinned, until his +mouth formed a mighty slash across his face. + +"You come on deck now, you Peter," he said, "captain wants you." + +Robert's heart gave a mighty beat. Only those who have been shut up in +the dark know what it is to come out into the light. That alone was +sufficient to give him a fresh store of courage and hope. So he +followed Miguel up a narrow ladder and emerged upon the deck. As he +had inferred, the schooner was in a heavy fog, with scarcely any wind +and the sails hanging dead. + +The captain stood near the mast, gazing into the fog. He looked +taller and more evil than ever, and Robert saw the outline of a pistol +beneath his heavy pea jacket. Several other men of various +nationalities stood about the deck, and they gave Robert malicious +smiles. Forward he saw a twelve pound brass cannon, a deadly and +dangerous looking piece. It was extremely cold on deck, too, the raw +fog seeming to be so much liquid ice, but, though Robert shivered, he +liked it. Any kind of fresh air was heaven after that stuffy little +cabin. + +"How are you feeling, Peter?" asked the captain, although there was no +note of sympathy in his voice. + +"Very well, sir, thank you," replied Robert, "and again I wish to make +my apologies for deserting, but the temptations of New York are very +strong, sir. The city went to my head." + +"So it seems. We missed you on the voyage to Boston and back, but we +have you now. Doubtless Miguel has told you that you are to help him a +couple of days in his galley, and you'll stay there close. If you come +out before I give the word it's a belaying pin for you. But when I do +give the word you'll go back to your work as one of the cleverest +sailormen I ever had. You'll remember how you used to go out on the +spars in the iciest and slipperiest weather. None so clever at it as +you, Peter, and I'll soon see that you have the chance to show again +to all the men that you're the best sailor aboard ship." + +Robert shivered mentally. He divined the plan of this villain, who +would send him in the icy rigging to sure death. He, an untrained +sailor, could not keep his footing there in a storm, and it could be +said that it was an accident, as it would be in the fulfilment though +not in the intent. But he divined something else that stopped the +mental shudder and that gave him renewed hope. Why should the captain +threaten him with a belaying pin if he did not stay in the cook's +galley for two days? To Robert's mind but one reason appeared, and it +was the fear that he should be seen on deck. And that fear existed +because they were yet close to land. It was all so clear to him that +he never doubted and again his heart leaped. He was bareheaded, but he +touched the place where his cap brim should have been and replied: + +"I'll remember, captain." + +"See that you do," said the man in level tones, instinct nevertheless +with hardness and cruelty. + +Robert touched his forehead again and turned away with Miguel, +descending to the cook's galley, resolved upon some daring trial, he +did not yet know what. Here the Portuguese set him to work at once, +scouring pots and kettles and pans, and he toiled without complaint +until his arms ached. Miguel at last began to talk. He seemed to +suffer from the lack of companionship, and Robert divined that he was +the only Portuguese on board. + +"Good helper, you Peter," he said. "It no light job to cook for twenty +men, and all of them hungry all the time." + +"Have we our full crew on board, Miguel?" + +"Yes, twenty men and four more, and plenty guns, plenty powder and +ball. Fine cannon, too." + +Robert judged that the slaver would be well armed and well manned, but +he decided to ask no more questions at present, fearing to arouse the +suspicions of Miguel, and he worked on with shut lips. The Portuguese +himself talked--it seemed that he had to do so, as the longing for +companionship overcame him--but he did not tell the name of the +schooner or its captain. He merely chattered of former voyages and of +the ports he had been in, invariably addressing his helper as Peter, +and speaking of him as if he had been his comrade. + +Robert, while apparently absorbed in his tasks, listened attentively +to all that he might hear from above He knew that the fog was as thick +as ever, and that the ship was merely moving up and down with the +swells. She might be anchored in comparatively shallow water. Now he +was absolutely sure that they were somewhere near the coast, and the +coast meant hope and a chance. + +Dinner, rude but plentiful, was served for the sailors and food +somewhat more delicate for the captain in his cabin. + +Robert himself attended to the captain, and he could see enough now to +know that the dark had come. He inferred there would be no objection +to his going upon deck in the night, but he made no such suggestion. +Instead he waited upon the tall man with a care and deftness that made +that somber master grin. + +"I believe absence has really improved you, Peter," he said. "I +haven't been waited on so well in a long time." + +"Thank you, sir," said Robert. + +Secretly he was burning with humiliation. It hurt his pride terribly +to serve a rough sea captain in such a manner, but he had no choice +and he resolved that if the chance came he would pay the debt. When +the dinner or supper, whichever it might be called, was over, he went +back to the galley and cheerfully began to clear away, and to wash and +wipe dishes. Miguel gave him a compliment, saying that he had improved +since their latest voyage and Robert thanked him duly. + +When all the work was done he crawled into a bunk just over the cook's +and in any other situation would have fallen asleep at once. But his +nerves were on edge, and he was not sleepy in the least. Miguel, +without taking off his clothes, lay down in the bunk beneath him, and +Robert soon heard him snoring. He also heard new sounds from above, a +whistle and a shriek and a roar combined that he did not recognize at +first, but which a little thought told him to be a growing wind and +the crash of the waves. The schooner began to dip and rise +violently. He was dizzy for a little while, but he soon recovered. A +storm! The knowledge gave him pleasure. He did not know why, but he +felt that it, too, contributed hope and a chance. + +The roar of the storm increased, but Miguel, who had probably spent +nearly all his life at sea, continued to sleep soundly. Robert was +never in his life more thoroughly awake. + +He sat up in his bunk, and now and then he heard the sound of voices +and of footsteps overhead, but soon they were lost entirely in the +incessant shrieking of the wind and the continuous thunder of the +great waves against the side of the schooner. In truth, it was a +storm, one of great fury. He knew that the ship although stripped to +the utmost, must be driving fast, but in what direction he had no +idea. He would have given much to know. + +The tumult grew and by and by he heard orders shouted through a +trumpet. He could stand it no longer, and, leaping down, he seized the +Portuguese by the shoulder and shook him. + +"Up, Miguel," he cried. "A great storm is upon us!" + +The cook opened his eyes sleepily, and then sprang up, a look of alarm +on his face. While the eyes of the Portuguese were filled with fear, +he also seemed to be in a daze. It was apparent to Robert that he was +a heavy sleeper, and his long black hair falling about his forehead he +stared wildly. His aspect made an appeal to Robert's sense of humor, +even in those tense moments. + +"My judgment tells me, Miguel," he shouted--he was compelled to raise +his voice to a high pitch owing to the tremendous clatter +overhead--"that there is a great storm, and the schooner is in danger! +And you know, too, that your old comrade, Peter Smith, who has sailed +the seas with you so long, is likely to be right in his opinions!" + +The gaze of Miguel became less wild, but he looked at Robert with awe +and then with superstition. + +"You have brought us bad luck," he exclaimed. "An evil day for us +when you came aboard." + +Robert laughed. A fanciful humor seized him. + +"But this is my place," he said. "I, Peter Smith, belong on board this +schooner and you know, Miguel, that you and the captain insisted on my +coming back." + +"We go on deck!" cried the cook, now thoroughly alarmed by the uproar, +which always increased. He rushed up the ladder and Robert followed +him, to be blown completely off his feet when he reached the deck. But +he snatched at the woodwork, held fast, and regained an upright +position. The captain stood not far away, holding to a rope, but he +was so deeply engrossed in directing his men that he paid no attention +to Robert. + +The youth cleared the mist and spray from his eyes and took a +comprehensive look. The aspect of sea and sky was enough to strike +almost any one with terror, but upon this occasion he was an +exception. He had never looked upon a wilder world, but in its very +wildness lay his hope. The icy spars from which he would slip to +plunge to his death in the chilling sea were gone, and so was far +Africa, and the slaver's hunt. He was not a seaman, his experience had +been with lakes, but one could reason from lakes to the universal +ocean, and he knew that the schooner was in a fight for life. And +involved in it was his fight for freedom. + +The wind, cold as death, and sharp as a sword, blew out of the +northeast, and the schooner, heeled far over, was driving fast before +it, in spite of every effort of a capable captain and crew. The ship +rose and fell violently with the huge swells, and water that stung +like an icy sleet swept over her continually. Looking to the westward +Robert saw something that caused his heart to throb violently. It was +a dim low line, but he knew it to be land. + +What land it was he had no idea, nor did he at the moment care, but +there lay freedom. Rows of breakers opening their strong teeth for the +ship might stretch between, but better the breakers than the slaver's +deck and the man hunt in the slimy African lagoons. For him the icy +wind was the breath of life, and he soon ceased to shiver. But he +became conscious of chattering teeth near him and he saw Miguel, his +face a reproduction of terror in all its aspects. + +"We go!" shouted the Portuguese. "The storm drive the ship on the +breakers and she break to pieces, and all of us lost!" + +Robert's fantastic spirit was again strong upon him. + +"Then let us go!" he shouted back. "Better this clean, cold coast than +the fever swamps of Africa! Hold fast, Miguel, and we'll ride in +together!" + +The superstitious awe of the Portuguese deepened, and he drew away +from Robert. In the moment of terrible storm and approaching death +this could be no mortal youth who showed not fear, but instead a joy +that was near to exaltation. Then and there he was convinced that when +they had seized him and brought him aboard they had made their own +doom certain. + +"In twenty minutes, we strike!" cried Miguel. "Ah, how the wind rise! +Many a year since I see such a storm!" + +Spars snapped and were carried away in the foaming sea. Then the mast +went, and the crew began to launch the boats. Robert rushed to the +captain's cabin. When he served the man there he had not failed to +observe what the room contained, and now he snatched from the wall a +huge greatcoat, a belt containing a brace of pistols in a holster with +ammunition, and a small sword. He did not know why he took the sword, +but it was probably some trick of the fancy and he buckled it on with +the rest. Then he returned to the deck, where he could barely hold his +footing, the schooner had heeled so far over, and so powerful was the +wind and the driving of the spray. One of the boats had been launched +under the command of the second mate, but she was overturned almost +instantly, and all on board her were lost. Robert was just in time to +see a head bob once or twice on the surface of the sea, and then +disappear. + +A second boat commanded by the first mate was lowered and seven or +eight men managed to get into it, rowing with all their might toward +an opening that appeared in the white line of foam. A third which +could take the remainder of the crew was made ready and the captain +himself would be in charge of it. + +It was launched successfully and the men dropped into it, one by one, +but very fast. Miguel swung down and into a place. Robert advanced for +the same purpose, but the captain, who was still poised on the rail of +the ship, took notice of him for the first time. + +"No! No, Peter!" he shouted, and even in the roar of the wind Robert +observed the grim humor in his voice. "You've been a good and faithful +sailorman, and we leave you in charge of the ship! It's a great +promotion and honor for you, Peter, but you deserve it! Handle her +well because she's a good schooner and answers kindly to a kind hand! +Now, farewell, Peter, and a long and happy voyage to you!" + +A leveled pistol enforced his command to stop, and the next moment he +slid down a rope and into the boat. A sailor cut the rope and they +pulled quickly away, leaving Robert alone on the schooner. His +exultation turned to despair for a moment, and then his courage came +back. Tayoga in his place would not give up. He would pray to his +Manitou, who was Robert's God, and put complete faith in His wisdom +and mercy. Moreover, he was quit of all that hateful crew. The ship +of the slavers was beneath his feet, but the slavers themselves were +gone. + +As he looked, he saw the second boat overturn, and he thought he heard +the wild cry of those about to be lost, but he felt neither pity nor +sympathy. A stern God, stern to such as they, had called them to +account. The captain's boat had disappeared in the mist and spray. + +Robert, with the huge greatcoat wrapped about him clung to the stump +of the mast, which long since had been blown overboard, and watched +the white line of the breakers rapidly coming nearer, as they reached +out their teeth for the schooner. He knew that he could do nothing +more for himself until the ship struck. Then, with some happy chance +aiding him, he would drop into the sea and make a desperate try for +the land. He would throw off the greatcoat when he leaped, but +meanwhile he kept it on, because one would freeze without it in the +icy wind. + +He heard presently the roaring of the breakers mingled with the +roaring of the wind, and, shutting his eyes, he prayed for a miracle. + +He felt the foam beating upon his face, and believing it must come +from the rocks, he clung with all his might to the stump of the mast, +because the shock must occur within a few moments. He felt the +schooner shivering under him, and rising and falling heavily, and then +he opened his eyes to see where best to leap when the shock did come. + +He beheld the thick white foam to right and left, but he had not +prayed in vain. The miracle had happened. Here was a narrow opening +in the breakers, and, with but one chance in a hundred to guide it, +the schooner had driven directly through, ceasing almost at once to +rock so violently. But there was enough power left in the waves even +behind the rocks to send the schooner upon a sandy beach, where she +must soon break up. + +But Robert was saved. He knew it and he murmured devout thanks. When +the schooner struck in the sand he was thrown roughly forward, but he +managed to regain his feet for an instant, and he leaped outward as +far as he could, forgetting to take off his greatcoat. A returning +wave threw him down and passed over his head, but exerting all his +will, and all his strength he rose when it had passed, and ran for the +land as hard as he could. The wave returned, picked him up, and +hurried him on his way. When it started back again its force was too +much spent and the water was too shallow to have much effect on +Robert. He continued running through the yielding sand, and, when the +wave came in again and snatched at him, it was not able to touch his +feet. + +He reached weeds, then bushes, and clutched them with both hands, lest +some wave higher and more daring than all the rest should yet come for +him and seize him. But, in a moment, he let them go, knowing that he +was safe, and laughing rather giddily, sank down in a faint. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MEETING + + +When Robert revived the wind was still blowing hard, although there +had been some decrease in its violence, and it was yet night. He was +wet and very cold, and, as he arose, he shivered in a chill. The +greatcoat was still wrapped about his body, and although it was soaked +he always believed, nevertheless, that in some measure it had +protected him while he slept. The pistols, the ammunition and the +sword were in his belt, and he believed that the ammunition, fastened +securely in a pouch, was dry, though he would look into that later. + +He was quite sure that he had not been unconscious long, as the +appearance of the sky was unchanged. The bushes among which he had +lain were short but tough, and had run their roots down deeply into +the sand. They were friendly bushes. He remembered how glad he had +been to grasp them when he made that run from the surf, and to some +extent they had protected him from the cold wind when he lay among +them like one dead. + +The big rollers, white at the top, were still thundering on the beach, +and directly in front of him he saw a lowering hulk, that of the +schooner. The slaver's wicked days were done, as every wave drove it +deeper into the sand, and before long it must break up. Robert felt +that it had been overtaken by retributive justice, and, despite the +chill that was shaking him, he was shaken also by a great thrill of +joy. Wet and cold and on a desolate shore, he was, nevertheless, free. + +He began to run back and forth with great vigor, until he felt the +blood flowing in a warm, strong current through his veins again, and +he believed that in time his clothes would dry upon him. He took off +the greatcoat, and hung it upon the bushes where the wind would have a +fair chance at it, and he believed that in the morning it would be +dry, too. Then, finding his powder untouched by the water, he withdrew +the wet charges from the pistols and reloaded them. + +If he had not been seasoned by a life in the wilderness and countless +hardships he probably would have perished from exhaustion and cold, +but his strong, enduring frame threw off the chill, and he did not +pause for three full hours until he had made a successful fight for +his life. Then very tired but fairly warm he stopped for a while, and +became conscious that the wind had died to a great extent. The rollers +were not half so high and the hulk of the ship showed larger and +clearer than ever. He believed that when the storm ceased he could +board her and find food, if he did not find it elsewhere. Meanwhile he +would explore. + +Buckling on his pistols and sword, but leaving the greatcoat to +continue its process of drying, he walked inland, finding only a +desolate region of sand, bushes and salt marshes, without any sign of +human habitation. He believed it was the Jersey coast, and that he +could not be any vast distance from New York. But it seemed hopeless +to continue in that direction and being worn to the bone he returned +to his greatcoat, which had become almost dry in the wind. + +Now he felt that he must address himself to the need of the moment, +which was sleep, and he hunted a long time for a suitable lair. A high +bank of sand was covered with bushes larger and thicker than the +others, and at the back of the bank grew a tree of considerable size +with two spreading roots partly above ground. The sand was quite dry, +and he heaped it much higher along the roots. Then he lay down between +them, being amply protected on three sides, while the bushes waved +over his head. He was not only sheltered, he was hidden also, and +feeling safe, with the greatcoat, now wholly dry, wrapped around him, +and the pistols and sword beside him, he closed his eyes and fell +asleep. + +The kindly fortune that had taken the lad out of such desperate +circumstances remained benevolent. The wind ceased entirely and the +air turned much warmer. Day soon came, and with it a bright cheerful +sun, that gilded the great expanse of low and desolate shore. The boy +slept peacefully while the morning passed and the high sun marked the +coming of the afternoon. + +He had been asleep about ten hours when he awoke, turned once or twice +in his lair and then stood up. It was a beautiful day, in striking +contrast with the black night of storm, and he knew by the position of +the sun that it was within about three hours of its setting. He +tested his body, but there was no soreness. He was not conscious of +anything but a ravening hunger, and he believed that he knew where he +could satisfy it. + +There was no wind and the sea was calm, save for a slight swell. The +schooner, its prow out of the water, was in plain view. It was so +deeply imbedded in the sand that Robert considered it a firm house of +shelter, until it should be broken to pieces by successive storms. But +at present he looked upon it as a storehouse of provisions, and he +hurried down the beach. + +His foot struck against something, and he stopped, shuddering. It was +the body of one of the slavers and presently he passed another. The +sea was giving up its dead. He reached the schooner, glad to leave +these ghastly objects behind him, and, with some difficulty, climbed +aboard. The vessel had shipped much water, but she was not as great a +wreck as he had expected, and he instantly descended to the cook's +galley, where he had given his brief service. In the lockers he found +an abundance of food of all kinds, as the ship had been equipped for a +long voyage, and he ate hungrily, though sparingly at first. Then he +went into the captain's cabin, lay down on a couch, and took a long +and luxurious rest. + +Robert was happy. He felt that he had won, or rather that Providence +had won for him, a most wonderful victory over adverse fate. His +brilliant imagination at once leaped up and painted all things in +vivid colors. Tayoga, Willet and the others must be terribly alarmed +about him as they had full right to be, but he would soon be back in +New York, telling them of his marvelous risk and adventure. + +Then he deliberated about taking a supply of provisions to his den in +the bushes, but when he went on deck the sun was already setting, and +it was becoming so cold again that he decided to remain on the +schooner. Why not? It seemed strange to him that he had not thought of +it at first. The skies were perfectly clear, and he did not think +there was any danger of a storm. + +He rummaged about, discovered plenty of blankets and made a bed for +himself in the captain's cabin, finding a grim humor in the fact that +he should take that sinister man's place. But as it was only three or +four hours since he had awakened he was not at all sleepy and he +returned to the deck, where he wrapped his treasure, the huge +greatcoat, about his body and sat and watched. He saw the big red sun +set and the darkness come down again, the air still and very cold. + +But he was snug and warm, and bethought himself of what he must +undertake on the morrow. If he continued inland long enough he would +surely come to somebody, and at dawn, taking an ample supply of +provisions, he would start. That purpose settled, he let his mind +rest, and remained in a luxurious position on the deck. The rebound +from the hopeless case in which he had seemed to be was so great that +he was not lonely. He had instead a wholly pervading sense of ease and +security. His imagination was able to find beauty in the sand and the +bushes and the salt marshes, and he did not need imagination at all to +discover it in the great, mysterious ocean, which the moon was now +tinting with silver. It was a fine full moon, shedding its largest +supply of beams, and swarms of bright stars sparkled in the cold, blue +skies. A fine night, thought Robert, suited to his fine future. + +It was very late, when he went down to the captain's cabin, ate a +little more food and turned in. He soon slept, but not needing sleep +much now, he awoke at dawn. His awakening may have been hastened by +the footsteps and voices he heard, but in any event he rose softly and +buckled on his sword and pistols. One of the voices, high and sharp, +he recognized, and he believed that once more he was the child of good +fortune, because he had been awakened in time. + +He sat on the couch, facing the door, put the sword by his side and +held one of the pistols, cocked and resting on his knee. The footsteps +and voices came nearer, and then the keen, cruel face appeared at the +door. + +"Good morning, captain," said Robert, equably. "You left me in +command of the ship and I did my best with her. I couldn't keep her +afloat, and so I ran her up here on the beach, where, as you see, she +is still habitable." + +"You're a good seaman, Peter," said the captain, hiding any surprise +that he may have felt, "but you haven't obeyed my orders in full. I +expected you to keep the ship afloat, and you haven't done so." + +"That was too much to expect. I see that you have two men with +you. Tell them to step forward where I can cover them as well as you +with the muzzle of this pistol. That's right. Now, I'm going to +confide in you." + +"Go ahead, Peter." + +"I haven't liked your manner for a long time, captain. I'm only Peter +Smith, a humble seaman, but since you left me in command of the ship +last night I mean to keep the place, with all the responsibilities, +duties and honors appertaining to it. Take your hands away from your +belt. This is a lone coast, and I'm the law, the judge and the +executioner. Now, you and the two men back away from the door, and as +sure as there's a God in Heaven, if any one of you tries to draw a +weapon I'll shoot him. You'll observe that I've two pistols and also a +sword. A sailor engaged in a hazardous trade like ours, catching and +selling slaves, usually learns how to use firearms, but I'm pretty +good with the sword, too, captain, though I've hid the knowledge from +you before. Now, just kindly back into the cook's galley there, and +you and your comrades make up a good big bag of food for me. I'll tell +you what to choose. I warn you a second time to keep your hands away +from your belt. I'll really have to shoot off a finger or two as a +warning, if you don't restrain your murderous instincts. Murder is +always a bad trade, captain. Put in some of those hard biscuits, and +some of the cured meats. No, none of the liquors, I have no use for +them. By the way, what became of Miguel, with whom I worked so often?" + +"He's drowned," replied the captain. + +"I'm sorry," said Robert, and he meant it. Miguel was the only one on +board the slaver who had shown a ray of human sympathy. + +"What do you mean to do?" asked the captain, his face contorted with +rage and chagrin. + +"First, I'll see that you finish filling that bag as I direct. Put in +the packages yourself. I like to watch you work, captain, it's good +for you, and after you fill the bag and pass it to me I'm going to +hand the ship back to you. I've never really liked her, and I mean to +resign the command. I think Peter Smith is fit for better things." + +"So, you intend to leave the schooner?" + +"Yes, but you won't see me do it. Pass me the bag now. Be careful with +your hands. In truth, I think you'd better raise them above your head, +and your comrades can do the same. Quick, up with them, or I shoot! +That's right. Now, I'll back away. I'm going up the ladder backward, +and when I go out I intend to shove in place the grating that covers +the entrance to the deck there. You can escape in five minutes, of +course, but by that time I'll be off the ship and among the bushes out +of your reach. Oh, I know it's humiliating, captain, but you've had +your way a long time, and the slaver's trade is not a nice one. The +ghosts of the blacks whom you have caused to die must haunt you some +time, captain, and since your schooner is lost you'll now have a +chance to turn to a better business. For the last time I tell you to +be careful with your hands. A sailor man would miss his fingers." + +He backed cautiously until his heels touched the ladder, meanwhile +watching the eyes of the man. He knew that the captain was consumed +with rage, but angry and reckless as he was he would not dare to reach +for a weapon of his own, while the pistol confronting him was held +with such a steady hand. He also listened for sounds made by other men +on the ship, but heard none. Then he began to back slowly up the +stairway, continuing his running address. + +"I know that your arms must be growing weary, captain," he said, and +he enjoyed it as he said it, "but you won't have to keep 'em up much +longer. Two more steps will take me out upon the deck, and then you'll +be free to do as you please." + +It was the last two steps that troubled him most. In order to keep +the men covered with the pistol he had to bend far down, and he knew +that when he could no longer bend far enough the danger would come. +But he solved it by straightening up suddenly and taking two steps at +a leap. He heard shouts and oaths, and the report of a pistol, but the +bullet was as futile as the cries. He slammed down the grating, +fastened it in an instant, ran to the low rail and swiftly lowered +himself and his pack over it and into the sand. Then he ran for the +bushes. + +Robert did not waste his breath. Having managed the affair of the +grating, he knew that he was safe for the present. So, when he reached +the higher bushes, he stopped, well hidden by them, and looked +back. In two or three minutes the captain and the two men appeared on +the deck, and he laughed quietly to himself. He could see that their +faces were contorted by rage. They could follow his trail some +distance at least in the sand, but he knew that they would be +cautious. He had shown them his quality and they would fear an +ambush. + +He was justified in his opinion, as they remained on the deck, +evidently searching for a glimpse of him among the bushes, and, after +watching them a little while, he set out inland, bearing his burden of +weapons and food, and laughing to himself at the manner in which he +had made the captain serve him. He felt now that the score between +them was even, and he was willing to part company forever. + +Youth and success had an enormous effect upon him. When one triumph +was achieved his vivid temperament always foresaw others. Willet had +often called him the child of hope, and hope is a powerful factor in +victory. Now it seemed to him for a little while that his own rescue, +achieved by himself, was complete. He had nothing to do but to return +to New York and his friends, and that was just detail. + +He swung along through the bushes, forgetting the burden of his +weapons and his pack of food. In truth, he swaggered a bit, but it was +a gay and gallant swagger, and it became him. He walked for some +distance, feeling that he had been changed from a seaman into a +warrior, and then from a warrior into an explorer, which was his +present character. But he did not see at present the variety and +majesty that all explorers wish to find. The country continued low, +the same alternation of sand and salt marsh, although the bushes were +increasing in size, and they were interspersed here and there with +trees of some height. + +Reaching the crest of a low hill he took his last look backward, and +was barely able to see the upper works of the stranded schooner. Then +he thought of the captain and his exuberant spirits compelled him to +laugh aloud. With the chances a hundred to one against him he had +evened the score. While he had been compelled to serve the captain, +the captain in turn had been forced to serve him. It was enough to +make a sick man well, and to turn despair into confidence. He was in +very truth and essence the child of hope. + +Another low hill and from its summit he saw nothing but the bushy +wilderness, with a strip of forest appearing on the sunken horizon. He +searched the sky for a wisp of smoke that might tell of a human +habitation, below, but saw none. Yet people might live beyond the +strip of forest, where the land would be less sandy and more fertile, +and, after a brief rest, he pushed on with the same vigor of the body +and elation of the spirit, coming soon to firmer ground, of which he +was glad, as he now left no trail, at least none that an ordinary +white man could follow. + +He trudged bravely on for hours through a wilderness that seemed to be +complete so far as man was concerned, although its character steadily +changed, merging into a region of forest and good soil. When he came +into a real wood, of trees large and many, it was about noon, and +finding a comfortable place with his back to a tree he ate from the +precious pack. + +The day was still brilliant but cold and he wisely kept himself +thoroughly wrapped in the greatcoat. As he ate he saw a large black +bear walk leisurely through the forest, look at him a moment or two, +and then waddle on in the same grave, unalarmed manner. The incident +troubled Robert, and his high spirits came down a notch or two. + +If a black bear cared so little for the presence of an armed human +being then he could not be as near to New York as he had +thought. Perhaps he had been unconscious on the schooner a long +time. He felt of the lump which was not yet wholly gone from his head, +and tried his best to tell how old it was, but he could not do it. + +The little cloud in his golden sky disappeared when he rose and +started again through a fine forest. His spirits became as high as +ever. Looking westward he saw the dim blue line of distant hills, and +he turned northward, inferring that New York must lie in that +direction. In two hours his progress was barred by a river running +swiftly between high banks, and with ice at the edges. He could have +waded it as the water would not rise past his waist, but he did not +like the look of the chill current, and he did not want another +wetting on a winter day. + +He followed the stream a long distance, until he came to shallows, +where he was able to cross it on stones. His search for a dry ford had +caused much delay, but he drew comfort from his observation that the +stones making his pathway through the water were large and almost +round. He had seen many such about New York, and he had often marveled +at their smoothness and roundness, although he did not yet know the +geological reason. But the stones in the river seemed to him to be +close kin to the stones about New York, and he inferred, or at least +he hoped, that it indicated the proximity of the city. + +But he believed that he would have to spend another night in the +wilderness. Search the sky as he would, and he often did, there was no +trace of smoke, and, as the sun went down the zenith and the cold +began to increase, his spirits fell a little. But he reasoned with +himself. Why should one inured as he was to the forest and winter, +armed, provisioned and equipped with the greatcoat, be troubled? The +answer to his question was a return of confidence in full tide, and +resolving to be leisurely he looked about in the woods for his new +camp. What he wanted was an abundance of dead leaves out of which to +make a nest. Dead leaves were cold to the touch, but they would serve +as a couch and a wall, shutting out further cold from the earth and +from the outside air, and with the greatcoat between, he would be warm +enough. He would have nothing to fear except snow, and the skies gave +no promise of that danger. + +He found the leaves in a suitable hollow, and disposed them according +to his plan, the whole making a comfortable place for a seasoned +forester, and, while he ate his supper, he watched the sun set over +the wilderness. Long after it was gone he saw the stars come out and +then he looked at the particular one on which Tododaho, Tayoga's +patron saint, had been living more than four hundred years. It was +glittering in uncommon splendor, save for a slight mist across its +face, which must be the snakes in the hair of the great Onondaga +chieftain who he felt was watching over him, because he was the friend +of Tayoga. + +Then he fell asleep, sleeping soundly, all through the night, and +although he was a little stiff in the morning a few minutes of +exercise relieved him of it and he ate his breakfast. His journey +toward the north was resumed, and in an hour he emerged into a little +valley, to come almost face to face with the captain and the two +sailors. They were sitting on a log, apparently weary and at a loss, +but they rose quickly at his coming and the captain's hand slid down +to his pistol. Robert's slid to his, making about the same +speed. Although his heart pounded a moment or two at first he was +surprised to find how soon he became calm. It was perhaps because he +had been through so many dangers that one more did not count for much. + +"You see, captain," he said, "that neither has the advantage of the +other. I did not expect to meet you here, or in truth, anywhere +else. I left you in command of the schooner, and you have deserted +your post. When I held that position I remained true to my duty." + +The captain, who was heavily armed, carrying a cutlass as well as +pistols, smiled sourly. + +"You're a lad of spirit, Peter," he said. "I've always given you +credit for that. In my way I like you, and I think I'll have you to go +along with us again." + +"I couldn't think of it. We must part company forever. We did it once, +but perhaps the second time will count." + +"No, my crew is now reduced to two--the ocean has all the others--and +I need your help. It would be better anyway for you to come along with +us. This Acadia is a desolate coast." + +There was a log opposite the one upon which they had been sitting and +Robert took his place upon it easily, not to say confidently. He felt +sure that they would not fire upon him now, having perhaps nothing to +gain by it, but he kept a calculating eye upon them nevertheless. + +"And so this is Acadia," he said. "I've been wondering what land it +might be. I did not know that we had come so far. Acadia is a long way +from New York." + +"A long, long way, Peter." + +"But you know the coast well, of course, captain?" + +"Of course. I've made several voyages in the neighboring +waters. There's only one settlement within fifty miles of us, and +you'd never find it, it's so small and the wilderness is such a maze." + +"The country does look like much of a puzzle, but I've concluded, +captain, that I won't go with you." + +"Why not?" + +"I'm persuaded that you're the very prince of liars, and in your +company my morals might be contaminated." + +The man's face was too tanned to flush, but his eyes sparkled. + +"You're over loose with words, lad," he said, "and it's an expensive +habit." + +"I can afford it. I know as surely as we're sitting here facing each +other that this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Then what coast is it?" + +"That I know not, but taking the time, I mean to have, I shall find +out. Then I'll tell you if you wish to know. Where shall I deliver my +message?" + +"I think you're insolent. I say again that it's the coast of Acadia, +and you're going with us. We're three to your one, and you'll have to +do as I say." + +Robert turned his gaze from the captain to his two men. While their +faces were far from good they showed no decision of character. He knew +at once that they belonged to the large class of men who are always +led. Both carried pistols, but he did not think it likely that they +would attempt to use them, unless the captain did so first. His gaze +came back to the tall man, and, observing again the heavy cutlass he +carried, a thought leaped up in his mind. + +"You wish me to go with you," he said, "and I don't wish to go, which +leaves it an open question. It's best to decide it in clean and +decisive fashion, and I suggest that we leave it to your cutlass and +my sword." + +The close-set eyes of the captain gleamed. + +"I don't want to kill you, but to take you back alive," he said. "You +were always a strong and handy lad, Peter, and I need your help." + +"You won't kill me. That I promise you." + +"You haven't a chance on earth." + +"You pledge your word that your men will not interfere while the +combat is in progress, nor will they do so afterward, if I win." + +"They will not stir. Remain where you are, lads." + +The two sailors settled themselves back comfortably, clasping their +knees with their hands, and Robert knew that he had nothing to fear +from them. Their confidence in the captain's prowess and easy victory +was sufficient assurance. They were not to be blamed for the belief, +as their leader's cutlass was heavy and his opponent was only a +youth. The captain was of the same opinion and his mood became light +and gay. + +"I don't intend to kill you, Peter," he said, "but a goodly cut or two +will let out some of your impertinent blood." + +"Thanks, captain, for so much saving grace, because I like to live. I +make you the same promise. I don't want your death on my hands, but +there is poison in the veins of a man who is willing to be a slaver. I +will let it out, in order that its place may be taken by pure and +wholesome blood." + +The captain frowned, and made a few swings with his cutlass. Then he +ran a finger along its keen edge, and he felt satisfied with +himself. A vast amount of rage and mortification was confined in his +system, and not charging any of it to the storm, the full volume of +his anger was directed against his cook's former assistant, Peter +Smith, who was entirely too jaunty and independent in his manner. He +could not understand Robert's presumption in challenging him to a +combat with swords, but he would punish him cruelly, while the two +sailors looked on and saw it well done. + +Robert put his pack, his greatcoat, his coat, and his belt with the +pistols and ammunition in a heap, and looked carefully to the sword +that he had taken from the captain's cabin. It was a fine weapon, +though much lighter than the cutlass. He bent the blade a little, and +then made it whistle in curves about his head. He had a purpose in +doing so, and it was attained at once. The captain looked at him with +rising curiosity. + +"Peter," he said, "you don't seem to be wholly unfamiliar with the +sword, and you nothing but a cook's helper." + +"It's true, captain. The hilt fits lovingly into my hand. In my spare +moments and when nobody was looking I've often stolen this sword of +yours from the cabin and practiced with it. I mean now to make you +feel the result of that practice." + +The captain gazed at him doubtfully, but in a moment or two the +confident smile returned to his eyes. It was not possible that a mere +stripling could stand before him and his cutlass. But he took off his +own coat which he had believed hitherto was a useless precaution. + +There was a level space about thirty feet across, and Robert, sword in +hand, advanced toward the center of it. He had already chosen his +course, which would be psychological as well as physical. He intended +that the battle should play upon the slaver's mind as well as upon his +body. + +"I'm ready, captain," he said. "Don't keep us waiting. It's winter as +you well know, and we'll both grow cold standing here. In weather like +this we need work quick and warm." + +The angry blood surged into the captain's face, although it did not +show through his tan. But he made an impatient movement, and stepped +forward hastily. + +"It can't be told of me that I kept a lad waiting," he said. "I'll +warrant you you'll soon be warm enough." + +"Then we're both well suited, captain, and it should be a fine passage +at arms." + +The two sailors, sitting on the log, looked at each other and +chuckled. It was evident to Robert that they had supreme confidence in +the captain and expected to see Peter Smith receive a lesson that +would put him permanently in his place. The mutual look and the mutual +chuckle aroused some anger in Robert, but did not impair his certainty +of victory. Nevertheless he neglected no precaution. + +The captain advanced, holding the heavy cutlass with ease and +lightness. He was a tall and very strong man, and Robert noted the +look of cruelty in the close-set eyes. He knew what he must expect in +case of defeat, and again telling himself to be careful he recalled +all the cunning that Willet had taught him. + +"Are you ready?" he asked quietly. + +"Aye, Peter, and your bad quarter of an hour is upon you." + +Again the two sailors on the log looked at each other and chuckled. + +"I don't think so, captain," said Robert. "Perhaps the bad quarter of +an hour is yours." + +He stared straight into the close-set cruel eyes so fixedly and so +long that the captain lowered his gaze, proving that the superior +strength of will lay with his younger opponent. Then he shook himself +angrily, his temper stirred, because his eyes had given way. + +"Begin!" said Robert. + +The captain slashed with the heavy cutlass, and Robert easily turned +aside the blow with his lighter weapon. He saw then that the captain +was no swordsman in the true sense, and he believed he had nothing to +fear. He waited until the man attacked again, and again he deftly +turned aside the blow. + +The two sailors sitting on the log looked at each other once more, but +they did not chuckle. + +Robert, still watching the close-set cruel eyes, saw a look of doubt +appear there. + +"My bad quarter of an hour seems to be delayed, captain," he said with +irony. + +The man, stung beyond endurance, attacked with fury, the heavy cutlass +singing and whistling as he slashed and thrust. Robert contented +himself with the defense, giving ground slowly and moving about in a +circle. The captain's eye at first glittered with a triumphant light +as he saw his foe retreat, and the two sailors sitting on the log and +exchanging looks found cause to chuckle once more. + +But the light sank as they completed the circle, leaving Robert +untouched, and breathing as easily as ever, while the captain was +panting. Now he decided that his own time had come and knowing that +the combat was mental as well as physical he taunted his opponent. + +"In truth, captain," he said, "my bad quarter of an hour did not +arrive, but yours, I think, is coming. Look! Look! See the red spot +on your waistcoat!" + +Despite himself the captain looked down. The sword flickered in like +lightning, and then flashed away again, but when it was gone the red +spot on the waistcoat was there. His flesh stung with a slight wound, +but the wound to his spirit was deeper. He rushed in and slashed +recklessly. + +"Have a care, captain!" cried Robert. "You are fencing very wildly! I +tell you again that your play with the cutlass is bad. You can't see +it, but there is now a red spot on your cheek to match the one on your +waistcoat." + +His sword darted by the other's guard, and when it came away it's +point was red with blood. A deep and dripping gash in the captain's +left cheek showed where it had passed. The two sailors sitting on the +log exchanged looks once more, but there was no sign of a chuckle. + +"That's for being a slaver, captain," said Robert. "It's a bad +occupation, and you ought to quit it. But your wound will leave a +scar, and you will not like to say that it was made by one whom you +kidnapped, and undertook to carry away to his death." + +The captain in a long career of crime and cruelty had met with but few +checks, and to experience one now from the hands of a lad was bitter +beyond endurance. The sting was all the greater because of his +knowledge that the two sailors who still exchanged looks but no +chuckles, were witnesses of it. The blood falling from his left cheek +stained his left shoulder and he was a gruesome sight. He rushed in +again, mad with anger. + +"Worse and worse, captain," said his young opponent. "You're not +showing a single quality of a swordsman. You've nothing but +strength. I bade you have a care! Now your right cheek is a match for +your left!" + +The captain uttered a cry, drawn as much by anger as by pain. The deep +point of his opponent's sword had passed across his right cheek and +the red drops fell on both shoulders. The two sailors looked at each +other in dismay. The man paused for breath and he was a ghastly sight. + +"I told you more than once to beware, captain," said Robert, "but you +would not heed me. Your temper has been spoiled by success, but in +time nearly every slaver meets his punishment. I'm grateful that it's +been permitted to me to inflict upon you a little of all that's owing +to you. Wounds in the face are very painful and they leave scars, as +you'll learn." + +He had already decided upon his finishing stroke, and his taunts were +meant to push the captain into further reckless action. They were +wholly successful as the man sprang forward, and slashed almost at +random. Now, Robert, light of foot and agile, danced before him like +a fencing master. The captain cut and thrust at the flitting form but +always it danced away, and the heavy slashes of his cutlass cut the +empty air, his dripping wounds and his vain anger making him weaker +and weaker. But he would not stop. Losing all control of his temper he +rushed continually at his opponent. + +The two sailors looked once more at each other, half rose to their +feet, but sat down again, and were silent. + +Now the captain saw a flash of light before him, and he felt a darting +pain across his brow, as the keen point of the sword passed there. The +blood ran down into his eyes, blinding him for the time. He could not +see the figure before him, but he knew that it was tense and +waiting. He groped with his cutlass, but touching only thin air he +threw it away, and clapped his hands to his eyes to keep away the +trickling blood. + +"You'll have three scars, captain," came the maddening voice, "one on +each cheek and one on the forehead. It's not enough punishment for a +slaver, but, in truth, it's something. And now I'm going. You can't +see to follow me, or even to take care of yourself but I leave you in +the hands of your two sailors." + +Robert put on his coat and greatcoat, resumed all his weapons and his +pack and turned away. The sailors were still sitting on the log, +gazing at each other in amazement and awe. Neither had spoken +throughout the duel, nor did they speak now. The victor did not look +back, but walked swiftly toward the north, glad that he had been the +instrument in the hands of fate to give to the slaver at least a part +of the punishment due him. + +He kept steadily on several hours, until he saw a smoke on the western +sky, when he changed his course and came in another half hour to a +small log house, from which the smoke arose. A man standing on the +wooden step looked at him with all the curiosity to which he had a +right. + +"Friend," said Robert, "how far is it to New York?" + +"About ten miles." + +"And this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Acadia! What country is that? I never heard of it." + +"It exists, but never mind. And New York is so near? Tell me that +distance again. I like to hear it." + +"Ten miles, stranger. When you reach the top of the hill there you can +see the houses of Paulus Hook." + +Robert felt a great sense of elation, and then of thankfulness. While +fortune had been cruel in putting him into the hands of the slaver, it +had relented and had taken him out of them, when the chance of escape +seemed none. + +"Stranger," said the man, "you look grateful about something." + +"I am. I have cause to be grateful. I'm grateful that I have my life, +I'm grateful that I have no wounds and I'm grateful that from the top +of the hill there I shall be able to see the houses of Paulus +Hook. And I say also that yours is the kindliest and most welcome face +I've looked upon in many a day. Farewell." + +"Farewell," said the man, staring after him. + +Two hours later Robert was being rowed across the Hudson by a stalwart +waterman. As he passed by the spot where his boat had been cut down by +the schooner he took off his hat. + +"Why do you do that?" asked the waterman. + +"Because at this spot my life was in great peril a few days ago, or +rather, here started the peril from which I have been delivered most +mercifully." + +An hour later he stood on the solid stone doorstep of Master Benjamin +Hardy, important ship owner, merchant and financier. The whimsical +fancy that so often turned his troubles and hardships into little +things seized Robert again. He adjusted carefully his somewhat +bedraggled clothing, set the sword and pistols in his belt at a rakish +slant, put the pack on the step beside him, and, lifting the heavy +brass knocker, struck loudly. He heard presently the sound of +footsteps inside, and Master Jonathan Pillsbury, looking thinner and +sadder than ever, threw open the door. When he saw who was standing +before him he stared and stared. + +"Body o' me!" he cried at last, throwing up his hands. "Is it +Mr. Lennox or his ghost?" + +"It's Mr. Lennox and no ghost," said Robert briskly. "Let me in, +Mr. Pillsbury. I've grown cold standing here on the steps." + +"Are you sure you're no ghost?" + +"Quite sure. Here pinch me on the arm and see that I'm substantial +flesh. Not quite so hard! You needn't take out a piece. Are you +satisfied now?" + +"More than satisfied, Mr. Lennox! I'm delighted, Overjoyed! We feared +that you were dead! Where have you been?" + +"I've been serving on board a slaver on the Guinea coast. That's a +long distance from here, and it was an exciting life, but I'm back +again safe and sound, Master Jonathan." + +"I don't understand you. You jest, Mr. Lennox." + +"And so I do, but I tell you, Master Jonathan, I'm glad to be back +again, you don't know how glad. Do you hear me, Master Jonathan? The +sight of you is as welcome as that of an angel!" + +The air grew black before him, and he reeled and would have fallen, +but the strong arm of Jonathan Pillsbury caught him. In a moment or +two his eyes cleared and he became steady. + +"It was not altogether a pleasure voyage of yours," said Master +Jonathan, dryly. + +"No, Mr. Pillsbury, it wasn't. But I came near fainting then, because +I was so glad to see you. Is Mr. Hardy here?" + +"No, he has gone to the Royal Exchange. He has been nigh prostrated +with grief, but I persuaded him that business might lighten it a +little, and he went out today for the first time. Oh, young sir, he +will be truly delighted to find that you have come back safely, +because, although you may know it not, he has a strong affection for +you!" + +"And I have a high regard for him, Master Jonathan. He has been most +kind to me." + +"Come in, Mr. Lennox. Sit down in the drawingroom and rest yourself, +while I hurry forth with the welcome news." + +Robert saw that his prim and elderly heart was in truth rejoiced, and +his own heart warmed in turn. Obscure and of unknown origin though he +might be, friends were continually appearing for him everywhere. A +servant took his weapons and what was left of his pack, Master +Jonathan insisted upon his drinking a small glass of wine to refresh +himself, and then he was left alone in the imposing drawing-room of +Mr. Hardy. + +He sank back in a deep chair of Spanish leather, and shutting his eyes +took several long breaths of relief. He had come back safely and his +escape seemed marvelous even to himself. As he opened his eyes a mild +voice said: + +"And so Dagaeoga who went, no one knows where, has returned no one +knows how." + +Tayoga, smiling but grave, and looking taller and more majestic than +ever, stood before him. + +"Aye, I'm back, and right glad I am to be here!" exclaimed Robert, +springing to his feet and seizing Tayoga's hand. "Oh, I've been on a +long voyage, Tayoga! I've been to the coast of Africa on a slaver, +though we caught no slaves, and I was wrecked on the coast of Acadia, +and I fought and walked my way back to New York! But it's a long tale, +and I'll not tell it till all of you are together. I hope you were not +too much alarmed about me, Tayoga." + +"I know that Dagaeoga is in the keeping of Manitou. I have seen too +many proofs of it to doubt. I was sure that at the right time he would +return." + +Mr. Hardy came presently and then Willet. They made no display of +emotion, but their joy was deep. Then Robert told his story to them +all. + +"Did you see any name on the wrecked schooner?" asked Mr. Hardy. + +"None at all," replied Robert. "If she had borne a name at any time +I'm sure it was painted out." + +"Nor did you hear the captain called by name, either?" + +"No, sir. It was always just 'captain' when the men addressed him." + +"That complicates our problem. There's no doubt in my mind that you +were the intended victim of a conspiracy, from which you were saved by +the storm. I can send a trusty man down the North Jersey coast to +examine the wreck of the schooner, but I doubt whether he could learn +anything from it." + +He drew Willet aside and the two talked together a while in a low +voice, but with great earnestness. + +"We have our beliefs," said Willet at length, "but we shall not be +able to prove anything, no, not a thing, and, having nothing upon +which to base an accusation against anybody, we shall accuse nobody." + +"'Tis the prudent way," Hardy concurred, "though there is no doubt in +my mind about the identity of the man who set this most wicked pot to +brewing." + +Robert had his own beliefs, too, but he remained silent. + +"We'll keep the story of your absence to ourselves," said +Mr. Hardy. "We did not raise any alarm, believing that you would +return, a belief due in large measure to the faith of Tayoga, and +we'll explain that you were called away suddenly on a mission of a +somewhat secret nature to the numerous friends who have been asking +about you." + +Willet concurred, and he also said it was desirable that they should +depart at once for Virginia, where the provincial governors were to +meet in council, and from which province Braddock's force, or a +considerable portion of it, would march. Then Robert, after a +substantial supper, went to his room and slept. The next morning, both +Charteris and Grosvenor came to see him and expressed their delight at +his return. A few days later they were at sea with Grosvenor and other +young English officers, bound for the mouth of the James and the great +expedition against Fort Duquesne. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + + +They were on a large schooner, and while Robert looked forward with +eagerness to the campaign, he also looked back with regret at the +roofs of New York, as they sank behind the sea. The city suited +him. It had seemed to him while he was there that he belonged in it, +and now that he was going away the feeling was stronger upon him than +ever. He resolved once more that it should be his home when the war +was over. + +Their voyage down the coast was stormy and long. Baffling winds +continually beat them back, and, then they lay for long periods in +dead calms, but at last they reached the mouth of the James, going +presently the short distance overland to Williamsburg, the town that +had succeeded Jamestown as the capital of the great province of +Virginia. + +Spring was already coming here in the south and in the lowlands by the +sea, and the tinge of green in the foliage and the warm winds were +grateful after the winter of the cold north. Robert, eager as always +for new scenes, and fresh knowledge, anticipated with curiosity his +first sight of Williamsburg, one of the oldest British towns in North +America. He knew that it was not large, but he found it even smaller +than he had expected. + +He and his comrades reached it on horseback, and they found that it +contained only a thousand inhabitants, and one street, straight and +very wide. On this street stood the brick buildings of William and +Mary, the oldest college in the country, a new capitol erected in the +place of one burned, not long before, and a large building called the +Governor's Palace. It looked very small, very quiet, and very content. + +Robert was conscious of a change in atmosphere that was not a mere +matter of temperature. Keen, commercial New York was gone. Here, +people talked of politics and the land. The men who came into +Williamsburg on horseback or in their high coaches were owners of +great plantations, where they lived as patriarchs, and feudal +lords. The human stock was purely British and the personal customs and +modes of thought of the British gentry had been transplanted. + +"I like it," said Grosvenor. "I feel that I've found England again." + +"There appears to be very little town life," said Robert. "It seems +strange that Williamsburg is so small, when Virginia has many more +people than New York or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts." + +"They're spread upon the land," said Willet. "I've been in Virginia +before. They don't care much about commerce, but you'll find that a +lot of the men who own the great plantations are hard and good +thinkers." + +Robert soon discovered that in Virginia a town was rather a meeting +place for the landed aristocracy than a commercial center. The arrival +of the British troops and of Americans from other colonies brought +much life into the little capital. The people began to pour in from +the country houses, and the single street was thronged with the best +horses and the best carriages Virginia could show, their owners, +attended by swarms of black men and black women whose mouths were +invariably stretched in happy grins, their splendid white teeth +glittering. + +There was much splendor, a great mingling of the fine and the tawdry, +as was inevitable in a society that maintained slavery on a large +scale. Nearly all the carriages had been brought from London, and they +were of the best. When their owners drove forth in the streets or the +country roundabout they were escorted by black coachmen and footmen in +livery. The younger men were invariably on horseback, dressed like +English country gentlemen, and they rode with a skill and grace that +Robert had never before seen equaled. The parsons, as in England, rode +with the best, and often drank with them too. + +It was a proud little society, exclusive perhaps, and a little bit +provincial too, possibly, but it was soon to show to the world a group +of men whose abilities and reputation and service to the state have +been unequaled, perhaps, since ancient Athens. One warm afternoon as +Robert walked down the single street with Tayoga and Grosvenor, he saw +a very young man, only three or four years older than himself, riding +a large, white horse. + +The rider's lofty stature, apparent even on horseback, attracted +Robert's notice. He was large of bone, too, with hands and feet of +great size, and a very powerful figure. His color was ruddy and high, +showing one who lived out of doors almost all the time. + +The man, Robert soon learned, was the young officer, George +Washington, who had commanded the Virginians in the first skirmish +with the French and Indians in the Ohio country. + +"One of most grave and sober mien," said Grosvenor. "I take him to be +of fine quality." + +"There can scarce be a doubt of it," said Robert. + +But he did not dream then that succeeding generations would reckon the +horseman the first man of all time. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga saw the governor, Dinwiddie, a thrifty +Scotchman, and offered to him their services, saying that they wished +to go with the Braddock expedition as scouts. + +"But I should think, young sir," said Dinwiddie to Robert, "that you, +at least, would want a commission. 'Twill be easy to obtain it in the +Virginia troops." + +"I thank you, sir, for the offer, which is very kind," said Robert, +"but I have spent a large part of my life in the woods with +Mr. Willet, and I feel that I can be of more use as a scout and +skirmisher. You know that they will be needed badly in the forest. +Moreover, Mr. Willet would not be separated from Tayoga, who in the +land of the Six Nations, known to themselves as the Hodenosaunee, is a +great figure." + +Governor Dinwiddie regarded the Onondaga, who gave back his gaze +steadily. The shrewd Scotchman knew that here stood a man, and he +treated him as one. + +"Have your way," he said. "Perhaps you are right. Many think that +General Braddock has little to fear from ambush, they say that his +powerful army of regulars and colonials can brush aside any force the +French and Indians may gather, but I've been long enough in this +country to know that the wilderness always has its dangers. Such eyes +as the eyes of you three will have their value. You shall have the +commissions you wish." + +Willet was highly pleased. He had been even more insistent than Robert +on the point, saying they must not sacrifice their freedom and +independence of movement, but Grosvenor was much surprised. + +"An army rank will help you," he said. + +"It's help that we don't need," said Robert smiling. + +The governor showed them great courtesy. He liked them and his +penetrating Scotch mind told him that they had quality. Despite his +hunter's dress, which he had resumed, Willet's manners were those of +the great world, and Dinwiddie often looked at him with +curiosity. Robert seemed to him to be wrapped in the same veil of +mystery, and he judged that the lad, whose manners were not inferior +to those of Willet, had in him the making of a personage. As for +Tayoga, Dinwiddie had been too long in America and he knew too much of +the Hodenosaunee not to appreciate his great position. An insult or a +slight in Virginia to the coming young chief of the Clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga would soon be known in the far land of the Six +Nations, and its cost would be so great that none might count it. Just +as tall oaks from little acorns grow, so a personal affront may sow +the seed of a great war or break a great alliance, and Dinwiddie knew +it. + +The governor, assisted by his wife and two daughters, entertained at +his house, and Robert, Tayoga, Willet, and Grosvenor, arrayed in their +best, attended, forming conspicuous figures in a great crowd, as the +Virginia gentry, also clad in their finest, attended. Robert, with +his adaptable and imaginative mind, was at home at once among them. He +liked the soft southern speech, the grace of manner and the good +feeling that obtained. They were even more closely related than the +great families of New York, and it was obvious that they formed a +cultivated society, in close touch with the mother country, intensely +British in manner and mode of thought, and devoted in both theory and +practice to personal independence. + +As the spring was now well advanced the night was warm and the windows +and doors of the Governor's Palace were left open. Negroes in livery +played violins and harps while all the guests who wished +danced. Others played cards in smaller rooms, but there was no such +betting as Robert had seen at Bigot's ball in Quebec. There was some +drinking of claret and punch, but no intoxication. The general note +was of great gayety, but with proper restraints. + +Robert noticed that the men, spending their lives in the open air and +having abundant and wholesome food, were invariably tall and big of +bone. The women looked strong and their complexions were rosy. The +same facility of mind that had made him like New York and Quebec, such +contrasting places, made him like Williamsburg too, which was +different from either. + +Quickly at home, in this society as elsewhere, the hours were all too +short for him. Both he and Grosvenor, who was also adaptable, seeing +good in everything, plunged deep into the festivities. He danced with +young women and with old, and Willet more than once gave him an +approving glance. It seemed that the hunter always wished him to fit +himself into any group with which he might be cast, and to make +himself popular, and to do so Robert's temperament needed little +encouragement. + +The music and the dancing never ceased. When the black musicians grew +tired their places were taken by others as black and as zealous, and +on they went in a ceaseless alternation. Robert learned that the +guests would dance all night and far into the next day, and that +frequently at the great houses a ball continued two days and two +nights. + +About three o'clock in the morning, after a long dance that left him +somewhat weary, he went upon one of the wide piazzas to rest and take +the fresh air. There, his attention was specially attracted by two +young men who were waging a controversy with energy, but without +acrimony. + +"I tell you, James," said one, who was noticeable for his great shock +of fair hair and his blazing red face, "that at two miles Blenheim is +unbeatable." + +"Unbeatable he may be, Walter," said the other, "but there is no horse +so good that there isn't a better. Blenheim, I grant you, is a +splendid three year old, but my Cressy is just about twenty yards +swifter in two miles. There is not another such colt in all Virginia, +and it gives me great pride to be his owner." + +The other laughed, a soft drawling laugh, but it was touched with +incredulity. + +"You're a vain man, James," he said, "not vain for yourself, but vain +for your sorrel colt." + +"I admit my vanity, Walter, but it rests upon a just basis. Cressy, I +repeat, is the best three year old in Virginia, which of course means +the best in all the colonies, and I have a thousand weight of prime +tobacco to prove it." + +"My plantation grows good tobacco too, James, and I also have a +thousand weight of prime leaf which talks back to your thousand +weight, and tells it that Cressy is the second best three year old in +Virginia, not the best." + +"Done. Nothing is left but to arrange the time." + +Both at this moment noticed Robert, who was sitting not far away, and +they hailed him with glad voices. He remembered meeting them earlier +in the evening. They were young men, Walter Stuart and James Cabell, +who had inherited great estates on the James and they shipped their +tobacco in their own vessels to London, and detecting in Robert a +somewhat kindred spirit they had received him with great friendliness. +Already they were old acquaintances in feeling, if not in time. + +"Lennox, listen to this vain boaster!" exclaimed Cabell. "He has a +good horse, I admit, but his spirit has become unduly inflated about +it. You know, don't you, Lennox, that my colt, Cressy, has all +Virginia beaten in speed?" + +"You know nothing of the kind, Lennox!" exclaimed Stuart, "but you do +know that my three year old Blenheim is the swiftest horse ever bred +in the colony. Now, don't you?" + +"I can't give an affirmative to either of you," laughed Robert, "as +I've never seen your horses, but this I do say, I shall be very glad +to see the test and let the colts decide it for themselves." + +"A just decision, O Judge!" said Stuart. "You shall have an honored +place as a guest when the match is run. What say you to tomorrow +morning at ten, James?" + +"A fit hour, Walter. You ride Blenheim yourself, of course?" + +"Truly, and you take the mount on Cressy?" + +"None other shall ride him. I've black boys cunning with horses, but +since it's horse against horse it should also be master against +master." + +"A match well made, and 'twill be a glorious contest. Come, Lennox, +you shall be a judge, and so shall be your friend Willet, and so shall +that splendid Indian, Tayoga." + +Robert was delighted. He had thrown himself with his whole soul into +the Virginia life, and he was eager to see the race run. So were all +the others, and even the grave eyes of Tayoga sparkled when he heard +of it. + +It was broad daylight when he went to bed, but he was up at noon, and +in the afternoon he went to the House of Burgesses to hear the +governor make a speech to the members on the war and its emergencies. +Dinwiddie, like Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, appreciated +the extreme gravity of the crisis, and his address was solemn and +weighty. + +He told them that the shadow in the north was black and menacing. The +French were an ambitious people, brave, tenacious and skillful. They +had won the friendship of the savages and now they dominated the +wilderness. They would strike heavy blows, but their movements were +enveloped in mystery, and none knew where or when the sword would +fall. The spirit animating them flowed from the haughty and powerful +court at Versailles that aimed at universal dominion. It became the +Virginians, as it became the people of all the colonies, to gather +their full force against them. + +The members listened with serious faces, and Robert knew that the +governor was right. He had been to Quebec, and he had already met +Frenchmen in battle. None understood better than he their skill, +courage and perseverance, and the shadow in the north was very heavy +and menacing to him too. + +But his depression quickly disappeared when he returned to the bright +sunshine, and met his young friends again. The Virginians were a +singular compound of gayety and gravity. Away from the House of +Burgesses the coming horse race displaced the war for a brief +space. It was the great topic in Williamsburg and the historic names, +Blenheim and Cressy, were in the mouths of everybody. + +Robert soon discovered that the horses were well known, and each had +its numerous group of partisans. Their qualities were discussed by +the women and girls as well as the men and with intelligence. Robert, +filled with the spirit of it, laid a small wager on Blenheim, and +then, in order to show no partiality, laid another in another quarter, +but of exactly the same amount on Cressy. + +The evening witnessed more arrivals in Williamsburg, drawn by the news +of the race, and young men galloped up and down the wide street in the +moonlight, testing their own horses, and riding improvised +matches. The rivalry was always friendly, the gentlemen's code that +there should be no ill feeling prevailed, and more than ever the +entire gathering seemed to Robert one vast family. Grosvenor was +intensely interested in the race, and also in the new sights he was +seeing. + +"Still," he said, "if it were not for the colored people I could +imagine with ease that I was back at a country meeting at home. Do you +know anything, Lennox, about these horses, Blenheim and +Cressy--patriotic fellows their owners must be--and could you give a +chap advice about laying a small wager?" + +"I know nothing about them except what Stuart and Cabell say." + +"What do they say?" + +"Stuart knows that Blenheim is the fastest horse in Virginia, and +Cabell knows that Cressy is, and so there the matter stands until the +race is run." + +"I think I'll put a pound on Blenheim, nevertheless. Blenheim has a +much more modern sound than Cressy, and I'm all for modernity." + +There was an excellent race track, the sport already being highly +developed in Virginia, and, the next day being beautiful, the seats +were filled very early in the morning. The governor with his wife and +daughters was present, and so were many other notables. Robert, +Tayoga and Grosvenor were in a group of nearly fifty young +Virginians. All about were women and girls in their best spring +dresses, many imported from London, and there were several men whom +Robert knew by their garb to be clergymen. Colored women, their heads +wrapped in great bandanna handkerchiefs, were selling fruits or +refreshing liquids. + +The whole was exhilarating to the last degree, and all the youth and +imagination in Robert responded. Dangers befell him, but delights +offered themselves also, and he took both as they came. Several +preliminary races, improvised the day before, were run, and they +served to keep the crowd amused, while they waited for the great +match. + +Robert and Tayoga then moved to advanced seats near the Governor, +where Willet was already placed, in order that they might fulfill +their honorable functions as judges, and the people began to stir with +a great breath of expectation. They were packed in a close group for a +long distance, and Robert's eye roved over them, noting that their +faces, ruddy or brown, were those of an open air race, like the +English. Almost unconsciously his mind traveled back to a night in +New York, when he had seen another crowd gather in a theater, and then +with a thrill he recalled the face that he had beheld there. He could +never account for it, although some connection of circumstances was +back of it, but he had a sudden instinctive belief that in this new +crowd he would see the same face once more. + +It obsessed him like a superstition, and, for the moment, he forgot +the horses, the race, and all that had brought him there. His eye +roved on, and then, down, near the front of the seats he found him, +shaved cleanly and dressed neatly, like a gentleman, but like one in +poor circumstances. Robert saw at first only the side of his face, the +massive jaw, the strong, curving chin, and the fair hair crisping +slightly at the temples, but he would have known him anywhere and in +any company. + +St. Luc sat very still, apparently absorbed in the great race which +would soon be run. In an ordinary time any stranger in Williamsburg +would have been noticed, but this was far from being an ordinary time. +The little town overflowed with British troops, and American visitors +known and unknown. Tayoga or Willet, if they saw him, might recognize +him, although Robert was not sure, but they, too, might keep silent. + +For a little while, he wondered why St. Luc had come to the Virginia +capital, a journey so full of danger for him. Was he following him? +Was it because of some tie between them? Or was it because St. Luc was +now spying upon the Anglo-American preparations? He understood to the +full the romantic and adventurous nature of the Frenchman, and knew +that he would dare anything. Then he had a consuming desire for the +eyes of St. Luc to meet his, and he bent upon him a gaze so long, and +of such concentration, that at last the chevalier looked up. + +St. Luc showed recognition, but in a moment or two he looked +away. Robert also turned his eyes in another direction, lest Tayoga or +Willet should follow his gaze, and when he glanced back again in a +minute or two St. Luc was gone. His roving eyes, traveling over the +crowd once more, could not find him, and he was glad. He believed now +that St. Luc had come to Williamsburg to discover the size and +preparations of the American force and its plan, and Robert felt that +he must have him seized if he could. He would be wanting in his +patriotism and duty if he failed to do so. He must sink all his liking +for St. Luc, and make every effort to secure his capture. + +But there was a sudden murmur that grew into a deep hum of +expectation, punctuated now and then by shouts: "Blenheim!" "Cressy!" +"Cabell!" "Stuart!" Horses and horsemen alike seemed to have their +partisans in about equal numbers. Ladies rose to their feet, and waved +bright fans, and men gave suggestions to those on whom they had laid +their money. + +The race, for a space, crowded St. Luc wholly out of Robert's +mind. Stuart and Cabell, each dressed very neatly in jockey attire, +came out and mounted their horses, which the grooms had been leading +back and forth. The three year olds, excited by the noise and +multitude of faces, leaped and strained at their bits. Robert did not +know much of races, but it seemed to him that there was little to +choose between either horses or riders. + +The circular track was a mile in length, and they would round it +twice, start and finish alike being made directly in front of the +judges' stand. The starter, a tall Virginian, finally brought the +horses to the line, neck and neck, and they were away. The whole crowd +rose to its feet and shouted approval as they flashed past. Blenheim +was a bay and Cressy was a sorrel, and when they began to turn the +curve in the distance Robert saw that bay and sorrel were still neck +and neck. Then he saw them far across the field, and neither yet had +the advantage. + +Now, Robert understood why the Virginians loved the sport. The test of +a horse's strength and endurance and of a horseman's skill and +judgment was thrilling. Presently he found that he was shouting with +the shouting multitude, and sometimes he shouted Cressy and sometimes +he shouted Blenheim. + +They came around the curve, the finish of the first mile being near, +and Robert saw the nose of the sorrel creeping past the nose of the +bay. A shout of triumph came from the followers of Cressy and Cabell, +but the partisans of Blenheim and Stuart replied that the race was not +yet half run. Cressy, though it was only in inches, was still +gaining. The sorrel nose crept forward farther and yet a little +farther. When they passed the judges' stand Cressy led by a head and a +neck. + +Robert, having no favorite before, now felt a sudden sympathy for +Blenheim and Stuart, because they were behind, and he began to shout +for them continuously, until sorrel and bay were well around the curve +on the second mile, when the entire crowd became silent. Then a sharp +shout came from the believers in Blenheim and Stuart. The bay was +beginning to win back his loss. The Cressy men were silent and gloomy, +as Blenheim, drawing upon the stores of strength that had been +conserved, continued to gain, until now the bay nose was creeping past +the sorrel. Then the bay was a full length ahead and that sharp shout +of triumph burst now from the Blenheim people. Robert found his +feelings changing suddenly, and he was all for Cressy and Cabell. + +The joy of the Blenheim people did not last long. The sorrel came +back to the side of the bay, the second mile was half done, and a +blanket would have covered the two. It was yet impossible to detect +any sign indicating the winner. The eyes of Tayoga, sitting beside +Robert, sparkled. The Indians from time unknown had loved ball games +and had played them with extraordinary zest and fire. As soon as they +came to know the horse of the white man they loved racing in the same +way. Their sporting instincts were as genuine as those of any country +gentleman. + +"It is a great race," said Tayoga. "The horses run well and the men +ride well. Tododaho himself, sitting on his great and shining star, +does not know which will win." + +"The kind of race I like to see," said Robert. "Stuart and Cabell +were justified in their faith in their horses. A magnificent pair, +Blenheim and Cressy!" + +"It has been said, Dagaeoga, that there is always one horse that can +run faster than another, but it seems that neither of these two can +run faster than the other. Now, Blenheim thrusts his nose ahead, and +now Cressy regains the lead by a few inches. Now they are so nearly +even that they seem to be but one horse and one rider." + +"A truly great race, Tayoga, and a prettily matched pair! Ah, the bay +leads! No, 'tis the sorrel! Now, they are even again, and the finish +is not far away!" + +The great crowd, which had been shouting, each side for its favorite, +became silent as Blenheim and Cressy swept into the stretch. Stuart +and Cabell, leaning far over the straining necks, begged and prayed +their brave horses to go a little faster, and Blenheim and Cressy, +hearing the voices that they knew so well, responded but in the same +measure. The heads were even, as if they had been locked fast, and +there was still no sign to indicate the winner. Faster and faster +they came, their riders leaning yet farther forward, continually +urging them, and they thundered past the stand, matched so evenly that +not a hair's breadth seemed to separate the noses of the sorrel and +the bay. + +"It's a dead heat!" exclaimed Robert, as the people, unable to +restrain their enthusiasm, swarmed over the track, and such was the +unanimous opinion of the judges. Yet it was the belief of all that a +finer race was never run in Virginia, and while the horses, covered +with blankets, were walked back and forth to cool, men followed them +and uttered their admiration. + +Stuart and Cabell were eager to run the heat over, after the horses +had rested, but the judges would not allow it. + +"No! No, lads!" said the Governor. "Be content! You have two splendid +horses, the best in Virginia, and matched evenly. Moreover, you rode +them superbly. Now, let them rest with the ample share of honor that +belongs to each." + +Stuart and Cabell, after the heat of rivalry was over, thought it a +good plan, shook hands with great warmth three or four times, each +swearing that the other was the best fellow in the world, and then +with a great group of friends they adjourned to the tavern where huge +beakers of punch were drunk. + +"And mighty Todadaho himself, although he looks into the future, does +not yet know which is the better horse," said Tayoga. "It is +well. Some things should remain to be discovered, else the salt would +go out of life." + +"That's sound philosophy," said Willet. "It's the mystery of things +that attracts us, and that race ended in the happiest manner +possible. Neither owner can be jealous or envious of the other; +instead they are feeling like brothers." + +Then Robert's mind with a sudden rush, went back to St. Luc, and his +sense of duty tempted him to speak of his presence to Willet, but he +concluded to wait a little. He looked around for him again, but he did +not see him, and he thought it possible that he had now left the +dangerous neighborhood of Williamsburg. + +As they walked back to their quarters at a tavern Willet informed them +that there was to be, two days later, a grand council of provincial +governors and high officers at Alexandria on the Potomac, where +General Braddock with his army already lay in camp, and he suggested +that they go too. As they were free lances with their authority +issuing from Governor Dinwiddie alone, they could do practically as +they pleased. Both Robert and Tayoga were all for it, but in the +afternoon they, as well as Willet, were invited to a race dinner to be +given at the tavern that evening by Stuart and Cabell in honor of the +great contest, in which neither had lost, but in which both had won. + +"I suppose," said Willet, "that while here we might take our full +share of Virginia hospitality, which is equal to any on earth, +because, as I see it, before very long we will be in the woods where +so much to eat and drink will not be offered to us. March and battle +will train us down." + +The dinner to thirty guests was spread in the great room of the tavern +and the black servants of Stuart and Cabell, well trained, dextrous +and clad in livery, helped those of the landlord to serve. The +abundance and quality of the food were amazing. Besides the resources +of civilization, air, wood and water were drawn upon for +game. Virginia, already renowned for hospitality, was resolved that +through her young sons, Stuart and Cabell, she should do her best that +night. + +A dozen young British officers were present, and there was much +toasting and conviviality. The tie of kinship between the old country +and the new seemed stronger here than in New England, where the +England of Cromwell still prevailed, or in New York, where the Dutch +and other influences not English were so powerful. They had begun with +the best of feeling, and it was heightened by the warmth that food and +drink bring. They talked with animation of the great adventure, on +which they would soon start, as Stuart and Cabell and most of the +Virginians were going with Braddock. They drank a speedy capture of +Fort Duquesne, and confusion to the French and their red allies. + +Robert, imitating the example of Tayoga, ate sparingly and scarcely +tasted the punch. About eleven o'clock, the night being warm, +unusually warm for that early period of spring, and nearly all the +guests having joined in the singing, more or less well, of patriotic +songs, Robert, thinking that his absence would not be noticed, walked +outside in search of coolness and air. + +It was but a step from the lights and brilliancy of the tavern to the +darkness of Williamsburg's single avenue. There were no street +lanterns, and only a moon by which to see. He could discern the dim +bulk of William and Mary College and of the Governor's Palace, but +except near at hand the smaller buildings were lost in the dusk. A +breeze touched with salt, as if from the sea, was blowing, and its +touch was so grateful on Robert's face that he walked on, hat in hand, +while the wind played on his cheeks and forehead and lifted his +hair. Then a darker shadow appeared in the darkness, and St. Luc stood +before him. + +"Why do you come here! Why do you incur such danger? Don't you know +that I must give warning of your presence?" exclaimed Robert +passionately. + +The Frenchman laughed lightly. He seemed very well pleased with +himself, and then he hummed: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +"Your danger is great!" repeated Robert. + +"Not as great as you think," said St. Luc. "You will not protect +me. You will warn the British officers that a French spy is here. I +read it in your face at the race today, and moreover, I know you +better than you know yourself. I know, too, more about you than you +know about yourself. Did I not warn you in New York to beware of +Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon?" + +"You did, and I know that you meant me well." + +"And what happened?" + +"I was kidnapped by a slaver, and I was to have been taken to the +coast of Africa, but a storm intervened and saved me. Perhaps the +slaver was acting for Mynheer Van Zoon, but I talked it over with Mr. +Hardy and we haven't a shred of proof." + +"Perhaps a storm will not intervene next time. You must look to +yourself, Robert Lennox." + +"And you to yourself, Chevalier de St. Luc. I'm grateful to you for +the warning you gave me, and other acts of friendship, but whatever +your mission may have been in New York I'm sure that one of your +errands, perhaps the main one, in Williamsburg, is to gather +information for France, and, sir, I should be little of a patriot did +I not give the alarm, much as it hurts me to do so." + +Robert saw very clearly by the moonlight that the blue eyes of St. Luc +were twinkling. His situation might be dangerous, but obviously he +took no alarm from it. + +"You'll bear in mind, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I'm not asking you +to shield me. Consider me a French spy, if you wish--and you'll not be +wholly wrong--and then act as you think becomes a man with a +commission as army scout from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia." + +There was a little touch of irony in his voice. His adventures and +romantic spirit was in the ascendant, and it seemed to Robert that he +was giving him a dare. That he would have endured because of his +admiration for St. Luc, and also because of his gratitude, but the +allusion to his commission from the governor of Virginia recalled him +to his sense of duty. + +"I can do nothing else!" he exclaimed. "'Tis a poor return for the +services you have done me, and I tender my apologies for the action +I'm about to take. But guard yourself, St. Luc!" + +"And you, Lennox, look well to yourself when Braddock marches! Every +twig and leaf will spout danger!" + +His light manner was wholly gone for the moment, and his words were +full of menace. Up the street, a sentinel walked back and forth, and +Robert could hear the faint fall of his feet on the sand. + +"Once more I bid you beware, St. Luc!" he exclaimed, and raising his +voice he shouted: "A spy! A spy!" + +He heard the sentinel drop the butt of his musket heavily against the +earth, utter an exclamation and then run toward them. His shout had +also been heard at the tavern, and the guests, bareheaded, began to +pour out, and look about confusedly to see whence the alarm had come. + +Robert looked at the sentinel who was approaching rapidly, and then he +turned to see what St Luc would do. But the Frenchman was gone. Near +them was a mass of shrubbery and he believed that he had flitted into +it, as silently as the passing of a shadow. But the sentinel had +caught a glimpse of the dusky figure, and he cried: + +"Who was he? What is it?" + +"A spy!" replied Robert hastily. "A Frenchman whom I have seen in +Canada! I think he sprang into those bushes and flowers!" + +The sentinel and Robert rushed into the shrubbery but nothing was +there. As they looked about in the dusk, Robert heard a refrain, +distant, faint and taunting: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +It was only for an instant, then it died like a summer echo, and he +knew that St. Luc was gone. An immense weight rolled from him. He had +done what he should have done, but the result that he feared had not +followed. + +"I can find nothing, sir," said the sentinel, who recognized in Robert +one of superior rank. + +"Nor I, but you saw the figure, did you not?" + +"I did, sir. 'Twas more like a shadow, but 'twas a man, I'll swear." + +Robert was glad to have the sentinel's testimony, because in another +moment the revelers were upon him, making sport of him for his false +alarm, and asserting that not his eyes but the punch he had drunk had +seen a French spy. + +"I scarce tasted the punch," said Robert, "and the soldier here is +witness that I spoke true." + +A farther and longer search was organized, but the Frenchman had +vanished into the thinnest of thin air. As Robert walked with Willet +and Tayoga back to the tavern, the hunter said: + +"I suppose it was St. Luc?" + +"Yes, but why did you think it was he?" + +"Because it was just the sort of deed he would do. Did you speak with +him?" + +"Yes, and I told him I must give the alarm. He disappeared with +amazing speed and silence." + +Robert made a brief report the next day to Governor Dinwiddie, not +telling that St. Luc and he had spoken together, stating merely that +he had seen him, giving his name, and describing him as one of the +most formidable of the French forest leaders. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the Governor. "Your information shall +be conveyed to General Braddock. Yet I think our force will be too +great for the wilderness bands." + +On the following day they were at Alexandria on the Potomac, where the +great council was to be held. Here Braddock's camp was spread, and in +a large tent he met Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, Governor de Lancey +of New York, Governor Sharpe of Maryland, Governor Dobbs of North +Carolina and Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, an elderly lawyer, but +the ablest and most energetic of all the governors. + +It was the most momentous council yet held in North America, and all +the young officers waited with the most intense eagerness the news +from the tent. Robert saw Braddock as he went in, a middle-aged man of +high color and an obstinate chin. Grosvenor gave him some of the +gossip about the general. + +"London has many stories of him," he said. "He has spent most of his +life in the army. He is a gambler, but brave, rough but generous, +irritable, but often very kind. Opposition inflames him, but he likes +zeal and good service. He is very fond of your young Mr. Washington, +who, I hear is much of a man." + +The council in the great tent was long and weighty, and well it might +have been, even far beyond the wildest thoughts of any of the +participants. These were the beginnings of events that shook not only +America but Europe for sixty years. In the tent they agreed upon a +great and comprehensive scheme of campaign that had been proposed some +time before. Braddock would proceed with his attack upon Fort +Duquesne, Shirley would see that the forces of New England seized +Beauséjour and De Lancey would have Colonel William Johnson to move +upon Crown Point and then Niagara. Acadia also would be +taken. Dinwiddie after Shirley was the most vigorous of the governors, +and he promised that the full force of Virginia should be behind +Braddock. But to Shirley was given the great vision. He foresaw the +complete disappearance of French power from North America, and, to +achieve a result that he desired so much, it was only necessary for +the colonists to act together and with vigor. While he recognized in +Braddock infirmities of temper and insufficient knowledge of his +battlefield, he knew him to be energetic and courageous and he +believed that the first blow, the one that he was to strike at Fort +Duquesne, would inflict a mortal blow upon France in the New World. In +every vigorous measure that he proposed Dinwiddie backed him, and the +other governors, overborne by their will, gave their consent. + +While Robert sat with his friends in the shade of a grove, awaiting +the result of the deliberations in the tent, his attention was +attracted by a strong, thick-set figure in a British uniform. + +"Colonel Johnson!" he cried, and running forward he shook hands +eagerly with Colonel William Johnson. + +"Why, Colonel!" he exclaimed, "I didn't dream that you were here, but +I'm most happy to see you." + +"And I to see you, Mr. Lennox, or Robert, as I shall call you," said +Colonel Johnson. "Alexandria is a long journey from Mount Johnson, but +you see I'm here, awaiting the results of this council, which I tell +you may have vast significance for North America." + +"But why are you not in the tent with the others, you who know so much +more about conditions on the border than any man who is in there?" + +"I am not one of the governors, Robert, my lad, nor am I General +Braddock. Hence I'm not eligible, but I'm not to be neglected. I may +as well tell you that we are planning several expeditions, and that +I'm to lead one in the north." + +"And Madam Johnson, and everybody at your home? Are they well?" + +"As well of body as human beings can be when I left. Molly told me +that if I saw you to give you her special love. Ah, you young blade, +if you were older I should be jealous, and then, again, perhaps I +shouldn't!" + +"And Joseph?" + +"Young Thayendanegea? Fierce and warlike as becomes his lineage. He +demands if I lead an army to the war that he go with me, and he scarce +twelve. What is more, he will demand and insist, until I have to take +him. 'Tis a true eagle that young Joseph. But here is Willet! It +soothes my eyes to see you again, brave hunter, and Tayoga, too, who +is fully as welcome." + +He shook hands with them both and the Onondaga gravely asked: + +"What news of my people, Waraiyageh?" + +Colonel Johnson's face clouded. + +"Things do not go well between us and the vale of Onondaga," he +replied. "The Hodenosaunee complain of the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and with justice. Moreover, the French advance and the +superior French vigor create a fear that the British and Americans may +lose. Then the Hodenosaunee will be left alone to fight the French and +all the hostile tribes. Father Drouillard has come back and is working +with his converts." + +"The nations of the Hodenosaunee will never go with the French," +declared Tayoga with emphasis. "Although the times seem dark, and +men's minds may waver for a while, they will remain loyal to their +ancient allies. Their doubts will cease, Waraiyageh, when the king +across the sea takes away the power of dealing with us from the Dutch +commissioners at Albany, and gives it to you, you who know us so well +and who have always been our friend." + +Colonel Johnson's face flushed with pleasure. + +"Your opinion of me is too high, Tayoga," he said, "but I'll not deny +that it gratifies me to hear it." + +"Have you heard anything from Fort Refuge, and Colden and Wilton and +the others?" asked Robert. + +"An Oneida runner brought a letter just before I left Mount +Johnson. The brave Philadelphia lads still hold the little fortress, +and have occasional skirmishes with wandering bands. Theirs has been a +good work, well done." + +But while Colonel Johnson was not a member of the council and could +not sit with it, he had a great reputation with all the governors, and +the next day he was asked to appear before them and General Braddock, +where he was treated with the consideration due to a man of his +achievements, and where the council, without waiting for the authority +of the English king, gave him full and complete powers to treat with +the Hodenosaunee, and to heal the wounds inflicted upon the pride of +the nations by the commissioners at Albany. He was thus made +superintendent of Indian affairs in North America, and he was also as +he had said to lead the expedition against Crown Point. He came forth +from the council exultant, his eyes glowing. + +"'Tis even more than I had hoped," he said to Willet, "and now I must +say farewell to you and the brave lads with you. We have come to the +edge of great things, and there is no time to waste." + +He hastened northward, the council broke up the next day, and the +visiting governors hurried back to their respective provinces to +prepare for the campaigns, leaving Braddock to strike the first blow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FOREST FIGHT + + +Robert thought they would march at once, but annoying delays +occurred. He had noticed that Hamilton, the governor of the great +neighboring province of Pennsylvania, was not present at the council, +but he did not know the cause of it until Stuart, the young Virginian, +told him. + +"Pennsylvania is in a huff," he said, "because General Braddock's army +has been landed at Alexandria instead of Philadelphia. Truth to tell, +for an expedition against Fort Duquesne, Philadelphia would have been +a nearer and better place, but I hear that one John Hanbury, a +powerful merchant who trades much in Virginia, wanted the troops to +come this way that he might sell them supplies, and he persuaded the +Duke of Newcastle to choose Alexandria. 'Tis a bad state of affairs, +Lennox, but you and I can't remedy it. The chief trouble is between +the general and the Pennsylvanians, many of whom are Quakers and +Germans, as obstinate people as this world has ever produced." + +The differences and difficulties were soon patent to all. A month of +spring was passing, and the army was far from having the necessary +supplies. Neither Virginia nor Pennsylvania responded properly. In +Pennsylvania there was a bitter quarrel between the people and the +proprietary government that hampered action. Many of the contractors +who were to furnish equipment thought much more of profit than of +patriotism. Braddock, brave and honest, but tactless and wholly +ignorant of the conditions predominant in any new country, raged and +stormed. He denounced the Virginia troops that came to his standard, +calling shameful their lack of uniforms and what he considered their +lack of discipline. + +Robert heard that in these turbulent days young Washington, whom +Braddock had taken on his staff as a colonel and for whom he had a +warm personal regard, was the best mediator between the testy general +and the stubborn population. In his difficult position, and while yet +scarcely more than a boy, he was showing all the great qualities of +character that he was to display so grandly in the long war twenty +years later. + +"Tis related," said Willet, "that General Braddock will listen to +anything from him, that he has the most absolute confidence in his +honesty and good judgment, and, judging from what I hear, General +Braddock is right." + +But to Robert, despite the anxieties, the days were happy. As he had +affiliated readily with the young Virginians he was also quickly a +friend of the young British officers, who were anxious to learn about +the new conditions into which they had been cast with so little +preparation. There was Captain Robert Orme, Braddock's aide-de-camp, a +fine manly fellow, for whom he soon formed a reciprocal liking, and +the son of Sir Peter Halket, a lieutenant, and Morris, an American, +another aide-de-camp, and young William Shirley, the son of the +governor of Massachusetts, who had become Braddock's secretary. He +also became well acquainted with older officers, Gladwin who was to +defend Detroit so gallantly against Pontiac and his allied tribes, +Gates, Gage, Barton and others, many of whom were destined to serve +again on one side or other in the great Revolution. + +Grosvenor knew all the Englishmen, and often in the evenings, since +May had now come they sat about the camp fires, and Robert listened +with eagerness as they told stories of gay life in London, tales of +the theater, of the heavy betting at the clubs and the races, and now +and then in low tones some gossip of royalty. Tayoga was more than +welcome in this group, as the great Thayendanegea was destined to be +years later. His height, his splendid appearance, his dignity and his +manners were respected and admired. Willet sometimes sat with them, +but said little. Robert knew that he approved of his new friendships. + +Willet was undoubtedly anxious. The delays which were still numerous +weighed heavily upon him, and he confided to Robert that every day +lost would increase the danger of the march. + +"The French and Indians of course know our troubles," he +said. "St. Luc has gone like an arrow into the wilderness with all the +news about us, and he's not the only one. If we could adjust this +trouble with the Pennsylvanians we might start at once." + +An hour or two after he uttered his complaint, Robert saw a middle +aged man, not remarkable of appearance, talking with Braddock. His +dress was homespun and careless, but his large head was beautifully +shaped, and his features, though they might have been called homely, +shone with the light of an extraordinary intelligence. His manner as +he talked to Braddock, without showing any tinge of deference, was +soothing. Robert saw at once, despite his homespun dress, that here +was a man of the great world and of great affairs. + +"Who is he?" he said to Willet. + +"It's Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania," replied the hunter. "I hear +he's one of the shrewdest men in all the colonies, and I don't doubt +the report." + +It was Robert's first sight of Franklin, certainly not the least in +that amazing group of men who founded the American Union. + +"They say," continued Willet, "that he's already achieved the +impossible, that he's drawing General Braddock and the Pennsylvanians +together, and that we'll soon get weapons, horses and all the other +supplies we need." + +It was no false news. Franklin had done what he alone could do. One of +the greatest masters of diplomacy the world has ever known, he brought +Braddock and Pennsylvania together, and smoothed out the +difficulties. All the needed supplies began to flow in, and on the +tenth of an eventful May the whole army started from Wills Creek to +which point it had advanced, while Franklin was removing the +difficulties. A new fort named Cumberland had been established there, +and stalwart Virginians had been cutting a road ahead through the +wilderness. + +The place was on the edge of the unending forest. The narrow fringe +of settlements on the Atlantic coast was left behind, and henceforth +they must march through regions known only to the Indians and the +woods rangers. But it was a fine army, two British regiments under +Halket and Dunbar, their numbers reinforced by Virginia volunteers, +and five hundred other Virginians, divided into nine companies. There +was a company of British sailors, too, and artillery, and hundreds of +wagons and baggage horses. Among the teamsters was a strong lad named +Daniel Boone destined to immortality as the most famous of all +pioneers. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga could have had horses to ride, but against +the protests of Grosvenor and their other new English friends they +declined them. They knew that they could scout along the flanks of an +army far better on foot. + +"In one way," said Willet, to Grosvenor, "we three, Robert, Tayoga and +I, are going back home. The lads, at least have spent the greater +part of their lives in the forest, and to me it has given a kindly +welcome for these many years. It may look inhospitable to you who come +from a country of roads and open fields, but it's not so to us. We +know its ways. We can find shelter where you would see none, and it +offers food to us, where you would starve, and you're a young man of +intelligence too." + +"At least I can see its beauty," laughed Grosvenor, as he looked upon +the great green wilderness, stretching away and away to the far blue +hills. "In truth 'tis a great and romantic adventure to go with a +force like ours into an unknown country of such majestic quality." + +He looked with a kindling eye from the wilderness back to the army, +the greatest that had yet been gathered in the forest, the red coats +of the soldiers gleaming now in the spring sunshine, and the air +resounding with whips as the teamsters started their trains. + +"A great force! A grand force!" said Robert, catching his +enthusiasm. "The French and Indians can't stand before it!" + +"How far is Fort Duquesne?" asked Grosvenor. + +"In the extreme western part of the province of Pennsylvania, many +days' march from here. At least, we claim that it's in Pennsylvania +province, although the French assert it's on their soil, and they have +possession. But it's in the Ohio country, because the waters there +flow westward, the Alleghany and Monongahela joining at the fort and +forming the great Ohio." + +"And so we shall see much of the wilderness. Well, I'm not sorry, +Lennox. 'Twill be something to talk about in England. I don't think +they realize there the vastness and magnificence of the colonies." + +That day a trader named Croghan brought about fifty Indian warriors to +the camp, among them a few belonging to the Hodenosaunee, and offered +their services as scouts and skirmishers. Braddock, who loved +regularity and outward discipline, gazed at them in astonishment. + +"Savages!" he said. "We will have none of them!" + +The Indians, uttering no complaint, disappeared in the green forest, +with Willet and Tayoga gazing somberly after them. + +"'Twas a mistake," said the hunter. "They would have been our eyes and +ears, where we needed eyes and ears most." + +"A warrior of my kin was among them," said Tayoga. "Word will fly +north that an insult has been offered to the Hodenosaunee." + +"But," said Willet, "Colonel William Johnson will take a word of +another kind. As you know, Tayoga, as I know, and, as all the nations +of the Hodenosaunee know, Waraiyageh is their friend. He will speak to +them no word that is not true. He will brush away all that web of +craft, and cunning and cheating, spun by the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and he will see that there is no infringement upon the rights +of the great League." + +"Waraiyageh will do all that, if he can reach Mount Johnson in time," +said Tayoga, "but Onontio rises before the dawn, and he does not sleep +until after midnight. He sings beautiful songs in the ears of the +warriors, and the songs he sings seem to be true. Already the French +and their allies have been victorious everywhere save at Fort Refuge, +and they carry the trophies of triumph into Canada." + +"But the time for us to strike a great blow is at hand, Tayoga," said +Robert, who, with Grosvenor had been listening. "Behold this splendid +army! No such force was ever before sent into the American +wilderness. When we take Fort Duquesne we shall hold the key to the +whole Ohio country, and we shall turn it in the lock and fasten it +against the Governor General of Canada and all his allies." + +"But the wilderness is mighty," said Tayoga. "Even the army of the +great English king is small when it enters its depths." + +"On the other hand so is that of the enemy, much smaller than ours," +said Grosvenor. + +Soon after Croghan and his Indians left the camp a figure tall, dark +and somber, followed by a dozen men wild of appearance and clad in +hunter's garb, emerged from the forest and walked in silence toward +General Braddock's tent. The regular soldiers stared at them in +astonishment, but their dark leader took no notice. Robert uttered an +exclamation of surprise and pleasure. + +"Black Rifle!" he said. + +"And who is Black Rifle?" asked Grosvenor. + +"A great hunter and scout and a friend of mine. I'm glad he's +here. The general can find many uses for Black Rifle and his men." + +He ran forward and greeted Black Rifle, who smiled one of his rare +smiles at sight of the youth. Willet and Tayoga gave him the same warm +welcome. + +"What news, Black Rifle?" asked Robert. + +"The French and Indians gather at Fort Duquesne to meet you. They are +not in great force, but the wilderness will help them and the best of +the French leaders are there." + +"Have you heard anything of St. Luc?" asked Robert. + +"We met a Seneca runner who had seen him. The Senecas are not at war +with the French, and the man talked with him a little, but the +Frenchman didn't tell him anything. We think he was on the way to Fort +Duquesne to join the other French leaders there." + +"Have you heard the names of any of these Frenchmen?" + +"Besides St. Luc there's Beaujeu, Dumas, Ligneris and Contrecoeur who +commands. French regulars and Canadian troops are in the fort, and the +heathen are pouring in from the west and north." + +"Those are brave and skillful men," said Willet, as he listened to the +names of the French leaders who would oppose them. "But 'twas good of +you, Black Rifle, to come with these lads of yours to help us." + +After the men had enjoyed food and a little rest, they were taken into +the great tent, where the general sat, Willet having procured the +interview, and accompanying them. Robert waited near with Grosvenor +and Tayoga, knowing how useful Black Rifle and his men could be to a +wilderness expedition, and hoping that they would be thrown together +in future service. + +A quarter of an hour passed, and then Black Rifle strode from the +tent, his face dark as night. His men followed him, and, almost +without a word, they left the camp, plunged into the forest and +disappeared. Willet also came from the tent, crestfallen. + +"What has happened, Dave?" asked Robert in astonishment. + +"The worst. I suppose that when unlike meets unlike only trouble can +come. I introduced Black Rifle and his men to General Braddock. They +did not salute. They did not take off their caps in his presence,--not +knowing, of course, that such things were done in armies. General +Braddock rebuked them. I smoothed it all over as much as I could. Then +he demanded what they wanted there, as a haughty giver of gifts would +speak to a suppliant. Black Rifle said he and his men came to watch on +the front and flanks of the army against Indian ambush, knowing how +much it was needed. Braddock laughed and sneered. He said that an +army such as his did not need to fear a few wandering Indians, and, in +any event, it had eyes of its own to watch for itself. Black Rifle +said he doubted it, that soldiers in the woods could seldom see +anything but themselves. There was blame on both sides, but men like +General Braddock and Black Rifle can't understand each other, they'll +never understand each other, and, hot with wrath Black Rifle has taken +his band and gone into the woods. Nor will he come back, and we need +him! I tell you, Robert, we need him! We need him!" + +"It is bad," said Tayoga. "An army can never have too many eyes." + +Robert was deeply disappointed. He regretted not only the loss of +Black Rifle and his men, but the further evidence of an unyielding +temperament on the part of their commander. His own mind however so +ready to comprehend the mind of others, could understand Braddock's +point of view. To the general Black Rifle and his men were mere woods +rovers, savages themselves in everything except race, and the army +that he led was invincible. + +"We'll have to make the best of it," he said. + +"They've gone and they're a great loss, but the rest of us will try to +do the work they would have done." + +"That is so," said Tayoga, gravely. + +At last the army moved proudly away into the wilderness. Hundreds of +axmen, going ahead, cut a road twelve feet wide, along which cavalry, +infantry, artillery and wagons and pack horses stretched for +miles. The weather was beautiful, the forest was both beautiful and +grand, and to most of the Englishmen and Virginians the march appealed +as a great and romantic adventure. The trees were in the tender green +leafage of early May, and their solid expanse stretched away hundreds +and thousands of miles into the unknown west. Early wild flowers, a +shy pink or a modest blue, bloomed in the grass. Deer started from +their coverts, crashed through the thickets, and the sky darkened with +the swarms of wild fowl flying north. Birds of brilliant plumage +flashed among the leaves and often chattered overhead, heedless of the +passing army. Now and then the soldiers sang, and the song passed from +the head of the column along its rippling red, yellow and brown length +of four miles. + +It was a cheerful army, more it was a gay army, enjoying the +wilderness which it was seeing at one of the finest periods of the +year, wondering at the magnificence of the forest, and the great +number of streams that came rushing down from the mountains. + +"It's a noble country," said Grosvenor to Robert. "I'll admit all +that you claim for it." + +"And there's so much of it, Grosvenor, even allowing for the portion, +the very big portion, the French claim." + +"But from which we are going to drive them very soon, Robert, my lad." + +"I think so, too, Grosvenor." + +Often Robert, Willet and Tayoga went far ahead on swift foot, +searching the forest for ambush, and finding none, they would come +back and watch the axmen, three hundred in number, who were cutting +the road for the army. They were stalwart fellows, skilled in their +business, and their axes rang through the woods. Robert felt regret +when he saw the splendid trees fall and be dragged to one side, there +to rot, despite the fact that the unbroken forest covered millions of +square miles. + +The camps at night were scenes of good humor. Scouts and flankers +were thrown out in the forest, and huge fires were built of the fallen +wood which was abundant everywhere. The flames, roaring and leaping, +threw a ruddy light over the soldiers, and gave them pleasant warmth, +as often in the hills the dusk came on heavy with chill. + +Despite the favorable nature of the season some of the soldiers unused +to hardships fell ill, and, more than a week later, when they reached +a place known as the Little Meadows, Braddock left there the sick and +the heavy baggage with a rear guard under Colonel Dunbar. A scout had +brought word that a formidable force of French regulars was expected +to reinforce the garrison at Fort Duquesne, and the general was +anxious to forestall them. Young Washington, in whom he had great +confidence, also advised him to push on, and now the army of chosen +troops increased its speed. + +Robert came into contact with Braddock only once or twice, and then he +was noticed with a nod, but on the whole he was glad to escape so +easily. The general brave and honest, but irritable, had a closed +mind. He thought all things should be done in the way to which he was +used, and he had little use for the Americans, save for young +Washington, and young Morris, who were on his staff, and young Shirley +who was his secretary. To them he was invariably kind and considerate. + +The regular officers made no attempt to interfere with Robert, Tayoga +and Willet, who, having their commissions as scouts, roamed as they +pleased, and, even on foot, their pace being so much greater than that +of the army, they often went far ahead in the night seeking traces of +the enemy. Now, although the march was not resisted, they saw +unmistakable signs that it was watched. They found trails of small +Indian bands and several soldiers who straggled into the forest were +killed and scalped. Braddock was enraged but not alarmed. The army +would brush away these flies and proceed to the achievement of its +object, the capture of Fort Duquesne. The soldiers from England +shuddered at the sight of their scalped comrades. It was a new form +of war to them, and very ghastly. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were the best scouts and the regular +officers soon learned to rely on them. Grosvenor often begged to go +with them, but they laughingly refused. + +"We don't claim to be of special excellence ourselves, Grosvenor," +said Robert, "but such work needs a very long training. One, so to +speak, must be born to it, and to be born to it you have to be born in +this country, and not in England." + +It was about the close of June and they had been nearly three weeks on +the way when the three, scouting on a moonlight night, struck a trail +larger than usual. Tayoga reckoned that it had been made by at least a +dozen warriors, and Willet agreed with him. + +"And behold the trace of the big moccasin, Great Bear," said the +Onondaga, pointing to a faint impression among the leaves. "It is very +large, and it turns in much. We do not see it for the first time." + +"Tandakora," said Willet. + +"It can be none other." + +"We shouldn't be surprised at seeing it. The Ojibway, like a wolf, +will rush to the place of killing." + +"I am not surprised, Great Bear. It is strange, perhaps, that we have +not seen his footsteps before. No doubt he has looked many times upon +the marching army." + +"Since Tandakora is here, probably leading the Indian scouts, we'll +have to take every precaution ourselves. I like my scalp, and I like +for it to remain where it has grown, on the top of my head." + +They moved now with the most extreme care, always keeping under cover +of bushes, and never making any sound as they walked, but the army +kept on steadily in the road cut for it by the axmen. Encounters +between the flankers and small bands still occurred, but there was yet +no sign of serious resistance, and the fort was drawing nearer and +nearer. + +"I've no doubt the French commander will abandon it," said Grosvenor +to Robert. "He'll conclude that our army is too powerful for him." + +"I scarce think so," replied Robert doubtfully. "'Tis not the French +way, at least, not on this continent. Like as not they will depend on +the savages, whom they have with them." + +They had been on the march nearly a month when they came to Turtle +Creek, which flows into the Monongahela only eight miles from Fort +Duquesne a strong fortress of logs with bastions, ravelins, ditch, +glacis and covered ways, standing at the junction of the twin streams, +the Monongahela and the Alleghany, that form the great Ohio. Here they +made a little halt and the scouts who had been sent into the woods +reported silence and desolation. + +The army rejoiced. It had been a long march, and the wilderness is +hard for those not used to it, even in the best of times. Victory was +now almost in sight. The next day, perhaps, they would march into +Fort Duquesne and take possession, and doubtless a strong detachment +would be sent in pursuit of the flying French and Indians. + +Full warrant had they for their expectations, as nothing seemed more +peaceful than the wilderness. The flames from the cooking fires threw +their ruddy light over bough and bush, and disclosed no enemy, and, as +the glow of the coals died down, the peaceful tails of the night birds +showed that the forest was undisturbed. + +Far in the night, Robert, Tayoga and Willet crept through the woods to +Fort Duquesne. They found many small trails of both white men and red +men, but none indicating a large force. At last they saw a light under +the western horizon, which they believed to come from Duquesne itself. + +"Perhaps they've burned the fort and are abandoning it," said Robert. + +Willet shook his head. + +"Not likely," he said. "It's more probable that the light comes from +great fires, around which the savages are dancing the war dance." + +"What do you think, Tayoga?" + +"That the Great Bear is right." + +"But surely," said Robert, "they can't hope to withstand an army like +ours." + +"Robert," said Willet, "you've lived long enough in it to know that +anything is possible in the wilderness. Contrecoeur, the French +commander at Duquesne, is a brave and capable man. Beaujeu, who stands +next to him, has, they say, a soul of fire. You know what St. Luc is, +the bravest of the brave, and as wise as a fox, and Dumas and Ligneris +are great partisan leaders. Do you think these men will run away +without a fight?" + +"But they must depend chiefly on the Indians!" + +"Even so. They won't let the Indians run away either. We're bound to +have some kind of a battle somewhere, though we ought to win." + +"Do you know the general's plans for tomorrow?" + +"We're to start at dawn. We'll cross the Monongahela for the second +time about noon, or a little later, and then, if the French and +Indians have run away, as you seemed a little while ago to believe +they would, we'll proceed, colors flying into the fort." + +"If the enemy makes a stand I should think it would be at the ford." + +"Seems likely." + +"Come! Come, Dave! Be cheerful. If they meet us at the ford or +anywhere else we'll brush 'em aside. That big body of French regulars +from Canada hasn't come--we know that--and there isn't force enough in +Duquesne to withstand us." + +Willet did not say anything more, but his steps were not at all +buoyant as they walked back toward the camp. Robert, lying on a +blanket, slept soundly before one of the fires, but awoke at dawn, and +took breakfast with Willet, Tayoga, Grosvenor and the two young +Virginians, Stuart and Cabell. + +"We'll be in Duquesne tonight," said the sanguine Stuart. + +"In very truth we will," said the equally confident Grosvenor. + +The dawn came clear and brilliant, and the army advanced, to the music +of a fine band. The light cavalry led the way, then came a detachment +of sailors who had been loaned by Admiral Keppel, followed by the +English regulars in red and the Virginians in blue. Behind them came +the cannon, the packhorses, and all the elements that make up the +train of an army. + +It was a gay and inspiriting sight, especially so to youth, and +Robert's heart thrilled as he looked. The hour of triumph had come at +last. Away with the forebodings of Willet! Here was the might of +England and the colonies, and, brave and cunning as St. Luc and +Beaujeu and the other Frenchmen might be their bravery and cunning +would avail them nothing. + +They marched on all the morning, a long and brilliant line of red and +blue and brown, and nothing happened. The forest on either side of +them was still silent and tenantless, and they expected in a few more +hours to see the fort they had come so far to take. The heavens +themselves were propitious. Only little white clouds were to be seen +in the sky of dazzling blue, and the green forest, stirred by a gentle +wind, waved its boughs at them in friendly fashion. + +About noon they approached the river, and Gage leading a strong +advance guard across it, found no enemy on the other side, puzzling +and also pleasing news. The foe, whom they had expected to find in +this formidable position, seemed to have melted away. No trace of him +could be found in the forest, and to many it appeared that the road to +Fort Duquesne lay open. + +"They've concluded our force is too great and have abandoned the +fort," said Robert. "I can't make anything else of it, Dave." + +"It does look like it," said the hunter doubtfully. "I certainly +thought they would meet us here. The ford is the place of places for a +defensive battle." + +Gage made his report to Braddock, confirming the general in his belief +that the French and Indians would not dare to meet him, and that the +dangers of the wilderness had been overrated. The order to resume the +march was given and the trumpets in the advance sang merrily, the +silent woods giving back their echoes in faint musical notes. The +afternoon that had now come was as brilliant as the morning. A great +sun blazed down from a sky of cloudless blue, deepening and +intensifying the green of the forest, the red uniforms of the British +and the blue uniforms of the Virginians. Robert again admired the +sight. The army marched as if on parade, and it presented a splendid +spectacle. + +The head of the column entered the shallows, and soon the long line +was passing the river. Robert had a lingering belief that the bullets +would rain upon them in the water, but nothing stirred in the forest +beyond. The head of the column emerged upon the opposite bank, and +then its long red and blue length trailed slowly after. Robert and his +comrades crossed in a wagon. They had wanted to go into the woods, +seeking for the enemy, but the orders of Braddock, who wished to keep +all his force together, held them. + +The entire army was now across, and, within the shade of the forest, +the general ordered a short period for rest and food, before they +completed the few miles that yet separated them from Fort +Duquesne. The troops were in great spirits. They might have been held +at the dangerous ford, they thought, but now that it had been passed +without resistance the woods could offer nothing able to stop them. + +"What has become of your warlike Frenchmen, Mr. Willet?" asked +Grosvenor. "So far as this campaign is concerned they seem to excel as +runners rather than warriors." + +"I confess that I'm surprised, Mr. Grosvenor," replied the +hunter. "Beaujeu, St. Luc and Dumas are not the men to make a carpet +of roses for us to march on. There is something here that does not +meet the eye. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"I like it not," replied the Onondaga. "In war I fear the forest when +it is silent." + +Near them a small circle of land had been cleared and in it stood a +house, lone and deserted. It had been built by a trader named Fraser +and in it Washington, who had visited it once before on a former +mission, and one or two others sat, during the period of rest and +refreshment. The young Virginian, despite his great frame and gigantic +strength, was so much wasted by fever that, when he came forth to +remount, he was barely able to keep his place in his saddle. + +Now the merry trumpets sang again and the red and blue column, lifting +itself up, resumed its march along the trail through the forest toward +Duquesne. The river was on one side and a line of high hills on the +other, but the forest everywhere was dense and in its heaviest +foliage. Braddock, despite the safe passage of the ford, was not +reckless. A troop of guides and Virginia light horsemen led the way. A +hundred yards behind them came the vanguard, then Gage with a picked +body of British troops, after them the axmen, who had done such great +work, behind them the main body of the artillery, the wagons and the +packhorses, while a strong force of regulars and Virginians closed up +the rear. Scouts and skirmishers ranged the flanks, though they were +ordered to go not more than a few hundred yards away. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were with the guides at the very apex of the +column, and they continually searched the forests and the thickets +with keen eyes for a possible enemy. But all was quiet there. The +game, frightened by the advancing army, had gone away. Not a leaf, not +a bough stirred. The blazing sun, now near the zenith, poured down +fiery rays and it was hot in the shade of the great trees that grew so +closely together. + +Robert and the other scouts and guides in the apex marched on +soundless feet, but he heard close behind him the tread of the +Virginia light horsemen, behind them the steady march of the regulars +under Gage, and behind them the deep hum and murmur of the army, the +creaking of wheels and the clank of the great guns. Despite the +following sounds he was conscious all the time of the deep, intense +silence in the forest on either side of him. The birds, like the game, +had gone away, and there was no flash of blue or of flame among the +green leaves. + +"There's a dip just ahead," said Willet, pointing to a wide ravine +filled with bushes that ran directly across the trail. + +They continued their steady advance, and Robert's heart fluttered, but +when they came to the ravine they found it empty of everything save +the bushes, and the scouts and guides, plunging into it, crossed to +the other side. The light horsemen of Virginia followed, after them +Gage's regulars and then the main army drew on its red and blue +length, expecting to cross in the same way. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet, leading, entered the deep forest +again. Some chance had put young Lennox slightly in advance of his +comrades, but suddenly he stopped. A short distance ahead a figure +bounded across the trail and disappeared in the thicket. It was only a +flitting glimpse, but he recognized St. Luc, the athletic figure, the +fair hair and the strong face. + +"St. Luc!" he exclaimed. "Did you see, Dave? Did you see?" + +"Aye, I saw," said the hunter, "and the enemy is here!" + +He whirled about, threw up his arms and shouted to the column to +stop. At the same moment, a terrible cry, the long fierce war whoop of +the savages, burst from the forest, filled the air and came back in +ferocious echoes. Then a deadly fire of rifles and muskets was poured +from both right and left upon the marching column. Men and horses went +down, and cries of pain and surprise blended with the war whoop of the +savages which swelled and fell again. + +Robert and his comrades had thrown themselves flat upon the ground at +the first fire, and escaped the bullets. Now they rose to their +knees, and began to send their own bullets at the flitting forms among +the trees and bushes. Robert caught glimpses of the savages, naked to +the waist, coated thickly with war paint, their fierce eyes gleaming, +and now and then he saw a man in French uniform passing among them and +encouraging them. He saw one gigantic figure which he knew to be that +of Tandakora, and he raised his reloaded rifle to fire at him, but the +Ojibway was gone. + +Surprised in the ominous forest, the British and the Virginians +nevertheless showed a courage worthy of all praise. Gage formed his +regulars on the trail, and they sent volley after volley into the +dense shades on either side, the big muskets thundering together like +cannon. Leaves and twigs and little boughs fell in showers before +their bullets, but whether they struck any of the foe they did not +know. The smoke soon rose in clouds and added to the dimness and +obscurity of the forest. + +"A great noise," shouted Tayoga in Robert's ear, "but it does not hurt +the enemy, who sees his target and sends his bullets against it!" + +The soldiers were dropping fast and the bullets of the French and the +savages were coming from their coverts in a deadly rain. Robert, +Willet and Tayoga, with the wisdom of the wilderness, remained +crouched at the edge of the trail, but in shelter, and did not fire +until they saw an enemy upon whom to draw the trigger. Then a deeper +roar was added to the thundering of the big muskets, as Braddock +brought up the cannon, and they began to sweep the forest. The English +troops, eager to get at the foe, crowded forward, shouting "God save +the King!" and the cheers of the Virginians joined with them. + +"We'll win! We'll win!" cried Robert. "They can't stop such brave men +as ours!" + +But the fire of the French and the savages was increasing in volume +and accuracy. The bullets and cannon balls of the English and +Americans fired almost at random were passing over their heads, but +the great column of scarlet and blue on the trail formed a target +which the leaden missiles could not miss. Continually shouting the war +whoop, exultant now with the joy of expected triumph, the savages +hovered on either flank of Braddock's army like a swarm of bees, but +with a sting far more deadly. The brave and wily Beaujeu had been +killed in the first minute of the battle, but St. Luc, Dumas and +Ligneris, equally brave and wily, directed the onset, and the huge +Tandakora raged before his warriors. + +The head of the British column was destroyed, and the three crept back +toward Gage's regulars, but the fire of the enemy was now spreading +along both flanks of the column to its full length. Robert remembered +the warning words of St. Luc. Every twig and leaf in the forest was +spouting death. Gage's regulars, raked by a terrible fire, and in +danger of complete destruction, were compelled to retreat upon the +main body, and, to their infinite mortification, abandon two cannon, +which the savages seized with fierce shouts of joy and dragged into +the woods. + +"It goes ill," said Willet, as the terrible forest, raining death from +every side, seemed to close in on them like the shadow of +doom. Braddock, hearing the tremendous fire ahead, rushed forward his +own immediate troops as fast as possible, and meeting Gage's +retreating men, the two bodies became a great mass of scarlet in the +forest, upon which French and Indian bullets, that could not miss, +beat like a storm of hail. The shouts and cheers of the regulars +ceased. In an appalling situation, the like of which they had never +known before, hemmed in on every side by an unseen death, they fell +into confusion, but they did not lose courage. The savage ring now +enclosed the whole army, and to stand and to retreat alike meant +death. + +The British charged with the bayonet into the thickets. The Indians +melted away before them, and, when the exhausted regulars came back +into the trail, the Indians rushed after them, still pouring in a +murderous fire, and making the forest ring with the ferocious war +whoop. The Virginians, knowing the warfare of the wilderness, began to +take to the shelter of the trees, from which they could fire at the +enemy. The brave though mistaken Braddock fiercely ordered them out +again. A score lying behind a fallen trunk and, matching the savages +at their own game, were mistaken by the regulars for the foe, and were +fired upon with deadly effect. Other regulars who tried to imitate the +hostile tactics were set upon by Braddock himself who beat them with +the flat of his sword and drove them back into the open trail, where +the rain of bullets fell directly upon them. + +Robert looked upon the scene and he found it awful to the last +degree. The bodies of the dead in red or blue lay everywhere. +Officers, English and Virginian, ran here and there begging +and praying their troops to stand and form in order. "Fire +upon the enemy!" they shouted. "Show us somebody to fire at and we'll +fire," the men shouted back. The confusion was deepening, and the +signs of a panic were appearing. In the forest the circle of Indians, +mad with battle and the greatest taking of scalps they had ever known, +pressed closer and closer, and sent sheets of bullets into the huddled +mass. Many of them leaped in and scalped the fallen before the eyes of +the horrified soldiers. The yelling never ceased, and it was so +terrific that the few British officers who survived declared that they +would never forget it to their dying day. + +Among the officers the mortality was now frightful. The brave Sir +Peter Halket was shot dead, and his young son, the lieutenant, rushing +to raise up his body, was killed and fell by his side. The youthful +Shirley, Braddock's secretary, received a bullet in his brain and died +instantly. Out of eighty-six officers sixty-three were down. +Washington alone seemed to bear a charmed life. Two horses were +killed under him and four bullets pierced his clothing. Braddock +galloped back and forth, cursing and shouting to his men, and showing +undaunted courage. Robert believed that he never really understood +what was happening, that the deadly nature of the surprise and its +appalling completeness left him dazed. + +How long Robert stood at the edge of the circle of death and fired +into the bushes he never knew, but it seemed to him that almost an +eternity had passed, when Tayoga seized him by the arm and shouted in +his ear. + +"It is finished! Our army has perished! Come, Lennox!" + +He wiped the smoke from his eyes, and saw that the mass in red and +blue was much smaller. Braddock was still on his horse, and, at the +insistence of his officers, he was at last giving the command to +retreat. Just as the trumpet sounded that note of defeat he was shot +through the body and fell to the ground where, in his rage and +despair, he begged the men to leave him to die alone. But two of the +Virginia officers lifted him up and bore him toward the rear. Then the +army that had fought so long against an invisible foe broke into a +panic, that is what was left of it, as two thirds of its numbers had +already been killed or wounded. Shouting with horror and ignoring +their officers, they rushed for the river. + +Everything was lost, cannon and baggage were abandoned, and often +rifles and muskets were thrown away. Into the water they rushed, and +the Indians, who had followed howling like wolves, stopped, though +they fired at the fleeing men in the stream. + +As the retreat began, Robert, Tayoga and Willet, whom some miracle +seemed to preserve from harm, joined the Virginians who covered the +rear, and, as fast as they could reload their rifles, they fired at +the demon horde that pressed closer and closer, and that never ceased +to cut down the fleeing army. It was much like a ghastly dream to +Robert. Nothing was real, except his overwhelming sense of horror. Men +fell around him, and he wondered why he did not fall too, but he was +untouched, and Willet and Tayoga also were unwounded. He saw near him +young Stuart who had lost his horse long since, but who had snatched a +rifle from a fallen soldier, and who was fighting gallantly on foot. + +"Who would have thought it?" exclaimed the Virginian. "An army such +as ours, to be beaten, nay, to be destroyed, by a swarm of savages!" + +"But don't forget the Frenchmen!" shouted Robert in reply. "They're +directing!" + +"Which is no consolation to us," cried Stuart. He said something else, +but it was lost in the tremendous firing and yelling of the Indians, +who were now only a score of yards away from the devoted rear guard +that was doing its best to protect the flying and confused mass of +soldiers. + +Robert discharged his bullet at a brown face and then, as he walked +backward, he tripped and fell over a root. He sprang up at once, but +in an instant a gigantic figure bounded out of the fire and smoke, and +Tandakora, uttering a fierce shout of triumph, circled his tomahawk +swiftly above his head, preparatory to the mortal blow. But Tayoga, +quick as lightning, hurled his pistol with all his might. It struck +the huge Ojibway on the head with such force that the tomahawk fell +from his hand, and he staggered back into the smoke. + +"Tayoga, again I thank you!" cried Robert. + +"You will do the same for me," said the Onondaga, and then they too +were lost in the smoke, as with the rear guard of Virginians they +followed the retreating army. + +Robert and his comrades, swept on in the press, crossed the river with +the others and gained the farther shore unhurt. Willet looked back at +the woods, which still flamed with the hostile rifles, and shuddered. + +"It's worse than anything of which I ever dreamed," he said. "Now the +tomahawk and the scalping knife will sweep the border from Canada to +Carolina." + +The panic was stopped at last and the broken remnants of the army, +covered by the Virginians who understood the forest, began their +retreat. Braddock died the next day, his last words being, "We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Washington, Orme, +Morris and the others carried the news of the great defeat to Virginia +and Pennsylvania, whence it was sent to England, to be received there +at first with incredulity, men saying that such a thing was +impossible. But England too was soon to be in mourning, because so +many of her bravest had fallen at the hands of an invisible foe in the +far American wilderness. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga followed the retreating army only a short +distance beyond the Monongahela. They saw that Grosvenor, Stuart and +Cabell had escaped with slight wounds, and, slipping quietly into the +forest, they circled about Fort Duquesne, seeing the lights where the +Indians were burning their wretched prisoners alive, and then plunging +again into the woods. + +Late at night they lay down in a dense covert, and exhausted, +slept. They rose at dawn, and tried to shake off the horror. + +"Be of good courage, Robert," said Willet. "It's a terrible blow, but +England and the colonies have not yet gathered their full strength." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "Our sachems tell us that he who wins the +first victory does not always win the last." + +A bird on a bough over their heads began to sing a song of greeting to +the new day, and Robert hoped and believed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Shadow of the North, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11881 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b9036c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11881 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11881) diff --git a/old/11881-8.txt b/old/11881-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1cb2da --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11881-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11280 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Shadow of the North, by Joseph A. 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 Shadow of the North + A Story of Old New York and a Lost Campaign + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: April 3, 2004 [EBook #11881] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHADOW OF THE NORTH *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Ari J Joki and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + THE SHADOW + OF THE NORTH + + A STORY OF OLD NEW YORK + AND A LOST CAMPAIGN + + BY + + JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + + + 1917 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Shadow of the North," while an independent story, in itself, is +also the second volume of the Great French and Indian War series which +began with "The Hunters of the Hills." All the important characters of +the first romance reappear in the second. + + + + +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 JUMÓNVILLE A French officer +LOUIS DE GALISONNIÈRE A young French officer +JEAN DE MÉZY A corrupt Frenchman +ARMAN GLANDELET A young Frenchman +PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo +PHILIBERT DROUILLAR 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 ONONDAGA + II. THE AMBUSH + III. THE SIGNAL + IV. THE PERILOUS PATH + V. THE RUNNER + VI. THE RETURN + VII. THE RED WEAPON + VIII. WARAIYAGEH + IX. THE WATCHER + X. THE PORT + X1. THE PLAY + XII. THE SLAVER + XIII. THE MEETING + XIV. THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + XV. THE FOREST FIGHT + + + + + + + THE SHADOW OF THE + NORTH + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ONONDAGA + + +Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, advanced with utmost caution through a +forest, so thick with undergrowth that it hid all objects twenty yards +away. He was not armed with a rifle, but carried instead a heavy bow, +while a quiver full of arrows hung over his shoulder. He wore less +clothing than when he was in the white man's school at Albany, his +arms and shoulders being bare, though not painted. + +The young Indian's aspect, too, had changed. The great struggle +between English and French, drawing with it the whole North American +wilderness, had begun and, although the fifty sachems still sought to +hold the Six Nations neutral, many of their bravest warriors were +already serving with the Americans and English, ranging the forest as +scouts and guides and skirmishers, bringing to the campaign an +unrivaled skill, and a faith sealed by the long alliance. + +Tayoga had thrown himself into the war heart and soul. Nothing could +diminish by a hair his hostility to the French and the tribes allied +with them. The deeds of Champlain and Frontenac were but of yesterday, +and the nation to which they belonged could never be a friend of the +Hodenosaunee. He trusted the Americans and the English, but his chief +devotion, by the decree of nature was for his own people, and now, +that fighting in the forest had occurred between the rival nations, he +shed more of the white ways and became a true son of the wilderness, +seeing as red men saw and thinking as red men thought. + +He was bent over a little, as he walked slowly among the bushes, in +the position of one poised for instant flight or pursuit as the need +might be. His eyes, black and piercing, ranged about incessantly, +nothing escaping a vision so keen and trained so thoroughly that he +not only heard everything passing in the wilderness, but he knew the +nature of the sound, and what had made it. + +The kindly look that distinguished Tayoga in repose had +disappeared. Unnumbered generations were speaking in him now, and the +Indian, often so gentle in peace, had become his usual self, stern and +unrelenting in war. His strong sharp chin was thrust forward. His +cheek bones seemed to be a little higher. His tread was so light that +the grass scarcely bent before his moccasins, and no leaves +rustled. He was in every respect the wilderness hunter and warrior, +fitted perfectly by the Supreme Hand into his setting, and if an enemy +appeared now he would fight as his people had fought for centuries, +and the customs and feelings of the new races that had come across the +ocean would be nothing to him. + +A hundred yards more, and he sat down by the trunk of a great oak, +convinced that no foe was near. His own five splendid senses had told +him so, and the fact had been confirmed by an unrivaled sentinel +hidden among the leaves over his head, a small bird that poured forth +a wonderful volume of song. Were any other coming the bird would cease +his melody and fly away, but Tayoga felt that this tiny feathered +being was his ally and would not leave because of him. The song had +wonderful power, too, soothing his senses and casting a pleasing +spell. His imaginative mind, infused with the religion and beliefs of +his ancestors, filled the forest with friendly spirits. Unseen, they +hovered in the air and watched over him, and the trees, alive, bent +protecting boughs toward him. He saw, too, the very spot in the +heavens where the great shining star on which Tododaho lived came out +at night and glittered. + +He remembered the time when he had gone forth in the dusk to meet +Tandakora and his friends, and how Tododaho had looked down on him +with approval. He had found favor in the sight of the great league's +founder, and the spirit that dwelt on the shining star still watched +over him. The Ojibway, whom he hated and who hated him in yet greater +measure, might be somewhere in the forest, but if he came near, the +feathered sentinel among the leaves over his head would give warning. + +Tayoga sat nearly half an hour listening to the song of the bird. He +had no object in remaining there, his errand bade him move on, but +there was no hurry and he was content merely to breathe and to feel +the glory and splendor of the forest about him. He knew now that the +Indian nature had never been taken out of him by the schools. He loved +the wilderness, the trees, the lakes, the streams and all their +magnificent disorder, and war itself did not greatly trouble him, +since the legends of the tribes made it the natural state of man. He +knew well that he was in Tododaho's keeping, and, if by chance, the +great chief should turn against him it would be for some grave fault, +and he would deserve his punishment. + +He sat in that absolute stillness of which the Indian by nature and +training was capable, the green of his tanned and beautifully soft +deerskin blending so perfectly with the emerald hue of the foliage +that the bird above his head at last took him for a part of the forest +itself and so, having no fear, came down within a foot of his head and +sang with more ecstasy than ever. It was a little gray bird, but +Tayoga knew that often the smaller a bird was, and the more sober its +plumage the finer was its song. He understood those musical notes +too. They expressed sheer delight, the joy of life just as he felt it +then himself, and the kinship between the two was strong. + +The bird at last flew away and the Onondaga heard its song dying among +the distant leaves. A portion of the forest spell departed with it, +and Tayoga, returning to thoughts of his task, rose and walked on, +instinct rather than will causing him to keep a close watch on earth +and foliage. When he saw the faint trace of a large moccasin on the +earth all that was left of the spell departed suddenly and he became +at once the wilderness warrior, active, alert, ready to read every +sign. + +He studied the imprint, which turned in, and hence had been made by an +Indian. Its great size too indicated to him that it might be that of +Tandakora, a belief becoming with him almost a certainty as he found +other and similar traces farther on. He followed them about a mile, +reaching stony ground where they vanished altogether, and then he +turned to the west. + +The fact that Tandakora was so near, and might approach again was not +unpleasant to him, as Tayoga, having all the soul of a warrior, was +anxious to match himself with the gigantic Ojibway, and since the war +was now active on the border it seemed that the opportunity might +come. But his attention must be occupied with something else for the +present, and he went toward the west for a full hour through the +primeval forest. Now and then he stopped to listen, even lying down +and putting his ear to the ground, but the sounds he heard, although +varied and many, were natural to the wild. + +He knew them all. The steady tapping was a woodpecker at work upon an +old tree. The faint musical note was another little gray bird singing +the delight of his soul as he perched himself upon a twig; the light +shuffling noise was the tread of a bear hunting succulent nuts; a +caw-caw so distant that it was like an echo was the voice of a +circling crow, and the tiny trickling noise that only the keenest ear +could have heard was made by a brook a yard wide taking a terrific +plunge over a precipice six inches high. The rustling, one great +blended note, universal but soft, was that of the leaves moving in +harmony before the gentle wind. + +The young Onondaga was sure that the forest held no alien +presence. The traces of Tandakora were hours old, and he must now be +many miles away with his band, and, such being the case, it was fit +time for him to choose a camp and call his friends. + +It pleased Tayoga, zealous of mind, to do all the work before the +others came, and, treading so lightly and delicately, that he would +not have alarmed a rabbit in the bush, he gathered together dead +sticks and heaped them in a little sunken place, clear of undergrowth. +Flint and steel soon lighted a fire, and then he sent forth his call, +the long penetrating whine of the wolf. The reply came from the north, +and, building his fire a little higher, he awaited the result, without +anxiety. + +The dry wood crackled and many little flames red or yellow arose. +Tayoga heaped dead leaves against the trunk of a tree and sat down +comfortably, his shoulders and back resting against the bark. Presently +he heard the first alien sound in the forest, a light tread approaching +That he knew was Willet, and then he heard the second tread, even +lighter than the first, and he knew that it was the footstep of Robert. + + +"All ready! It's like you, Tayoga," said Willet, as he entered the +open space. "Here you are, with the house built and the fire burning +on the hearth!" + +"I lighted the fire," said Tayoga, rising, "but Manitou made the +hearth, and built the house which is worthy of Him." + +He looked with admiration at the magnificent trees spreading away on +every side, and the foliage in its most splendid, new luxuriant green. + +"It is worthy, Tayoga," said Robert, whose soul was like that of the +Onondaga, "and it takes Manitou himself a century or more to grow +trees like these." + +"Some of them, I dare say, are three or four hundred years old or +more," said Willet, "and the forest goes west, so I've heard the +Indians say, a matter of near two thousand miles. It's pleasant to +know that if all the axes in the world were at work it couldn't all be +cut down in our time or in the time of our children." + +Tayoga's heart swelled with indignation at the idea that the forest +might be destroyed, but he said nothing, as he knew that Willet and +Robert shared his feeling. + +"Here's your rifle, Tayoga," said the hunter; "I suppose you didn't +have an occasion to use your bow and arrows." + +"No, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga, "but I might have had the +chance had I come earlier." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I saw on the grass a human trace. It was made by a foot clothed in a +moccasin, a large foot, a very large foot, the foot of a man whom we +all have cause to hate." + +"I take it you're speaking of Tandakora, the Ojibway." + +"None other. I cannot be mistaken. But the trail was cold. He and his +warriors have gone north. They may be thirty, forty miles from here." + +"Likely enough, Tayoga. They're on their way to join the force the +French are sending to the fort at the junction of the Monongahela and +the Alleghany. Perhaps St. Luc--and there isn't a cleverer officer in +this continent--is with them. I tell you, Tayoga, and you too, Robert, +I don't like it! That young Washington ought to have been sent earlier +into the Ohio country, and they should have given him a much larger +force. We're sluggards and all our governors are sluggards, except +maybe Shirley of Massachusetts. With the war just blazing up the +French are already in possession, and we're to drive 'em out, which +doubles our task. It was a great victory for us to keep the +Hodenosaunee on our side, or, in the main, neutral, but it's going to +be uphill work for us to win. The young French leaders are genuine +kings of the wilderness. You know that, Robert, as well as I do." + +"Yes," said the youth. "I know they're the men whom the English +colonies have good cause to fear." + +When he spoke he was thinking of St. Luc, as he had last seen him in +the vale of Onondaga, defeated in the appeal to the fifty sachems, but +gallant, well bred, showing nothing of chagrin, and sure to be a +formidable foe on the field of battle. He was an enemy of whom one +could be proud, and Robert felt an actual wish to see him again, even +though in opposing ranks. + +"We may come into contact with some of 'em," said the hunter. "The +French are using all their influence over the Indians, and are +directing their movements. I know that St. Luc, Jumonville, Beaujeu, +Dumas, De Villiers, De Courcelles and all their best men are in the +forest. It's likely that Tandakora, fierce and wild as he is, is +acting under the direction of some Frenchman. St. Luc could control +him." + +Robert thought it highly probable that the chevalier was in truth with +the Indians on the border, either leading some daring band or +gathering the warriors to the banner of France. His influence with +them would be great, as he understood their ways, adapted himself to +them and showed in battle a skill and daring that always make a +powerful appeal to the savage heart. The youth had matched himself +against St. Luc in the test of words in the vale of Onondaga, and now +he felt that he must match himself anew, but in the test of forest +war. + +Tayoga having lighted the fire, the hunter cooked the food over it, +while the two youths reposed calmly. Robert watched Willet with +interest, and he was impressed for the thousandth time by his great +strength, and the lightness of his movements. When he was younger, the +disparity in years had made him think of Willet as an old man, but he +saw now that he was only in early middle age. There was not a gray +hair on his head, and his face was free from wrinkles. + +An extraordinarily vivid memory of that night in Quebec when the +hunter had faced Boucher, the bully and bravo, reputed the best +swordsman of France, leaped up in Robert's mind. He had found no time +to think of Willet's past recently and he realized now that he knew +little about it. The origin of that hunter was as obscure as his +own. But the story of the past and its mysteries must wait. The +present was so great and overwhelming that it blotted out everything +else. + +"The venison and the bacon are ready," said Willet, "and you two lads +can fall on. You're not what I'd call epicures, but I've never known +your appetites to fail." + +"Nor will they," said Robert, as he and Tayoga helped +themselves. "What's the news from Britain, Dave? You must have heard a +lot when you were in Albany." + +"It's vague, Robert, vague. The English are slow, just as we Americans +are, too. They're going to send out troops, but the French have +dispatched a fleet and regiments already. The fact that our colonies +are so much larger than theirs is perhaps an advantage to them, as it +gives them a bigger target to aim at, and our people who are trying to +till their farms, will be struck down by their Indians from ambush." + +"And you see now what a bulwark the great League of the Hodenosaunee +is to the English," said Tayoga. + +"A fact that I've always foreseen," said Willet warmly. "Nobody knows +better than I do the power of the Six Nations, and nobody has ever +been readier to admit it." + +"I know, Great Bear. You have always been our true friend. If all the +white men were like you no trouble would ever arise between them and +the Hodenosaunee." + +Robert finished his food and resumed a comfortable place against a +tree. Willet put out the fire and he and Tayoga sat down in like +fashion. Their trees were close together, but they did not talk +now. Each was absorbed in his own thoughts and Robert had much to +think about. + +The war was going slowly. He had believed a great flare would come at +once and that everybody would soon be in the thick of action, but +since young Washington had been defeated by Coulon de Villiers at the +Great Meadows the British Colonies had spent much time debating and +pulling in different directions. The union for which his eager soul +craved did not come, and the shadow of the French power in the north, +reinforced by innumerable savages, hung heavy and black over the +land. Every runner brought news of French activities. Rumor painted as +impregnable the fort they had built where two rivers uniting formed +the Ohio, and it was certain that many bands already ranged down in +the regions the English called their own. + +Spring had lingered far into summer where they were, and the foliage +was not yet touched by heat. All the forest was in deep and heavy +green, hiding every object a hundred yards away, but from their +opening they saw a blue and speckless sky, which the three by and by +watched attentively, and with the same motive. Before the dark had +begun to come in the east they saw a thin dark line drawn slowly +across it, the trail of smoke. It might not have been noticed by eyes +less keen, but they understood at once that it was a signal. Robert +noted its drifting progress across the heavens, and then he said to +Willet: + +"How far from here do you calculate the base of that smoke is, Dave?" + +"A long distance, Robert. Several miles maybe. The fire, I've no +doubt, was kindled on top of a hill. It may be French speaking to +Indians, or Indians talking to Indians." + +"And you don't think it's people of ours?" + +"I'm sure it isn't. We've no hunters or runners in these parts, except +ourselves." + +"And it's not Tandakora," said the Onondaga. "He must be much farther +away." + +"But the signal may be intended for him," said the hunter. "It may be +carried to him by relays of smoke. I wish I could read that trail +across the sky." + +"It's thinning out fast," said Robert. "You can hardly see it! and now +it's gone entirely!" + +But the hunter continued to look thoughtfully at the sky, where the +smoke had been. He never underrated the activity of the French, and he +believed that a movement of importance, something the nature of which +they should discover was at hand. + +"Lads," he said, "I expected an easy night of good sleep for all three +of us, but I'm thinking instead that we'd better take to the trail, +and travel toward the place where that smoke was started." + +"It's what scouts would do," said Tayoga tersely. + +"And such we claim to be," said Robert. + +As the sun began to sink they saw far in the west another smoke, that +would have been invisible had it not been outlined against a fiery red +sky, across which it lay like a dark thread. It was gone in a few +moments, and then the dusk began to come. + +"An answer to the first signal," said Tayoga. "It is very likely that +a strong force is gathering. Perhaps Tandakora has come back and is +planning a blow." + +"It can't be possible that they're aiming it at us," said the hunter, +thoughtfully. "They don't know of our presence here, and if they did +we've too small a party for such big preparations." + +"Perhaps a troop of Pennsylvanians are marching westward," said +Tayoga, "and the French and their allies are laying a trap for them." + +"Then," said Robert, "there is but one thing for us to do. We must +warn our friends and save them from the snare." + +"Of course," said Willet, "but we don't know where they are, and +meanwhile we'd better wait an hour or two. Perhaps something will +happen that will help us to locate them." + +Robert and Tayoga nodded and the three remained silent while the night +came. The blazing red in the west faded rapidly and darkness swept +down over the wilderness. The three, each leaning against his tree, +did not move but kept their rifles across their knees ready at once +for possible use. Tayoga had fastened his bow over his back by the +side of his quiver, and their packs were adjusted also. + +Robert was anxious not so much for himself as for the unknown others +who were marching through the wilderness, and for whom the French and +Indians were laying an ambush. It had been put forward first as a +suggestion, but it quickly became a conviction with him, and he felt +that his comrades and he must act as if it were a certainty. But no +sound that would tell them which way to go came out of this black +forest, and they remained silent, waiting for the word. + +The night thickened and they were still uncertain what to do. Robert +made a silent prayer to the God of the white man, the Manitou of the +red man, for a sign, but none came, and infected strongly as he was +with the Indian philosophy and religion, he felt that it must be due +to some lack of virtue in himself. He searched his memory, but he +could not discover in what particular he had erred, and he was forced +to continue his anxious waiting, until the stars should choose to +fight for him. + +Tayoga too was troubled, his mind in its own way being as active as +Robert's. He knew all the spirits of earth, air and water were abroad, +but he hoped at least one of them would look upon him with favor, and +give him a warning. He sought Tododaho's star in the heavens, but the +clouds were too thick, and, eye failing, he relied upon his ear for +the signal which he and his young white comrade sought so earnestly. + +If Tayoga had erred either in omission or commission then the spirits +that hovered about him forgave him, as when the night was thickest +they gave the sign. It was but the faint fall of a foot, and, at +first, he thought a bear or a deer had made it, but at the fourth or +fifth fall he knew that it was a human footstep and he whispered to +his comrades: + +"Some one comes!" + +As if by preconcerted signal the three arose and crept silently into +the dense underbrush, where they crouched, their rifles thrust +forward. + +"It is but one man and he walks directly toward us," whispered Tayoga. + +"I hear him now," said Robert. "He is wearing moccasins, as his step +is too light for boots." + +"Which means that he's a rover like ourselves," said Willet. "Now he's +stopped. There isn't a sound. The man, whoever he is, has taken alarm, +or at least he's decided that it's best for him to be more +watchful. Perhaps he's caught a whiff from the ashes of our fire. He's +white or he wouldn't be here alone, and he's used to the forest, or he +wouldn't have suspected a presence from so little." + +"The Great Bear thinks clearly," said Tayoga. "It is surely a white +man and some great scout or hunter. He moved a little now to the +right, because I heard his buckskin brush lightly against a bush. I +think Great Bear is right about the fire. The wind has brought the +ashes from it to his nostrils, and he will lie in the bush long before +moving." + +"Which doesn't suit our plans at all," said Willet. "There's a +chance, just a chance, that I may know who he is. White men of the +kind to go scouting through the wilderness are not so plenty on the +border that one has to make many guesses. You lads move away a little +so you won't be in line if a shot comes, and I'll give a signal." + +Robert and Tayoga crept to other points in the brush, and the hunter +uttered a whistle, low but very clear and musical. In a moment or two, +a like answer came from a place about a hundred yards away, and Willet +rising, advanced without hesitation. Robert and Tayoga followed +promptly, and a tall figure, emerging from the darkness, came forward +to meet them. + +The stranger was a man of middle years, and of a singularly wild +appearance. His eyes roved continually, and were full of suspicion, +and of a sort of smoldering anger, as if he had a grievance against +all the world. His hair was long and tangled, his face brown with sun +and storm, and his dress more Indian than white. He was heavily armed, +and, whether seen in the dusk or in the light, his whole aspect was +formidable and dangerous. But Willet continued to advance without +hesitation. + +"Captain Jack," he said extending his hand. "We were not looking for +you tonight, but no man could be more welcome. These are young friends +of mine, brave warriors both, the white and the red, Robert Lennox, +who is almost a son to me, and Tayoga, the Onondaga, to whom I feel +nearly like a father too." + +Now Robert knew him, and he felt a thrill of surprise, and of the most +intense curiosity. Who along the whole border had not heard of Captain +Jack, known also as the Black Hunter, the Black Rifle and by many +other names? The tale had been told in every cabin in the woods how +returning home, he had found his wife and children tomahawked and +scalped, and how he had taken a vow of lifelong vengeance upon the +Indians, a vow most terribly kept. In all the villages in the Ohio +country and along the Great Lakes, the name of Black Rifle was spoken +with awe and terror. No more singular and ominous figure ever crossed +the pages of border story. + +He swept the two youths with questing glances, but they met his gaze +firmly, and while his eye had clouded at first sight of the Onondaga +the threatening look soon passed. + +"Friends of yours are friends of mine, Dave Willet," he said. "I know +you to be a good man and true, and once when I was at Albany I heard +of Robert Lennox, and of the great young warrior, Tayoga, of the clan +of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The young Onondaga's eyes flashed with pleasure, but he was silent. + +"How does it happen, Willet?" asked Black Rifle, "that we meet here in +the forest at such a time?" + +"We're on our way to the Ohio country to learn something about the +gathering of the French and Indian forces. Just before sundown we saw +smoke signals and we think our enemies are planning to cut off a force +of ours, somewhere here in the forest." + +Black Rifle laughed, but it was not a pleasant laugh. It had in it a +quality that made Robert shudder. + +"Your guesses are good, Dave," said Black Rifle. "About fifty men of +the Pennsylvania militia are in camp on the banks of a little creek +two miles from here. They have been sent out to guard the farthest +settlements. Think of that, Dave! They're to be a guard against the +French and Indians!" + +His face contracted into a wry smile, and Robert understood his +feeling of derision for the militia. + +"As I told you, they're in camp," continued Black Rifle. "They built a +fire there to cook their supper, and to show the French and Indians +where they are, lest they miss 'em in the darkness. They don't know +what part of the country they're in, but they're sure it's a long +distance west of Philadelphia, and if the Indians will only tell 'em +when they're coming they'll be ready for 'em. Oh, they're brave +enough! They'll probably all die with their faces to the enemy." + +He spoke with grim irony and Robert shuddered. He knew how helpless +men from the older parts of the country were in the depths of the +wilderness, and he was sure that the net was already being drawn about +the Pennsylvanians. + +"Are the French here too, Black Rifle?" asked Willet. + +The strange man pointed toward the north. + +"A band led by a Frenchman is there," he replied. "He is the most +skillful of all their men in the forest, the one whom they call +St. Luc." + +"I thought so!" exclaimed Robert. "I believed all the while he would +be here. I've no doubt he will direct the ambush." + +"We must warn this troop," said Willet, "and save 'em if they will let +us. You agree with me, don't you, Tayoga?" + +"The Great Bear is right." + +"And you'll back me up, of course, Robert. Will you help us too, Black +Rifle?" + +The singular man smiled again, but his smile was not like that of +anybody else. It was sinister and full of menace. It was the smile of +a man who rejoiced in sanguinary work, and it made Robert think again +of his extraordinary history, around which the border had built so +much of truth and legend. + +"I will help, of course," he replied. "It's my trade. It was my +purpose to warn 'em before I met you, but I feared they would not +listen to me. Now, the words of four may sound more real to 'em than +the words of one." + +"Then lead the way," said Willet. "'Tis not a time to linger." + +Black Rifle, without another word, threw his rifle over his shoulder +and started toward the north, the others falling into Indian file +behind him. A light, pleased smile played over his massive and rugged +features. More than the rest he rejoiced in the prospect of combat. +They did not seek battle and they fought only when they were compelled +to do so, but he, with his whole nature embittered forever by that +massacre of long ago, loved it for its own sake. He had ranged the +border, a torch of fire, for years, and now he foresaw more of the +revenge that he craved incessantly. + +He led without hesitation straight toward the north. All four were +accomplished trailers and the flitting figures were soundless as they +made their swift march through the forest. In a half hour they reached +the crest of a rather high hill and Black Rifle, stopping, pointed +with a long forefinger toward a low and dim light. + +"The camp of the Pennsylvanians," he said with bitter irony. "As I +told you, fearing lest the savages should miss 'em in the forest they +keep their fire burning as a beacon." + +"Don't be too hard on 'em, Black Rifle," said Willet. "Maybe they +come from Philadelphia itself, and city bred men can scarcely be +expected to learn all about the wilderness in a few days." + +"They'll learn, when it's too late, at the muzzles of the French and +Indian rifles," rejoined Black Rifle, abating a little his tone of +savage derision. + +"At least they're likely to be brave men," said Willet, "and now what +do you think will be our best manner of approaching 'em?" + +"We'll walk directly toward their fire, the four of us abreast. They'll +blaze away all fifty of 'em together, as soon as they see us, but the +darkness will spoil their aim, and at least one of us will be left +alive, able to walk, and able to tell 'em of their danger. We don't +know who'll be the lucky man, but we'll see." + +"Come, come, Captain Jack! Give 'em a chance! They may be a more +likely lot than you think. You three wait here and I'll go forward and +announce our coming. I dare say we'll be welcome." + +Willet advanced boldly toward the fire, which he soon saw consisted of +a great bed of coals, surrounded by sleepers. But the figures of men, +pacing back and forth, showed that the watch had not been neglected, +although in the deep forest such sentinels would be but little +protection against the kind of ambush the French and Indians were able +to lay. + +Not caring to come within the circle of light lest he be fired upon, +the hunter whistled, and when he saw that the sentinels were at +attention he whistled again. Then he emerged from the bushes, and +walked boldly toward the fire. + +"Who are you?" a voice demanded sharply, and a young man in a fine +uniform stood up in front of the fire. The hunter's quick and +penetrating look noted that he was tall, built well, and that his face +was frank and open. + +"My name is David Willet," he replied, "and I am sometimes called by +my friends, the Iroquois, the Great Bear. Behind me in the woods are +three comrades, young Robert Lennox, of New York and Albany; Tayoga, a +young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, and the famous hunter and border +fighter, of whom everybody has heard, Captain Jack, Black Hunter, or +Black Rifle as he has been called variously." + +"I know the name," replied the young man, "and yours too, Mr. +Willet. My own is Colden, James Colden of Philadelphia, and I am in +command of this troop, sent to guard the farthest settlements against +the French and Indians. Will you call your comrades, Mr. Willet? All +of you are welcome." + +The hunter whistled again, and Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle, +advancing from the forest, came within the area of half light cast by +the glow from the coals, young Captain Colden watching them with the +most intense curiosity as they approached. And well he might feel +surprise. All, even Robert, wore the dress of the wilderness, and +their appearance at such a time was uncommon and striking. Most of the +soldiers had been awakened by the voices, and were sitting up, rubbing +sleepy eyes. Robert saw at once that they were city men, singularly +out of place in the vast forest and the darkness. + +"We welcome you to our camp," said young Captain Colden, with dignity. +"If you are hungry we have food, and if you are without blankets we +can furnish them to you." + +Willet and Tayoga looked at Robert and he knew they expected him to +fill his usual role of spokesman. The words rushed to his lips, but +they were held there by embarrassment. The soldiers who had been +awakened were already going back to sleep. Captain Colden sat down on +a log and waited for them to state their wants. Then Robert spoke, +knowing they could not afford to delay. + +"We thank you, Captain Colden," he said, "for the offer of supper and +bed, but I must say to you, sir, that it's no time for either." + +"I don't take your meaning, Mr. Lennox." + +"Tayoga, Mr. Willet and Black Rifle, are the best scouts in the +wilderness, and before sunset they saw smoke on the horizon. Then they +saw smoke answering smoke, and Black Rifle has seen more. The French +and Indians, sir, are in the forest, and they're led, too, by +Frenchmen." + +Young James Colden was a brave man, and his eyes glittered. + +"We ask nothing better than to meet 'em," he said, "At the first +breath of dawn we'll march against 'em, if your friends will only be +so good as to show us the way." + +"It's not a matter of waiting until dawn, nor even of going to meet +'em. They'll bring the battle to us. You and your force, Captain +Colden, are surrounded already." + +The young captain stared at Robert, but his eyes were full of +incredulity. Several of the soldiers were standing near, and they too +heard, but the warning found no answer in their minds. Robert looked +around at the men asleep and the others ready to follow them, and, +despite his instinctive liking for Colden, his anger began to rise. + +"I said that you were surrounded," he repeated sharply, "and it's no +time, Captain Colden, for unbelief! Mr. Willet, Tayoga and I saw the +signals of the enemy, but Black Rifle here has looked upon the +warriors themselves. They're led too by the French, and the best of +all the French forest captains, St. Luc, is undoubtedly with them off +there." + +He waved his hand toward the north, and a little of the high color +left Colden's face. The youth's manner was so earnest and his words +were spoken with so much power of conviction that they could not fail +to impress. + +"You really mean that the French and Indians are here, that they're +planning to attack us tonight?" said the Philadelphian. + +"Beyond a doubt and we must be prepared to meet them." + +Colden took a few steps back and forth, and then, like the brave young +man he was, he swallowed his pride. + +"I confess that I don't know much of the forest, nor do my men," he +said, "and so I shall have to ask you four to help me." + +"We'll do it gladly," said Robert. "What do you propose, Dave?" + +"I think we'd better draw off some distance from the fire," replied +the hunter. "To the right there is a low hill, covered with thick +brush, and old logs thrown down by an ancient storm. It's the very +place." + +"Then," said Captain Colden briskly, "we'll occupy it inside of five +minutes. Up, men, up!" + +The sleepers were awakened rapidly, and, although they were awkward +and made much more noise than was necessary, they obeyed their +captain's sharp order, and marched away with all their arms and stores +to the thicket on the hill, where, as Willet had predicted, they found +also a network of fallen trees, affording a fine shelter and +defense. Here they crouched and Willet enjoined upon them the +necessity of silence. + +"Sir," said young Captain Colden, again putting down his pride, "I beg +to thank you and your comrades." + +"You don't owe us any thanks. It's just what we ought to have done," +said Willet lightly. "The wilderness often turns a false face to those +who are not used to it, and if we hadn't warned you we'd have deserved +shooting." + +The faint whine of a wolf came from a point far in the north. + +"It's one of their signals," said Willet. "They'll attack inside of an +hour." + +Then they relapsed into silence and waited, every heart beating hard. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE AMBUSH + + +Robert now had much experience of Indian attack and forest warfare, +but it always made a tremendous impression upon his vivid and uncommon +imagination. The great pulses in his throat and temples leaped, and +his ear became so keen that he seemed to himself to hear the fall of +the leaf in the forest. It was this acute sharpening of the senses, +the painting of pictures before him, that gave him the gift of golden +speech that the Indians had first noticed in him. He saw and heard +much that others could neither hear nor see, and the words to describe +it were always ready to pour forth. + +Willet and Tayoga were crouched near him, their rifles thrust forward +a little, and just beyond them was Captain Colden who had drawn a +small sword, more as an evidence of command than as a weapon. The +men, city bred, were silent, but the faces of some of them still +expressed amazement and incredulity. Robert's quick and powerful +imagination instantly projected itself into their minds, and he saw as +they saw. To them the cry of a wolf was the cry of a real wolf, the +forest was dark, lonely and uncomfortable, but it was empty of any +foe, and the four who had come to them were merely trying to create a +sense of their own importance. They began to move restlessly, and it +required Captain Colden's whispered but sharp command to still them +again. + +The cry of the wolf, used much by both the Indians and the borderers +as a signal, came now from the east, and after the lapse of a minute +it was repeated from the west. Call and answer were a relief to +Robert, whose faculties were attuned to such a high degree that any +relief to the strain, though it brought the certainty of attack, was +welcome. + +"You're sure those cries were made by our enemies?" said young Colden. + +"Beyond a doubt," replied Willet. "I can tell the difference between +the note and that of a genuine wolf, but then I've spent many years in +the wilderness, and I had to learn these things in order to live. +They'll send forward scouts, and they'll expect to find you and your +men around the fire, most of you asleep. When they miss you there +they'll try to locate you, and they'll soon trail us to these bushes." + +Captain James Colden had his share of pride, and much faith in +himself, but he had nobility of soul, too. + +"I believe you implicitly, Mr. Willet," he said. "If it had not been +for you and your friends the enemy would have been upon us when we +expected him not at all, and 'tis most likely that all of us would +have been killed and scalped. So, I thank you now, lest I fall in the +battle, and it be too late then to express my gratitude." + +It was a little bit formal, and a little bit youthful, but Willet +accepted the words in the fine spirit in which they were uttered. + +"What we did was no more than we should have done," he replied, "and +you'll pay us back. In such times as these everybody ought to help +everybody else. Caution your soldiers, captain, won't you, not to +make any noise at all. The wolf will howl no more, and I fancy their +scouts are now within two or three hundred yards of the fire. I'm glad +it's turned darker." + +The troop, hidden in the bushes, was now completely silent. The +Philadelphia men, used to contiguous houses and streets, were not +afraid, but they were appalled by their extraordinary position at +night, in the deep brush of an unknown wilderness with a creeping foe +coming down upon them. Many a hand quivered upon the rifle barrel, but +the heart of its owner did not tremble. + +The moonlight was scant and the stars were few. To the city men trees +and bushes melted together in a general blackness, relieved only by a +single point of light where the fire yet smoldered, but Robert, +kneeling by the side of Tayoga, saw with his trained eyes the separate +trunks stretching away like columns, and then far beyond the fire he +thought he caught a glimpse of a red feather raised for a moment above +the undergrowth. + +"Did you see!" he whispered to Tayoga. + +"Yes. It was a painted feather in the scalp lock of a Huron," replied +the Onondaga. + +"And where he is others are sure to be." + +"Well spoken, Dagaeoga. They have discovered already that the soldiers +are not by the fire, and now they will search for them." + +"They will lie almost flat on their faces and follow, a little, the +broad trail the city men have left." + +"Doubtless, Dagaeoga." + +Willet had already warned Captain Colden, and the soldiers were ready. +Tayoga was on Robert's right, and on his left was Black Rifle to whom +his attention was now attracted. The man's eyes were blazing in his +dark face, and his crouched figure was tense like that of a lion about +to spring. Face and attitude alike expressed the most eager +anticipation, and Robert shuddered. The ranger would add more lives to +the toll of his revenge, and yet the youth felt sympathy for him, too. +Then his mind became wholly absorbed in the battle, which obviously +was so close at hand. + +Their position was strong. Just behind them the thickets ended in a +cliff hard to climb, and on the right was an open space that the enemy +could not cross without being seen. Hence the chief danger was in +front and on the left, and most of the men watched those points. + +"I can see the bushes moving about a hundred yards away," whispered +Tayoga. "A warrior is there, but to fire at him would be shooting at +random." + +"Let them begin it. They'll open soon. They'll know by our absence +from the fire that we're looking for 'em." + +"Spoken well, Dagaeoga. You'll be a warrior some day." + +Robert smiled in the dark. Tayoga himself was so great a warrior that +he could preserve his sense of humor upon the eve of a deadly battle. +Robert also saw bushes moving now, but nothing was definite enough for +a shot, and he waited with his fingers on the trigger. + +"The enemy is at hand, Captain Colden," said Willet. "If you will look +very closely at the thicket about one hundred yards directly in front +of us you'll see the leaves shaking." + +"Yes, I can make out some movement there," said Colden. + +"They've discovered, of course, that we've left the fire, and they +know also where we are." + +"Do you think they'll try to rush us?" + +"Not at all. It's not the Indian way, nor is it the way either of the +French, who go with them. They know your men are raw--pardon +me--inexperienced troops, and they'll put a cruel burden upon your +patience. They may wait for hours, and they'll try in every manner to +wear them out, and to provoke them at last into some rash movement. +You'll have to guard most, Captain Colden, against the temper of your +troop. If you'll take advice from one who's a veteran in the woods, +you'd better threaten them with death for disobedience of orders." + +"As I said before, I'm grateful to you for any advice or suggestion, +Mr. Willet. This seems a long way from Philadelphia, and I'll confess +I'm not so very much at home here." + +He crawled among his men, and Willet and Robert heard him threatening +them in fierce whispers, and their replies that they would be cautious +and patient. It was well that Willet had given the advice, as a full +hour passed without any sign from the foe. Troops even more +experienced than the city men might well have concluded it was a false +alarm, and that the forest contained nothing more dangerous than a +bear. There was no sound, and Captain Colden himself asked if the +warriors had not gone away. + +"Not a chance of it," replied Willet. "They think they're certain of a +victory, and they would not dream of retiring." + +"And we have more long waiting in the dark to do?" + +"I warned you. There is no other way to fight such enemies. We must +never make the mistake of undervaluing them." + +Captain Colden sighed. He had a gallant heart, and he and his troop +had made a fine parade through the streets of Philadelphia, before he +started for the frontier, but he had expected to meet the French in +the open, perhaps with a bugle playing, and he would charge at the +head of his men, waving the neat small sword, now buckled to his side. +Instead he lay in a black thicket, awaiting the attack of creeping +savages. Nevertheless, he put down his pride for the third time, and +resolved to trust the four who had come so opportunely to his aid, and +who seemed to be so thoroughly at home in the wilderness. + +Another hour dragged its weary length away, and there was no sound of +anything stirring in the forest. The skies lightened a little as the +moon came out, casting a faint whitish tint over trees and bushes, but +the brave young captain was yet unable to see any trace of the enemy. + +"Do you feel quite sure that we're still besieged?" he whispered to +Willet. + +"Yes, Captain," replied the hunter, "and, as I said, patience is the +commodity we need most. It would be fatal for us to force the action, +but I don't think we have much longer to wait. Since they can't induce +us to take some rash step they're likely to make a movement soon." + +"I see the bushes waving again," said Tayoga. "It is proof that the +warriors are approaching. It would be well for the soldiers to lie +flat for a little while." + +Captain Colden, adhering to his resolution to take the advice of his +new friends, crept along the line, telling the men in sharp whispers +to hug the earth, a command that they obeyed willingly, as the +darkness, the silence and the mysterious nature of the danger had +begun to weigh heavily upon their nerves. + +Robert saw a bead of flame among the bushes, and heard a sharp report. +A bullet cut a bough over his head, and a leaf drifted down upon his +face. The soldiers shifted uneasily and began to thrust their rifles +forward, but again the stern command of the young captain prompted by +the hunter, held them down. + +"'Twas intended merely to draw us," said Willet. "They're sure we're +in this wood, but of course they don't know the exact location of our +men. They're hoping for a glimpse of the bright uniforms, but, if the +men keep very low, they won't get it." + +It was a tremendous trial for young and raw troops, but they managed +to still their nerves, and to remain crouched and motionless. A second +shot was fired soon, and then a third, but like the first they were +trial bullets and both went high. Black Rifle grew impatient. The +memory of his murdered family began to press upon him once more. The +night was black, but now it looked red to him. Lying almost flat, he +slowly pulled himself forward like a great wild beast, stalking its +prey. Colden looked at him, and then at Willet, who nodded. + +"Don't try to stop him," whispered the hunter, "because he'll go +anyhow. Besides, it's time for us to reply to their shots." + +The dark form, moving forward without noise, had a singular +fascination for Robert. His imagination, which colored and magnified +everything, made Black Rifle sinister and supernatural. The complete +absence of sound, as he advanced, heightened the effect. Not a leaf +nor a blade of grass rustled. Presently he stopped and Robert saw the +black muzzle of his rifle shoot forward. A stream of flame leaped +forth, and then the man quickly slid into a new position. + +A fierce shout came from the opposing thicket, and a half dozen shots +were fired. Bullets again cut twigs and leaves over Robert's head, but +all of them went too high. + +"Do you think Black Rifle hit his mark?" whispered Robert to Tayoga. + +"It is likely," replied the Onondaga, "but we may never know. I think +it would be well, Dagaeoga, for you and me to go toward the left. They +may try to creep around our flank, and we must meet them there." + +Willet and Colden approved of the plan, and a half dozen of the best +soldiers went with them, the movement proving to be wise, as within +five minutes a scattering fire was opened upon that point. The +soldiers fired two rash shots, merely aiming at the reports and the +general blackness, but Robert and Tayoga quickly reduced them to +control, insisting that they wait until they saw a foe, before pulling +trigger again. Then they sank back among the bushes and remained quite +still. + +Tayoga suddenly drew a deep and very long breath, which with him was +equivalent to an exclamation. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked Robert. + +"I saw a bit of a uniform, and I caught just a glimpse of a white +face." + +"An officer. Then we were right in our surmise that the French are +here, leading the warriors." + +"It was but a glimpse, but it showed the curve of his jaw and chin, +and I knew him. He is one who is beginning to be important in your +life, Dagaeoga." + +"St. Luc." + +"None other. I could not be mistaken. He is leading the attack upon +us. Perhaps Tandakora is with him. The Frenchman does not like the +Ojibway, but war makes strange comrades. That was close!" + +A bullet whistled directly between them, and Tayoga, kneeling, fired +in return. There was no doubt about his aim, as a warrior uttered the +death cry, and a fierce shout of rage from a dozen throats followed. +Robert, imaginative, ready to flame up in a moment, exulted, not +because a warrior had fallen, but because the flank attack upon his +own people had been stopped in the beginning. St. Luc himself would +have admitted that the Americans, or the English, as he would have +called them, were acting wisely. The soldiers, stirred by the +successful shot, showed again a great desire to fire at the black +woods, but Robert and the Onondaga still kept them down. + +A crackling fire arose behind them, showing that the main force had +engaged, and now and then the warriors uttered defiant cries. But +Robert had enough power of will to watch in front, sure that Willet +and Black Rifle were sufficient to guide the central defense. He +observed intently the segment of the circle in front of them, and he +wondered if St. Luc would appear there again, but he concluded that he +would not, since the failure of the attempted surprise at that point +would be likely to send him back to the main force. + +"Do you think they'll go away and concentrate in front?" he asked +Tayoga. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "They still think perhaps that they have +only the soldiers from the city to meet, and they may attempt a rush." + +Robert crept from soldier to soldier, cautioning every one to take +shelter, and to have his rifle ready, and they, being good men, though +without experience, obeyed the one who so obviously knew what he was +doing. Meantime the combat behind them proceeded with vigor, the shots +crashing in volleys, accompanied by shouts, and once by the cry of a +stricken soldier. It was evident that St. Luc was now pushing the +battle, and Robert was quite sure the attack on the flank would soon +come again. + +They did not wait much longer. The warriors suddenly leaped from the +undergrowth and rushed straight toward them, a white man now in front. +The light was sufficient for Robert to see that the leader was not +St. Luc, and then without hesitation he raised his rifle and fired. +The man fell, Tayoga stopped the rush of a warrior, and the bullets of +the soldiers wounded others. But their white leader was gone, and +Indians have little love for an attack upon a sheltered enemy. So the +charge broke, before it was half way to the defenders, and the savages +vanished in the thickets. + +The soldiers began to exult, but Robert bade them reload as fast as +possible, and keep well under cover. The warriors from new points +would fire at every exposed head, and they could not afford to relax +their caution for an instant. + +But it was a difficult task for the youthful veterans of the forest to +keep the older but inexperienced men from the city under cover. They +had an almost overpowering desire to see the Indians who were shooting +at them, and against whom they were sending their bullets. In spite of +every command and entreaty a man would raise his head now and then, +and one, as he did so, received a bullet between the eyes, falling +back quietly, dead before he touched the ground. + +"A brave lad has been lost," whispered Tayoga to Robert, "but he has +been an involuntary example to the rest." + +The Onondaga spoke in his precise school English, but he knew what he +was saying, as the soldiers now became much more cautious, and +controlled their impulse to raise up for a look, after every shot. +Another man was wounded, but the hurt was not serious and he went on +with his firing. Robert, seeing that the line on the flank could be +held without great difficulty, left Tayoga in command, and crept back +to the main force, where the bullets were coming much faster. + +Two of the soldiers in the center had been slain, and three had been +wounded, but Captain Colden had not given ground. He was sitting +behind a rocky outcrop and at the suggestion of Willet was giving +orders to his men. Oppressed at first by the ambush and weight of +responsibility he was exulting now in their ability to check the +savage onset. Robert was quite willing to play a little to his pride +and he said in the formal military manner: + +"I wish to report, sir, that all is going well on the southern flank. +One of our men has been killed, but we have made it impossible for the +enemy to advance there." + +"Thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the young captain with dignity. "We have +also had some success here, due chiefly to the good advice of +Mr. Willet, and the prowess and sharpshooting of the extraordinary man +whom you call Black Rifle. See him now!" + +He indicated a dark figure a little distance ahead, behind a clump of +bushes, and, as Robert looked, a jet of fire leaped from the muzzle of +the man's rifle, followed almost immediately by a cry in the forest. + +"I think he has slain more of our enemies than the rest of us +combined," said Captain Colden. + +Robert shuddered a little, but those who lived on the border became +used to strange things. The constant struggle for existence hardened +the nerves, and terrible scenes did not dwell long in the mind. He +bent forward for a better look, and a bullet cut the hair upon his +forehead. He started back, feeling as if he had been seared by +lightning and Willet looked at him anxiously. + +"The lead burned as it passed," the lad said, "but the skin is not +broken. I was guilty of the same rashness, for which I have been +lecturing the men on the flank." + +"I caught a glimpse of the fellow who fired the shot," said Willet. "I +think it was the Canadian, Dubois, whom we saw with St. Luc." + +"Tayoga saw St. Luc himself on the flank," said Robert, "and so there +is no doubt that he is leading the attack. The fact makes it certain +that it will be carried on with persistence." + +"We shall be here, still besieged, when day comes," said the hunter. +"It's lucky that the cliff protects us on one side." + +As if to disprove his assertion, all the firing stopped suddenly, and +for a long time the forest was silent. Fortunately they had water in +their canteens, and they were able to soothe the thirst of the wounded +men. They talked also of victory, and, knowing that it was only two or +three hours until dawn, Captain Colden's spirits rose to great +heights. He was sure now that the warriors, defeated, had gone away. +This Frenchman, St. Luc, of whom they talked, might be a great +partisan leader, but he would know when the price he was paying became +too high, and would draw off. + +The men believed their captain, and, despite the earnest protest of +the foresters, began to stir in the bushes shortly before dawn. A +rifle shot came from the opposing thickets and one of them would stir +no more. Captain Colden, appalled, was all remorse. He took the death +of the man directly to himself, and told Willet with emotion that all +advice of his would now be taken at once. + +"Let the men lie as close as they can," said the hunter. "The day will +soon be here." + +Robert found shelter behind the trunk of a huge oak, and crouched +there, his nerves relaxing. He did not believe any further movement of +the enemy would come now. As the great tension passed for a time he +was conscious of an immense weariness. The strain upon all the +physical senses and upon the mind as well made him weak. It was a +luxury merely to sit there with his back against the bark and rest. +Near him he heard the soldiers moving softly, and now and then a +wounded man asking for water. A light breeze had sprung up, and it had +upon his face the freshness of the dawn. He wondered what the day +would bring. The light that came with it would be cheerful and +uplifting, but it would disclose their covert, at least in part, and +St. Luc might lead both French and Indians in one great rush. + +"Better eat a little," said Tayoga, who had returned to the center. +"Remember that we have plenty of food in our knapsacks, nor are our +canteens empty." + +"I had forgotten it," said Robert, and he ate and drank sparingly. The +breeze continued to freshen, and in the east the dawn broke, gray, +turning to silver, and then to red and gold. The forest soon stood +out, an infinite tracery in the dazzling light, and then a white fleck +appeared against the wall of green. + +"A flag of truce!" exclaimed Captain Colden. "What can they want to +say to us?" + +"Let the bearer of the flag appear first," suggested Willet, "and then +we'll talk with 'em." + +The figure of a man holding up a white handkerchief appeared and it +was St. Luc himself, as neat and irreproachable as if he were +attending a ball in the Intendant's palace at Quebec. Robert knew that +he must have been active in the battle all through the night, but he +showed no signs of it. He wore a fine close-fitting uniform of dark +blue, and the handkerchief of lace was held aloft on the point of a +small sword, the golden hilt of which glittered in the morning +sunlight. He was a strange figure in the forest, but a most gallant +one, and to Robert's eyes a chevalier without fear and without +reproach. + +"I know that you speak good French, Mr. Lennox," said Captain +Colden. "Will you go forward and meet the Frenchman? You will perhaps +know what to say to him, and, if not, you can refer to Mr. Willet and +myself." + +"I will do my best, sir," said Robert, glad of the chance to meet +St. Luc face to face again. He did not know why his heart leaped so +every time he saw the chevalier, but his friendship for him was +undeniable. It seemed too that St. Luc liked him, and Robert felt +sure that whatever hostility his official enemy felt for the English +cause there was none for him personally. + +Unconsciously he began to arrange his own attire of forest green, +beautifully dyed and decorated deerskin, that he might not look less +neat than the man whom he was going to meet. St. Luc was standing +under the wide boughs of an oak, his gold hilted rapier returned to +its sheath and his white lace handkerchief to its pocket. The smile of +welcome upon his face as he saw the herald was genuine. + +"I salute you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "and wish you a very good +morning. I learned that you were in the force besieged by us, and it's +a pleasure to see that you've escaped unhurt. When last we met the +honors were yours. You fairly defeated me at the word play in the vale +of Onondaga, but you will admit that the savage, Tandakora, played +into your hands most opportunely. You will admit also that word play +is not sword play, and that in the appeal to the sword we have the +advantage of you." + +"It may seem so to one who sees with your eyes and from your +position," said Robert, "but being myself I'm compelled to see with my +own eyes and from our side. I wish to say first, however, Chevalier de +St. Luc, that since you have wished me a very good morning I even wish +you a better." + +St. Luc laughed gayly. + +"You and I will never be enemies. It would be against nature," he +said. + +"No, we'll never be enemies, but why is it against nature?" + +"Perhaps I was not happy in my phrase. We like each other too well, +and--in a way--our temperaments resemble too much to engender a mutual +hate. But we'll to business. Mine's a mission of mercy. I come to +receive the surrender of your friends and yourself, since continued +resistance to us will be vain!" + +Robert smiled. His gift of golden speech was again making its presence +felt. He had matched himself against St. Luc before the great League +of the Hodenosaunee in the vale of Onondaga, and they had spoken where +all might hear. Now they two alone could hear, but he felt that the +test was the same in kind. He knew that his friends in the thickets +behind him were watching, and he was equally sure that French and +savages in the thickets before him were watching too. He had no doubt +the baleful eyes of Tandakora were glaring at him at that very moment, +and that the fingers of the Ojibway were eager to grasp his scalp. The +idea, singularly enough, caused him amusement, because his imagination, +vivid as usual, leaped far ahead, and he foresaw that his hair would +never become a trophy for Tandakora. + +"You smile, Mr. Lennox," said St. Luc. "Do you find my words so +amusing?" + +"Not amusing, chevalier! Oh, no! And if, in truth, I found them so I +would not be so impolite as to smile. But there is a satisfaction in +knowing that your official enemy has underrated the strength of your +position. That is why my eyes expressed content--I would scarcely call +it a smile." + +"I see once more that you're a master of words, Mr. Lennox. You play +with them as the wind sports among the leaves." + +"But I don't speak in jest, Monsieur de St. Luc. I'm not in command +here. I'm merely a spokesman a herald or a messenger, in whichever way +you should choose to define me. Captain James Colden, a gallant young +officer of Philadelphia, is our leader, but, in this instance, I don't +feel the need of consulting him. I know that your offer is kindly, +that it comes from a generous soul, but however much it may disappoint +you I must decline it. Our resistance in the night has been quite +successful, we have inflicted upon you much more damage than you have +inflicted upon us, and I've no doubt the day will witness a battle +continued in the same proportion." + +St. Luc threw back his head and laughed, not loud, but gayly and with +unction. Robert reddened, but he could not take offense, as he saw +that none was meant. + +"I no longer wonder at my defeat by you in the vale of Onondaga," said +the chevalier, "since you're not merely a master of words, you're a +master-artist. I've no doubt if I listen to you you'll persuade me +it's not you but we who are besieged, and it would be wise for us to +yield to you without further ado." + +"Perhaps you're not so very far wrong," said Robert, recovering his +assurance, which was nearly always great. "I'm sure Captain Colden +would receive your surrender and treat you well." + +The eyes of the two met and twinkled. + +"Tandakora is with us," said St. Luc, "and I've a notion he wouldn't +relish it. Perhaps he distrusts the mercy he would receive at the +hands of your Onondaga, Tayoga. And at this point in our dialogue, +Mr. Lennox, I want to apologize to you again, for the actions of the +Ojibway before the war really began. I couldn't prevent them, but, +since there is genuine war, he is our ally, and I must accord to him +all the dignities and honors appertaining to his position." + +"You're rather deft with words yourself, Monsieur de St. Luc. Once, at +New York, I saw a juggler with balls who could keep five in the air at +the same time, and in some dim and remote way you make me think of +him. You'll pardon the illustration, chevalier, because I really mean +it as a compliment." + +"I pardon gladly enough, because I see your intentions are good. We +both play with words, perhaps because the exercise tickles our fancy, +but to return to the true spirit and essence of things, I warn you +that it would be wise to surrender. My force is very much greater than +Captain Colden's, and has him hemmed in. If my Indian allies suffer +too much in the attack it will be difficult to restrain them. I'm not +stating this as a threat--you know me too well for that--but to make +the facts plain, and to avoid something that I should regret as much +as you." + +"I don't think it necessary to consult Captain Colden, and without +doing so I decline your offer. We have food to eat, water to drink +and bullets to shoot, and if you care to take us you must come and do +so." + +"And that is the final answer? You're quite sure you don't wish to +consult your superior officer, Captain Colden?" + +"Absolutely sure. It would waste the time of all of us." + +"Then it seems there is nothing more to say, and to use your own +fanciful way of putting it, we must go back from the play of words to +the play of swords." + +"I see no alternative." + +"And yet I hope that you will survive the combat, Mr. Lennox." + +"I've the same hope for you, Chevalier de St. Luc." + +Each meant it, and, in the same high manner of the day, they saluted +and withdrew. Robert, as he walked back to the thickets in which the +defenders lay, felt that Indian eyes were upon him, and that perhaps +an Indian bullet would speed toward him, despite St. Luc. Tandakora +and the savages around him could not always be controlled by their +French allies, as was to be shown too often in this war. His sensitive +mind once more turned fancy into reality and the hair on his head +lifted a little, but pride would not let him hasten his steps. + +No gun was fired, and, with an immense relief, he sank down behind a +fallen log, and by the side of Colden and Willet. + +"What did the Frenchman want?" asked the young captain. + +"Our instant and unconditional surrender. Knowing how you felt about +it, I gave him your refusal at once." + +"Well done, Mr. Lennox." + +"He said that in case of a rush and heavy loss by his Indians he +perhaps would not be able to control them in the moment of victory, +which doubtless is true." + +"They will know no moment of victory. We can hold them off." + +"Where is Tayoga?" asked Robert of Willet. + +The hunter pointed westward. + +"Why, the cliff shuts off the way in that direction!" said Robert. + +"Not to a good climber." + +"Do you mean, then, that Tayoga is gone?" + +"I saw him go. He went while you were talking with St. Luc." + +"Why should Tayoga leave us?" + +"He saw another smoke against the sky. It was but a faint trace. Only +an extremely keen eye would have noticed it, and having much natural +curiosity, Tayoga is now on his way to see who built the fire that +made the smoke." + +"And it may have been made by friends." + +"That's our hope." + +Robert drew a long breath and looked toward the west. The sky was now +clear there, but he knew that Tayoga could not have made any mistake. +Then, his heart high once more, he settled himself down to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SIGNAL + + +The day advanced, brilliant with sunshine, and the forces of St. Luc +were quiet. For a long time, not a shot was fired, and it seemed to +the besieged that the forest was empty of human beings save themselves. +Robert did not believe the French leader would attempt a long siege, +since an engagement could not be conducted in that manner in the +forest, where a result of some kind must be reached soon. Yet it was +impossible to tell what plan St. Luc had in mind, and they must wait +until Tayoga came. + +Young Captain Colden was in good spirits. It was his first taste of +wilderness warfare, and he knew that he had done well. The dead were +laid decently among the bushes to receive Christian burial later, if +the chance came, and the wounded, their hurts bound up, prepared to +take what part they could in a new battle. Robert crept to the edge +of the cliff, and looked toward the west, whence Tayoga had gone. He +saw only a dazzling blue sky, unflecked by anything save little white +clouds, and there was nothing to indicate whether the mission of his +young Onondaga comrade would have any success. He crept back to the +side of Willet. + +"Have you any opinion, Dave, about the smoke that Tayoga saw," he +asked. + +"None, Robert, just a hope. It might have been made by another French +and Indian band, most probably it was, but there is a chance, too, +that friends built the fire." + +"If it's a force of any size it could hardly be English. I don't +think any troop of ours except Captain Colden's is in this region." + +"We can't look for help from our own race." + +Robert was silent, gazing intently into the west, whence Tayoga had +gone. He recognized the immense difficulties of their position. +Indians, if an attack or two of theirs failed, would be likely to go +away, but the French, and especially St. Luc, would increase their +persistence and hold them to the task. He returned to the forest, and +his attention was drawn once more by Black Rifle. The man was lying +almost flat in the thicket, and evidently he had caught a glimpse of a +foe, as he was writhing slowly forward like a great beast of prey, and +his eyes once more had the expectant look of one who is going to +strike. Robert considered him. He knew that the man's whole nature +had been poisoned by the great tragedy in his life, and that it gave +him a sinister pleasure to inflict blows upon those who had inflicted +the great blow upon him. Yet he would be useful in the fierce war that +was upon them and he was useful now. + +Black Rifle crept forward two or three yards more, and, after he had +lain quite still for a few moments, he suddenly thrust out his rifle +and fired. A cry came from the opposing thicket and Robert heard the +sharpshooter utter a deep sigh of satisfaction. He knew that St. Luc +was one warrior less, which was good for the defense, but he shuddered +a little. He could never bring himself to steal through the bushes and +shoot an unseeing enemy. Still Black Rifle was Black Rifle, and being +what he was he was not to be judged as other men were. + +After a half hour's silence, the besiegers suddenly opened fire from +five or six points, sending perhaps two score bullets into the wood, +clipping off many twigs and leaves which fell upon the heads of the +defenders. Captain Colden did not forget to be grateful to Willet for +his insistence that the soldiers should always lie low, as the hostile +lead, instead of striking, now merely sent a harmless shower upon +them. But the fusillade was brief, Robert, in truth, judging that it +had been against the commands of St. Luc, who was too wise a leader to +wish ammunition to be wasted in random firing. At the advice of +Willet, Captain Colden would not let his men reply, restraining their +eagerness, and silence soon returned. + +It was nearly noon now and a huge golden sun shone over the vast +wilderness in which two little bands of men fought, mere motes in the +limitless sea of green. Robert ate some venison, and drank a little +water from the canteen of a friendly soldier. Then his thoughts turned +again to Tayoga. The Onondaga was a peerless runner, he had been gone +long now, and what would he find at the base of the smoke? If it had +been the fire of an enemy then he would be back in the middle of the +afternoon, and they would be in no worse case than before. They might +try to escape in the night down the cliff, but it was not likely that +vigilant foes would permit men, clumsy in the woods like the soldiers, +to steal away in such a manner. + +The earlier hours of the afternoon were passed by the sharpshooters on +either side trying to stalk one another. Although Robert had no part +in it, it was a savage play that alternately fascinated and repelled +him. He had no way to tell exactly, but he believed that two more of +the Indians had fallen, while a soldier received a wound. A bullet +grazed Black Rifle's head, but instead of daunting him it seemed to +give him a kind of fierce joy, and to inspire in him a greater desire +to slay. + +These efforts, since they achieved no positive results, soon died +down, and both sides lay silent in their coverts. Robert made himself +as comfortable as he could behind a log, although he longed to stand +upright, and walk about once more like a human being. It was now +mid-afternoon and if the smoke had meant nothing good for them it was +time for Tayoga to be back. It was not conceivable that such a +marvelous forester and matchless runner could have been taken, and, +since he had not come, Robert's heart again beat to the tune of hope. + +Willet with whom he talked a little, was of like opinion. He looked to +Tayoga to bring them help, and, if he failed their case, already hard, +would become harder. The hunter did not conceal from himself the +prowess and skill of St. Luc and he knew too, that the savage +persistency of Tandakora was not to be held lightly. Like Robert he +gazed long into the blue west, which was flecked only by little clouds +of white. + +"A sign! A sign!" he said. "If we could only behold a sign!" + +But the heavens said nothing. The sun, a huge ball of glowing copper, +was already far down the Western curve, and the hunter's heart beat +hard with anxiety. He felt that if help came it should come soon. But +little water was left to the soldiers, although their food might last +another day, and the night itself, now not far away, would bring the +danger of a new attack by a creeping foe, greatly superior in +numbers. He turned away from the cliff, but Robert remained, and +presently the youth called in a sharp thrilling whisper: + +"Dave! Dave! Come back!" + +Robert had continued to watch the sky and he thought he saw a faint +dark line against the sea of blue. He rubbed his eyes, fearing it was +a fault of vision, but the trace was still there, and he believed it +to be smoke. + +"Dave! Dave! The signal! Look! Look!" he cried. + +The hunter came to the edge of the cliff and stared into the west. A +thread of black lay across the blue, and his heart leaped. + +"Do you believe that Tayoga has anything to do with it?" asked Robert. + +"I do. If it were our foes out there he'd have been back long since." + +"And since it may be friends they've sent up this smoke, hoping we'll +divine what they mean." + +"It looks like it. Tayoga is a sharp lad, and he'll want to put heart +in the soldiers. It must be the Onondaga, and I wish I knew what his +smoke was saying." + +Captain Colden joined them, and they pointed out to him the trace +across the sky which was now broadening, explaining at the same time +that it was probably a signal sent up by Tayoga, and that he might be +leading a force to their aid. + +"What help could he bring?" asked the captain. + +Willet shook his head. + +"I can't answer you there," he replied; "but the smoke has +significance for us. Of that I feel sure. By sundown we'll know what +it means." + +"And that's only about two hours away," said Captain Colden. "Whatever +happens we'll hold out to the last. I suppose, though, that St. Luc's +force also will see the smoke." + +"Quite likely," replied Willet, "and the Frenchman may send a runner, +too, to see what it means, but however good a runner he may be he'll +be no match for Tayoga." + +"That's sure," said Robert. + +So great was his confidence in the Onondaga that it never occurred to +him that he might be killed or taken, and he awaited his certain +return, either with or without a helping force. He lay now near the +edge of the cliff, whence he could look toward the west, the point of +hope, whenever he wished, ate another strip of venison, and took +another drink of water out of a friendly canteen. + +The west was now blazing with terraces of red and yellow, rising above +one another, and the east was misty, gray and dim. Twilight was not +far away. The thread of smoke that had lain against the sky above the +forest was gone, the glittering bar of red and gold being absolutely +free from any trace. St. Luc's force opened fire again, bullets +clipping twigs and leaves, but the defense lay quiet, except Black +Rifle, who crept back and forth, continually seeking a target, and +pulling the trigger whenever he found it. + +The misty gray in the east turned to darkness, in the west the sun +went down the slope of the world, and the brilliant terraces of color +began to fade. The firing ceased and another tense period of quiet, +hard, to endure, came. At the suggestion of the hunter Colden drew in +his whole troop near the cliff and waited, all, despite their +weariness and strain, keeping the keenest watch they could. + +But Robert, instead of looking toward the east, where St. Luc's force +was, invariably looked into the sunset, because it was there that +Tayoga had gone, and it was there that they had seen the smoke, of +which they expected so much. The terraces of color, already grown dim, +were now fading fast. At the top they were gone altogether, and they +only lingered low down. But on the forest the red light yet blazed. +Every twig and leaf seemed to stand individual and distinct, black +against a scarlet shield. But it was for merely a few minutes. Then +all the red glow disappeared, like a great light going out suddenly, +and the western forest as well as the eastern, lay in a gray gloom. + +It always seemed to Robert that the last going of the sunset that day +was like a signal, because, when the night swept down, black and +complete everywhere, there was a burst of heavy firing from the south +and a long exultant yell. No bullet sped through the thickets, where +the defenders lay, and Willet cried: + +"Tayoga! Tayoga and help! Ah, here they come! The Mohawks!" + +Tayoga, panting from exertion, sprang into the bushes among them, and +he was followed by a tall figure in war paint, lofty plumes waving +from his war bonnet. Behind him came many warriors, and others were +already on the flanks, spreading out like a fan, filing rapidly and +shouting the war whoop. Robert recognized at once the great figure +that stood before them. It was Daganoweda, the young Mohawk chief of +his earlier acquaintance, whom he had met both on the war path and at +the great council of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga. Had +his been the right to choose the man who was to come to their aid, the +Mohawk would have been his first choice. Robert knew his intense +hatred of the French and their red allies, and he also knew his fierce +courage and great ability in battle. + +The soldiers looked in some alarm at the painted host that had sprung +among them, but Willet and Robert assured them insistently that these +were friends, and the sound of the battle they were already waging on +the flank with St. Luc's force, was proof enough. + +"Captain Colden," said Robert, not forgetful that an Indian likes the +courtesies of life, and can take his compliments thick, "this is the +great young Mohawk Chief, Daganoweda, which in our language means 'The +Inexhaustible' and such he is, inexhaustible in resource and courage +in battle, and in loyalty to his friends." + +Daganoweda smiled and extended his hand in the white man's fashion. +Young Colden had the tact to shake it heartily at once and to say in +English, which the young Mohawk chief understood perfectly: + +"Daganoweda, whatever praise of you Mr. Lennox has given it's not half +enough. I confess now although I would not have admitted it before, +that if you had not come we should probably have been lost." + +He had made a friend for life, and then, without further words the two +turned to the battle. But Robert remained for a minute beside Tayoga, +whose chest was still heaving with his great exertions. + +"Where did you find them?" he asked. + +"Many miles to the west, Lennox. After I descended the cliff I was +pursued by Huron skirmishers, and I had to shake them off. Then I ran +at full speed toward the point where the smoke had risen, knowing that +the need was great, and I overtook Daganoweda and the Mohawks. Their +first smoke was but that from a camp-fire, as being in strong force +they did not care who saw them, but the last, just before the sunset, +was sent up as a signal by two warriors whom we left behind for the +purpose. We thought you might take it to mean that help was coming." + +"And so we did. How many warriors has Daganoweda?" + +"Fifty, and that is enough. Already they push the Frenchman and his +force before them. Come, we must join them, Dagaeoga. The breath has +come back into my body and I am a strong man again!" + +The two now quickly took their places in the battle in the night and +the forest, the position of the two forces being reversed. The +soldiers and the Mohawks were pushing the combat at every point, and +the agile warriors extending themselves on the flanks had already +driven in St. Luc's skirmishers. Black Rifle, uttering fierce shouts, +was leading a strong attack in the center. The firing was now rapid +and much heavier than it had been at any time before. Flashes of flame +appeared everywhere in the thicket. Above the crackle of rifles and +muskets swelled the long thrilling war cry of the Mohawks, and back in +fierce defiance came the yells of the Hurons and Abenakis. + +Willet joined Robert and the two, with Tayoga, saw that the soldiers +fought well under cover. The young Philadelphians, in the excitement +of battle and of a sudden and triumphant reversal of fortune, were +likely to expose themselves rashly, and the advice of the forest +veterans was timely. Captain Colden saw that it was taken, although +two more of his men were slain as they advanced and several were +wounded. But the issue was no longer doubtful. The weight that the +Mohawks had suddenly thrown into the battle was too great. The force +of St. Luc was steadily driven northward, and Daganoweda's alert +skirmishers on the flanks kept it compressed together. + +Robert knew how bitter the defeat would be to St. Luc, but the +knowledge did not keep his exultation from mounting to a high pitch. +St. Luc might strive with all his might to keep his men in the battle, +but the Frenchmen could not be numerous, and it was the custom of +Indians, once a combat seemed lost, to melt away like a mist. They +believed thoroughly that it was best to run away and fight another +day, and there was no disgrace in escaping from a stricken field. + +"They run! They run! And the Frenchmen must run with them!" exclaimed +Black Rifle. As he spoke, a bullet grazed his side and struck a +soldier behind him, but the force pressed on with the ardor fed by +victory. Willet did not try any longer to restrain them, although he +understood full well the danger of a battle in the dark. But he knew +that Daganoweda and his Mohawks, experienced in every forest wile, +would guard them against surprise, and he deemed it best now that they +should strike with all their might. + +Robert seldom saw any of the warriors before him, and he did not once +catch a glimpse of a Frenchman. Whenever his rifle was loaded he +fired at a flitting form, never knowing whether or not his bullet +struck true, and glad of his ignorance. His sensitive and imaginative +mind became greatly excited. The flashes of flame in the thickets were +multiplied a hundred fold, a thousand little pulses beat heavily in +his temples, and the shouts of the savages seemed to fill the forest. +But he pressed on, conscious that the enemy was disappearing before +them. + +In his eagerness he passed ahead of Willet and Tayoga and came very +near to St. Luc's retreating line. His foot became entangled in +trailing vines and he fell, but he was up in an instant, and he fired +at a shadowy figure not more than twenty feet in advance. In his haste +he missed, and the figure, turning, raised a rifle. There was a fair +moonlight and Robert saw the muzzle of the weapon bearing directly +upon him, and he knew too that the rifle was held by firm hands. His +vivid and sensitive imagination at once leaped into intense life. His +own weapon was empty and his last moment had come. He saw the strong +brown hands holding the rifle, and then his gaze passed on to the face +of St. Luc. He saw the blue eyes of the Frenchman, as they looked down +the sights, open wide in a kind of horror. Then he abruptly dropped +the muzzle, waved one hand to Robert, and vanished in the thickets and +the darkness. + +The battle was over. There were a few dying shots, scattered beads of +flame, an occasional shout of triumph from the Mohawks, a defiant yell +or two in reply from the Hurons and the Abenakis, and then the trail +of the combat swept out of the sight and hearing of Robert, who stood +dazed and yet with a heart full of gratitude. St. Luc had held his +life upon the pressure of a trigger, and the trigger would have been +pulled had he not seen before it was too late who stood before the +muzzle of his rifle. The moonlight was enough for Robert to see that +look of horror in his eyes when he recognized the target. And then the +weapon had been turned away and he had gone like a flash! Why? For +what reason had St. Luc spared him in the heat and fury of a desperate +and losing battle? It must have been a powerful motive for a man to +stay his bullet at such a time! + +"Wake up, lad! Wake up! The battle has been won!" + +Willet's heavy but friendly hand fell upon his shoulder, and Robert +came out of his daze. He decided at once that he would say nothing +about the meeting with St. Luc, and merely remarked in a cryptic +manner: + +"I was stunned for a moment by a bullet that did not hit me. Yes, +we've won, Dave, thanks to the Mohawks." + +"Thanks to Daganoweda and his brave Mohawks, and to Tayoga, and to the +gallant Captain Colden and his gallant men. All of us together have +made the triumph possible. I understand that the bodies of only two +Frenchmen have been found and that neither was that of St. Luc. Well, +I'm glad. That Frenchman will do us great damage in this war, but he's +an honorable foe, and a man of heart, and I like him." + +A man of heart! Yes, truly! None knew it better than Robert, but again +he kept his own counsel. He too was glad that his had not been one of +the two French bodies found, but there was still danger from the +pursuing Mohawks, who would hang on tenaciously, and he felt a sudden +thrill of alarm. But it passed, as he remembered that the chevalier +was a woodsman of experience and surpassing skill. + +Tayoga came back to them somewhat blown. He had followed the fleeing +French and Indian force two or three miles. But there was a limit even +to his nerves and sinews of wrought steel. He had already run thirty +miles before joining in the combat, and now it was time to rest. + +"Come, Tayoga," said the hunter, "we'll go back to the ground our lads +have defended so well, and eat, drink and sleep. The Mohawks will +attend to all the work that's left, which isn't much. We've earned our +repose." + +Captain Colden, slightly wounded in the arm, appeared and Willet gave +him the high compliments that he and his soldiers deserved. He told +him it was seldom that men unused to the woods bore themselves so well +in an Indian fight, but the young captain modestly disclaimed the +chief merit, replying that he and his detachment would surely have +been lost, had it not been for Willet and his comrades. + +Then they went back to the ground near the cliff, where they had made +their great fight, and Willet although the night was warm, wisely had +a large fire built. He knew the psychological and stimulating effect +of heat and light upon the lads of the city, who had passed through +such a fearful ordeal in the dark and Indian-haunted forest. He +encouraged them to throw on more dead boughs, until the blaze leaped +higher and higher and sparkled and roared, sending up myriads of +joyous sparks that glowed for their brief lives among the trees and +then died. No fear of St. Luc and the Indians now! That fierce fringe +of Mohawks was a barrier that they could never pass, even should they +choose to return, and no such choice could possibly be theirs! The +fire crackled and blazed in increasing volume, and the Philadelphia +lads, recovering from the collapse that had followed tremendous +exertions and excitement, began to appreciate the extent of their +victory and to talk eagerly with one another. + +But the period of full rest had not yet come. Captain Colden made them +dig with their bayonets shallow graves for their dead, six in number. +Fluent of speech, his sensitive mind again fitting into the deep +gravity of the situation, Robert said a few words above them, words +that he felt, words that moved those who heard. Then the earth was +thrown in and stones and heavy boughs were placed over all to keep +away the digging wolves or other wild animals. + +The wounded were made as comfortable as possible before the fire, and +in the light of the brilliant flames the awe created by the dead +quickly passed. Food was served and fresh water was drunk, the +canteens being refilled from a spring that Tayoga found a quarter of a +mile away. Then the soldiers, save six who had been posted as guard, +stretched themselves on grass or leaves, and fell asleep, one by +one. Tayoga who had made the greatest physical effort followed them to +the land of slumber, but Captain Colden sat and talked with Robert and +Willet, although it was now far past midnight. + +The bushes parted and a dark figure, making no sound as it came, +stepped into the circle of light. It was Black Rifle and his eyes +still glittered, but he said nothing. Robert thought he saw upon his +face a look of intense satisfaction and once more he shuddered a +little. The man lay down with his rifle beside him, and fell asleep, +his hands still clutching his weapon. + +Before dawn Daganoweda and the Mohawks came back also, and Robert in +behalf of them all thanked the young chief in the purest Mohawk, and +with the fine phrasing and apt allegory so dear to the Indian heart. +Daganoweda made a fitting reply, saying that the merit did not belong +to him but to Manitou, and then, leaving a half dozen of his warriors +to join in the watch, he and the others slept before the fire. + +"It was well that you played so strongly upon the feelings of the +Mohawks at that test in the vale of Onondaga, Robert," said Willet. "If +you had not said over and over again that the Quebec of the French was +once the Stadacona of the Mohawks they would not have been here +tonight to save us. They say that deeds speak louder than words, but +when the same man speaks with both words and deeds people have got to +hear." + +"You give me too much credit, Dave. The time was ripe for a Mohawk +attack upon the French." + +"Aye, lad, but one had to see a chance and use it. Now, join all +those fellows in sleep. We won't move before noon." + +But Robert's brain was too active for sleep just yet. While his +imaginative power made him see things before other people saw them, he +also continued to see them after they were gone. The wilderness battle +passed once more before him, and when he brushed his eyes to thrust it +away, he looked at the sleeping Mohawks and thought what splendid +savages they were. The other tribes of the Hodenosaunee were still +holding to their neutrality--all that was asked of them--but the +Mohawks, with the memories of their ancient wrongs burning in their +hearts, had openly taken the side of the English, and tonight their +valor and skill had undoubtedly saved the American force. Daganoweda +was a hero! And so was Tayoga, the Onondaga, always the first of red +men to Robert. + +His heated brain began to grow cool at last. The vivid pictures that +had been passing so fast before his eyes faded. He saw only reality, +the blazing fire, the dusky figures lying motionless before it, and +the circling wall of dark woods. Then he slept. + +Willet was the only white man who remained awake. He saw the great +fire die, and the dawn come in its place. He felt then for the first +time in all that long encounter the strangeness of his own position. +The wilderness, savages and forest battle had become natural to him, +and yet his life had once been far different. There was a taste of a +distant past in that fierce duel at Quebec when he slew the bravo, +Boucher, a deed for which he had never felt a moment's regret, and yet +when he balanced the old times against the present, he could not say +which had the advantage. He had found true friends in the woods, men +who would and did risk their own lives to save his. + +The dawn came swiftly, flooding the earth with light. Daganoweda and +many of the Mohawk warriors awoke, but the young Philadelphia captain +and his men slept on, plunged in the utter stupor of exhaustion. +Tayoga, who had made a supreme effort, both physical and mental, also +continued to sleep, and Robert, lying with his feet to the coals, +never stirred. + +Daganoweda shook himself, and, so shaking, shook the last shred of +sleep from his eyes. Then he looked with pride at his warriors, those +who yet lay upon the ground and those who had arisen. He was a young +chief, not yet thirty years of age, and he was the bloom and flower of +Mohawk courage and daring. His name, Daganoweda, the Inexhaustible, +was fully deserved, as his bravery and resource were unlimited. But +unlike Tayoga, he had in him none of the priestly quality. He had not +drunk or even sipped at the white man's civilization. The spirituality +so often to be found in the Onondagas was unknown to him. He was a +warrior first, last and all the time. He was Daganoweda of the Clan of +the Turtle, of the Nation Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, +of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, and he craved no glory save +that to be won in battle, which he craved all the time. + +Daganoweda, as he looked at his men, felt intense satisfaction, +because the achievement of his Mohawks the night before had been +brilliant and successful, but he concealed it from all save himself. It +was not for a chief who wished to win not one victory, but a hundred +to show undue elation. But he turned and for a few moments gazed +directly into the sun with unwinking eyes, and when he shifted his +gaze away, a great tide of life leaped in his veins. + +Then he gave silent thanks. Like all the other Indians in North +America the Mohawks personified and worshipped the sun, which to them +was the mighty Dweller in Heaven, almost the same as Manitou, a great +spirit to whom sacrifices and thanksgivings were to be made. The sun, +an immortal being, had risen that morning and from his seat in the +highest of the high heavens he had looked down with his invincible eye +which no man could face more than a few seconds, upon his favorite +children, the Mohawks, to whom he had given the victory. Daganoweda +bowed a head naturally haughty and under his breath murmured thanks +for the triumph given and prayers for others to come. + +The warriors built the fire anew and cooked their breakfasts. They had +venison and hominy of three kinds according to the corn of which it +was made, _Onaogaant_ or the white corn, _Ticne_ or the red corn, and +_Hagowa_ or the white flint corn. They also had bear meat and dried +beans. So their breakfast was abundant, and they ate with the appetite +of warriors who had done mighty deeds. + +Daganoweda and Willet, as became great men, sat together on a log and +were served by a warrior who took honor from the task. Black Rifle sat +alone a little distance away. He would have been welcome in the +company of the Mohawk chief and the hunter, but, brooding and solitary +in mind, he wished to be alone and they knew and respected his wish. +Daganoweda glanced at him more than once as he remained in silence, +and always there was pity in his looks. And there was admiration too, +because Black Rifle was a great warrior. The woods held none greater. + +When Robert awoke it was well on toward noon and he sprang up, +refreshed and strong. + +"You've had quite a nap, Robert," said Willet, who had not slept at +all, "but some of the soldiers are still sleeping, and Tayoga has just +gone down to the spring to bathe his face." + +"Which I also will do," said Robert. + +"And when you come back food will be ready for you." + +Robert found Tayoga at the spring, flexing his muscles, and taking +short steps back and forth. "It was a great run you made," said the +white youth, "and it saved us. There's no stiffness, I hope?" + +"There was a little, Dagaeoga, but I have worked it out of my +body. Now all my muscles are as they were. I am ready to make another +and equal run." + +"It's not needed, and for that I'm thankful. St. Luc will not come +back, nor will Tandakora, I think, linger in the woods, hoping for a +shot. He knows that the Mohawk skirmishers will be too vigilant." + +As they went back to the fire for their food they heard a droning song +and the regular beat of feet. Some of the Mohawks were dancing the +Buffalo Dance, a dance named after an animal never found in their +country, but which they knew well. It was a tribute to the vast energy +and daring of the nations of the Hodenosaunee that they should range +in such remote regions as Kentucky and Tennessee and hunt the buffalo +with the Cherokees, who came up from the south. + +They called the dance Dageyagooanno, and it was always danced by men +only. One warrior beat upon the drum, _ganojoo_, and another used +_gusdawasa_ or the rattle made of the shell of a squash. A dozen +warriors danced, and players and dancers alike sang. It was a most +singular dance and Robert, as he ate and drank, watched it with +curious interest. + +The warriors capered back and forth, and often they bent themselves +far over, until their hands touched the ground. Then they would arch +their backs, until they formed a kind of hump, and they leaped to and +fro, bellowing all the time. The imitation was that of a buffalo, +recognizable at once, and, while it was rude and monotonous, both +dancing and singing preserved a rhythm, and as one listened +continuously it soon crept into the blood. Robert, with that singular +temperament of his, so receptive to all impressions, began to feel +it. Their chant was of war and victory and he stirred to both. He was +on the warpath with them, and he passed with them through the thick of +battle. + +They danced for a long time, quitting only when exhaustion +compelled. By that time all the soldiers were awake and Captain Colden +talked with the other leaders, red and white. His instructions took +him farther west, where he was to build a fort for the defense of the +border, and, staunch and true, he did not mean to turn back because he +had been in desperate battle with the French and their Indian allies. + +"I was sent to protect a section of the frontier," he said to Willet, +"and while I've found it hard to protect my men and myself, yet I must +go on. I could never return to Philadelphia and face our people +there." + +"It's a just view you take, Captain Colden," said Willet. + +"I feel, though, that my men and I are but children in the +woods. Yesterday and last night proved it. If you and your friends +continue with us our march may not be in vain." + +Willet glanced at Robert, and then at Tayoga. + +"Ours for the present, at least, is a roving commission," said young +Lennox. "It seems to me that the best we can do is to go with Captain +Colden." + +"I am not called back to the vale of Onondaga," said Tayoga, "I would +see the building of this fort that Captain Colden has planned." + +"Then we three are agreed," said the hunter. "It's best not to speak +to Black Rifle, because he'll follow his own notions anyway, and as +for Daganoweda and his Mohawks I think they're likely to resume their +march northward against the French border." + +"I'm grateful to you three," said Captain Colden, "and, now that it's +settled, we'll start as soon as we can." + +"Better give them all a good rest, and wait until the morning," said +the hunter. + +Again Captain Colden agreed with him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PERILOUS PATH + + +After a long night of sleep and rest, the little troop resumed its +march the next morning. The wounded fortunately were not hurt so +badly that they could not limp along with the others, and, while the +surgery of the soldiers was rude, it was effective nevertheless. +Daganoweda, as they had expected, prepared to leave them for a raid +toward the St. Lawrence. But he said rather grimly that he might +return, in a month perhaps. He knew where they were going to build +their fort, and unless Corlear and all the other British governors +awoke much earlier in the morning it was more than likely that the +young captain from Philadelphia would need the help of the Mohawks +again. + +Then Daganoweda said farewell to Robert, Tayoga, Willet and Black +Rifle, addressing each according to his quality. Them he trusted. He +knew them to be great warriors and daring rovers of the wilderness. +He had no advice for them, because he knew they did not need it, but +he expected them to be his comrades often in the great war, and he +wished them well. To Tayoga he said: + +"You and I, oh, young chief of the Onondagas, have hearts that beat +alike. The Onondagas do well to keep aloof from the white man's +quarrels for the present, and to sit at peace, though watchful, in the +vale of Onondaga, but your hopes are with our friends the English and +you in person fight for them. We Mohawks know whom to hate. We know +that the French have robbed us more than any others. We know, that +their Quebec is our Stadacona. So we have dug up the tomahawk and last +night we showed to Sharp Sword and his men and Tandakora the Ojibway +how we could use it." + +Sharp Sword was the Iroquois name for St. Luc, who had already proved +his great ability and daring as a forest leader. + +"The Ganeagaono are now the chief barrier against the French and their +tribes," said Tayoga. + +The brilliant eyes of Daganoweda glittered in his dark face. He knew +that Tayoga would not pay the Mohawks so high a compliment unless he +meant it. + +"Tayoga," he said, "we belong to the leading nations of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, you to the Onundahgaono and I to the +Ganeagaono. You are first in the council and we are first on the +warpath. It was Tododaho, the Onondaga, who first formed the great +League and it was Hayowentha, the Mohawk, who combed the snakes out of +his hair and who strengthened it and who helped him to build it so +firmly that it shall last forever. Brothers are we, and always shall +be." + +He touched his forehead in salute, and the Onondaga touched his in +reply. + +"Aye, brothers are we," he said, "Mohawk and Onondaga, Onondaga and +Mohawk. The great war of the white kings which draws us in it has +come, but I know that Hayowentha watches over his people, and Tododaho +over his. In the spring when I went forth in the night to fight the +Hurons I gazed off there in the west where shines the great star on +which Tododaho makes his home, and I saw him looking down upon me, and +casting about me the veil of his protection." + +Daganoweda looked up at the gleaming blue of the heavens, and his eyes +glittered again. He believed every word that Tayoga said. + +"As Tododaho watches over you, so Hayowentha watches over me," he +said, "and he will bring me back in safety and victory from the +St. Lawrence. Farewell again, my brother." + +"Farewell once more, Daganoweda!" + +The Mohawk chief plunged into the forest, and his fifty warriors +followed him. Like a shadow they were gone, and the waving bushes gave +back no sign that they had ever been. Captain Colden rubbed his eyes +and then laughed. + +"I never knew men to vanish so swiftly before," he said, "but last +night was good proof that they were here, and that they came in +time. I suppose it's about the only victory of which we can make +boast." + +He spoke the full truth. From the St. Lawrence to the Ohio the border +was already ravaged with fire and sword. Appeals for help were pouring +in from the distant settlements, and the governors of New York, +Pennsylvania and Massachusetts scarcely knew what to do. France had +struck the first blow, and she had struck hard. Young Washington, +defeated by overwhelming numbers, was going back to Virginia, and +Duquesne, the fort of the French at the junction of the Monongahela +and Allegheny, was a powerful rallying place for their own forces and +the swarming Indian bands, pouring out of the wilderness, drawn by the +tales of unlimited scalps and plunder. + +The task before Captain Colden's slender force was full of danger. His +numbers might have been five times as great and then they would not +have been too many to build and hold the fort he was sent to build and +hold. But he had no thought of turning back, and, as soon as +Daganoweda and the Mohawks were gone, they started, bending their +course somewhat farther toward the south. At the ford of a river +twenty men with horses carrying food, ammunition and other supplies +were to meet them, and they reckoned that they could reach it by +midnight. + +The men with the horses had been sent from another point, and it was +not thought then that there was any danger of French and Indian attack +before the junction was made, but the colonial authorities had +reckoned without the vigor and daring of St. Luc. Now the most cruel +fears assailed young Captain Colden, and Robert and the hunter could +not find much argument to remove them. It was possible that the second +force had been ambushed also, and, if so, it had certainly been +destroyed, being capable of no such resistance as that made by +Colden's men, and without the aid of the three friends and the +Mohawks. And if the supplies were gone the expedition would be +useless. + +"Don't be downhearted about it, captain," said Willet. "You say +there's not a man in the party who knows anything about the +wilderness, and that they've got just enough woods sense to take them +to the ford. Well, that has its saving grace, because now and then, +the Lord seems to watch over fool men. The best of hunters are trapped +sometimes in the forest, when fellows who don't know a deer from a +beaver, go through 'em without harm." + +"Then if there's any virtue in what you say we'll pray that these men +are the biggest fools who ever lived." + +"Smoke! smoke again!" called Robert cheerily, pointing straight ahead. + +Sure enough, that long dark thread appeared once more, now against the +western sky. Willet laughed. + +"They're the biggest fools in the forest, just as you hoped, Captain," +he said, "and they've taken no more harm than if they had built their +fires in a Philadelphia street. They've set themselves down for the +night, as peaceful and happy as you please. If that isn't the campfire +of your men with the pack horses then I'll eat my cap." + +Captain Colden laughed, but it was the slightly hysterical laugh of +relief. He was bent upon doing his task, and, since the Lord had +carried him so far through a mighty danger, the disappointment of +losing the supplies would have been almost too much to bear. + +"You're sure it's they, Mr. Willet?" he said. + +"Of course. Didn't I tell you it wasn't possible for another such +party of fools to be here in the wilderness, and that the God of the +white man and the Manitou of the red man taking pity on their +simplicity and innocence have protected them?" + +"I like to think what you say is true, Mr. Willet." + +"It's true. Be not afraid that it isn't. Now, I think we'd better stop +here, and let Robert and Tayoga go ahead, spy 'em out and make +signals. It would be just like 'em to blaze away at us the moment they +saw the bushes move with our coming." + +Captain Colden was glad to take his advice, and the white youth and +the red went forward silently through the forest, hearing the sound of +cheerful voices, as they drew near to the campfire which was a large +one blazing brightly. They also heard the sound of horses moving and +they knew that the detachment had taken no harm. Tayoga parted the +bushes and peered forth. + +"Look!" he said. "Surely they are watched over by Manitou!" + +About twenty men, or rather boys, for all of them were very young, +were standing or lying about a fire. A tall, very ruddy youth in the +uniform of a colonial lieutenant was speaking to them. + +"Didn't I tell you, lads," he said, "there wasn't an Indian nearer +than Fort Duquesne, and that's a long way from here! We've come a +great distance and not a foe has appeared anywhere. It may be that the +French vanish when they hear this valiant Quaker troop is coming, but +it's my own personal opinion they'll stay pretty well back in the west +with their red allies." + +The youth, although he called himself so, did not look much like a +Quaker to Robert. He had a frank face and merry eyes, and manner and +voice indicated a tendency to gayety. Judging from his words he had no +cares and Indians and ambush were far from his thoughts. Proof of this +was the absence of sentinels. The men, scattered about the fire, were +eating their suppers and the horses, forty in number, were grazing in +an open space. It all looked like a great picnic, and the effect was +heightened by the youth of the soldiers. + +"As the Great Bear truly said," whispered Tayoga, "Manitou has watched +over them. The forest does not hold easier game for the taking, and +had Tandakora known that they were here he would have come seeking +revenge for his loss in the attack upon Captain Colden's troop." + +"You're right as usual, Tayoga, and now we'd better hail them. But +don't you come forward just yet. They don't know the difference +between Indians and likely your welcome would be a bullet." + +"I will wait," said Tayoga. + +"I tell you, Carson," the young lieutenant was saying in an oratorical +manner, "that they magnify the dangers of the wilderness. The ford at +which we were to meet Colden is just ahead, and we've come straight to +it without the slightest mishap. Colden is no sluggard, and he should +be here in the morning at the latest. Do you find anything wrong with +my reasoning, Hugh?" + +"Naught, William," replied the other, who seemed to be second in +command. "Your logic is both precise and beautiful. The dangers of the +border are greatly exaggerated, and as soon as we get together a good +force all these French and Indians will flee back to Canada. Ah, who +is this?" + +Both he and his chief turned and faced the woods in astonishment. A +youth had stepped forth, and stood in full view. He was taller than +either, but younger, dressed completely in deerskin, although superior +in cut and quality to that of the ordinary borderer, his complexion +fair beneath his tan, and his hair light. He gazed at them steadily +with bright blue eyes, and both the first lieutenant and the second +lieutenant of the Quaker troop saw that he was no common person. + +"Who are you?" repeated William Wilton, who was the first lieutenant. + +"Who are you?" repeated Hugh Carson, who was the second lieutenant. + +"My name is Robert Lennox," replied the young stranger in a mellow +voice of amazing quality, "and you, I suppose, are Lieutenant William +Wilton, the commander of this little troop." + +He spoke directly to the first lieutenant, who replied, impressed as +much by the youth's voice as he was by his appearance: + +"Yes, such is my name. But how did you know it? I don't recall ever +having met you before, which doubtless is my loss." + +"I heard it from an associate of yours, your chief in command, Captain +James Colden, and I am here with a message from him." + +"And so Colden is coming up? Well, we beat him to the place of +meeting. We've triumphed with ease over the hardships of the +wilderness." "Yes, you arrived first, but he was delayed by a matter +of importance, a problem that had to be solved before he could resume +his march." + +"You speak in riddles, sir." + +"Perhaps I do for the present, but I shall soon make full +explanations. I wish to call first a friend of mine, an +Indian--although you say there are no Indians in the forest--a most +excellent friend of ours. Tayoga, come!" + +The Onondaga appeared silently in the circle of light, a splendid +primeval figure, drawn to the uttermost of his great height, his lofty +gaze meeting that of Wilton, half in challenge and half in +greeting. Robert had been an impressive figure, but Tayoga, owing to +the difference in race, was even more so. The hands of several of the +soldiers moved towards their weapons. + +"Did I not tell you that he was a friend, a most excellent friend of +ours?" said Robert sharply. "Who raises a hand against him raises a +hand against me also, and above all raises a hand against our +cause. Lieutenant Wilton, this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee. He is a +prince, as much a prince as any in Europe. His mind and his valor have +both been expended freely in our service, and they will be expended +with equal freedom again." + +Robert's tone was so sharp and commanding that Wilton, impressed by +it, saluted the Onondaga with the greatest courtesy, and Tayoga bowed +gravely in reply. + +"You're correct in assuming that my name is Wilton," said the young +lieutenant. "I'm William Wilton, of Philadelphia, and I beg to present +my second in command, Hugh Carson, of the same city." + +He looked questioningly at Robert, who promptly responded: + +"My name is Lennox, Robert Lennox, and I can claim either Albany or +New York as a home." + +"I think I've heard of you," said Wilton. "A rumor came to +Philadelphia about a man of that name going to Quebec on an errand for +the governor of New York." + +"I was the messenger," said Robert, "but since the mission was a +failure it may as well be forgotten." + +"But it will not be forgotten. I've heard that you bore yourself with +great judgment and address. Nevertheless, if your modesty forbids the +subject we'll come back to another more pressing. What did you mean +when you said Captain Colden's delay was due to the solution of a +vexing problem?" + +"It had to do with Indians, who you say are not to be found in these +forests. I could not help overhearing you, as I approached your camp." + +Wilton reddened and then his generous impulse and sense of truth came +to his aid. + +"I'll admit that I'm careless and that my knowledge may be small!" he +exclaimed. "But tell me the facts, Mr. Lennox. I judge by your face +that events of grave importance have occurred." + +"Captain Colden, far east of this point, was attacked by a strong +force of French and Indians under the renowned partisan leader, +St. Luc. Tayoga, David Willet, the hunter, the famous ranger Black +Rifle and I were able to warn him and give him some help, but even +then we should have been overborne and destroyed had not a Mohawk +chief, Daganoweda, and a formidable band come to our aid. United, we +defeated St. Luc and drove him northward. Captain Colden lost several +of his men, but with the rest he is now marching to the junction with +you." + +Wilton's face turned gray, but in a moment or two his eyes brightened. + +"Then a special Providence has been watching over us," he said. "We +haven't seen or heard of an Indian." + +His tone was one of mingled relief and humor, and Robert could not +keep from laughing. + +"At all events," he said, "you are safe for the present. I'll remain +with you while Tayoga goes back for Captain Colden." + +"If you'll be so good," said Wilton, who did not forget his manners, +despite the circumstances. "I've begun to feel that we have more eyes, +or at least better ones, with you among us. Where is that Indian? You +don't mean to say he's gone?" + +Robert laughed again. Tayoga, after his fashion, had vanished in +silence. + +"He's well on his way to Captain Colden now," he said, exaggerating a +little for the sake of effect. "He'll be a great chief some day, and +meanwhile he's the fastest runner in the whole Six Nations." + +Colden and his troop arrived soon, and the two little commands were +united, to the great joy of all. Lieutenant Wilton had passed from +the extreme of confidence to the utmost distrust. Where it had not +been possible for an Indian to exist he now saw a scalplock in every +bush. + +"On my honor," he said to Colden, "James, I was never before in my +life so happy to see you. I'm glad you have the entire command now. As +Mr. Lennox said, Providence saved me so far, but perhaps it wouldn't +lend a helping hand any longer." + +The pack horses carried surgical supplies for the wounded, and Willet +and Black Rifle were skillful in using them. All of the hurt, they +were sure would be well again within a week, and there was little to +mar the general feeling of high spirits that prevailed in the +camp. Wilton and Carson were lads of mettle, full of talk of +Philadelphia, then the greatest city in the British Colonies, and +related to most of its leading families, as was Colden too, his family +being a branch of the New York family of that name. Robert was at home +with them at once, and they were eager to hear from him about Quebec +and the latest fashions of the French, already the arbiters of +fashion, and recognized as such, despite the war between them, by +English and Americans. + +"I had hoped to go to Quebec myself," said Wilton reflectively, "but I +suppose it's a visit that's delayed for a long time now." + +"How does it happen that you, a Quaker, are second in command here?" +asked Robert. + +"It must be the belligerency repressed through three or four +generations and breaking out at last in me," replied Wilton, his eyes +twinkling. "I suppose there's just so much fighting in every family, +and if three or four generations in succession are peaceful the next +that follows is likely to be full of warlike fury. So, as soon as the +war began I started for it. It's not inherent in me. As I said, it's +the confined ardor of generations bursting forth suddenly in my +person. I'm not an active agent. I'm merely an instrument." + +"It was the same warlike fury that caused you to come here, build your +fire and set no watch, expecting the woods to be as peaceful as +Philadelphia?" said Colden. + +Wilton colored. + +"I didn't dream the French and Indians were so near," he replied +apologetically. + +"If comparisons are valuable you needn't feel any mortification about +it, Will," said Colden. "I was just about as careless myself, and all +of us would have lost our scalps, if Willet, Lennox and Tayoga hadn't +come along." + +Wilton was consoled. But both he and Colden after the severe lesson +the latter had received were now all for vigilance. Many sentinels had +been posted, and since Colden was glad to follow the advice of Willet +and Tayoga they were put in the best places. They let the fire die +early, as the weather had now become very warm, and all of them, save +the watch soon slept. The night brought little coolness with it, and +the wind that blew was warm and drying. Under its touch the leaves +began to crinkle up at the edge and turn brown, the grass showed signs +of withering and Willet, who had taken charge of the guard that night, +noticed that summer was passing into the brown leaf. It caused him a +pang of disappointment. + +Great Britain and the Colonies had not yet begun to move. The +Provincial legislatures still wrangled, and the government at London +was provokingly slow. There was still no plan of campaign, the great +resources of the Anglo-Saxons had not yet been brought together for +use against the quick and daring French, and while their slow, patient +courage might win in the end, Willet foresaw a long and terrible war +with many disasters at the beginning. + +He was depressed for the moment. He knew what an impression the early +French successes would make on the Indian tribes, and he knew, too, as +he heard the wind rustling through the dry leaves, that there would be +no English campaign that year. One might lead an army in winter on the +good roads and through the open fields of Europe, but then only +borderers could make way through the vast North American wilderness in +the deep snows and bitter cold, where Indian trails alone existed. The +hunter foresaw a long delay before the British and Colonial forces +moved, and meanwhile the French and Indians would be more strongly +planted in the territory claimed by the rival nations, and, while in +law possession was often nine points, it seemed in war to be ten +points and all. + +As he walked back and forth Black Rifle touched him on the arm. + +"I'm going, Dave," he said. "They don't need me here any +longer. Daganoweda and his Mohawks, likely enough, will follow the +French and Indians, and have another brush with 'em. At any rate, it's +sure that St. Luc and Tandakora won't come back, and these young men +can go on without being attacked again and build their fort. But +they'll be threatened there later on, and I'll come again with a +warning." + +"I know you will," said Willet. "Wherever danger appears on the +border, Black Rifle, there you are. I see great and terrible days +ahead for us all." + +"And so do I," said Black Rifle. "This continent is on fire." + +The two shook hands, and the somber figure of Black Rifle disappeared +in the forest. Willet looked after him thoughtfully, and then resumed +his pacing to and fro. + +They made an early start at dawn of a bright hot day, crossed the +ford, and resumed their long march through the forest which under the +light wind now rustled continually with the increasing dryness. + +But the company was joyous. The wounded were put upon the pack horses, +and the others, young, strong and refreshed by abundant rest, went +forward with springing steps. Robert and Tayoga walked with the three +Philadelphians. Colden already knew the quality of the Onondaga, and +respected and admired him, and Wilton and Carson, surprised at first +at his excellent English education, soon saw that he was no ordinary +youth. The five, each a type of his own, were fast friends before the +day's march was over. Wilton, the Quaker, was the greatest talker of +them all, which he declared was due to suppression in childhood. + +"It's something like the battle fever which will come out along about +the fourth or fifth generation," he said. "I suppose there's a certain +amount of talk that every man must do in his lifetime, and, having +been kept in a state of silence by my parents all through my youth, +I'm now letting myself loose in the woods." + +"Don't apologize, Will," said Colden. "Your chatter is harmless, and +it lightens the spirits of us all." + +"The talker has his uses," said Tayoga gravely. "My friend Lennox, +known to the Hodenosaunee as Dagaeoga, is golden-mouthed. The gift of +great speech descends upon him when time and place are fitting." + +"And so you're an orator, are you?" said Carson, looking at Robert. + +Young Lennox blushed. + +"Tayoga is my very good friend," he replied, "and he gives me praise I +don't deserve." + +"When one has a gift direct from Manitou," said the Onondaga, gravely, +"it is not well to deny it. It is a sign of great favor, and you must +not show ingratitude, Dagaeoga." + +"He has you, Lennox," laughed Wilton, "but you needn't say more. I +know that Tayoga is right, and I'm waiting to hear you talk in a +crisis." + +Robert blushed once more, but was silent. He knew that if he protested +again the young Philadelphians would chaff him without mercy, and he +knew at heart also that Tayoga's statement about him was true. He +remembered with pride his defeat of St. Luc in the great test of words +in the vale of Onondaga. But Wilton's mind quickly turned to another +subject. He seemed to exemplify the truth of his own declaration that +all the impulses bottled up in four or five generations of Quaker +ancestors were at last bursting out in him. He talked more than all +the others combined, and he rejoiced in the freedom of the wilderness. + +"I'm a spirit released," he said. "That's why I chatter so." + +"Perhaps it's just as well, Will, that while you have the chance you +should chatter to your heart's content, because at any time an Indian +arrow may cut short your chance for chattering," said Carson. + +"I can't believe it, Hugh," said Wilton, "because if Providence was +willing to preserve us, when we camped squarely among the Indians, put +out no guards, and fairly asked them to come and shoot at us, then it +was for a purpose and we'll be preserved through greater and +continuous dangers." + +"There may be something in it, Will. I notice that those who deserve +it least are often the chosen favorites of fortune." + +"Which seems to be a hit at your superior officer, but I'll pass it +over, Hugh, as you're always right at heart though often wrong in the +head." + +Although the young officers talked much and with apparent lightness, +the troop marched with vigilance now. Willet and Tayoga, and Colden, +who had profited by bitter experience, saw to it. The hunter and the +Onondaga, often assisted by Robert, scouted on the flanks, and three +or four soldiers, who developed rapid skill in the woods, were soon +able to help. But Tayoga and Willet were the main reliance, and they +found no further trace of Indians. Nevertheless the guard was never +relaxed for an instant. + +Robert found the march not only pleasant but exhilarating. It +appealed to his imaginative and sensitive mind, which magnified +everything, and made the tints more vivid and brilliant. To him the +forests were larger and grander than they were to the others, and the +rivers were wider and deeper. The hours were more intense, he lived +every second of them, and the future had a scope and brilliancy that +few others would foresee. In company with youths of his own age coming +from the largest city of the British colonies, the one that had the +richest social traditions, his whole nature expanded, and he cast away +much of his reserve. Around the campfires in the evening he became one +of the most industrious talkers, and now and then he was carried away +so much by his own impulse that all the rest would cease and listen to +the mellow, golden voice merely for the pleasure of hearing. Then +Tayoga and Willet would look at each other and smile, knowing that +Dagaeoga, though all unconsciously, held the center of the stage, and +the others were more than willing for him to hold it. + +The friendships of the young ripen fast, and under such circumstances +they ripen faster than ever. Robert soon felt that he had known the +three young Philadelphians for years, and a warm friendship, destined +to last all their lives, in which Tayoga was included, was soon +formed. Robert saw that his new comrades, although they did not know +much of the forest, were intelligent, staunch and brave, and they saw +in him all that Tayoga and Willet saw, which was a great deal. + +The heat and dryness increased, and the brown of leaf and grass +deepened. Nearly all the green was gone now, and autumn would soon +come. The forest was full of game, and Willet and Tayoga kept them +well supplied, yet their progress became slower. Those who had been +wounded severely approached the critical stage, and once they stopped +two days until all danger had passed. + +Three days later a fierce summer storm burst upon them. Tayoga had +foreseen it, and the whole troop was gathered in the lee of a hill, +with all their ammunition protected by blankets, canvas and the skins +of deer that they had killed. But the young Philadelphians, +unaccustomed to the fury of the elements in the wilderness, looked +upon it with awe. + +In the west the lightning blazed and the thunder crashed for a long +time. Often the forest seemed to swim in a red glare, and Robert +himself was forced to shut his eyes before the rapid flashes of +dazzling brightness. Then came a great rushing of wind with a mighty +rain on its edge, and, when the wind died, the rain fell straight down +in torrents more than an hour. + +Although they kept their ammunition and other supplies dry the men +themselves were drenched to the bone, but the storm passed more +suddenly than it had come. The clouds parted on the horizon, then all +fled away. The last raindrop fell and a shining sun came out in a hot +blue sky. As the men resumed a drooping march their clothes dried fast +in the fiery rays and their spirits revived. + +When night came they were dry again, and youth had taken no harm. The +next day they struck an Indian trail, but both Willet and Tayoga said +it had been made by less than a dozen warriors, and that they were +going north. + +"It's my belief," said Willet, "that they were warriors from the Ohio +country on their way to join the French along the Canadian border." + +"And they're not staying to meet us," said Colden. "I'm afraid, Will, +it'll be some time before you have a chance to show your unbottled +Quaker valor." + +"Perhaps not so long as you think," replied Wilton, who had plenty of +penetration. "I don't claim to be any great forest rover, although I +do think I've learned something since I left Philadelphia, but I +imagine that our building of a fort in the woods will draw 'em. The +Indian runners will soon be carrying the news of it, and then they'll +cluster around us like flies seeking sugar." + +"You're right, Mr. Wilton," said Willet. "After we build this fort +it's as sure as the sun is in the heavens that we'll have to fight for +it." + +Two days later they reached the site for their little fortress which +they named Fort Refuge, because they intended it as a place in which +harried settlers might find shelter. It was a hill near a large creek, +and the source of a small brook lay within the grounds they intended +to occupy, securing to them an unfailing supply of good water in case +of siege. + +Now, the young soldiers entered upon one of the most arduous tasks of +the war, to build a fort, which was even more trying to them than +battle. Arms and backs ached as Colden, Wilton and Carson, advised by +Willet, drove them hard. A strong log blockhouse was erected, and then +a stout palisade, enclosing the house and about an acre of ground, +including the precious spring which spouted from under a ledge of +stone at the very wall of the blockhouse itself. Behind the building +they raised a shed in which the horses could be sheltered, as all of +them foresaw a long stay, dragging into winter with its sleet and +snow, and it was important to save the animals. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga had a roving commission, and, as they could +stay with Colden and his command as long as they chose, they chose +accordingly to remain where they thought they could do the most +good. Robert took little part in the hunting, but labored with the +soldiers on the building, although it was not the kind of work to +which his mind turned. + +The blockhouse itself, was divided into a number of rooms, in which +the soldiers who were not on guard could sleep, and they had blankets +and the skins of the larger animals the hunters killed for +beds. Venison jerked in great quantities was stored away in case of +siege, and the whole forest was made to contribute to their +larder. The work was hard, but it toughened the sinews of the young +soldiers, and gave them an occupation in which they were interested. +Before it was finished they were joined by another small detachment +with loaded pack horses, which by the same kind of miracle had come +safely through the wilderness. Colden now had a hundred men, fifty +horses and powder and lead for all the needs of which one could think. + +"If we only had a cannon!" he said, looking proudly at their new +blockhouse, "I think I'd build a platform for it there on the roof, +and then we could sweep the forest in every direction. Eh, Will, my +lad?" + +"But as we haven't," said Wilton, "we'll have to do the sweeping with +our rifles." + +"And our men are good marksmen, as they showed in that fight with +St. Luc. But it seems a world away from Philadelphia, doesn't it, +Will? I wonder what they're doing there!" + +"Counting their gains in the West India trade, looking at the latest +fashions from England that have come on the ships up the Delaware, +building new houses out Germantown way, none of them thinking much of +the war, except old Ben Franklin, who pegs forever at the governor of +the Province, the Legislature, and every influential man to take +action before the French and Indians seize the whole border." + +"I hope Franklin will stir 'em up, and that they won't forget us out +here in the woods. For us at least the French and Indians are a +reality." + +Meanwhile summer had turned into autumn, and autumn itself was +passing. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RUNNER + + +Fort Refuge, the stronghold raised by young arms, was the most distant +point in the wilderness held by the Anglo-American forces, and for a +long time it was cut off entirely from the world. No message came out +of the great forest that rimmed it round, but Colden had been told to +build it and hold it until he had orders to leave it, and he and his +men waited patiently, until word of some kind should come or they +should be attacked by the French and Indian forces that were gathering +continually in the north. + +They saw the autumn reach its full glory. The wilderness glowed in +intense yellows and reds. The days grew cool, and the nights cold, the +air was crisp and fresh like the breath of life, the young men felt +their muscles expand and their courage rise, and they longed for the +appearance of the enemy, sure that behind their stout palisade they +would be able to defeat whatever numbers came. + +Tayoga left them early one morning for a visit to his people. The +leaves were falling then under a sharp west wind, and the sky had a +cold, hard tint of blue steel. Winter was not far away, but the day +suited a runner like Tayoga who wished to make speed through the +wilderness. He stood for a moment or two at the edge of the forest, a +strong, slender figure outlined against the brown, waved his hand to +his friends watching on the palisade, and then disappeared. + +"A great Indian," said young Wilton thoughtfully. "I confess that I +never knew much about the red men or thought much about them until I +met him. I don't recall having come into contact with a finer mind of +its kind." + +"Most of the white people make the mistake of undervaluing the +Indians," said Robert, "but we'll learn in this war what a power they +are. If the Hodenosaunee had turned against us we'd have been beaten +already." + +"At any rate, Tayoga is a noble type. Since I had to come into the +forest I'm glad to meet such fellows as he. Do you think, Lennox, that +he'll get through safely?" + +Robert laughed. + +"Get through safely?" he repeated. "Why, Tayoga is the fastest runner +among the Indian nations, and they train for speed. He goes like the +wind, he never tires, night and day are the same to him, he's so light +of foot that he could pass through a band of his own comrades and they +would never know he was there, and yet his own ears are so keen that +he can hear the leaves falling a hundred yards away. The path from +here to the vale of Onondaga may be lined on either side with the +French and the hostile tribes, standing as thick as trees in the +forest, but he will flit between them as safely and easily as you and +I would ride along a highroad into Philadelphia. He will arrive at the +vale of Onondaga, unharmed, at the exact minute he intends to arrive, +and he will return, reaching Fort Refuge also on the exact day, and at +the exact hour and minute he has already selected." + +The young Quaker surveyed Robert with admiration and then laughed. + +"What they tell of you is true," he said. "In truth that was a most +gorgeous and rounded speech you made about your friend. I don't recall +finer and more flowing periods! What vividness! What imagery! I'm +proud to know you, Lennox!" + +Robert reddened and then laughed. + +"I do grow enthusiastic when I talk about Tayoga," he said, "but +you'll see that what I predict will come to pass. He's probably told +Willet just when he'll be back at Fort Refuge. We'll ask him." + +The hunter informed them that Tayoga intended to take exactly ten +days. + +"This is Monday," he said. "He'll be here a week from next Thursday at +noon." + +"But suppose something happens to detain him," said Wilton, "suppose +the weather is too bad for traveling, or suppose a lot of other things +that can happen easily." + +Willet shrugged his shoulders. + +"In such a case as this where Tayoga is concerned," he said, "we don't +suppose anything, we go by certainties. Before he left, Tayoga +settled the day and the hour when he would return and it's not now a +problem or a question. He has disposed of the subject." + +"I can't quite see it that way," said Wilton tenaciously. "I admit +that Tayoga is a wonderful fellow, but he cannot possibly tell the +exact hour of his return from such a journey as the one he has +undertaken." + +"You wait and see," said the hunter in the utmost good nature. "You +think you know Tayoga, but you don't yet know him fully." + +"If I were not a Quaker I'd wager a small sum of money that he does +not come at the time appointed," said Wilton. + +"Then it's lucky for your pocket that you're a Quaker," laughed +Willet. + +It turned much colder that very afternoon, and the raw edge of winter +showed. The wind from the northwest was bitter and the dead leaves +fell in showers. At dusk a chilling rain began, and the young +soldiers, shivering, were glad enough to seek the shelter of the +blockhouse, where a great fire was blazing on the broad hearth. They +had made many rude camp stools and sitting down on one before the +blaze Wilton let the pleasant warmth fall upon his face. + +"I'm sorry for Tayoga," he said to Robert. "Just when you and Willet +were boasting most about him this winter rain had to come and he was +no more than fairly started. He'll have to hunt a den somewhere in the +forest and crouch in it wrapped in his blanket." + +Robert smiled serenely. + +"Den! Crouch! Wrapped in his blanket! What do you mean?" he asked in +his mellow, golden voice. "Are you speaking of my friend, Tayoga, of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee? Can it be possible, Wilton, that you are referring +to him, when you talk of such humiliating subterfuges?" + +"I refer to him and none other, Lennox. I see him now, stumbling about +in the deep forest, looking for shelter." + +"No, Wilton, you don't see Tayoga. You merely see an idle figment of a +brain that does not yet fully know my friend, the great young Onondaga. +But _I_ see him, and I see him clearly. I behold a tall, strong figure, +head slightly bent against the rain, eyes that see in the dark as well +as yours see in the brightest sunlight, feet that move surely and +steadily in the path, never stumbling and never veering, tireless +muscles that carry him on without slackening." + +"Dithyrambic again, Lennox. You are certainly loyal to your friend. As +for me, I'm glad I'm not out there in the black and wet forest. No +human being can keep to his pace at such a time." + +Robert again smiled serenely, but he said nothing more. His confidence +was unlimited. Presently he wrapped around his body a rude but +serviceable overcoat of beaver skin that he had made for himself, and +went out. The cold, drizzling icy rain that creeps into one's veins +was still falling, and he shivered despite his furs. He looked toward +the northeast whither Tayoga's course took him, and he felt sorry for +his red comrade, but he never doubted that he was speeding on his way +with sure and unfaltering step. + +The sentinels, mounted on the broad plank that ran behind the +palisade, were walking to and fro, wrapped to their eyes. A month or +two earlier they might have left everything on such a night to take +care of itself, but now they knew far better. Captain Colden, with the +terrible lesson of the battle in the bush, had become a strict +disciplinarian, and Willet was always at his elbow with unobtrusive +but valuable advice which the young Philadelphian had the good sense +to welcome. + +Robert spoke to them, and one or two referred to the Indian runner who +had gone east, saying that he might have had a better night for his +start. The repetition of Wilton's words depressed Robert for a moment, +but his heart came back with a bound. Nothing could defeat +Tayoga. Did he not know his red comrade? The wilderness was like a +trimmed garden to him, and neither rain, nor hail, nor snow could stop +him. + +As he said the word "hail" to himself it came, pattering upon the dead +leaves and the palisade in a whirlwind of white pellets. Again he +shivered, and knowing it was no use to linger there returned inside, +where most of the men had already gone to sleep. He stretched himself +on his blanket and followed them in slumber. When he awoke the next +morning it was still hailing, and Wilton said in a serious tone that +he hoped Tayoga would give up the journey and come back to Fort +Refuge. + +"I like that Onondaga," he said, "and I don't want him to freeze to +death in the forest. Why, the earth and all the trees are coated with +ice now, and even if a man lives he is able to make no progress." + +Once more Robert smiled serenely. + +"You're thinking of the men you knew in Philadelphia, Will," he +said. "They, of course, couldn't make such a flight through a white +forest, but Tayoga is an altogether different kind of fellow. He'll +merely exert himself a little more, and go on as fast as ever." + +Wilton looked at the vast expanse of glittering ice, and then drew the +folds of a heavy cloak more closely about his body. + +"I rejoice," he said, "that it's the Onondaga and not myself who has +to make the great journey. I rejoice, too, that we have built this +fort. It's not Philadelphia, that fine, true, comfortable city, but +it's shelter against the hard winter that I see coming so fast." + +Colden, still following the advice of Willet, kept his men busy, +knowing that idleness bred discontent and destroyed discipline. At +least a dozen soldiers, taught by Willet and Robert, had developed +into excellent hunters, and as the game was abundant, owing to the +absence of Indians, they had killed deer, bear, panther and all the +other kinds of animals that ranged these forests. The flesh of such as +were edible was cured and stored, as they foresaw the day when many +people might be in Fort Refuge and the food would be needed. The skins +also were dressed and were put upon the floor or hung upon the +walls. The young men working hard were happy nevertheless, as they +were continually learning new arts. And the life was healthy to an +extraordinary degree. All the wounded were as whole as before, and +everybody acquired new and stronger muscles. + +Their content would have been yet greater in degree had they been able +to learn what was going on outside, in that vast world where France +and Britain and their colonies contended so fiercely for the +mastery. But they looked at the wall of the forest, and it was a +blank. They were shut away from all things as completely as Crusoe on +his island. Nor would they hear a single whisper until Tayoga came +back--if he came back. + +On the second day after the Onondaga's departure the air softened, but +became darker. The glittering white of the forest assumed a more +somber tinge, clouds marched up in solemn procession from the +southwest, and mobilized in the center of the heavens, a wind, touched +with damp, blew. Robert knew very well what the elements portended and +again he was sorry for Tayoga, but as before, after the first few +moments of discouragement his courage leaped up higher than ever. His +brilliant imagination at once painted a picture in which every detail +was vivid and full of life, and this picture was of a vast forest, +trees and bushes alike clothed in ice, and in the center of it a +slender figure, but straight, tall and strong, Tayoga himself speeding +on like the arrow from the bow, never wavering, never weary. Then his +mind allowed the picture to fade. Wilton might not believe Tayoga +could succeed, but how could this young Quaker know Tayoga as he knew +him? + +The clouds, having finished their mobilization in the center of the +heavens, soon spread to the horizon on every side. Then a single great +white flake dropped slowly and gracefully from the zenith, fell within +the palisade, and melted before the eyes of Robert and Wilton. But it +was merely a herald of its fellows which, descending at first like +skirmishers, soon thickened into companies, regiments, brigades, +divisions and armies. Then all the air was filled with the flakes, and +they were so thick they could not see the forest. + +"The first snow of the winter and a big one," said Wilton, "and again +I give thanks for our well furnished fort. There may be greater +fortresses in Europe, and of a certainty there are many more famous, +but there is none finer to me than this with its' stout log walls, its +strong, broad roofs, and its abundance of supplies. Once more, though, +I'm sorry for your friend, Tayoga. A runner may go fast over ice, if +he's extremely sure of foot and his moccasins are good, but I know of +no way in which he can speed like the gull in its flight through deep +snow." + +"Not through the snow, but he may be on it," said Robert. + +"And how on it, wise but cryptic young sir?" + +"Snow shoes." + +"But he took none with him and had none to take." + +"Which proves nothing. The Indians often hide in the forest articles +they'll need at some far day. A canoe may be concealed in a thicket at +the creek's edge, a bow and arrows may be thrust away under a ledge, +all awaiting the coming of their owner when he needs them most." + +"The chance seems too small to me, Lennox. I can't think a pair of +snow shoes will rise out of the forest just when Tayoga wants 'em, +walk up to him and say: 'Please strap us on your feet.' I make +concession freely that the Onondaga is a most wonderful fellow, but he +can't work miracles. He does not hold such complete mastery over the +wilderness that it will obey his lightest whisper. I read fairy tales +in my youth and they pleased me much, but alas! they were fairy +tales! The impossible doesn't happen!" + +"Who's the great talker now? Your words were flowing then like the +trickling of water from a spout. But you're wrong, Will, about the +impossible. The impossible often happens. Great spirits like Tayoga +love the impossible. It draws them on, it arouses their energy, they +think it worth while. I've seen Tayoga more than once since he +started, as plainly as I see you, Will. Now, I shut my eyes and I +behold him once more. He's in the forest. The snow is pouring down. It +lies a foot deep on the ground, the boughs bend with it, and sometimes +they crack under it with a report like that of a rifle. The tops of +the bushes crowned with white bend their weight toward the ground, the +panthers, the wolves, and the wildcats all lie snug in their +dens. It's a dead world save for one figure. Squarely in the center of +it I see Tayoga, bent over a little, but flying straight forward at a +speed that neither you nor I could match, Will. His feet do not sink +in the snow. He skims upon it like a swallow through the air. His feet +are encased in something long and narrow. He has on snow shoes and he +goes like the wind!" + +"You do have supreme confidence in the Onondaga, Lennox!" + +"So would you if you knew him as I do, Will, a truth I've told you +several times already." + +"But he can't provide for every emergency!" + +"Must I tell you for the twentieth time that you don't know Tayoga as +I know him?" + +"No, Lennox, but I'll wait and see what happens." + +The fall of snow lasted the entire day and the following night. The +wilderness was singularly beautiful, but it was also inaccessible, +comfortable for those in the fort, but outside the snow lay nearly two +feet deep. + +"I hope that vision of yours comes true," said Wilton to Robert, as +they looked at the forest. "They say the Highland Scotch can go into +trances or something of that kind, and look into the future, and I +believe the Indians claim the gift, but I've never heard that English +and Americans assumed the possession of such powers." + +"I'm no seer," laughed Robert. "I merely use my imagination and +produce for myself a picture of things two or three days ahead." + +"Which comes to the same thing. Well, we'll see. I take so great an +interest in the journey of your Onondaga friend that somehow I feel +myself traveling along with him." + +"I know I'm going with him or I wouldn't have seen him flying ahead on +his snow shoes. But come, Will, I've promised to teach you how to sew +buckskin with tendons and sinews, and I'm going to see that you do +it." + +The snow despite its great depth was premature, because on the fourth +day soft winds began to blow, and all the following night a warm rain +fell. It came down so fast that the whole earth was flooded, and the +air was all fog and mist. The creek rose far beyond its banks, and the +water stood in pools and lakes in the forest. + +"Now, in very truth, our friend Tayoga has been compelled to seek a +lair," said Wilton emphatically. "His snow shoes would be the +sorriest of drags upon his feet in mud and water, and without them he +will sink to his knees. The wilderness has become impassable." + +Robert laughed. + +"I see no way out of it for him," said Wilton. + +"But I do." + +"Then what, in Heaven's name, is it?" + +"I not only see the way for Tayoga, but I shut my eyes once more and I +see him using it. He has put away his snow shoes, and, going to the +thick bushes at the edge of a creek, he has taken out his hidden +canoe. He has been in it some time, and with mighty sweeps of the +paddle, that he knows so well how to use, it flies like a wild duck +over the water. Now he passes from the creek into a river flowing +eastward, and swollen by the floods to a vast width. The rain has +poured upon him, but he does not mind it. The powerful exercise with +the paddles dries his body, and sends the pleasant warmth through +every vein. His feet and ankles rest, after his long flight on the +snow shoes, and his heart swells with pleasure, because it is one of +the easiest parts of his journey. His rifle is lying by his side, and +he could seize it in a moment should an enemy appear, but the forest +on either side of the stream is deserted, and he speeds on unhindered. +There may be better canoemen in the world than Tayoga, but I doubt +it." + +"Come, come, Lennox! You go too far! I can admit the possibility of +the snow shoes and their appearance at the very moment they're needed, +but the evocation of a river and a canoe at the opportune instant puts +too high a strain upon credibility." + +"Then don't believe it unless you wish to do so," laughed Robert, "but +as for me I'm not only believing it, but I'm almost at the stage of +knowing it." + +The flood was so great that all hunting ceased for the time, and the +men stayed under shelter in the fort, while the fires were kept +burning for the sake of both warmth and cheer. But they were on the +edge of the great Ohio Valley, where changes in temperature are often +rapid and violent. The warm rain ceased, the wind came out of the +southwest cold and then colder. The logs of the buildings popped with +the contracting cold all through the following night and the next dawn +came bright, clear and still, but far below zero. The ice was thick +on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered. The trees and +bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver +mail. Breath curled away like smoke from the lips. + +"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in +the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it until a thaw +comes." + +Robert laughed with genuine amusement and also with a certain scorn. + +"I've told you many times, Will," he said, "that you didn't know all +about Tayoga, but now it seems that you know nothing about him." + +"Well, then, wherein am I wrong, Sir Robert the Omniscient?" asked +Wilton. + +"In your assumption that Tayoga would not foresee what was +coming. Having spent nearly all his life with nature he has naturally +been forced to observe all of its manifestations, even the most +delicate. And when you add to these necessities the powers of an +exceedingly strong and penetrating mind you have developed faculties +that can cope with almost anything. Tayoga foresaw this big freeze, +and I can tell you exactly what he did as accurately as if I had been +there and had seen it. He kept to the river and his canoe almost until +the first thin skim of ice began to show. Then he paddled to land, and +hid the canoe again among thick bushes. He raised it up a little on +low boughs in such a manner that it would not touch the water. Thus it +was safe from the ice, and so leaving it well hidden and in proper +condition, and situation, he sped on." + +"Of course you're a master with words, Robert, and the longer they are +the better you seem to like 'em, but how is the Onondaga to make speed +over the ice which now covers the earth? Snow shoes, I take it, would +not be available upon such a smooth and tricky surface, and, at any +rate, he has left them far behind." + +"In part of your assumption you're right, Will. Tayoga hasn't the +snow shoes now, and he wouldn't use 'em if he had 'em. He foresaw the +possibility of the freeze, and took with him in his pack a pair of +heavy moose skin moccasins with the hair on the outside. They're so +rough they do not slip on the ice, especially when they inclose the +feet of a runner, so wiry, so agile and so experienced as Tayoga. Once +more I close my eyes and I see his brown figure shooting through the +white forest. He goes even faster than he did when he had on the snow +shoes, because whenever he comes to a slope he throws himself back +upon his heels and lets himself slide down the ice almost at the speed +of a bird darting through the air." + +"If you're right, Lennox, your red friend is not merely a marvel, but +a series of marvels." + +"I'm right, Will. I do not doubt it. At the conclusion of the tenth +day when Tayoga arrives on the return from the vale of Onondaga you +will gladly admit the truth." + +"There can be no doubt about my gladness, Lennox, if it should come +true, but the elements seem to have conspired against him, and I've +learned that in the wilderness the elements count very heavily." + +"Earth, fire and water may all join against him, but at the time +appointed he will come. I know it." + +The great cold, and it was hard, fierce and bitter, lasted two +days. At night the popping of the contracting timbers sounded like a +continuous pistol fire, but Willet had foreseen everything. At his +instance, Colden had made the young soldiers gather vast quantities of +fuel long ago from a forest which was filled everywhere with dead +boughs and fallen timber, the accumulation of scores of years. + +Then another great thaw came, and the fickle climate proceeded to show +what it could do. When the thaw had been going on for a day and a +night a terrific winter hurricane broke over the forest. Trees were +shattered as if their trunks had been shot through by huge cannon +balls. Here and there long windrows were piled up, and vast areas were +a litter of broken boughs. + +"As I reckon, and allowing for the marvels you say he can perform, +Tayoga is now in the vale of Onondaga, Lennox," said Wilton. "It's +lucky that he's there in the comfortable log houses of his own people, +because a man could scarcely live in the forest in such a storm as +this, as he would be beaten to death by flying timbers." + +"This time, Will, you're wrong in both assumptions. Tayoga has +already been to the vale of Onondaga. He has spent there the half day +that he allowed to himself, and now on the return journey has left the +vale far behind him. I told you how sensitive he was to the changes of +the weather, and he knew it was coming several hours before it +arrived. He sought at once protection, probably a cleft in the rock, +or an opening of two or three feet under a stony ledge. He is lying +there now, just as snug and safe as you please, while this storm, +which covers a vast area, rages over his head. There is much that is +primeval in Tayoga, and his comfort and safety make him fairly enjoy +the storm. As he lies under the ledge with his blanket drawn around +him, he is warm and dry and his sense of comfort, contrasting his +pleasant little den with the fierce storm without, becomes one of +luxury." + +"I suppose of course, Lennox, that you can shut your eyes and see him +once more without any trouble." + +"In all truth and certainty I can, Will. He is lying on a stone shelf +with a stone ledge above him. His blanket takes away the hardness of +the stone that supports him. He sees boughs and sticks whirled past by +the storm, but none of them touches him. He hears the wind whistling +and screaming at a pitch so fierce that it would terrify one unused to +the forest, but it is only a song in the ears of Tayoga. It soothes +him, it lulls him, and knowing that he can't use the period of the +storm for traveling, he uses it for sleep, thus enabling him to take +less later on when the storm has ceased. So, after all, he loses +nothing so far as his journey is concerned. Now his lids droop, his +eyes close, and he slumbers while the storm thunders past, unable to +touch him." + +"You do have the gift, Lennox. I believe that sometimes your words are +music in your own ears, and inspire you to greater efforts. When the +war is over you must surely become a public man--one who is often +called upon to address the people." + +"We'll fight the war first," laughed Robert. + +The storm in its rise, its zenith and its decline lasted several +hours, and, when it was over, the forest looked like a wreck, but +Robert knew that nature would soon restore everything. The foliage of +next spring would cover up the ruin and new growth would take the +place of the old and broken. The wilderness, forever restoring what +was lost, always took care of itself. + +A day or two of fine, clear winter weather, not too cold, followed, +and Willet went forth to scout. He was gone until the next morning and +when he returned his face was very grave. + +"There are Indians in the forest," he said, "not friendly warriors of +the Hodenosaunee, but those allied with the enemy. I think a +formidable Ojibway band under Tandakora is there, and also other +Indians from the region of the Great Lakes. They may have started +against us some time back, but were probably halted by the bad +weather. They're in different bodies now, scattered perhaps for +hunting, but they'll reunite before long." + +"Did you see signs of any white men, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"Yes, French officers and some soldiers are with 'em, but I don't +think St. Luc is in the number. More likely it's De Courcelles and +Jumonville, whom we have such good cause to remember." + +"I hope so, Dave, I'd rather fight against those two than against +St. Luc." + +"So would I, and for several reasons. St. Luc is a better leader than +they are. They're able, but he's the best of all the French." + +That afternoon two men who ventured a short distance from Fort Refuge +were shot at, and one was wounded slightly, but both were able to +regain the little fortress. Willet slipped out again, and reported the +forest swarming with Indians, although there was yet no indication of +a preconcerted attack. Still, it was well for the garrison to keep +close and take every precaution. + +"And this shuts out Tayoga," said Wilton regretfully to Robert. "He +may make his way through rain and flood and sleet and snow and +hurricane, but he can never pass those watchful hordes of Indians in +the woods." + +Once more the Onondaga's loyal friend laughed. "The warriors turn +Tayoga back, Will?" he said. "He will pass through 'em just as if +they were not there. The time will be up day after tomorrow at noon, +and then he will be here." + +"Even if the Indians move up and besiege us in regular form?" + +"Even that, and even anything else. At noon day after tomorrow Tayoga +will be here." + +Another man who went out to bring in a horse that had been left +grazing near the fort was fired upon, not with rifles or muskets but +with arrows, and grazed in the shoulder. He had, however, the presence +of mind to spring upon the animal's back and gallop for Fort Refuge, +where the watchful Willet threw open the gate to the stockade, let him +in, then quickly closed and barred it fast. A long fierce whining cry, +the war whoop, came from the forest. + +"The siege has closed in already," said Robert, "and it's well that we +have no other men outside." + +"Except Tayoga," said Wilton. + +"The barrier of the red army doesn't count so far as Tayoga is +concerned. How many times must I tell you, Will, that Tayoga will come +at the time appointed?" + +After the shout from the woods there was a long silence that weighed +upon the young soldiers, isolated thus in the wintry and desolate +wilderness. They were city men, used to the streets and the sounds of +people, and their situation had many aspects that were weird and +appalling. They were hundreds of miles from civilization, and around +them everywhere stretched a black forest, hiding a tenacious and cruel +foe. But on the other hand their stockade was stout, they had plenty +of ammunition, water and provisions, and one victory already to their +credit. After the first moments of depression they recalled their +courage and eagerly awaited an attack. + +But the attack did not come and Robert knew it would not be made, at +least not yet. The Indians were too wary to batter themselves to +pieces against the palisade, and the Frenchmen with them, skilled in +forest war, would hold them back. + +"Perhaps they've gone away, realizing that we're too strong for 'em," +said Wilton. + +"That's just what we must guard against," said Robert. "The Indian +fights with trick and stratagem. He always has more time than the +white man, and he is wholly willing to wait. They want us to think +they've left, and then they'll cut off the incautious." + +The afternoon wore on, and the silence which had grown oppressive +persisted. A light pleasant wind blew through the forest, which was +now dry, and the dead bark and wintry branches rustled. To many of the +youths it became a forest of gloom and threat, and they asked +impatiently why the warriors did not come out and show themselves like +men. Certainly, it did not become Frenchmen, if they were there to +lurk in the woods and seek ambush. + +Willet was the pervading spirit of the defense. Deft in word and +action, acknowledging at all times that Colden was the commander, thus +saving the young Philadelphian's pride in the presence of his men, he +contrived in an unobtrusive way to direct everything. The guards were +placed at suitable intervals about the palisade, and were instructed +to fire at anything suspicious, the others were compelled to stay in +the blockhouse and take their ease, in order that their nerves might +be steady and true, when the time for battle came. The cooks were also +instructed to prepare an unusually bountiful supper for them. + +Robert was Willet's right hand. Next to the hunter he knew most about +the wilderness, and the ways of its red people. There was no +possibility that the Indians had gone. Even if they did not undertake +to storm the fort they would linger near it, in the hope of cutting +off men who came forth incautiously, and at night, especially if it +happened to be dark, they would be sure to come very close. + +The palisade was about eight feet high, and the men stood on a +horizontal plank three feet from the ground, leaving only the head to +project above the shelter, and Willet warned them to be exceedingly +careful when the twilight came, since the besiegers would undoubtedly +use the darkness as a cover for sharp-shooting. Then both he and +Robert looked anxiously at the sun, which was just setting behind the +black waste. + +"The night will be dark," said the hunter, "and that's bad. I'm afraid +some of our sentinels will be picked off. Robert, you and I must not +sleep until tomorrow. We must stay on watch here all the while." + +As he predicted, the night came down black and grim. Vast banks of +darkness rolled up close to the palisade, and the forest showed but +dimly. Then the warriors proved to the most incredulous that they had +not gone far away. Scattered shots were fired from the woods, and one +sentinel who in spite of warnings thrust his head too high above the +palisade, received a bullet through it falling back dead. It was a +terrible lesson, but afterwards the others took no risks, although +they were anxious to fire on hostile figures that their fancy saw for +them among the trees. Willet, Robert and Colden compelled them to +withhold their fire until a real and tangible enemy appeared. + +Later in the night burning arrows were discharged in showers and fell +within the palisade, some on the buildings. But they had pails, and an +unfailing spring, and they easily put out the flames, although one man +was struck and suffered both a burn and a bruise. + +Toward midnight a terrific succession of war whoops came, and a great +number of warriors charged in the darkness against the palisade. The +garrison was ready, and, despite the darkness, poured forth such a +fierce fire that in a few minutes the horde vanished, leaving behind +several still forms which they stole away later. Another of the young +Philadelphians was killed, and before dawn he and his comrade who had +been slain earlier in the evening were buried behind the blockhouse. + +At intervals in the remainder of the night the warriors fired either +arrows or bullets, doing no farther damage except the slight wounding +of one man, and when day came Willet and Robert, worn to the bone, +sought a little rest and sleep in the blockhouse. They knew that +Golden could not be surprised while the sun was shining, and that the +savages were not likely to attempt anything serious until the +following night So they felt they were not needed for the present. + +Robert slept until nearly noon, when he ate heartily of the abundant +food one of the young cooks had prepared, and learned that beyond an +occasional arrow or bullet the forest had given forth no threat. His +own spirits rose high with the day, which was uncommonly brilliant, +with a great sun shining in the center of the heavens, and not a cloud +in the sky. Wilton was near the blockhouse and was confident about +the siege, but worried about Tayoga. + +"You tell me that the Indians won't go away," he said, "and if you're +right, and I think you are, the Onondaga is surely shut off from Fort +Refuge." + +Robert smiled. + +"I tell you for the last time that he will come at the appointed +hour," he said. + +A long day began. Hours that seemed days in themselves passed, and +quiet prevailed in the forest, although the young soldiers no longer +had any belief that the warriors had gone away. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RETURN + + +It was near the close of a day that had been marked by little +demonstration from the enemy, and the young officers, growing used to +the siege, attained a philosophical state of mind. They felt sure they +could hold the palisade against any number of enemies, and the +foresight of Willet, Robert and Tayoga had been so great that by no +possibility could they be starved out. They began now to have a +certain exultation. They were inside comfortable walls, with plenty +to eat and drink, while the enemy was outside and must forage for +game. + +"If it were not for Tayoga," said Wilton to Robert, "I should feel +more than satisfied with the situation. But the fate of your Onondaga +friend sticks in my mind. Mr. Willet, who knows everything, says we're +surrounded completely, and I don't wish him to lose his life in an +attempt to get through at a certain time, merely on a point of honor." + +"It's no point of honor, Will. It's just the completion of a plan at +the time and place chosen. Do you see anything in that tall tree to +the east of the palisade?" + +"Something appears to be moving up the trunk, but as it's on the far +side, I catch only a glimpse of it." + +"That's an Indian warrior, seeking a place for a shot at us. He'll +reach the high fork, but he'll always keep well behind the body of the +tree. It's really too far for a bullet, but I think it would be wise +for us to slip back under cover." + +The sharpshooter reached his desired station and fired, but his bullet +fell short. He tried three more, all without avail, and then Willet +picked him off with his long and deadly rifle. Robert shut his eyes +when he saw the body begin its fall, but his vivid imagination, so +easily excited, made him hear its thump when it struck the earth. + +"And so ends that attempt!" he said. + +An hour later he saw a white flag among the trees, and when Willet +mounted the palisade two French officers came forward. Robert saw at +once that they were De Courcelles and Jumonville, and his heart beat +hard. They linked him with Quebec, in which he had spent some +momentous days, and despite their treachery to him he did not feel +hatred of them at that moment. + +"Will you stay with me, Mr. Willet, and you also, Mr. Lennox, while I +talk to them?" asked Captain Colden. "You know these Frenchmen better +than I do, and their experience is so much greater than mine that I +need your help." + +Robert and the hunter assented gladly. Robert, in truth, was very +curious to hear what these old friends and enemies of his had to say, +and he felt a thrill when the two recognized and saluted him in the +most friendly fashion, just as if they had never meant him any harm. + +"Chance brings about strange meetings between us, Mr. Lennox," said De +Courcelles. "It gives me pleasure to note that you have not yet taken +any personal harm from our siege." + +"Nor you nor Monsieur de Jumonville, from our successful defense," +replied Robert in the same spirit. + +"You have us there. The points so far are in your favor, although only +superficially so, as I shall make clear to you presently." + +Then De Courcelles turned his attention to Colden, who he saw was the +nominal leader of the garrison. + +"My name," he said, "is Auguste de Courcelles, a colonel in the +service of His Majesty, King Louis of France. My friend is Captain +Francois de Jumonville, and we have the honor to lead the numerous and +powerful force of French and Indians now besieging you." + +"And my name is Colden, Captain James Colden," replied the young +officer. "I've heard of you from my friends, Mr. Lennox and +Mr. Willet, and I have the honor of asking you what I can do for you." + +"You cannot do for us more than you can do for yourself, Captain +Colden. We ask the surrender of your little fort, and of your little +garrison, which we freely admit has defended itself most +gallantly. It's not necessary for us to make an assault. You're deep +in the wilderness, we can hold you here all winter, and help cannot +possibly come to you. We guarantee you good treatment in Canada, where +you will be held until the war is over." + +Young Colden smiled. They were standing before the single gate in the +palisade, and he looked back at the solid buildings, erected by the +hands of his own men, with the comfortable smoke curling up against +the cold sky. And he looked also at the wintry forest that curved in +every direction. + +"Colonel de Courcelles," he said, "it seems to me that we are in and +you are out. If it comes to holding us here all winter we who have +good houses can stand it much better than you who merely have the +forest as a home, where you will be rained upon, snowed upon, hailed +upon, and maybe frozen. Why should we exchange our warm house for your +cold forest?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned. There was a humorous inflection in +Colden's tone that did not please him, and the young officer's words +also had a strong element of truth. + +"It's not a time to talk about houses and forests," he said, somewhat +haughtily. "We have here a formidable force capable of carrying your +fort, and, for that reason, we demand your surrender. Indians are +always inflamed by a long and desperate resistance and while Captain +de Jumonville and I will do our best to restrain them, it's possible +that they may escape from our control in the hour of victory." + +Young Colden smiled again. With Willet at his right hand and Robert at +his left, he acquired lightness of spirit. + +"A demand and a threat together," he replied. "For the threat we +don't care. We don't believe you'll ever see that hour of victory in +which you can't control your Indians, and there'll be no need for you, +Colonel de Courcelles, to apologize for a massacre committed by your +allies, and which you couldn't help. We're also growing used to +requests of surrender. + +"There was your countryman, St. Luc, a very brave and skillful man, who +asked it of us, but we declined, and in the end we defeated him. And +if we beat St. Luc without the aid of a strong fort, why shouldn't we +beat you with it, Colonel de Courcelles?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned once more, and Captain de Jumonville +frowned with him. + +"You don't know the wilderness, Captain Colden," he said, "and you +don't give our demand the serious consideration to which it is +entitled. Later on, the truth of what I tell you may bear heavily upon +you." + +"I may not know the forest as you do, Colonel de Courcelles, but I +have with me masters of woodcraft, Mr. Lennox and Mr. Willet, with +whom you're already acquainted." + +"We've had passages of various kinds with Colonel de Courcelles, both +in the forest and at Quebec," said Robert, quietly. + +Both De Courcelles and Jumonville flushed, and it became apparent that +they were anxious to end the interview. + +"This, I take it, is your final answer," the French Colonel said to +the young Philadelphia captain. + +"It is, sir." + +"Then what may occur rests upon the knees of the gods." + +"It does, sir, and I'm as willing as you to abide by the result." + +"And I have the honor of bidding you good day." + +"An equally great honor is mine." + +The two French officers were ceremonious. They lifted their fine, +three-cornered hats, and bowed politely, and Colden, Willet and Robert +were not inferior in courtesy. Then the Frenchmen walked away into the +forest, while the three Americans went inside the palisade, where the +heavy gate was quickly shut behind them and fastened securely. But +before he turned back Robert thought he saw the huge figure of +Tandakora in the forest. + +When the French officers disappeared several shots were fired and the +savages uttered a long and menacing war whoop, but the young soldiers +had grown used to such manifestations, and, instead of being +frightened, they felt a certain defiant pleasure. + +"Yells don't hurt us," said Wilton to Robert. "Instead I feel my +Quaker blood rising in anger, and I'd rejoice if they were to attack +now. A very heavy responsibility rests upon me, Robert, since I've to +fight not only for myself but for my ancestors who wouldn't fight at +all. It rests upon me, one humble youth, to bring up the warlike +average of the family." + +"You're one, Will, but you're not humble," laughed Robert. "I believe +that jest of yours about the still, blood of generations bursting +forth in you at last is not a jest wholly. When it comes to a pitched +battle I expect to see you perform prodigies of valor." + +"If I do it won't be Will Wilton, myself, and I won't be entitled to +any credit. I'll be merely an instrument in the hands of fate, working +out the law of averages. But what do you think those French officers +and their savage allies will do now, Robert, since Colden, so to +speak, has thrown a very hard glove in their faces?" + +"Draw the lines tighter about Fort Refuge. It's cold in the forest, +but they can live there for a while at least. They'll build fires and +throw up a few tepees, maybe for the French. But their anger and their +desire to take us will make them watch all the more closely. They'll +draw tight lines around this snug little, strong little fort of ours." + +"Which removes all possibility that your friend Tayoga will come at +the appointed time." + +Robert glared at him. + +"Will," he said, "I've discovered that you have a double nature, +although the two are never struggling for you at the same time." + +"That is I march tandem with my two natures, so to speak?" + +"They alternate. At times you're a sensible boy." + +"Boy? I'm older than you are!" + +"One wouldn't think it. But a well bred Quaker never interrupts. As I +said, you're quite sensible at times and you ought to thank me for +saying so. At other times your mind loves folly. It fairly swims and +dives in the foolish pool, and it dives deepest when you're talking +about Tayoga. I trust, foolish young, sir, that I've heard the last +word of folly from you about the arrival of Tayoga, or rather what you +conceive will be his failure to arrive. Peace, not a word!" + +"At least let me say this," protested Wilton. "I wish that I could +feel the absolute confidence in any human being that you so obviously +have in the Onondaga." + +The night came, white and beautiful. It was white, because the Milky +Way was at its brightest, which was uncommonly bright, and every star +that ever showed itself in that latitude came out and danced. The +heavens were full of them, disporting themselves in clusters on +spangled seas, and the forest was all in light, paler than that of +day, but almost as vivid. + +The Indians lighted several fires, well beyond rifle shot, and the +sentinels on the palisade distinctly saw their figures passing back +and forth before the blaze Robert also noticed the uniforms of +Frenchmen, and he thought it likely that De Courcelles and Jumonville +had with them more soldiers than he had supposed at first. The fires +burned at different points of the compass, and thus the fort was +encircled completely by them. Both young Lennox and Willet knew they +had been lighted that way purposely, that is in order to show to the +defenders that a belt of fire and steel was drawn close about them. + +To Wilton at least the Indian circle seemed impassable, and despite +the enormous confidence of Robert he now had none at all himself. It +was impossible for Tayoga, even if he had triumphed over sleet and +snow and flood and storm, to pass so close a siege. He would not +speak of it again, but Robert had allowed himself to be deluded by +friendship. He felt sorry for his new friend, and he did not wish to +see his disappointment on the morrow. + +Wilton was in charge of the guard until midnight, and then he slept +soundly until dawn, awakening to a brilliant day, the fit successor of +such a brilliant night. The Indian fires were still burning and he +could see the warriors beside them sleeping or eating at leisure. +They still formed a complete circle about the fort, and while the +young Quaker felt safe inside the palisade, he saw no chance for a +friend outside. Robert joined him presently but, respecting his +feelings, the Philadelphian said nothing about Tayoga. + +The winter, it seemed, was exerting itself to show how fine a day it +could produce. It was cold but dazzling. A gorgeous sun, all red and +gold, was rising, and the light was so vivid and intense that they +could see far in the forest, bare of leaf. Robert clearly discerned +both De Courcelles and Jumonville about six hundred yards away, +standing by one of the fires. Then he saw the gigantic figure of +Tandakora, as the Ojibway joined them. Despite the cold, Tandakora +wore little but the breechcloth, and his mighty chest and shoulders +were painted with many hideous devices. In the distance and in the +glow of the flames his size was exaggerated until he looked like one +of the giants of ancient mythology. + +Robert was quite sure the siege would never be raised if the voice of +the Ojibway prevailed in the allied French and Indian councils. +Tandakora had been wounded twice, once by the hunter and once by the +Onondaga, and a mind already inflamed against the Americans and the +Hodenosaunee cherished a bitter personal hate. Robert knew that +Willet, Tayoga and he must be eternally on guard against his murderous +attacks. + +The savages built their fires higher, as if in defiance and +triumph. They could defend themselves against cold, because the forest +furnished unending fuel, but rain or hail, sleet or snow would bring +severe hardship. The day, however, favored them to the utmost. It +had seemed at dawn that it could not be more brilliant, but as the +morning advanced the world fairly glowed with color. The sky was +golden save in the east, where it burned in red, and the trunks and +black boughs of the forest, to the last and least little twig, were +touched with it until they too were clothed in a luminous glow. + +The besiegers seemed lazy, but Robert knew that the watch upon the +fort and its approaches was never neglected for an instant. A fox +could not steal through their lines, unseen, and yet he never doubted. +Tayoga would come, and moreover he would come at the time +appointed. Toward the middle of the morning the Indians shot some +arrows that fell inside the palisade, and uttered a shout or two of +defiance, but nobody was hurt, and nobody was stirred to action. The +demonstration passed unanswered, and, after a while, Wilton called +Robert's attention to the fact that it was only two hours until +noon. Robert did not reply, but he knew that the conditions could not +be more unfavorable. Rain or hail, sleet or snow might cover the +passage of a warrior, but the dazzling sunlight that enlarged twigs +two hundred yards away into boughs, seemed to make all such efforts +vain. Yet he knew Tayoga, and he still believed. + +Soon a stir came in the forest, and they heard a long, droning +chant. A dozen warriors appeared coming out of the north, and they +were welcomed with shouts by the others. + +"Hurons, I think," said Willet. "Yes, I'm sure of it. They've +undoubtedly sent away for help, and it's probable that other bands +will come about this time." He reckoned right, as in half an hour a +detachment of Abenakis came, and they too were received with approving +shouts, after which food was given to them and they sat luxuriously +before the fires. Then three runners arrived, one from the north, one +from the west, and one from the east, and a great shout of welcome was +uttered for each. + +"What does it mean?" Wilton asked Robert. + +"The runners were sent out by De Courcelles and Tandakora to rally +more strength for our siege. They've returned with the news that +fresh forces are coming, as the exultant shout from the warriors +proves." + +The young Philadelphian's heart sank. He knew that it was only a half +hour until noon, and noon was the appointed time. Nor did the heavens +give any favoring sign. The whole mighty vault was a blaze of gold and +blue. Nothing could stir in such a light and remain hidden from the +warriors. Wilton looked at his comrade and he caught a sudden glitter +in his eyes. It was not the look of one who despaired. Instead it was +a flash of triumph, and the young Philadelphian wondered. Had Robert +seen a sign, a sign that had escaped all others? He searched the +forest everywhere with his own eyes, but he could detect nothing +unusual. There were the French, and there were the Indians. There were +the new warriors, and there were the three runners resting by the +fires. + +The runners rose presently, and the one who had come out of the north +talked with Tandakora, the one who had come out of the west stood near +the edge of the forest with an Abenaki chief and looked at the +fort. The one who had come out of the east joined De Courcelles +himself and they came nearer to the fort than any of the others, +although they remained just beyond rifle shot. Evidently De Courcelles +was explaining something to the Indian as once he pointed toward the +blockhouse. + +Wilton heard Robert beside him draw a deep breath, and he turned in +surprise. The face of young Lennox was tense and his eyes fairly +blazed as he gazed at De Courcelles and the warrior. Then looking back +at the forest Robert uttered a sudden sharp, Ah! the release of +uncontrollable emotion, snapping like a pistol shot. + +"Did you see it, Will? Did you see it?" he exclaimed. "It was quicker +than lightning!" + +The Indian runner stooped, snatched the pistol from the belt of De +Courcelles, struck him such a heavy blow on the head with the butt of +it that he fell without a sound, and then his brown body shot forward +like an arrow for the fort. + +"Open the gate! Open the gate!" thundered Willet, and strong arms +unbarred it and flung it back in an instant. The brown body of Tayoga +flashed through, and, in another instant, it was closed and barred +again. + +"He is here with five minutes to spare!" said Robert as he left the +palisade with Wilton, and went toward the blockhouse to greet his +friend. + +Tayoga, painted like a Micmac and stooping somewhat hitherto, drew +himself to his full height, held out his hand in the white man's +fashion to Robert, while his eyes, usually so calm, showed a passing +gleam of triumph. + +"I said, Tayoga, that you would be back on time, that is by noon +today," said Robert, "and though the task has been hard you're with us +and you have a few minutes to spare. How did you deceive the sharp +eyes of Tandakora?" + +"I did not let him see me, knowing he would look through my disguise, +but I asked the French colonel to come forward with me at once and +inspect the fort, knowing that it was my only chance to enter here, +and he agreed to do so. You saw the rest, and thus I have come. It is +not pleasant to those who besiege us, as your ears tell you." + +Fierce yells of anger and disappointment were rising in the +forest. Jumonville and two French soldiers had rushed forward, seized +the reviving De Courcelles and were carrying him to one of the fires, +where they would bind up his injured head. But inside the fort there +was only exultation at the arrival of Tayoga and admiration for his +skill. He insisted first on being allowed to wash off the Micmac +paint, enabling him to return to his true character. Then he took food +and drink. + +"Tayoga," said Wilton, "I believed you could not come. I said so often +to Lennox. You would never have known my belief, because Lennox would +not have told it to you, but I feel that I must apologize to you for +the thought. I underrated you, but I underrated you because I did not +believe any human being could do what you have done." + +Tayoga smiled, showing his splendid white teeth. "Your thoughts did +me no wrong," he said in his precise school English, "because the +elements and chance itself seemed to have conspired against me." + +Later he told what he had heard in the vale of Onondaga where the +sachems and chiefs kept themselves well informed concerning the +movements of the belligerent nations. The French were still the more +active of the rival powers, and their energy and conquests were +bringing the western tribes in great numbers to their flag. Throughout +the Ohio country the warriors were on the side of the French who were +continuing the construction of the powerful fortress at the junction +of the Alleghany and the Monongahela. The French were far down in the +province of New York, and they held control of Lake Champlain and of +Lake George also. More settlements had been cut off, and more women +and children had been taken prisoners into Canada. + +But the British colonies and Great Britain too would move, so Tayoga +said. They were slow, much slower than Canada, but they had the +greater strength and the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga knew +it. They could not be moved from their attitude of friendliness toward +the English, and the Mohawks openly espoused the English side. The +American, Franklin, was very active, and a great movement against Fort +Duquesne would be begun, although it might not start until next +spring. An English force under an English general was coming across +the sea, and the might of England was gathering for a great blow. + +The Onondaga had few changes in the situation to report, but he at +least brought news of the outside world, driving away from the young +soldiers the feeling that they were cut off from the human +race. Wilton was present when he was telling of these things and when +he had finished Robert asked: + +"How did you make your way through the great snow, Tayoga?" + +"It is well to think long before of difficulties," he replied. "Last +year when the winter was finished I hid a pair of snow shoes in this +part of the forest, and when the deep snow came I found them and used +them." + +Robert glanced at Wilton, whose eyes were widening. + +"And the great rain and flood, how did you meet that obstacle?" asked +Robert. + +"That, too, was forethought. I have two canoes hidden in this region, +and it was easy to reach one of them, in which I traveled with speed +and comfort, until I could use it no longer. Then I hid it away again +that it might help me another time." + +"And what did you do when the hurricane came, tearing up the bushes, +cutting down the trees, and making the forest as dangerous as if it +were being showered by cannon balls?" + +"I crept under a wide ledge of stone in the side of a hill, where I +lay snug, dry and safe." + +Wilton looked at Tayoga and Robert, and then back at the Onondaga. + +"Is this wizardry?" he cried. + +"No," replied Robert. + +"Then it's singular chance." + +"Nor that either. It was the necessities that confronted Tayoga in the +face of varied dangers, and my knowledge of what he would be likely to +do in either case. Merely a rather fortunate use of the reasoning +faculties, Will." + +Willet, who had come in, smiled. + +"Don't let 'em make game of you, Mr. Wilton," he said, "but there's +truth in what Robert tells you. He understands Tayoga so thoroughly +that he knows pretty well what he'll do in every crisis." + +After the Onondaga had eaten he wrapped himself in blankets, went to +sleep in one of the rooms of the blockhouse and slept twenty-four +hours. When he awoke he showed no signs of his tremendous journey and +infinite dangers. He was once more the lithe and powerful Tayoga of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee. + +The besiegers meanwhile undertook no movement, but, as if in defiance, +they increased the fires in the red ring around the fort and they +showed themselves ostentatiously. Robert several times saw De +Courcelles with a thick bandage about his head, and he knew that the +Frenchman's mortification and rage at being tricked so by the Onondaga +must be intense. + +Now the weather began to grow very cold again, and Robert saw the +number of tepees in the forest increase. The Indians, not content +with the fires, were providing themselves with good shelters, and to +every one it indicated a long siege. There was neither snow, nor hail, +but clear, bitter, intense cold, and again the timbers of the +blockhouse and outbuildings popped as they contracted under the lower +temperature. + +The horses were pretty well sheltered from the cold, and Willet, with +his usual foresight, had suggested before the siege closed in that a +great deal of grass be cut for them, though should the French and +Indians hang on for a month or two, they would certainly become a +problem. Food for the men would last indefinitely, but a time might +arrive when none would be left for the horses. + +"If the pinch comes," said Willet, "we know how to relieve it." + +"How?" asked Colden. + +"We'll eat the horses." + +Colden made a wry face. + +"It's often been done in Europe," said the hunter. "At the famous +sieges of Leyden and Haarlem, when the Dutch held out so long against +the Spanish, they'd have been glad enough to have had horseflesh." + +"I look ahead again," said Robert, hiding a humorous gleam in his eyes +from Colden, "and I see a number of young men behind a palisade which +they have held gallantly for months. They come mostly from +Philadelphia and they call themselves Quakers. They are thin, awfully +thin, terribly thin, so thin that there is scarcely enough to make a +circle for their belts. They have not eaten for four days, and they +are about to kill their last horse. When he is gone they will have to +live on fresh air and scenery." + +"Now I know Lennox that you're drawing on your imagination and that +you're a false prophet," said Colden. + +"I hope my prediction won't come true, and I don't believe it will," +said Robert cheerfully. + +Several nights later when there was no moon, and no stars, Willet and +Tayoga slipped out of the fort. Colden was much opposed to their +going, fearing for their lives, and knowing, too, how great a loss +they would be if they were taken or slain, but the hunter and the +Onondaga showed the utmost confidence, assuring him they would return +in safety. + +Colden became quite uneasy for them after they had been gone some +hours, and Robert, although he refused to show it, felt a trace of +apprehension. He knew their great skill in the forest, but Tandakora +was a master of woodcraft too, and the Frenchmen also were experienced +and alert. As he, Colden, Wilton and Carson watched at the palisade he +was in fear lest a triumphant shout from the Indian lines would show +that the hunter and the Onondaga had been trapped. + +But the long hours passed without an alarm and about three o'clock in +the morning two shadows appeared at the palisade and whispered to +them. Robert felt great relief as Willet and Tayoga climbed silently +over. + +"We're half frozen," said the hunter. "Take us into the blockhouse and +over the fire we'll tell you all we've seen." + +They always kept a bed of live coals on the hearth in the main +building, and the two who had returned bent over the grateful heat, +warming their hands and faces. Not until they were in a normal +physical condition did Colden or Robert ask them any questions and +then Willet said: + +"Their ring about the fort is complete, but in the darkness we were +able to slip through and then back again. I should judge that they +have at least three hundred warriors and Tandakora is first among +them. There are about thirty Frenchmen. De Courcelles has taken off +his bandage, but he still has a bruise where Tayoga struck +him. Peeping from the bushes I saw him and his face has grown more +evil. It was evident to me that the blow of Tayoga has inflamed his +mind. He feels mortified and humiliated at the way in which he was +outwitted, and, as Tandakora also nurses a personal hatred against us, +it's likely that they'll keep up the siege all winter, if they think +in the end they can get us. + +"Their camp, too, shows increasing signs of permanency. They've built +a dozen bark huts in which all the French, all the chiefs and some of +the warriors sleep, and there are skin lodges for the rest. Oh, it's +quite a village! And they've accumulated game, too, for a long time." + +Colden looked depressed. + +"We're not fulfilling our mission," he said. "We've come out here to +protect the settlers on the border, and give them a place of +refuge. Instead, it looks as if we'd pass the winter fighting for our +own lives." + +"I think I have a plan," said Robert, who had been very thoughtful. + +"What is it?" asked Colden. + +"I remember something I read in our Roman history in the school at +Albany. It was an event that happened a tremendously long time ago, +but I fancy it's still useful as an example. Scipio took his army over +to Africa to meet Hannibal, and one night his men set fire to the +tents of the Carthaginians. They destroyed their camp, created a +terrible tumult, and inflicted great losses." + +Tayoga's eyes glistened. + +"Then you mean," he said, "that we are to burn the camp of the French +and their allies?" + +"No less." + +"It is a good plan. If Great Bear and the captain agree to it we will +do it." + +"It's fearfully risky," said Colden. + +"If Great Bear and I can go out once and come back safely," said +Tayoga, "we can do it twice." + +The young captain looked at Willet. + +"It's the best plan," said the hunter. "Robert hasn't read his Roman +history in vain." + +"Then it's agreed," said Colden, "and as soon as another night as dark +as this comes we'll try it." + +The plan being formed, they waited a week before a night, pitchy +black, arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RED WEAPON + + +The night was admirably suited to their purpose--otherwise they would +not have dared to leave Fort Refuge--and Willet, Tayoga and Robert +alone undertook the task. Wilton, Carson and others were anxious to +go, but, as an enterprise of such great danger required surpassing +skill, the three promptly ruled them out. The hunter and young Lennox +would have disguised themselves as Indians, but as they did not have +any paint in the fort they were compelled to go forth in their own +garb. + +The cold had softened greatly, and, as heavy clouds had come with it, +there was promise of snow, which in truth the three hoped would fall, +since it would be an admirable cloak for their purpose. But in any +event theirs was to be a perilous path, and Colden shook hands with +the three as they lowered themselves softly from the palisade. + +"Come back," he whispered. "If you find the task too dangerous let it +go and return at once. We need you here in the fort." + +"We'll come back as victors," Robert replied with confidence. Then he +and his comrades crouched, close against the palisade and +listened. The Indian fires showed dimly in the heavy dusk, and they +knew that sentinels were on watch in the woods, but still keeping in +the shadow of the palisade they went to the far side, where the Indian +line was thinner. Then they dropped to hand and knee and crept toward +the forest. + +They stopped at intervals, lying flat upon the ground, looking with +all their eyes and listening with all their ears. They saw ahead but +one fire, apparently about four hundred yards away, and they heard +only a light damp wind rustling the dry boughs and bushes. But they +knew they could not afford to relax their caution by a hair, and they +continued a slow creeping progress until they reached the woods. Then +they rested on their elbows in a thicket, and took long breaths of +relief. They had been a quarter of an hour in crossing the open and it +was an immense relief to sit up again. They kept very close together, +while their muscles recovered elasticity, and still used their eyes +and ears to the utmost. It was impossible to say that a warrior was +not near crouching in the thicket as they were, and they did not +intend to run any useless risk. Moreover, if the alarm were raised +now, they would escape into the fort, and await another chance. + +But they neither heard nor saw a hostile presence. In truth, they saw +nothing that betokened a siege, save the dim light flickering several +hundred yards ahead of them, and they resumed their advance, bent so +low that they could drop flat at the first menace. Their eyes looked +continually for a sentinel, but they saw none. + +"Don't you think the wind is rising a bit, Tayoga?" whispered the +hunter. + +"Yes," replied the Onondaga. + +"And it feels damper to the face?" + +"Yes, Great Bear." + +"And it doesn't mean rain, because the air's too cold, but it does +mean snow, for which the air is just right, and I think it's coming, +as the clouds grow thicker and thicker all the time." + +"Which proves that we are favored. Tododaho from his great and shining +star, that we cannot see tonight, looks down upon us and will help us, +since we have tried to do the things that are right. We wish the snow +to come, because we wish a veil about us, while we confound our +enemies, and Tododaho will send it." + +He spoke devoutly and Robert admired and respected his faith, the +center of which was Manitou, and Manitou in the mind of the Christian +boy was the same as God. He also shared the faith of Tayoga that +Tododaho would wrap the snow like a white robe about them to hide them +from their enemies. Meanwhile the three crept slowly toward the fire, +and Robert felt something damp brush his face. It was the first flake +of snow, and Tododaho, on his shining star, was keeping his unspoken +promise. + +Tayoga looked up toward the point in the heavens where the great +chief's star shone on clear nights, and, even in the dark, Robert saw +the spiritual exaltation on his face. The Onondaga never doubted for +an instant. The mighty chief who had gone away four centuries ago had +answered the prayer made to him by one of his loyal children, and was +sending the snow that it might be a veil before them while they +destroyed the camp of their enemies. The soul of Tayoga leaped +up. They had received a sign. They were in the care of Tododaho and +they could not fail. + +Another flake fell on Robert's face and a third followed, and then +they came down in a white and gentle stream that soon covered him, +Willet and Tayoga and hung like a curtain before them. He looked back +toward the fort, but the veil there also hung between and he could not +see it. Then he looked again, and the dim fire had disappeared in the +white mist. + +"Will it keep their huts and lodges from burning?" he whispered to +the hunter. + +Willet shook his head. + +"If we get a fire started well," he said, "the snow will seem to feed +it rather than put it out. It's going to help us in more ways than +one, too. I'd expected that we'd have to use flint and steel to touch +off our blaze, but as they're likely to leave their own fire and seek +shelter, maybe we can get a torch there. Now, you two boys keep close +to me and we'll approach that fire, or the place where it was." + +They continued a cautious advance, their moccasins making no sound in +the soft snow, all objects invisible at a distance of twelve or +fifteen feet. Yet they saw one Indian warrior on watch, although he +did not see or hear them. He was under the boughs of a small tree and +was crouched against the trunk, protecting himself as well as he could +from the tumbling flakes. He was a Huron, a capable warrior with his +five senses developed well, and in normal times he was ambitious and +eager for distinction in his wilderness world, but just now he did not +dream that any one from the fort could be near. So the three passed +him, unsuspected, and drew close to the fire, which now showed as a +white glow through the dusk, sufficient proof that it was still +burning. Further progress proved that the warriors had abandoned it +for shelter, and they left the next task to Tayoga. + +The Onondaga lay down in the snow and crept forward until he reached +the fire, where he paused and waited two or three minutes to see that +his presence was not detected. Then he took three burning sticks and +passed them back swiftly to his comrades. Willet had already discerned +the outline of a bark hut on his right and Robert had made out another +on his left. Just beyond were skin tepees. They must now act quickly, +and each went upon his chosen way. + +Robert approached the hut on the left from the rear, and applied the +torch to the wall which was made of dry and seasoned bark. Despite the +snow, it ignited at once and burned with extraordinary speed. The +roar of flames from the right showed that the hunter had done as well, +and a light flash among the skin tepees was proof that Tayoga was not +behind them. + +The besieging force was taken completely by surprise. The three had +imitated to perfection the classic example of Scipio's soldiers in the +Carthaginian camp. The confusion was terrible as French and Indians +rushed for their lives from the burning huts and lodges into the +blinding snow, where they saw little, and, for the present, understood +less. Tayoga who, in the white dusk readily passed for one of their +own, slipped here and there, continually setting new fires, traveling +in a circle about the fort, while Robert and Willet kept near him, but +on the inner side of the circle and well behind the veil of snow. + +The huts and lodges burned fiercely. Where they stood thickest each +became a lofty pyramid of fire and then blended into a mighty mass of +flames, forming an intense red core in the white cloud of falling +snow. French soldiers and Indian warriors ran about, seeking to save +their arms, ammunition and stores, but they were not always +successful. Several explosions showed that the flames had reached +powder, and Robert laughed to himself in pleasure. The destruction of +their powder was a better result than he had hoped or foreseen. + +The hunter uttered a low whistle and Tayoga throwing down his torch, +at once joined him and Robert who had already cast theirs far from +them. + +"Back to the fort!" said Willet. "We've already done 'em damage they +can't repair in a long time, and maybe we've broken up their camp for +the winter! What a godsend the snow was!" + +"It was Tododaho who sent it," said Tayoga, reverently. "They almost +make a red ring around our fort. We have succeeded because the mighty +chief, the founder of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who went +away to his star four centuries ago, willed for us to succeed. How +splendidly the fires burn! Not a hut, not a lodge will be left!" + +"And it's time for us to be going," said the hunter. "Men like De +Courcelles, Jumonville and Tandakora will soon bring order out of all +that tumult, and they'll be looking for those who set the torch. The +snow is coming down heavier and heavier and it hides our flight, +although it is not able to put out the fires. You're right, Tayoga, +about Tododaho pouring his favor upon us." + +It was easy for the three to regain the palisade, and they were not +afraid of mistaken bullets fired at them for enemies, since Colden and +Wilton had warned the soldiers that they might expect the return of +the three. Tododaho continued to watch over, them as they reached the +palisade, at the point where the young Philadelphia captain himself +stood upon the raised plank behind it. + +"Captain Colden! Captain Colden!" called Willet through the white +cloud. + +"Is it you, Mr. Willet?" exclaimed Colden. "Thank God you've +come. I've been in great fear for you! I knew that you had set the +fires, because my own eyes tell me so, but I didn't know what had +become of you." + +"I'm here, safe and well." + +"And Mr. Lennox?" + +"Here, unhurt, too," replied Robert. + +"And the Onondaga?" + +"All right and rejoicing that we have done even more than we hoped to +do," said Tayoga, in his measured and scholastic English. + +The three, coated with snow until they looked like white bears, +quickly scaled the wall, and received the joyous welcome, given to +those who have done a great deed, and who return unhurt to their +comrades. Colden, Wilton and Carson shook their hands again and again +and Robert knew that it was due as much to pleasure at the return as +at the destruction of the besieging camp. + +The entire population of Fort Refuge was at the palisade, heedless of +the snow, watching the burning huts and lodges. There was no wind, but +cinders and ashes fell near them, to be covered quickly with white. +Fierce yells now came from the forest and arrows and bullets were +fired at the fort, but they were harmless and the defenders did not +reply. + +The flames began to decline by and by, then they sank fast, and after +a while the snow which still came down as if it meant never to stop +covered everything. The circling white wall enveloped the stronghold +completely, and Robert knew that the disaster to the French and +Indians had been overwhelming. Probably all of them had saved their +lives, but they had lost ammunition--the explosions had told him +that--much of their stores, and doubtless all of their food. They +would have to withdraw, for the present at least. + +Robert felt immense exultation. They had struck a great blow, and it +was he who had suggested the plan. His pride increased, although he +hid it, when Willet put his large hand on his shoulder and said: + +"'Twas well done, Robert, my lad, and 'twould not have been done at +all had it not been for you. Your mind bred the idea, from which the +action flowed." + +"And you think the French and Indians have gone away now?" + +"Surely, lad! Surely! Indians can stand a lot, and so can French, but +neither can stand still in the middle of a snow that bids fair to be +two feet deep and live. They may have to travel until they reach some +Indian village farther west and north." + +"Such being the case, there can be no pressing need for me just at +present, and I think I shall sleep. I feel now as if I were bound to +relax." + +"The best thing you could do, and I'll take a turn between the +blankets myself." + +Robert had a great sleep. Some of the rooms in the blockhouse offered +a high degree of frontier comfort, and he lay down upon a soft couch +of skins. A fine fire blazing upon a stone hearth dried his deerskin +garments, and, when he awoke about noon, he was strong and thoroughly +refreshed. The snow was still falling heavily. The wilderness in its +white blanket was beautiful, but it did not look like a possible home +to Robert now. His vivid imagination leaped up at once and pictured +the difficulties of any one struggling for life, even in that vast +white silence. + +Willet and Tayoga were up before him, and they were talking of another +expedition to see how far the besieging force had gone, but while they +were discussing it a figure appeared at the edge of the forest. + +"It's a white man," exclaimed Wilton, "and so it must be one of the +Frenchmen. He's a bold fellow walking directly within our range. What +on earth can he want?" + +One of the guards on the palisade raised his rifle, but Willet +promptly pushed down the muzzle. + +"That's no Frenchman," he said. + +"Then who is it?" asked Wilton. + +"He's clothed in white, as any one walking in this snow is bound to +be, but I could tell at the first glimpse that it was none other than +our friend, Black Rifle." + +"Coming to us for refuge, and so our fort is well named." + +"Not for refuge. Black Rifle has taken care of himself too long in the +wilderness to be at a loss at any time. I suspect that he has +something of importance to tell us or he would not come at all." + +At the command of Colden the great gate was thrown open that the +strange rover might enter in all honor, and as he came in, apparently +oblivious of the storm, his eyes gleamed a little at the sight of +Willet, his friend. + +"You've come to tell us something," said the hunter. + +"So I have," said Black Rifle. + +"Brush off the snow, warm yourself by the fire, and then we'll +listen." + +"I can tell it now. I don't mind the snow. I saw from a distance the +great fire last night, when the camp of the French and Indians +burned. It was clever to destroy their huts and lodges, and I knew at +once who did it. Such a thing as that could not have happened without +you having a hand in it, Dave Willet. I watched to see what the +French and Indians would do, and I followed them in their hurried +retreat into the north. I hid in the snowy bushes, and heard some of +their talk, too. They will not stop until they reach a village a full +hundred miles from here. The Frenchmen, De Courcelles and Jumonville +are mad with anger and disappointment, and so is the Indian chief +Tandakora." + +"And well they may be!" jubilantly exclaimed Captain Colden, off whose +mind a great weight seemed to have slid. "It was splendid tactics to +burn their home over their heads. I wouldn't have thought of it +myself, but since others have thought of it, and, it has succeeded so +admirably, we can now do the work we were sent here to do." + +Tayoga and Willet made snow-shoes and went out on them a few days +later, confirming the report of Black Rifle. Then small parties were +sent forth to search the forest for settlers and their families. Robert +had a large share in this work, and sometimes he looked upon terrible +things. In more than one place, torch and tomahawk had already done +their dreadful work, but in others they found the people alive and +well, still clinging to their homes. It was often difficult, even in +the face of imminent danger, to persuade them to leave, and when they +finally went, under mild compulsion, it was with the resolve to return +to their log cabins in the spring. + +Fort Refuge now deserved its name. There were many axes, with plenty +of strong and skillful arms to wield them, and new buildings were +erected within the palisade, the smoke rising from a half dozen +chimneys. They were rude structures, but the people who occupied +them, used all their lives to hardships, did not ask much, and they +seemed snug and comfortable enough to them. Fires always blazed on the +broad stone hearths and the voices of children were heard within the +log walls. The hands of women furnished the rooms, and made new +clothes of deerskin. + +The note of life at Fort Refuge was comfort and good cheer. They felt +that they could hold the little fortress against any force that might +come. The hunters, Willet, Tayoga and Black Rifle at their head, +brought in an abundance of game. There was no ill health. The little +children grew mightily, and, thus thrown together in a group, they had +the happiest time they had ever known. Robert was their hero. No other +could tell such glorious tales. He had read fairy stories at Albany, +and he not only brought them all from the store of his memory but he +embroidered and enlarged them. He had a manner with him, too. His +musical, golden voice, his vivid eyes and his intense earnestness of +tone, the same that had impressed so greatly the fifty sachems in the +vale of Onondaga, carried conviction. If one telling a tale believed +in it so thoroughly himself then those who heard it must believe in it +too. + +Robert fulfilled a great mission. He was not the orator, the golden +mouthed, for nothing. If the winter came down a little too fiercely, +his vivid eyes and gay voice were sufficient to lift the +depression. Even the somber face of Black Rifle would light up when he +came near. Nor was the young Quaker, Wilton, far behind him. He was a +spontaneously happy youth, always bubbling with good nature, and he +formed an able second for Lennox. + +"Will," said Robert, "I believe it actually gives you joy to be here +in this log fortress in the snow and wilderness. You do not miss the +great capital, Philadelphia, to which you have been used all your +life." + +"No, I don't, Robert. I like Fort Refuge, because I'm free from +restraints. It's the first time my true nature has had a chance to +come out, and I'm making the most of the opportunity. Oh, I'm +developing! In the spring you'll see me the gayest and most reckless +blade that ever came into the forest." + +The deep snow lasted a long time. More snowshoes were made, but only +six or eight of the soldiers learned to use them well. There were +sufficient, however, as Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle were +already adepts, and they ranged the forest far in all directions. They +saw no further sign of French or Indians, but they steadily increased +their supply of game. + +Christmas came, January passed and then the big snow began to +melt. New stirrings entered Robert's mind. He felt that their work at +Fort Refuge was done. They had gathered into it all the outlying +settlers who could be reached, and Colden, Wilton and Carson were now +entirely competent to guard it and hold it. Robert felt that he and +Willet should return to Albany, and get into the main current of the +great war. Tayoga, of course, would go with them. + +He talked it over with Willet and Tayoga, and they agreed with him at +once. Black Rifle also decided to depart about the same time, and +Colden, although grieved to see them go, could say nothing against it. +When the four left they received an ovation that would have warmed the +heart of any man. As they stood at the edge of the forest with their +packs on their backs, Captain Colden gave a sharp command. Sixty +rifles turned their muzzles upward, and sixty fingers pulled sixty +triggers. Sixty weapons roared as one, and the four with dew in their +eyes, lifted their caps to the splendid salute. Then a long, shrill +cheer followed. Every child in the fort had been lifted above the +palisade, and they sent the best wishes of their hearts with those who +were going. + +"That cheer of the little ones was mostly for you, Robert," said +Willet, when the forest hid them. + +"It was for all of us equally," said Robert modestly. + +"No, I'm right and it must help us to have the good wishes of little +children go with us. If they and Tododaho watch over us we can't come +to much harm." + +"It is a good omen," said Tayoga soberly. "When I lie down to sleep +tonight I shall hear their voices in my ear." + +Black Rifle now left them, going on one of his solitary expeditions +into the wilderness and the others traveled diligently all the day, +but owing to the condition of the earth did not make their usual +progress. Most of the snow had melted and everything was dripping +with water. It fell from every bough and twig, and in every ravine and +gully a rivulet was running, while ponds stood in every +depression. Many swollen brooks and creeks had to be forded, and when +night came they were wet and soaked to the waist. + +But Tayoga then achieved a great triumph. In the face of difficulties +that seemed insuperable, he coaxed a fire in the lee of a hill, and +the three fed it, until it threw out a great circle of heat in which +they warmed and dried themselves. When they had eaten and rested a +long time they put out the fire, waited for the coals and ashes to +cool, and then spread over them their blankets, thus securing a dry +base upon which to sleep. They were so thoroughly exhausted, and they +were so sure that the forest contained no hostile presence that all +three went to sleep at the same time and remained buried in slumber +throughout the night. + +Tayoga was the first to awake, and he saw the dawn of a new winter +day, the earth reeking with cold damp and the thawing snow. He +unrolled himself from his blankets and arose a little stiffly, but +with a few movements of the limbs all his flexibility returned. The +air was chill and the scene in the black forest of winter was +desolate, but Tayoga was happy. Tododaho on his great shining star had +watched over him and showered him with favors, and he had no doubt +that he would remain under the protection of the mighty chief who had +gone away so long ago. + +Tayoga looked down at his comrades, who still slept soundly, and +smiled. The three were bound together by powerful ties, and the events +of recent months had made them stronger than ever. In the school at +Albany he had absorbed much of the white man's education, and, while +his Indian nature remained unchanged, he understood also the white +point of view. He could meet both Robert and Willet on common ground, +and theirs was a friendship that could not be severed. + +Now he made a circle about their camp, and, being assured that no +enemy was near, came back to the point where Robert and Willet yet +slept. Then he took his flint and steel, and, withdrawing a little, +kindled a fire, doing so as quietly as he could, in order that the two +awaking might have a pleasant surprise. When the little flames were +licking the wood, and the sparks began to fly upwards, he shook Robert +by the shoulder. + +"Arise, sluggard," he said. "Did not our teacher in Albany tell us it +was proof of a lazy nature to sleep while the sun was rising? The fire +even has grown impatient and has lighted itself while you abode with +Tarenyawagon (the sender of dreams). Get up and cook our breakfast, +Oh, Heavy Head!" + +Robert sat up and so did Willet. Then Robert drew his blankets about +his body and lay down again. + +"You've done so well with the fire, Tayoga, and you've shown such a +spirit," he said, "that it would be a pity to interfere with your +activity. Go ahead, and awake me again when breakfast is ready." + +Tayoga made a rush, seized the edge of his blanket and unrolled it, +depositing Robert in the ashes. Then he darted away among the bushes, +avoiding the white youth's pursuit. Willet meanwhile warmed himself by +the fire and laughed. + +"Come back, you two," he said. "You think you're little lads again at +your school in Albany, but you're not. You're here in the wilderness, +confronted by many difficulties, all of which you can overcome, and +subject to many perils, all of which you know how to avoid." + +"I'll come," said Robert, "if you promise to protect me from this +fierce Onondaga chief who is trying to secure my scalp." + +"Tayoga, return to the fire and cook these strips of venison. Here is +the sharp stick left from last night. Robert, take our canteens, find +a spring and fill them with fresh water. By right of seniority I'm in +command this morning, and I intend to subject my army to extremely +severe discipline, because it's good for it. Obey at once!" + +Tayoga obediently took the sharpened stick and began to fry strips of +venison. Robert, the canteens over his shoulder, found a spring near +by and refilled them. Like Tayoga, the raw chill of the morning and +the desolate forest of winter had no effect upon him. He too, was +happy, uplifted, and he sang to himself the song he had heard De +Galissonnière sing: + + "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." + +All that seemed far away now, yet the words of the song brought it +back, and his extraordinary imagination made the scenes at Bigot's +ball pass before his eyes again, almost as vivid as reality. Once more +he saw the Intendant, his portly figure swaying in the dance, his red +face beaming, and once more he beheld the fiery duel in the garden +when the hunter dealt with Boucher, the bully and bravo. + +Quebec was far away. He had been glad to go to it, and he had been +glad to come away, too. He would be glad to go to it again, and he +felt that he would do so some day, though the torrent of battle now +rolled between. He was still humming the air when he came back to the +fire, and saluting Willet politely, tendered a canteen each to him and +Tayoga. + +"Sir David Willet, baronet and general," he said, "I have the honor to +report to you that in accordance with your command I have found the +water, spring water, fine, fresh, pure, as good as any the northern +wilderness can furnish, and that is the best in the world. Shall I +tender it to you, sir, on my bended knee!" + +"No, Mr. Lennox, we can dispense with the bended knee, but I am glad, +young sir, to note in your voice the tone of deep respect for your +elders which sometimes and sadly is lacking." + +"If Dagaeoga works well, and always does as he is bidden," said +Tayoga, "perhaps I'll let him look on at the ceremonies when I take my +place as one of the fifteen sachems of the Onondaga nation." + +While they ate their venison and some bread they had also brought with +them, they discussed the next stage of their journey, and Tayoga made +a suggestion. Traveling would remain difficult for several days, and +instead of going directly to Albany, their original purpose, they +might take a canoe, and visit Mount Johnson, the seat of Colonel +William Johnson, who was such a power with the Hodenosaunee, and who +was in his person a center of important affairs in North America. For +a while, Mount Johnson might, in truth, suit their purpose better than +Albany. + +The idea appealed at once to both Robert and Willet. Colonel Johnson, +more than any one else could tell them what to do, and owing to his +strong alliance, marital and otherwise, with the Mohawks, they were +likely to find chiefs of the Ganeagaono at his house or in the +neighborhood. + +"It is agreed," said Willet, after a brief discussion. "If my +calculations be correct we can reach Mount Johnson in four days, and I +don't think we're likely to cross the trail of an enemy, unless +St. Luc is making some daring expedition." + +"In any event, he's a nobler foe than De Courcelles or Jumonville," +said Robert. + +"I grant you that, readily," said the hunter. "Still, I don't think +we're likely to encounter him on our way to Mount Johnson." + +But on the second day they did cross a trail which they attributed to +a hostile force. It contained, however, no white footsteps, and not +pausing to investigate, they continued their course toward their +destination. As all the snow was now gone, and the earth was drying +fast, they were able almost to double their speed and they pressed +forward, eager to see the celebrated Colonel William Johnson, who was +now filling and who was destined to fill for so long a time so large a +place in the affairs of North America. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WARAIYAGEH + + +Now, a few pleasant days of winter came. The ground dried under +comparatively warm winds, and the forest awoke. They heard everywhere +the ripple of running water, and wild animals came out of their +dens. Tayoga shot a young bear which made a welcome addition to their +supplies. + +"I hold that there's nothing better in the woods than young bear," +said Willet, as he ate a juicy steak Robert had broiled over the +coals. "Venison is mighty good, especially so when you're hungry, but +you can get tired of it. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"It is true," replied the Onondaga. "Fat young bear is very fine. None +of us wants one thing all the time, and we want something besides +meat, too. The nations of the Hodenosaunee are great and civilized, +much ahead of the other red people, because they plant gardens and +orchards and fields, and have grain and vegetables, corn, beans, +squash and many other things good for the table." + +"And the Iroquois, while they grow more particular about the table, +remain the most valiant of all the forest people. I see your point, +Tayoga. Civilization doesn't take anything from a man's courage and +tenacity. Rather it adds to them. There are our enemies, the French, +who are as brave and enduring as anybody, and yet they're the best +cooks in the world, and more particular about their food than any +other nation." + +"You always speak of the French with a kind of affection, Dave," said +Robert. + +"I suppose I do," said the hunter. "I have reasons." + +"As I know now, Dave, you've been in Paris, can't you tell us +something about the city?" + +"It's the finest town in the world, Robert, and they've the brightest, +gayest life there, at least a part of 'em have, but things are not +going right at home with the French. They say a whole nation's fortune +has been sunk in the palace at Versailles, and the people are growing +poorer all the time, but the government hopes to dazzle 'em by waging +a successful and brilliant war over here. I repeat, though, Robert, +that I like the French. A great nation, sound at the core, splendid +soldiers as we're seeing, and as we're likely to see for a long time +to come." + +They pushed on with all speed toward Mount Johnson, the weather still +favoring them, making their last camp in a fine oak grove, and +reckoning that they would achieve their journey's end before noon the +next day. They did not build any fire that night, but when they rose +at dawn they saw the smoke of somebody else's fire on the eastern +horizon. + +"It couldn't be the enemy," said Willet. "He wouldn't let his smoke go +up here for all the world to see, so near to the home of Colonel +William Johnson and within the range of the Mohawks." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "It is likely to be some force of Colonel +Johnson himself, and we can advance with certainty." + +Looking well to their arms in the possible contingency of a foe, they +pushed forward through the woodland, the smoke growing meanwhile as if +those who had built the fire either felt sure of friendly territory, +or were ready to challenge the world. The Onondaga presently held up a +hand and the three stopped. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"I wish to sing a song." + +"Then sing it, Tayoga." + +A bird suddenly gave forth a long, musical, thrilling note. It rose in +a series of trills, singularly penetrating, and died away in a +haunting echo. A few moments of silence and then from a point in the +forest in front of them another bird sang a like song. + +"They are friends," said Tayoga, who was the first bird, "and it may +be, since we are within the range of the Mohawks, that it is our +friend, the great young chief Daganoweda, who replied. I do not think +any one else could sing a song so like my own." + +"I'm wagering that it's Daganoweda and nobody else," said Willet +confidently, and scorning cover now they advanced at increased speed +toward the fire. + +A splendid figure, tall, heroic, the nose lofty and beaked like that +of an ancient Roman, the feather headdress brilliant and defiant like +that of Tayoga, came forward to meet them, and Robert saw with intense +pleasure that it was none other than Daganoweda himself. Nor was the +delight of the young Mohawk chieftain any less--the taciturnity and +blank faces of Indians disappeared among their friends--and he came +forward, smiling and uttering words of welcome. + +"Daganoweda," said Willet, "the sight of you is balm to the eyes. Your +name means in our language, 'The Inexhaustible' and you're an +inexhaustible friend. You're always appearing when we need you most, +and that's the very finest kind of a friend." + +"Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga come out of the great wilderness," +said Daganoweda, smiling. + +"So we do, Daganoweda. We've been there a long time, but we were not +so idle." + +"I have heard of the fort that was built in the forest and how the +young white soldiers with the help of Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga +beat off the French and the savage tribes." + +"I supposed that runners of the Hodenosaunee would keep you +informed. Well, the fort is there and our people still hold it, and we +are here, anxious to get back into the main stream of big events. Who +are at the fire, Daganoweda?" + +"Waraiyageh (Colonel William Johnson) himself is there. He was fishing +yesterday, it being an idle time for a few days, and with ten of my +warriors I joined him last night. He will be glad to see you, Great +Bear, whom he knows. And he will be glad to meet Tayoga and Dagaeoga +who are to bear great names." + +"Easy, Daganoweda, easy!" laughed Willet. + +"These are fine lads, but don't flatter 'em too much just yet. They've +done brave deeds, but before this war is over they'll have to do a lot +more. We'll go with you and meet Colonel Johnson." + +As they walked toward the fire a tall, strongly built man, of middle +years, dressed in the uniform of an English officer, came forward to +meet them. His face, with a distinct Irish cast, was frank, open and +resolute. + +"Ah, Willet, my friend," he said, extending his hand. "So you and I +meet again, and glad I am to hold your fingers in mine once more. A +faithful report has come to us of what you did in Quebec, and it seems +the Willet of old has not changed much." + +The hunter reddened under his tan. + +"It was forced upon me, colonel," he said. + +Colonel William Johnson laughed heartily. + +"And he who forced it did not live to regret it," he said. "I've heard +that French officers themselves did not blame you, but as for me, +knowing you as I do, I'd have expected no less of David Willet." + +He laughed again, and his laugh was deep and hearty. Robert, looking +closely at him, thought him a fine, strong man, and he was quite sure +he would like him. The colonel glanced at him and Tayoga, and the +hunter said: + +"Colonel Johnson, I wish to present Tayoga, who is of the most ancient +blood of the Onondagas, a member of the Clan of the Bear, and destined +to be a great chief. A most valiant and noble youth, too, I assure +you, and the white lad is Robert Lennox, to whom I stand in the place +of a father." + +"I have heard of Tayoga," said Colonel Johnson, "and his people and +mine are friends." + +"It is true," said Tayoga, "Waraiyageh has been the best friend among +the white people that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have ever +had. He has never tricked us. He has never lied to us, and often he +has incurred great hardship and danger to help us." + +"It is pleasant in my ears to hear you say so, Tayoga," said Colonel +Johnson, "and as for Mr. Lennox, who, my eyes tell me is also a noble +and gallant youth, it seems to me I've heard some report of him +too. You carried the private letters from the Governor of New York to +the Marquis Duquesne, Governor General of Canada?" + +"I did, sir," replied Robert. + +"And of course you were there with Willet. Your mission, I believe, +was kept as secret as possible, but I learned at Albany that you bore +yourself well, and that you also gave an exhibition with the sword." + +It was Robert's turn to flush. + +"I'm a poor swordsman, sir," he said, "by the side of Mr. Willet." + +"Good enough though, for the occasion. But come, I'll make an end to +badinage. You must be on your way to Mount Johnson." + +"That was our destination," said Willet. + +"Then right welcome guests you'll be. I have a little camp but a short +distance away. Molly is there, and so is that young eagle, her +brother, Joseph Brant. Molly will see that you're well served with +food, and after that you shall stay at Mount Johnson as long as you +like, and the longer you'll stay the better it will please Molly and +me. You shall tell us of your adventures, Mr. Lennox, and about that +Quebec in which you and Mr. Willet seem to have cut so wide a swath +with your rapiers." + +"We did but meet the difficulties that were forced upon us," protested +Willet. + +Colonel Johnson laughed once more, and most heartily. + +"If all people met in like fashion the difficulties that were forced +upon them," he said, "it would be a wondrous efficient world, so much +superior to the world that now is that one would never dream they had +been the same. But just beyond the hill is our little camp which, for +want of a better name, I'll call a bower. Here is Joseph, now, coming +to meet us." + +An Indian lad of about eleven years, but large and uncommonly strong +for his age, was walking down the hill toward them. He was dressed +partly in civilized clothing, and his manner was such that he would +have drawn the notice of the observing anywhere. His face was open +and strong, with great width between the eyes, and his gaze was direct +and firm. Robert knew at once that here was an unusual boy, one +destined if he lived to do great things. His prevision was more than +fulfilled. It was Joseph Brant, the renowned Thayendanegea, the most +famous and probably the ablest Indian chief with whom the white men +ever came into contact. + +"This is Joseph Brant, the brother of Molly, my wife, and hence my +young brother-in-law," said Colonel Johnson. "Joseph, our new friends +are David Willet, known to the Hodenosaunee as the Great Bear, Robert +Lennox, who seems to be in some sort a ward of Mr. Willet, and Tayoga, +of the Clan of the Bear, of your great brother nation, Onondaga." + +Young Thayendanegea saluted them all in a friendly but dignified +way. He, like Tayoga, had a white education, and spoke perfect, but +measured English. + +"We welcome you," he said. "Colonel Johnson, sir, my sister has +already seen the strangers from the hill, and is anxious to greet +them." + +"Molly, for all her dignity, has her fair share of curiosity," laughed +Colonel Johnson, "and since it's our duty to gratify it, we'll go +forward." + +Robert had heard often of Molly Brant, the famous Mohawk wife of +Colonel, afterward Sir William Johnson, a great figure in that region +in her time, and he was eager to see her. He beheld a woman, young, +tall, a face decidedly Iroquois, but handsome and lofty. She wore the +dress of the white people, and it was of fine material. She obviously +had some of the distinguished character that had already set its seal +upon her young brother, then known as Keghneghtada, his famous name of +Thayendanegea to come later. Her husband presented the three, and she +received them in turn in a manner that was quiet and dignified, +although Robert could see her examining them with swift Indian eyes +that missed nothing. And with his knowledge of both white heart and +red heart, of white manner and red manner, he was aware that he stood +in the presence of a great lady, a great lady who fitted into her +setting of the vast New York wilderness. So, with the ornate manner +of the day, he bent over and kissed her hand as he was presented. + +"Madam," he said, "it is a great pleasure to us to meet Colonel +Johnson here in the forest, but we have the unexpected and still +greater pleasure of meeting his lady also." + +Colonel Johnson laughed, and patted Robert on the shoulder. + +"Mr. Willet has been whispering to me something about you," he +said. "He has been telling me of your gift of speech, and by my faith, +he has not told all of it. You do address the ladies in a most +graceful fashion, and Molly likes it. I can see that." + +"Assuredly I do, sir," said she who had been Molly Brant, the Mohawk, +but who was now the wife of the greatest man in the north +country. "Tis a goodly youth and he speaks well. I like him, and he +shall have the best our house can offer." + +Colonel Johnson's mellow laugh rang out again. + +"Spoken like a woman of spirit, Molly," he said. "I expected none the +less of you. It's in the blood of the Ganeagaono and had you answered +otherwise you would have been unworthy of your cousin, Daganoweda, +here." + +The young Mohawk chieftain smiled. Johnson, who had married a girl of +their race, could jest with the Mohawks almost as he pleased, and +among themselves and among those whom they trusted the Indians were +fond of joking and laughter. + +"The wife of Waraiyageh not only has a great chief for a husband," he +said, "but she is a great chief herself. Among the Wyandots she would +be one of the rulers." + +The women were the governing power in the valiant Wyandot nation, and +Daganoweda could pay his cousin no higher compliment. + +"We talk much," said Colonel Johnson, "but we must remember that our +friends are tired. They've come afar in bad weather. We must let them +rest now and give them refreshment." + +He led the way to the light summer house that he had called a +bower. It was built of poles and thatch, and was open on the eastern +side, where it faced a fine creek running with a strong current. A +fire was burning in one corner, and a heavy curtain of tanned skins +could be draped over the wide doorway. Articles of women's apparel +hung on the walls, and others indicating woman's work stood +about. There were also chairs of wicker, and a lounge covered with +haircloth. It was a comfortable place, the most attractive that Robert +had seen in a long time, and his eyes responded to it with a glitter +that Colonel Johnson noticed. + +"I don't wonder that you like it, lad," he said. "I've spent some +happy hours here myself, when I came in weary or worn from hunting or +fishing. But sit you down, all three of you. I'll warrant me that +you're weary enough, tramping through this wintry forest. Blunt, shove +the faggots closer together and make up a better fire." + +The command was to a white servant who obeyed promptly, but Madame +Johnson herself had already shifted the chairs for the guests, and had +taken their deerskin cloaks. Without ceasing to be the great lady she +moved, nevertheless, with a lightness of foot and a celerity that was +all a daughter of the forest. Robert watched her with fascinated eyes +as she put the summer house in order and made it ready for the comfort +of her guests. Here was one who had acquired civilization without +losing the spirit of the wild. She was an educated and well bred +woman, the wife of the most powerful man in the colonies, and she was +at the same time a true Mohawk. Robert knew as he looked at her that +if left alone in the wilderness she could take care of herself almost +as well as her cousin, Daganoweda, the young chief. + +Then his gaze shifted from Molly Brant to her brother. Despite his +youth all his actions showed pride and unlimited confidence in +himself. He stood near the door, and addressed Robert in English, +asking him questions about himself, and he also spoke to Tayoga, +showing him the greatest friendliness. + +"We be of the mighty brother nations, Onondaga and Mohawk, the first +of the great League," he said, "and some day we will sit together in +the councils of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga." + +"It is so," said Tayoga gravely, speaking to the young lad as man to +man. "We will ever serve the Hodenosaunee as our fathers before us +have done." + +"Leave the subject of the Hodenosaunee," said Colonel Johnson +cheerily. "I know that you lads are prouder of your birth than the old +Roman patricians ever were, but Mr. Willet, Mr. Lennox and I were not +fortunate enough to be born into the great League, and you will +perhaps arouse our jealousy or envy. Come, gentlemen, sit you down +and eat and drink." + +His Mohawk wife seconded the request and food and drink were +served. Robert saw that the bower was divided into two rooms the one +beyond them evidently being a sleeping chamber, but the evidences of +comfort, even luxury, were numerous, making the place an oasis in the +wilderness. Colonel Johnson had wine, which Robert did not touch, nor +did Tayoga nor Daganoweda, and there were dishes of china or silver +brought from England. He noticed also, and it was an unusual sight in +a lodge in the forest, about twenty books upon two shelves. From his +chair he read the titles, Le Brun's "Battles of Alexander," a bound +volume of _The Gentleman's Magazine,_ "Roderick Random," and several +others. Colonel Johnson's eyes followed him. + +"I see that you are a reader," he said. "I know it because your eyes +linger upon my books. I have packages brought from time to time from +England, and, before I came upon this expedition, I had these sent +ahead of me to the bower that I might dip into them in the evenings if +I felt so inclined. Reading gives us a wider horizon, and, at the same +time, takes us away from the day's troubles." + +"I agree with you heartily, sir," said Robert, "but, unfortunately, we +have little time for reading now." + +"That is true," sighed Colonel Johnson. "I fear it's going to be a +long and terrible war. What do you see, Joseph?" + +Young Brant was sitting with his face to the door, and he had risen +suddenly. + +"A runner comes," he replied. "He is in the forest beyond the creek, +but I see that he is one of our own people. He comes fast." + +Colonel Johnson also arose. + +"Can it be some trouble among the Ganeagaono?" he said. + +"I think not," said the Indian boy. + +The runner emerged from the wood, crossed the creek and stood in the +doorway of the bower. He was a tall, thin young Mohawk, and he panted +as if he had come fast and long. + +"What is it, Oagowa?" asked Colonel Johnson. + +"A hostile band, Hurons, Abenakis, Caughnawagas, and others, has +entered the territory of the Ganeagaono on the west," replied the +warrior. "They are led by an Ojibway chief, a giant, called +Tandakora." + +Robert uttered an exclamation. + +"The name of the Ojibway attracts your attention," said Colonel +Johnson. + +"We've had many encounters with him," replied the youth. "Besides +hating the Hodenosaunee and all the white people, I think he also has +a personal grievance against Mr. Willet, Tayoga and myself. He is the +most bitter and persistent of all our enemies." + +"Then this man must be dealt with. I can't go against him +myself. Other affairs press too much, but I can raise a force with +speed." + +"Let me go, sir, against Tandakora!" exclaimed young Brant eagerly and +in English. + +Colonel Johnson looked at him a moment, his eyes glistening, and then +he laughed, not with irony but gently and with approval. + +"Truly 'tis a young eagle," he said, "but, Joseph, you must remember +that your years are yet short of twelve, and you still have much time +to spend over the books in which you have done so well. If I let you +be cut off at such an early age you can never become the great chief +you are destined to be. Bide a while, Joseph, and your cousin, +Daganoweda, will attend to this Ojibway who has wandered so far from +his own country." + +Young Brant made no protest. Trained in the wonderful discipline of +the Hodenosaunee he knew that he must obey before he could command. He +resumed his seat quietly, but his eager eyes watched his tall cousin, +the young Mohawk chieftain, as Colonel Johnson gave him orders. + +"Take with you the warriors that you have now, Daganoweda," he +said. "Gather the fifty who are now encamped at Teugega. Take thirty +more from Talaquega, and I think that will be enough. I don't know +you, Daganoweda, and I don't know your valiant Mohawk warriors, if you +are not able to account thoroughly for the Ojibway and his men. Don't +come back until you've destroyed them or driven them out of your +country." + +Colonel Johnson's tone was at once urgent and complimentary. It +intimated that the work was important and that Daganoweda would be +sure to do it. The Mohawk's eyes glittered in his dark face. He lifted +his hand in a salute, glided from the bower, and a moment later he and +his warriors passed from sight in the forest. + +"That cousin of yours, Molly, deserves his rank of chief," said +Colonel Johnson. "The task that he is to do I consider as good as done +already. Tandakora was too daring, when he ventured into the lands of +the Ganeagaono. Now, if you gentlemen will be so good as to be our +guests we'll pass the night here, and tomorrow we'll go to Mount +Johnson." + +It was agreeable to Robert, Willet and Tayoga, and they spent the +remainder of the day most pleasantly at the bower. Colonel Johnson, +feeling that they were three whom he could trust, talked freely and +unveiled a mind fitted for great affairs. + +"I tell you three," he said, "that this will be one of the most +important wars the world has known. To London and Paris we seem lost +in the woods out here, and perhaps at the courts they think little of +us or they do not think at all, but the time must come when the New +World will react upon the Old. Consider what a country it is, with its +lakes, its forests, its rivers, and its fertile lands, which extend +beyond the reckoning of man. The day will arrive when there will be a +power here greater than either England or France. Such a land cannot +help but nourish it." + +He seemed to be much moved, and spoke a long time in the same vein, +but his Indian wife never said a word. She moved about now and then, +and, as before, her footsteps making no noise, being as light as those +of any animal of the forest. + +The dusk came up to the door. They heard the ripple of the creek, but +could not see its waters. Madam Johnson lighted a wax candle, and +Colonel Johnson stopped suddenly. + +"I have talked too much. I weary you," he said. + +"Oh, no, sir!" protested Robert eagerly. "Go on! We would gladly +listen to you all night." + +"That I think would be too great a weight upon us all," laughed +Colonel Johnson. "You are weary. You must be so from your long +marching and my heavy disquisitions. We'll have beds made for you +three and Joseph here. Molly and I sleep in the next room." + +Robert was glad to have soft furs and a floor beneath him, and when he +lay down it was with a feeling of intense satisfaction. He liked +Colonel William Johnson, and knew that he had a friend in him. He was +anxious for advancement in the great world, and he understood what it +was to have powerful support. Already he stood high with the +Hodenosaunee, and now he had found favor with the famous Waraiyageh. + +They left in the morning for Mount Johnson, and there were horses for +all except the Indians, although one was offered to Tayoga. But he +declined to ride--the nations of the Hodenosaunee were not horsemen, +and kept pace with them at the long easy gait used by the Indian +runner. Robert himself was not used to the saddle, but he was glad +enough to accept it, after their great march through the wilderness. + +The weather continued fine for winter, crisp, clear, sparkling with +life and the spirits of all were high. Colonel Johnson beckoned to +Robert to ride by the side of him and the two led the way. Kegneghtada, +despite his extreme youth, had refused a horse also, and was swinging +along by the side of Tayoga, stride for stride. A perfect understanding +and friendship had already been established between the Onondaga and +the Mohawk, and as they walked they talked together earnestly, young +Brant bearing himself as if he were on an equal footing with his +brother warrior, Tayoga. Colonel Johnson looked at them, smiled +approval and said to Robert: + +"I have called my young brother-in-law an eagle, and an eagle he truly +is. We're apt to think, Mr. Lennox, that we white people alone gather +our forces and prepare for some aim distant but great. But the Indian +intellect is often keen and powerful, as I have had good cause to +know. Many of their chiefs have an acuteness and penetration not +surpassed in the councils of white men. The great Mohawk whom we call +King Hendrick probably has more intellect than most of the sovereigns +on their thrones in Europe. And as for Joseph, the lad there who so +gallantly keeps step with the Onondaga, where will you find a white +boy who can excel him? He absorbs the learning of our schools as fast +as any boy of our race whom I have ever known, and, at the same time, +he retains and improves all the lore and craft of the red people." + +"You have found the Mohawks a brave and loyal race," said Robert, +knowing the colonel was upon a favorite theme of his. + +"That I have, Mr. Lennox. I came among them a boy. I was a trader +then, and I settled first only a few miles from their largest town, +Dyiondarogon. I tried to keep faith with them and as a result I found +them always keeping faith with me. Then, when I went to Oghkwaga, I +had the same experience. The Indians were defrauded in the fur trade +by white swindlers, but dishonesty, besides being bad in itself, does +not pay, Mr. Lennox. Bear that in mind. You may cheat for a while with +success, but in time nobody will do business with you. Though you, I +take it, will never be a merchant." + +"It is not because I frown upon the merchant's calling, sir. I esteem +it a high and noble one. But my mind does not turn to it." + +"So I gather from what I have seen of you, and from what Mr. Willet +tells me. I've been hearing of your gift of oratory. You need not +blush, my lad. If we have a gift we should accept it thankfully, and +make the best use of it we can. You, I take it, will be a lawyer, then +a public man, and you will sway the public mind. There should be grand +occasions for such as you in a country like this, with its unlimited +future." + +They came presently into a region of cultivation, fields which would +be green with grain in the spring, showing here and there, and the +smoke from the chimney of a stout log house rising now and then. +Where a creek broke into a swift white fall stood a grist mill, and +from a wood the sound of axes was heard. + +Robert's vivid imagination, which responded to all changes, kindled at +once. He liked the wilderness, and it always made a great impression +upon him, and he also took the keenest interest and delight in +everything that civilization could offer. Now his spirit leaped up to +meet what lay before him. + +He found at Mount Johnson comfort and luxury that he had not expected, +an abundance of all that the wilderness furnished, mingled with +importations from Europe. He slept in a fine bed, he looked into more +books, he saw on the walls reproductions of Titian and Watteau, and +also pictures of race horses that had made themselves famous at +Newmarket, he wrote letters to Albany on good paper, he could seal +them with either black or red wax, and there were musical instruments +upon one or two of which he could play. + +Robert found all these things congenial. The luxury or what might have +seemed luxury on the border, had in it nothing of decadence. There was +an air of vigor, and Colonel Johnson, although he did not neglect his +guests, plunged at once and deeply into business. A little village, +dependent upon him and his affairs had grown up about him, and there +were white men more or less in his service, some of whom he sent at +once on missions for the war. Through it all his Indian wife glided +quietly, but Robert saw that she was a wonderful help, managing with +ease, and smoothing away many a difficulty. + +Despite the restraint of manner, the people at Mount Johnson were full +of excitement. The news from Canada and also from the west became +steadily more ominous. The French power was growing fast and the +warriors of the wild tribes were crowding in thousands to the Bourbon +banner. Robert heard again of St. Luc and of some daring achievement +of his, and despite himself he felt as always a thrill at the name, +and a runner also brought the news that more French troops had gone +into the Ohio country. + +The fourth night of their stay at Mount Johnson Robert remained awake +late. He and young Brant, the great Thayendanegea that was to be, had +already formed a great friendship, the beginning of which was made +easier by Robert's knowledge of Indian nature and sympathy with +it. The two wrapped in fur cloaks had gone a little distance from the +house, because Brant said that a bear driven by hunger had come to the +edge of the village, and they were looking for its tracks. But Robert +was more interested in observing the Indian boy than in finding the +foot prints of the bear. + +"Joseph," he said, "you expect, of course, to be a great warrior and +chief some day." + +The boy's eyes glittered. + +"There is nothing else for which I would care," he replied. "Hark, +Dagaeoga, did you hear the cry of a night bird?" + +"I did, Joseph, but like you I don't think it's the voice of a real +bird. It's a signal." + +"So it is, and unless I reckon ill it's the signal of my cousin +Daganoweda, returning from the great war trail that he has trod +against the wild Ojibway, Tandakora." + +The song of a bird trilled from his own throat in reply, and then from +the forest came Daganoweda and his warriors in a dusky file. Robert +and young Brant fell in with them and walked toward the house. Not a +word was spoken, but the eyes of the Mohawk chieftain were gleaming, +and his bearing expressed the very concentrated essence of haughty +pride. At the house they stopped, and, young Brant going in, brought +forth Colonel Johnson. + +"Well, Daganoweda," said the white man. + +"I met Tandakora two days' journey north of Mount Johnson," replied +the Mohawk. "His numbers were equal to our own, but his warriors were +not the warriors of the Hodenosaunee. Six of the Ganeagaono are gone, +Waraiyageh, and sixteen more have wounds, from which they will +recover, but when Tandakora began his flight toward Canada eighteen of +his men lay dead, eight more fell in the pursuit, which was so fast +that we bring back with us forty muskets and rifles." + +"Well done, Daganoweda," said Colonel Johnson. "You have proved +yourself anew a great warrior and chief, but you did not have to prove +it to me. I knew it long ago. Fine new rifles, and blankets of blue or +red or green have just come from Albany, half of which shall be +distributed among your men in the morning." + +"Waraiyageh never forgets his friends," said the appreciative Mohawk. + +He withdrew with his warriors, knowing that the promise would be kept. + +"Why was I not allowed to go with them?" mourned young Brant. + +Colonel Johnson laughed and patted his shiny black head. + +"Never mind, young fire-eater," he said. "We'll all of us soon have +our fill of war--and more." + +Robert was present at the distribution of rifles and blankets the next +morning, and he knew that Colonel Johnson had bound the Mohawks to him +and the English and American cause with another tie. Daganoweda and +his warriors, gratified beyond expression, took the war path again. + +"They'll remain a barrier between us and the French and their allies," +said Colonel Johnson, "and faith we'll need 'em. The other nations of +the Hodenosaunee wish to keep out of the war, but the Mohawks will be +with us to the last. Their great chief, King Hendrick, is our devoted +friend, and so is his brother, Abraham. This, too, in spite of the bad +treatment of the Ganeagaono by the Dutch at Albany. O, I have nothing +to say against the Dutch, a brave and tenacious people, but they have +their faults, like other races, and sometimes they let avarice +overcome them! I wish they could understand the nations of the +Hodenosaunee better. Do what you can at Albany, Mr. Lennox, with that +facile tongue of yours, to persuade the Dutch--and the others +too--that the danger from the French and Indians is great, and that we +must keep the friendship of the Six Nations." + +"I will do my best, sir," promised Robert modestly. "I at least ought +to know the power and loyalty of the Hodenosaunee, since I have been +adopted into the great League and Tayoga, an Onondaga, is my brother, +in all but blood." + +"And I stand in the same position," said Willet firmly. "We +understand, sir, your great attachment for the Six Nations, and the +vast service you have done for the English among them. If we can +supplement it even in some small degree we shall spare no effort to do +so." + +"I know it, Mr. Willet, and yet my heart is heavy to see the land I +love devastated by fire and sword." + +Colonel Johnson loaned them horses, and an escort of two of his own +soldiers who would bring back the horses, and they started for Albany +amid many hospitable farewells. + +"You and I shall meet again," said young Brant to Robert. + +"I hope so," said Robert. + +"It will be as allies and comrades on the battle field." + +"But you are too young, Joseph, yet to take part in war." + +"I shall not be next year, and the war will not be over then, so my +brother, Colonel William Johnson says, and he knows." + +Robert looked at the sturdy young figure and the eager eyes, and he +knew that the Indian lad would not be denied. + +Then the little party rode into the woods, and proceeded without event +to Albany. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WATCHER + + +It was with emotion that Robert came to Albany, an emotion that was +shared by his Onondaga comrade, Tayoga, who had spent a long time in a +white school there. The staid Dutch town was the great outpost of the +Province of New York in the wilderness, and although his temperament +was unlike that of the Dutch burghers he had innumerable pleasant +memories of it, and many friends there. It was, in his esteem, too, a +fine town, on its hills over-looking that noble river, the Hudson, and +as the little group rode on he noted that despite the war its +appearance was still peaceful and safe. + +Their way led along the main street which was broad and with grass on +either side. The solid Dutch houses, with their gable ends to the +street, stood every one on its own lawn, with a garden behind +it. Every house also had a portico in front of it, on which the people +sat in summer evenings, or where they visited with one another. Except +that it was hills where the old country was flat, it was much like +Holland, and the people, keen and thrifty, had preserved their +national customs even unto the third and fourth generations. Robert +understood them as he understood the Hodenosaunce, and, with his +adaptable temperament, and with his mind that could understand so +readily the minds of others, he was able to meet them on common +ground. As they rode into the city he looked questioningly at Willet, +and the hunter, understanding the voiceless query, smiled. + +"We couldn't think of going to any other place," he said. "If we did +we could never secure his forgiveness." + +"I shall be more than glad to see him. A right good friend of ours, +isn't he, Tayoga?" + +"Though his tongue lashes us his heart is with us," replied the +Onondaga. "He is a great white chief, three hundred pounds of +greatness." + +They stopped before one of the largest of the brick houses, standing +on one of the widest and neatest of the lawns, and Robert and Tayoga, +entering the portico, knocked upon the door with a heavy brass +knocker. They heard presently the rattle of chains inside, and the +rumble of a deep, grumbling voice. Then the two lads looked at each +other and laughed, laughed in the careless, joyous way in which youth +alone can laugh. + +"It is he, Mynheer Jacobus himself, come to let us in," said Robert. + +"And he has not changed at all," said Tayoga. "We can tell that by +the character of his voice on the other side of the door." + +"And I would not have him changed." + +"Nor would I." + +The door was thrown open, but as all the windows were closed there was +yet gloom inside. Presently something large, red and shining emerged +from the dusk and two beams of light in the center of the redness +played upon them. Then the outlines of a gigantic human figure, a man +tall and immensely stout, were disclosed. He wore a black suit with +knee breeches, thick stockings and buckled shoes, and his powdered +hair was tied in a queue. His eyes, dazzled at first by the light from +without, began to twinkle as he looked. Then a great blaze of joy +swept over his face, and he held out two fat hands, one to the white +youth and one to the red. + +"Ah, it iss you, Robert, you scapegrace, and it iss you, Tayoga, you +wild Onondaga! It iss a glad day for me that you haf come, but I +thought you both dead, und well you might be, reckless, thoughtless +lads who haf not the thought uf the future in your minds." + +Robert shook the fat hand in both of his and laughed. + +"You are the same as of old, Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "and before +Tayoga and I saw you, but while we heard you, we agreed that there had +been no change, and that we did not want any." + +"And why should I change, you two young rascals? Am I not goot enough +as I am? Haf I not in the past given the punishment to both uf you und +am I not able to do it again, tall and strong as the two uf you haf +grown? Ah, such foolish lads! Perhaps you haf been spared because pity +wass taken on your foolishness. But iss it Mynheer Willet beyond you? +That iss a man of sense." + +"It's none other than Dave, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. + +"Then why doesn't he come in?" exclaimed Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. "He +iss welcome here, doubly, triply welcome, und he knows it." + +"Dave! Dave! Hurry!" called Robert, "or Mynheer Jacobus will chastise +you. He's so anxious to fall on your neck and welcome you that he +can't wait!" + +Willet came swiftly up the brick walk, and the hands of the two big +men met in a warm clasp. + +"You see I've brought the boys back to you again, Jacob," said the +hunter. + +"But what reckless lads they've become," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. "I +can see the mischief in their eyes now. They wass bad enough when they +went to school here und lived with me, but since they've run wild in +the forests this house iss not able to hold them." + +"Don't you worry, Jacob, old friend. These arms and shoulders of mine +are still strong, and if they make you trouble I will deal with +them. But we just stopped a minute to inquire into the state of your +health. Can you tell us which is now the best inn in Albany?" + +The face of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman flamed, and his eyes blazed in the +center of it, two great red lights. + +"Inn! Inn!" he roared in his queer mixture of English, Dutch and +German accent "Iss it that your head hass been struck by lightning und +you haf gone crazy? If there wass a thousand inns at Albany you und +Robert und Tayoga could not stop at one uf them. Iss not the house uf +Jacobus Huysman good enough for you?" + +Robert, Tayoga and the hunter laughed aloud. + +"He did but make game of you, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "We will +alter your statement and say if there were a thousand inns in Albany +you could not make us stay at any one of them. Despite your commands +we would come directly to your house." + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman permitted himself to smile. But his voice +renewed its grumbling tone. + +"Ever the same," he said. "You must stay here, although only the good +Lord himself knows in what condition my house will be when you +leave. You are two wild lads. It iss not so strange uf you, Robert +Lennox, who are white, but I would expect better uf Tayoga, who is to +be a great Onondaga chief some day." + +"You make a great mistake, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "Tayoga is +far worse than I am. All the mischief that I have ever done was due to +his example and persuasion. It is my misfortune that I have a weak +nature, and I am easily led into evil by my associates." + +"It iss not so. You are equally bad. Bring in your baggage und I will +see if Caterina, der cook, cannot find enough for you three, who +always eat like raging lions." + +The soldiers, who were to return immediately to Colonel William +Johnson, rode away with their horses, and Robert, Tayoga and Willet +took their packs into the house of Mynheer Huysman, who grumbled +incessantly while he and a manservant and a maidservant made them as +comfortable as possible. + +"Would you und Tayoga like to haf your old room on the second floor?" +he said to Robert. + +"Nothing would please us better," replied the lad. + +"Then you shall haf it," said Mynheer, as he led the way up the stair +and into the room. "Do you remember, Tayoga, how wild you wass when +you came here to learn the good ways und bad ways uf the white +people?" + +"I do," replied Tayoga, "and the walls and the roof felt oppressive to +me, although we have stout log houses of our own in our villages. But +they were not our own walls and our own roof, and there was the great +young warrior, Lennox, whom we now call Dagaeoga, who was to stay in +the same room and even in the same bed with me. Do you wonder that I +felt like climbing out of a window at night, and escaping into the +woods?" + +"You were eleven then," said Robert, "and I was just a shade +younger. You were as strange to me as I was to you, and I thought, in +truth, that you were going to run away into the wilderness. But you +didn't, and you began to learn from books faster than I thought was +possible for one whose mind before then had been turned in another +direction." + +"But you helped me, Dagaeoga. After our first and only battle in the +garden, which I think was a draw, we became allies." + +"Und you united against me," said Mynheer Huysman. + +"And you helped me with the books," continued Tayoga. "Ah, those first +months were hard, very hard!" + +"And you taught me the use of the bow and arrow," continued Robert, +"and new skill in both fishing and hunting." + +"Und the two uf you together learned new tricks und new ways uf making +my life miserable," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. + +"But you must admit, Jacob," said Willet, "that they were not the +worst boys in the world." + +"Well, not the worst, perhaps, David, because I don't know all the +boys uf all the countries in the world, but when you put an Onondaga +lad und an American lad together in alliance it iss hard to find any +one who can excel them, because they haf the mischief uf two nations." + +"But you are tremendously glad to see them again, Jacob. Don't deny +it. I read it over and over again in your eyes." + +Willet's own eyes twinkled as he spoke, and he saw also that there was +a light in those of the big Dutchman. But Huysman would admit +nothing. + +"Here iss your room," he said to Robert and Tayoga. + +Robert saw that it was not changed. All the old, familiar objects were +there, and they brought to him a rush of emotion, as inanimate things +often do. On a heavy mahogany dresser lay two worn volumes that he +touched affectionately. One was his Caesar and the other his +algebra. Once he had hated both, but now he thought of them tenderly +as links with, the peaceful boyhood that was slipping away. Hanging +from a hook on the wall was an unstrung bow, the first weapon of the +kind with which he had practiced under the teaching of Tayoga. He +passed his hand over it gently and felt a thrill at the touch of the +wood. + +Tayoga, also was moving about the room. On a small shelf lay an +English dictionary and several readers. They too were worn. He had +spent many a grieving hour over them when he had come from the +Iroquois forests to learn the white man's lore. He recalled how he had +hated them for a time, and how he had looked out of his school windows +at the freedom for which he had longed. But he was made of wrought +steel, both mind and body, and always the white youth, Lennox, his +comrade, was at his elbow in those days of his scholastic infancy to +help him. It had been a great episode in the life of Tayoga, who had +the intellect of a mighty chief, the mind of Pontiac or Thayendanegea, +or Tecumseh, or Sequoia. He had forced himself to learn and in +learning his books he had learned also to like the people of another +race around him who were good to him and who helped him in the first +hard days on the new road. So the young Onondaga felt an emotion much +like that of Robert as he walked about the room and touched the old +familiar things. Then he turned to Huysman. + +"Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "you have a mighty body, and you have in +it a great heart. If all the men at Albany were like you there would +never be any trouble between them and the Hodenosaunee." + +"Tayoga," said Huysman, "you haf borrowed Robert's tongue to cozen und +flatter. I haf not a great heart at all. I haf a very bad heart. I +could not get on in this world if I didn't." + +Tayoga laughed musically, and Mynheer Jacobus gruffly bidding them not +to destroy anything, while he was gone, departed to see that Caterina, +the Dutch cook, fat like her master, should have ready a dinner, +drawing upon every resource of his ample larder. It is but truth to +say that the heart of Mynheer Jacobus was very full. A fat old +bachelor, with no near kin, his heart yearned over the two lads who +had spent so long a period in his home, and he knew them, too, for +what they were, each a fine flower of his own racial stock. + +They were to remain several days in Albany, and after dinner they +visited Alexander McLean, the crusty teacher who had given them such a +severe drilling in their books. Master McLean allowed himself a few +brief expressions of pleasure when they came into his house, and then +questioned them sharply: + +"Do you remember any of your ancient history, Tayoga?" he asked. "Are +the great deeds of the Greeks and Romans still in your mind?" + +"At times they are, sir," replied the young Onondaga. + +"Um-m. Is that so? What was the date of the battle of Zama?" + +"It was fought 202 B.C., sir." + +"You're correct, but it must have been only a lucky guess. I'll try +you again. What was the date of the battle of Hastings?" + +"It was fought 1066 A.D., sir." + +"Very good. Since you have answered correctly twice it must be +knowledge and not mere surmise on your part. Robert, whom do you +esteem the greatest of the Greek dramatic poets?" + +"Sophocles, sir." + +"Why?" + +"Because he combined the vigor and power of Aeschylus with the polish +and refinement of Euripides." + +"Correct. I see that you remember what I told you, as you have quoted +almost my exact words. And now, lads, be seated, while I order +refreshments for you." + +"We thank you, sir," said Robert, "but 'tis less than an hour since we +almost ate ourselves to death at the house of Mynheer Jacobus +Huysman." + +"A good man, Jacob, but too fat, and far too brusque in speech, +especially to the young. I'll warrant me he has been addressing +upbraiding words to you, finding fault, perhaps, with your manners and +your parts of speech." + +The two youths hid their smiles. + +"Mynheer Jacobus was very good to us," said Robert. "Just as you are, +Master McLean." + +"I am not good to you, if you mean by it weakness and softness of +heart. Never spoil the young. Speak sternly to them all the time. Use +the strap and the rod freely upon them and you may make men of them." + +Again Robert and Tayoga hid their smiles, but each knew that he had a +soft place in the heart of the crusty teacher, and they spent a +pleasant hour with him. That night they slept in their old room at +Mynheer Huysman's and two days later they and Willet went on board a +sloop for New York, where they intended to see Governor de +Lancey. Before they left many more alarming reports about the French +and Indians had come to Albany. They had made new ravages in the north +and west, and their power was spreading continually. France was +already helping her colonists. When would England help hers? + +But Robert forgot all alarm in the pleasure of the voyage. It was a +good sloop, it had a stout Dutch captain, and with a favoring wind +they sped fast southward. Pride in the splendid river swelled in +Robert's soul and he and Tayoga, despite the cold, sat together on the +deck, watching the lofty shores and the distant mountains. + +But Willet, anxious of mind, paced back and forth. He had seen much +at Albany that did not please him. The Indian Commissioners were +doing little to cement the alliance with the Hodenosaunee. The +Mohawks, alone of the great League, were giving aid against the +French. The others remained in their villages, keeping a strict +neutrality. That was well as far as it went, but the hunter had hoped +that all the members of the Hodenosaunee would take the field for the +English. He believed that Father Drouillard would soon be back among +the Onondagas, seeking to sway his converts to France, and he dreaded, +too, the activity and persistency of St. Luc. + +But he kept his anxieties from Robert, knowing how eagerly the lad +anticipated his arrival in New York, and not blaming him at all for +it, since New York, although inferior in wealth, size and power to +Philadelphia, and in leadership to Boston, was already, in the eye of +the prophets, because of its situation, destined to become the first +city of America. And Willet felt his own pulses beat a little faster +at the thought of New York, a town that he knew well, and already a +port famous throughout the world. + +Tayoga, although he wore his Indian dress, attracted no particular +attention from Captain Van Zouten and his crew. Indians could be seen +daily at Albany, and along the river, and they had been for +generations a part of American life. Captain Van Zouten, in truth, +noticed the height and fine bearing of the Onondaga, but he was a +close mouthed Dutchman, and if he felt like asking questions he put +due Dutch restraint upon himself. + +The wind held good all day long, and the sloop flew southward, leaving +a long white trail in the blue water, but toward night it rose to a +gale, with heavy clouds that promised snow. Captain Hendrick Van +Zouten looked up with some anxiety at his sails, through which the +wind was now whistling, and, after a consultation with his mate, +decided to draw into a convenient cove and anchor for the night. + +"I'm sorry," he said to Willet, "that our voyage to New York will be +delayed, but there'll be nasty weather on the river, and I don't like +to risk the sloop in it. But I didn't promise you that I'd get you to +the city at any particular time." + +"We don't blame wind, weather and water upon you, Captain Van Zouten," +laughed Willet, "and although I'm no seaman if you'd have consulted me +I too would have suggested shelter for the night." + +Captain Van Zouten breathed his relief. + +"If my passengers are satisfied," he said, "then so am I." + +All the sails were furled, the sloop was anchored securely in a cove +where she could not injure herself, no matter how fiercely the wind +might beat, and Robert and Tayoga, wrapped in their fur cloaks, stood +on her deck, watching the advance of the fierce winter storm, and +remembering those other storms they had passed through on Lake +Champlain, although there was no danger of Indians here. + +It began to snow heavily, and a fierce wind whistled among the +mountains behind them, lashing the river also into high waves, but the +sloop was a tight, strong craft, and it rocked but little in its snug +cove. Despite snow, wind and darkness Robert, Tayoga and the hunter +remained a long, time on deck. The Onondaga's feather headdress had +been replaced by a fur cap, similar to those now worn by Robert and +Willet, and all three were wrapped in heavy cloaks of furs. + +Robert was still thinking of New York, a town that he knew to some +extent, and yet he was traveling toward it with a feeling akin to that +with which he had approached Quebec. It was in a way and for its time +a great port, in which many languages were spoken and to which many +ships came. Despite its inferiority in size it was already the chief +window through which the New World looked upon the Old. He expected +to see life in the seething little city at the mouth of the Hudson and +he expected also that a crisis in his fortunes would come there. + +"Dave," he said to the hunter, "have you any plans for us in New +York?" + +"They've not taken very definite shape," replied Willet, "but you know +you want to serve in the war, and so do I. A great expedition is +coming out from England, and in conjunction with a Colonial force it +will march against Fort Duquesne. The point to which that force +advances is bound to be the chief scene of action." + +"And that, Dave, is where we want to go." + +"With proper commissions in the army. We must maintain our dignity and +station, Robert." + +"Of course, Dave. And you, Tayoga, are you willing to go with us?" + +"It is far from the vale of Onondaga," replied the young Indian, "but +I have already made the great journey to Quebec with my comrades, +Dagaeoga and the Great Bear. I am willing to see more of the world of +which I read in the books at Albany. If the fortunes of Dagaeoga take +him on another long circle I am ready to go with him." + +"Spoken like a warrior, Tayoga," said the hunter. "I have some +influence, and if we join the army that is to march against Fort +Duquesne I'll see that you receive a place befitting your Onondaga +rank and your quality as a man." + +"And so that is settled," said Robert. "We three stand together no +matter what may come." + +"Stand together it is, no matter what may come," said Willet. + +"We are, perhaps, as well in one place as in another," said Tayoga +philosophically, "because wherever we may be Manitou holds us in the +hollow of his hand." + +A great gust of wind came with a shriek down one of the gorges, and +the snow was whipped into their faces, blinding them for a moment. + +"It is good to be aboard a stout sloop in such a storm," said Robert, +as he wiped his eyes clear. "It would be hard to live up there on +those cliffs in all this driving white winter." + +A deep rumbling sound came back from the mountains, and he felt a +chill that was not of the cold creep into his bones. + +"It is the wind in the deep gorges," said Tayoga, "but the winds +themselves are spirits and the mountains too are spirits. On such a +wild night as this they play together and the rumbling you hear is +their voices joined in laughter." + +Robert's vivid mind as usual responded at once to Tayoga's imagery, +and his fancy went as far as that of the Onondaga, and perhaps +farther. He filled the air with spirits. They lined the edge of the +driving white storm. They flitted through every cleft and gorge, and +above every ridge and peak. They were on the river, and they rode upon +the waves that were pursuing one another over its surface. Then he +laughed a little at himself. + +"My fancy is seeing innumerable figures for me," he said, "where my +eyes really see none. No human being is likely to be abroad on the +river on such a night as this." + +"And yet my own eyes tell me that I do see a human being," said +Tayoga, "one that is living and breathing, with warm blood running in +his veins." + +"A living, breathing man! where, Tayoga?" + +"Look at the sloping cliff above us, there where the trees grow close +together. Notice the one with the boughs hanging low, and by the dark +trunk you will see the figure. It is a tall man with his hat drawn low +over his eyes, and a heavy cloak wrapped closely around his body." + +"I see him now, Tayoga! What could a man want at such a place on such +a night? It must be a farmer out late, or perhaps a wandering hunter!" + +"Nay, Dagaeoga, it is not a farmer, nor yet a wandering hunter. The +shoulders are set too squarely. The figure is too upright. And even +without these differences we would be sure that it is not the farmer, +nor yet the wandering hunter, because it is some one else whom we +know." + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" + +"Look! Look closely, Dagaeoga!" + +"Now the wind drives aside the white veil of snow and I see him +better. His figure is surely familiar!" + +"Aye, Dagaeoga, it is! And do you not know him?" + +"St. Luc! As sure as we live, Tayoga, it's St. Luc." + +"Yes," said the hunter, who had not spoken hitherto. "It's St. Luc, +and I could reach him from here with a rifle shot." + +"But you must not! You must not fire upon him!" exclaimed Robert. + +Willet laughed. + +"I wasn't thinking of doing so," he said. "And now it's too +late. St. Luc has gone." + +The dark figure vanished from beside the trunk, and Robert saw only +the lofty slope, and the whirling snow. He passed his hands before his +eyes. + +"Did we really see him?" he said. + +"We beheld him alive and in the flesh," replied the hunter, "deep down +in His Britannic Majesty's province of New York." + +"What could have brought him here at such a time?" + +"The cause of France, no doubt. He speaks English as well as you and +I, and he is probably in civilian clothing, seeking information for +his country. I know something of St. Luc. He has in him a spice of the +daring and romantic. Luck and adventure would appeal to him. He +probably knows already what forces we have at Albany and Kingston and +what is their state of preparation. Valuable knowledge for Quebec, +too." + +"Do you think St. Luc will venture to New York?" + +"Scarce likely, lad. He can obtain about all he wishes to know without +going so far south." + +"I'm glad of that, Dave. I shouldn't want him to be captured and +hanged as a spy." + +"Nor I, Robert. St. Luc is the kind of man who, if he falls at all in +this war, should fall sword in hand on the battle field. He must know +this region or he would not dare to come here, on such a terrible +night. He has probably gone now to shelter. And, since there is +nothing more to be seen we might do the same." + +But Robert and Tayoga were not willing to withdraw yet. Well wrapped +and warm, they found a pleasure in the fierce storm that raged among +the mountains and over the river, and their own security on the deck +of the stout sloop, fastened so safely in the little cove. They +listened to the wind rumbling anew like thunder through the deep +gorges and clefts, and they saw the snow swept in vast curtains of +white over the wild river. + +"I wonder what we shall find in New York, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"We shall find many people, of many kinds, Dagaeoga, but what will +happen to us there Manitou alone knows. But he has us in his +keeping. Look how he watched over us in Quebec, and look how the sword +of the Great Bear was stretched before you when your enemies planned +to slay you." + +"That's true, Tayoga. I don't look forward to New York with any +apprehension, but I do wonder what fate has prepared for us there." + +"We must await it with calm," said Tayoga philosophically. + +The Onondaga himself was not a stranger to New York. He had gone there +once with the chiefs of the Hodenosaunee for a grand council with the +British and provincial authorities, and he had gone twice with Robert +when they were schoolboys together in Albany. His enlightened mind, +without losing any of its dignity and calm, took a deep interest in +everything he saw at the port, through which the tide of nations +already flowed. He had much of the quality shown later by the fiery +Thayendanegea, who bore himself with the best in London and who was +their equal in manners, though the Onondaga, while as brave and daring +as the Mohawk, was gentler and more spiritual, being, in truth, what +his mind and circumstances had made him, a singular blend of red and +white culture. + +Willet, also wrapped in a long fur cloak, came from the cabin of the +sloop and looked at the two youths, each of whom had such a great +place in his heart. Both were white with snow as they stood on the +deck, but they did not seem to notice it. + +"Come now," said the hunter with assumed brusqueness. "You needn't +stand here all night, looking at the river, the cliffs and the +storm. Off to your berths, both of you." + +"Good advice, or rather command, Dave," said Robert, "and we'll obey +it." + +Their quarters were narrow, because sloops plying on the river in +those days were not large, but the three who slept so often in the +forest were not seekers after luxury. Robert undressed, crept into his +bunk, which was not over two feet wide, and slept soundly until +morning. After midnight the violence of the storm abated. It was still +snowing, but Captain Van Zouten unfurled his sails, made for the +middle of the river, and, when the sun came up over the eastern hills, +the sloop was tearing along at a great rate for New York. + +So when Robert awoke and heard the groaning of timbers and the creak +of cordage he knew at once that they were under way and he was +glad. The events of the night before passed rapidly through his mind, +but they seemed vague and indistinct. At first he thought the vision +of St. Luc on the cliff in the storm was but a dream, and he had to +make an effort of the will to convince himself that it was +reality. But everything came back presently, as vivid as it had been +when it occurred, and rising he dressed and went on deck. Tayoga and +Willet were already there. + +"Sluggard," said the Onondaga. "The French warships would capture you +while you are still in the land of dreams." + +"We'll find no French warships in the Hudson," retorted Robert, "and +as for sluggards, how long have you been on deck yourself, Tayoga?" + +"Two minutes, but much may happen in two minutes. Look, Dagaeoga, we +come now into a land of plenty. See, how many smokes rise on either +shore, and the smoke is not of camps, but of houses." + +"It comes from strong Dutch farmhouses, and from English manor houses, +Tayoga. They nestle in the warm shelter of the hills or at the mouths +of the creeks. Surely, the world cannot furnish a nobler scene." + +All the earth was pure white from the fallen snow, but the river +itself was a deep blue, reflected from the dazzling blue of the sky +overhead. The air, thin and cold, was exhilarating, and as the sloop +fled southward a panorama, increasing continually in magnificence, +unfolded before them. Other vessels appeared upon the river, and +Captain Van Zouten gave them friendly signals. Tiny villages showed +and the shores were an obvious manifestation of comfort and opulence. + +"I have heard that the French, if their success continues, mean to +attack Albany," said Robert, "but we must stop them there, Dave. We +can never let them invade such a region as this." + +"They'll invade it, nevertheless," said the hunter, "unless stout arms +and brave hearts stop them. We can drive both French and Indians back, +if we ever unite. There lies the trouble. We must get some sort of +concentrated action." + +"And New York is the best place to see whether it will be done or +not." + +"So it is." + +The wind remained favorable all that day, the next night there was a +calm, but the following day they drew near to New York, Captain Van +Zouten assuring them he would make a landing before sunset. + +He was well ahead of his promise, because the sun was high in the +heavens when the sloop began to pass the high, wooded hills that lie +at the upper end of Manhattan Island, and they drew in to their +anchorage near the Battery. They did not see the stone government +buildings that had marked Quebec, nor the numerous signs of a fortress +city, but they beheld more ships and more indications of a great +industrial life. + +"Every time I come here," said Willet, "it seems to me that the masts +increase in number. Truly it is a good town, and an abundant life +flows through it." + +"Where shall we stop, Dave?" asked Robert. "Do you have a tavern in +mind?" + +"Not a tavern," replied the hunter. "My mind's on a private house, +belonging to a friend of mine. You have not met him because he is at +sea or in foreign parts most of the time. Yet we are assured of a +welcome." + +An hour later they said farewell to Captain Van Zouten, carried their +own light baggage, and entered the streets of the port. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PORT + + +The three walked toward the Battery, and, while Tayoga attracted more +attention in New York than in Quebec, it was not undue. The city was +used to Indians, especially the Iroquois, and although comments were +made upon Tayoga's height and noble appearance there was nothing +annoying. + +Meanwhile the two youths were using their excellent eyes to the +full. Although the vivid imagination of Robert had foreseen a great +future for New York he did not dream how vast it would be. Yet all +things are relative, and the city even then looked large to him and +full of life, both size and activity having increased visibly since +his last visit. Some of the streets were paved, or at least in part, +and the houses, usually of red brick, often several stories in height, +were comfortable and strong. Many of them had lawns and gardens as at +Albany, and the best were planted with rows of trees which would +afford a fine shade in warm weather. Above the mercantile houses and +dwellings rose the lofty spire of St. George's Chapel in Nassau +Street, which had been completed less than three years before, and +which secured Robert's admiration for its height and impressiveness. + +The aspect of the whole town was a mixture of English and Dutch, but +they saw many sailors who were of neither race. Some were brown men +with rings in their ears, and they spoke languages that Robert did not +understand. But he knew that they came from far southern seas and that +they sailed among the tropic isles, looming large then in the world's +fancy, bringing with them a whiff of romance and mystery. + +The sidewalks in many places were covered with boxes and bales brought +from all parts of the earth, and stalwart men were at work among +them. The pulsing life and the air of prosperity pleased Robert. His +nature responded to the town, as it had responded to the woods, and +his imagination, leaping ahead, saw a city many times greater than the +one before his eyes, though it still stopped far short of the gigantic +reality that was to come to pass. + +"It's not far now to Master Hardy's," said Willet cheerfully. "It's +many a day since I've seen trusty old Ben, and right glad I'll be to +feel the clasp of his hand again." + +On his way Willet bought from a small boy in the street a copy each of +the _Weekly Post-Boy_ and of the _Weekly Gazette_ and _Mercury_, +folding them carefully and putting them in an inside pocket of his +coat. + +"I am one to value the news sheets," he said. "They don't tell +everything, but they tell something and 'tis better to know something +than nothing. Just a bit farther, my lads, and we'll be at the steps +of honest Master Hardy. There, you can see where fortunes are made and +lost, though we're a bit too late to see the dealers!" + +He pointed to the Royal Exchange, a building used by the merchants at +the foot of Broad Street, a structure very unique in its plan. It +consisted of an upper story resting upon arches, the lower part, +therefore, being entirely open. Beneath these arches the merchants met +and transacted business, and also in a room on the upper floor, where +there were, too, a coffee house and a great room used for banquets, +and the meetings of societies, the Royal Exchange being in truth the +beginning of many exchanges that now mark the financial center of the +New World. + +"Perhaps we'll see the merchants there tomorrow," said Willet. "You'll +note the difference between New York and Quebec. The French capital +was all military. You saw soldiers everywhere, but this is a town of +merchants. Now which, think you, will prevail, the soldiers or the +merchants?" + +"I think that in the end the merchants will win," replied Robert. + +"And so do I. Now we have come to the home of Master Hardy. See you +the big brick house with high stone steps? Well, that is his, and I +repeat that he is a good friend of mine, a good friend of old and of +today. I heard that in Albany, which tells me we will find him here +in his own place." + +But the big brick house looked to Robert and Tayoga like a fortress, +with its massive door and iron-barred windows, although friendly smoke +rose from a high chimney and made a warm line against the frosty blue +air. + +Willet walked briskly up the high stone steps and thundered on the +door with a heavy brass knocker. The summons was quickly answered and +the door swung back, revealing a tall, thin, elderly man, neatly +dressed in the fashion of the time. He had the manner of one who +served, although he did not seem to be a servant. Robert judged at +once that he was an upper clerk who lived in the house, after the +custom of the day. + +"Is Master Benjamin within, Jonathan?" asked Willet. + +The tall man blinked and then stared at the hunter in astonishment. + +"Is it in very truth you, Master Willet?" he exclaimed. + +"None other. Come, Jonathan, you know my voice and my face and my +figure very well. You could not fail to recognize me anywhere. So +cease your doubting. My young friends here are Robert Lennox, of whom +you know, and Tayoga, a coming chief of the Clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, known to you +as the Six Nations. He's impatient of disposition and unless you +answer my question speedily I'll have him tomahawk you. Come now, is +Master Benjamin within?" + +"He is, Mr. Willet. I had no intent to delay my answer, but you must +allow something to surprise." + +"I grant you pardon," said the hunter whimsically. "Robert and +Tayoga, this is Master Jonathan Pillsbury, chief clerk and man of +affairs for Master Benjamin Hardy. They are two old bachelors who live +in the same house, and who get along well together, because they're so +unlike. As for Master Jonathan, his heart is not as sour as his face, +and you could come to a worse place than the shop of Benjamin and +Jonathan. Master Jonathan, you will take particular notice of +Mr. Lennox. He is well grown and he appears intelligent, does he not?" + +The old clerk blinked again, and then his appraising eyes swept over +Robert. + +"'Twould be hard to find a nobler youth," he said. + +"I thought you would say so, and now lead us, without further delay, +to Master Hardy." + +"Who is it who demands to be led to me?" thundered a voice from the +rear of the house. "I seem to know that voice! Ah, it's Willet! Good +old Willet! Honest Dave, who wields the sharpest sword in North +America!" + +A tall, heavy man lunged forward. "Lunged" was the word that described +it to Robert, and his impetuous motion was due to the sight of Willet, +whom he grasped by both hands, shaking them with a vigor that would +have caused pain in one less powerful than the hunter, and as he shook +them he uttered exclamations, many of them bordering upon oaths and +all of them pertaining to the sea. + +Robert's eyes had grown used to the half light of the hall, and he +took particular notice of Master Benjamin Hardy who was destined to +become an important figure in his life, although he did not then dream +of it. He saw a tall man of middle age, built very powerfully, his +face burnt almost the color of an Indian's by the winds and suns of +many seas. But his hair was thick and long and the eyes shining in the +face, made dark by the weather, were an intensely bright blue. Robert, +upon whom impressions were so swift and vivid, reckoned that here was +one capable of great and fierce actions, and also with a heart that +contained a large measure of kindness and generosity. + +"Dave," said the tall man, who carried with him the atmosphere of the +sea, "I feared that you might be dead in those forests you love so +well, killed and perhaps scalped by the Hurons or some other savage +tribe. You've abundant hair, Dave, and you'd furnish an uncommonly +fine scalp." + +"And I feared, Benjamin, that you'd been caught in some smuggling +cruise near the Spanish Main, and had been put out of the way by the +Dons. You love gain too much, Ben, old friend, and you court risks too +great for its sake." + +Master Benjamin Hardy threw back his head and laughed deeply and +heartily. The laugh seemed to Robert to roll up spontaneously from his +throat. He felt anew that here was a man whom he liked. + +"Perchance 'tis the danger that draws me on," said Master Hardy. "You +and I are much alike, Dave. In the woods, if all that I hear be true, +you dwell continually in the very shadow of danger, while I incur it +only at times. Moreover, I am come to the age of fifty years, the head +is still on my shoulders, the breath is still in my body, and Master +Jonathan, to whom figures are Biblical, says the balance on my books +is excellent." + +"You talk o'er much, Ben, old friend, but since it's the way of +seafaring men and 'tis cheerful it does not vex my ears. You behold +with me, Tayoga, a youth of the best blood of the Onondaga nation, one +to whom you will be polite if you wish to please me, Benjamin, and +Master Robert Lennox, grown perhaps beyond your expectations." + +Master Benjamin turned to Robert, and, as Master Jonathan had done, +measured him from head to foot with those intensely bright blue eyes +of his that missed nothing. + +"Grown greatly and grown well," he said, "but not beyond my +expectations. In truth, one could predict a noble bough upon such a +stem. But you and I, Dave, having many years, grow garrulous and +forget the impatience of youth. Come, lads, we'll go into the +drawing-room and, as supper was to have been served in half an hour, +I'll have the portions doubled." + +Robert smiled. + +"In Albany and New York alike," he said, "they welcome us to the +table." + +"Which is the utmost test of hospitality," said Master Benjamin. + +They went into a great drawing-room, the barred windows of which +looked out upon a busy street, warehouses and counting houses and +passing sailors. Robert was conscious all the while that the brilliant +blue eyes were examining him minutely. His old wonder about his +parentage, lost for a while in the press of war and exciting events, +returned. He felt intuitively that Master Hardy, like Willet, knew who +and what he was, and he also felt with the same force that neither +would reply to any question of his on the subject. So he kept his +peace and by and by his curiosity, as it always did, disappeared +before immediate affairs. + +The drawing-room was a noble apartment, with dark oaken beams, a +polished oaken floor, upon which eastern rugs were spread, and heavy +tables of foreign woods. A small model of a sloop rested upon one +table and a model of a schooner on another. Here and there were great +curving shells with interiors of pink and white, and upon the walls +were curious long, crooked knives of the Malay Islands. Everything +savored of the sea. Again Robert's imagination leaped up. The blazing +hues of distant tropic lands were in his eyes, and the odors of +strange fruits and flowers were in his nostrils. + +"Sit down, Dave," said Master Benjamin, "and you, too, Robert and +Tayoga. I suppose you did not come to New Amsterdam--how the name +clings!--merely to see me." + +"That was one purpose, Benjamin," replied Willet, "but we had others +in mind too." + +"To join the war, I surmise, and to get yourselves killed?" + +"The first part of your reckoning is true, Benjamin, but not the +second. We would go to the war, in which we have had some part +already, but not in order that we may be killed." + +"You suffer from the common weakness. One entering war always thinks +that it's the other man and not he who will be killed. You're too old +for that, David." + +Willet laughed. + +"No, Benjamin," he said, "I'm not too old for it, and I never will +be. It's the belief that carries us all through danger." + +"Which way did you think of going in these warlike operations?" + +"We shall join the force that comes out from England." + +"The one that will march against Fort Duquesne?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"I hear that it's to be commanded by a general named Braddock, Edward +Braddock. What do you know of him?" + +"Nothing." + +"But you do know, David, that regular army officers fare ill in the +woods as a rule. You've told me often that the savages are a tricky +lot, and, fighting in the forest in their own way, are hard to beat." + +"You speak truth, Benjamin, and I'll not deny it, but there are many +of our men in the woods who know the ways of the Indians and of the +French foresters. They should be the eyes and ears of General +Braddock's army." + +"Well, maybe! maybe! David, but enough of war for the present. One +cannot talk about it forever. There are other things under the +sun. You will let these lads see New Amsterdam, will you not? Even +Tayoga can find something worth his notice in the greatest port of the +New World." + +"Is any play being given here?" asked Robert. + +"Aye, we're having plays almost nightly," replied Master Hardy, "and +they're being presented by some very good actors, too. Lewis Hallam, +who came several years ago from Goodman's Fields Theater in England, +and his wife, known on the stage as Mrs. Douglas, are offering the +best English plays in New York. Hallam is said to be extremely fine +in Richard III, in which tragedy he first appeared here, and he gives +it tomorrow night." + +"Then we're going," said Robert eagerly. "I would not miss it for +anything." + +"I had some thought of going myself, and if Dave hasn't changed, he +has a fine taste for the stage. I'll send for seats and we'll go +together." + +Willet's eyes sparkled. + +"In truth I'll go, too, and right gladly," he said. "You and I, +Benjamin, have seen the plays of Master Shakespeare together in +London, and 'twill please me mightily to see one of them again with +you in New York. Jonathan, here, will be of our company, too, will he +not?" + +Master Pillsbury pursed his lips and his expression became severe. + +"'Tis a frivolous way of passing the time," he said, "but it would be +well for one of serious mind to be present in order that he might +impose a proper dignity upon those who lack it." + +Benjamin Hardy burst into a roar of laughter. Robert had never known +any one else to laugh so deeply and with such obvious spontaneity and +enjoyment. His lips curled up at each end, his eyes rolled back and +then fairly danced with mirth, and his cheeks shook. It was +contagious. Not only did Master Benjamin laugh, but the others had to +laugh, not excluding Master Jonathan, who emitted a dry cackle as +became one of his habit and appearance. + +"Do you know, Dave, old friend," said Hardy, "that our good Jonathan +is really the most wicked of us all? I go upon the sea on these +cruises, which you call smuggling, and what not, and of which he +speaks censoriously, but if they do not show a large enough profit on +his books he rates me most severely, and charges me with a lack of +enterprise. And now he would fain go to the play to see that we +observe the proper decorum there. My lads, you couldn't keep the +sour-visaged old hypocrite from it." + +Master Jonathan permitted himself a vinegary smile, but made no other +reply, and, a Dutch serving girl announcing that supper was ready, +Master Hardy led them into the dining-room, where a generous repast +was spread. But the room itself continued and accentuated the likeness +of a ship. The windows were great portholes, and two large swinging +lamps furnished the light. Pictures of naval worthies and of sea +actions lined the walls. Two or three of the battle scenes were quite +spirited, and Robert regarded them with interest. + +"Have you fought in any of those encounters, Mr. Hardy?" he asked. + +Willet laid a reproving hand upon his shoulder. + +"'Twas a natural question of yours, Robert," he said, "but 'tis the +fashion here and 'tis courtesy, too, never to ask Benjamin about his +past life. Then he has no embarrassing questions to answer." + +Robert reddened and Hardy broke again into that deep, spontaneous +laughter which, in time, compelled all the others to laugh too and +with genuine enjoyment. + + +"Don't believe all that David tells you, Robert, my brave macaroni," +he said. "I may not answer your questions, but faith they'll never +prove embarrassing. Bear in mind, lad, that our trade being +restricted by the mother country and English subjects in this land not +having the same freedom as English subjects in England, we must resort +to secrecy and stratagem to obtain what our fellow subjects on the +other side of the ocean may obtain openly. And when you grow older, +Master Robert, you will find that it's ever so in the world. Those to +whom force bars the way will resort to wiles and stratagems to achieve +their ends. The fox has the cunning that the bear lacks, because he +hasn't the bear's strength. Lads, you two will sit together on this +side of the table, Jonathan, you take the side next to the portholes, +and David, you and I will preside at the ends. Benjamin, David and +Jonathan, it has quite a Biblical sound, and at least the friendship +among the three of us, despite the sourness of Master Pillsbury, with +which I bear as best I can, is equal to that of David and +Jonathan. Now, lads, fall on and see which of you can keep pace with +me, for I am a mighty trencherman." + +"Meanwhile tell us what is passing here," said Willet. + +In the course of the supper Hardy talked freely of events in New York, +where a great division of councils still prevailed. Shirley, the +warlike and energetic governor of Massachusetts, had urged De Lancy, +the governor of New York, to join in an expedition against the French +in Canada, but there had been no agreement. Later, a number of the +royal governors expected to meet at Williamsburg in Virginia with +Dinwiddie, the governor of that province. + +"At present there are plans for four enterprises, every one of an +aspiring nature," he said. "One expedition is to reduce Nova Scotia +entirely, another, under Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, is to +attack the French at Fort Niagara, Sir William Johnson with militia +and Mohawks is to head a third against Crown Point. The fourth, which +I take to be the most important, is to be led by General Braddock +against Fort Duquesne, its object being the recovery of the Ohio +country. I cannot vouch for it, but such plans, I hear, will be +presented at the conference of the governors at Williamsburg." + +"As we mean to go to Williamsburg ourselves," said Willet, "we'll see +what fortune General Braddock may have. But now, for the sake of the +good lads, we'll speak of lighter subjects. Where is the play of +Richard III to be given, Benjamin?" + +"Mr. Hallam has obtained a great room in a house that is the property +of Rip Van Dam in Nassau Street. He has fitted it up in the fashion +of a stage, and his plays are always attended by a great concourse of +ladies and gentlemen. Boston and Philadelphia say New York is light +and frivolous, but I suspect that something of jealousy lies at the +core of the charge. We of New Amsterdam--again the name leaps to my +lips--have a certain freedom in our outlook upon life, a freedom which +I think produces strength and not weakness. Manners are not morals, +but I grow heavy and it does not become a seafaring man to be +didactic. What is it, Piet?" + +The door of the dining-room opened, admitting a serving man who +produced a letter. + +"It comes by the Boston post," he said, handing it to Master Hardy. + +"Then it must have an importance which will not admit delay in the +reading," said Master Hardy. "Your pardon, friends, while I peruse +it." + +He read it carefully, read it again with the same care, and then his +resonant laughter boomed forth with such volume and in such continuity +that he was compelled to take a huge red handkerchief and wipe the +tears from his eyes. + +"What is it, Benjamin, that amuses you so vastly?" asked Willet. + +"A brave epistle from one of my captains, James Dunbar, a valiant man +and a great mariner. In command of the schooner, _Good Hope_, he was +sailing from the Barbados with a cargo of rum and sugar for Boston, +which furnishes a most excellent market for both, when he was +overhauled by the French privateer, _Rocroi_." + +"What do you find to laugh at in the loss of a good ship and a fine +cargo?" + +"Did I say they were lost? Nay, David, I said nothing of the kind. You +don't know Dunbar, and you don't know the _Good Hope_, which carries a +brass twelve-pounder and fifteen men as valiant as Dunbar himself. He +returned the attack of the _Rocroi_ with such amazing skill and +fierceness that he was able to board her and take her, with only three +of his men wounded and they not badly. Moreover, they found on board +the privateer a large store of gold, which becomes our prize of +war. And Dunbar and his men shall have a fair share of it, too. How +surprised the Frenchies must have been when Dunbar and his sailors +swarmed aboard." + +"'Tis almost our only victory," said Willet, "and I'm right glad, +Benjamin, it has fallen to the lot of one of your ships to win it." + +The long supper which was in truth a dinner was finished at +last. Hardy made good his boast, proving that he was a mighty +trencherman. Pillsbury pressed him closest, and the others, although +they did well, lingered at some distance in the rear. Afterward they +walked in the town, observing its varied life, and at a late hour +returned to Hardy's house which he called a mansion. + +Robert and Tayoga were assigned to a room on the second floor, and +young Lennox again noted the numerous evidences of opulence. The +furniture was mostly of carved mahogany, and every room contained +articles of value from distant lands. + +"Tayoga," said Robert, "what do you think of it all?" + +"I think that the man Hardy is shrewd, Dagaeoga, shrewd like one of +our sachems, and that he has an interest in you, greater than he would +let you see. Do you remember him, Lennox?" + +"No, I can't recall him, Tayoga. I've heard Dave speak of him many +times, but whenever we were in New York before he was away, and we did +not even come to his house. But he and Dave are friends of many +years. I think that long ago they must have been much together." + +"Truly there is some mystery here, but it can wait. In its proper +time the unknown becomes the known." + +"So it does, Tayoga, and I shall not vex my mind about the +matter. Just now, what I wish most of all is sleep." + +"I wish it too, Lennox." + +But Robert did not sleep well, his nerves being attuned more highly +than he had realized. Some of the talk that had passed between Willet +and Hardy related obviously to himself, and in the quiet of the room +it came back to him. He had not slept more than an hour when he awoke, +and, being unable to go to sleep again, sat up in bed. Tayoga was deep +in slumber, and Robert finally left the bed and went to the window, +the shutter of which was not closed. It was a curious, round window, +like a huge porthole, but the glass was clear and he had a good view +of the street. He saw one or two sailors swaying rather more than the +customary motion of a ship, pass by, and then a watchman carrying a +club in one hand and a lantern in the other, and blowing his frosty +breath upon his thick brown beard, indicating that the night although +bright was very cold. + +He looked through the glass at least a half hour, and then turned back +to the bed, but found himself less inclined than ever to +sleep. Throwing his coat over his shoulders, he opened the unlocked +door and went into the hall, intending to walk back and forth a +little, believing that the easy exercise would induce desire for +sleep. + +He was surprised to find a thread of light in the dusk of the hall, at +a time when he was quite sure everybody in the house except himself +was buried in slumber, and when he traced it he found it came from +another room farther down. It was, upon the instant, his belief that +robbers had entered. In a port like New York, where all nations come, +there must be reckless and desperate men who would hesitate at no risk +or crime. + +He moved cautiously along the hall, until he reached the door from +which the light shone. It was open about six inches, not allowing a +look into the room except at the imminent risk of discovery, but by +placing his ear at the sill he would be able to hear the footsteps of +men if they were moving within. The sound of voices instead came to +him, and as he listened he was able to note that it was two men +talking in low tones. Undoubtedly they were robbers, who were common +in all great towns in those days, and this must be a chamber in which +Master Hardy kept many valuables. Doubtless they were assured that +everybody was deep in slumber, or they would be more cautious. + +Driven by an intense curiosity, Robert edged his head a little farther +forward, and was able to look into the room, where, to his intense +amazement, he saw no robbers at all, but Willet and Master Hardy +seated at a small table opposite each other, with a candle, account +books and papers between. Hardy had been reading a paper, and stopping +at intervals to talk about it with the hunter. + +"As you see, David," he said, "the list of the ships is three larger +than it was five years ago. One was lost to the Barbary corsairs, +another was wrecked on the coast of the Brazils, but we have five new +ones." + +"You have done well, Benjamin, but I knew you would," said the hunter. + +"With the help of Jonathan. Don't forget him, David. In name he is my +head clerk, and he pretends to serve me, but at times I think he is my +master. A shrewd Massachusetts man, David, uncommonly shrewd, and +loyal too." + +"And the lands, Benjamin?" + +"They're in abeyance, and are likely to be for some years, their title +depending upon the course of events which are now in train." + +"And they're uncertain, Benjamin, as uncertain as the winds. But give +me your honest opinion of the lad, Benjamin. Have I done well with +him?" + +"None could have done better. He's an eagle, David. I marked him +well. Spirit, imagination, force; youth and honesty looking out of his +eyes. But have you no fears, David, that you will get him killed in +the wars?" + +"I could not keep him from going to them if I would, Benjamin. There +my power stops. You old sailors have superstitions or beliefs, and I, +a landsman, have a conviction, too. The invisible prophets tell me +that he will not be killed." + +"I don't laugh at such things, David. The greatness and loneliness of +the sea does breed superstition in mariners. I know there is no such +thing as the supernatural, and yet I am swayed at times by the +unknown." + +"At least I will watch over him as best I can, and he has uncommon +skill in taking care of himself." + +Robert's will triumphed over a curiosity that was intense and burning, +and he turned away. He knew they were speaking of him, and he seemed +to be connected with great affairs. It was enough to stir the most +apathetic youth, and he was just the opposite. It required the utmost +exertion of a very strong mind to pull himself from the door and then +to drag his unwilling feet along the hall. Matter was in complete +rebellion and mind was compelled to win its triumph, unaided, but win +it did and kept the victory. + +He reached his own room and softly closed the door behind him. Tayoga +was still sleeping soundly. Robert went again to the window. His eyes +were turned toward the street, but he did not see anything there, +because he was looking inward. The talk of Willet and Hardy came back +to him. He could say it over, every word, and none could deny that it +was charged with significance. But he knew intuitively that neither of +them would answer a single one of his questions, and he must wait for +time and circumstance to disclose the truth. Nor could he bear to tell +them that he had been listening at the door, despite the fact that it +had been brought about by accident, and that he had come away, when he +might have heard more. + +Having resigned himself to necessity, he went back to bed and now, +youth triumphing over excitement, he soon slept. The next morning, +directly after breakfast, the three elders and the two lads went to +the Royal Exchange, where there was soon a great concourse of +merchants, clerks and seafaring men. Master Hardy was received with +great respect, and many congratulations were given to him, when he +told the story of the _Good Hope_ and Captain Dunbar. In one of the +rooms above the pillars he met another captain of his who had arrived +the day before at New York itself. + +This captain, a New England man, Eliphalet Simmons, had brought his +schooner from the Mediterranean, and he told in a manner as brief and +dry as his own log how he had outsailed one Barbary corsair by day, +and by changing his course had tricked another in the night. But the +voyage had been most profitable, and Master Jonathan duly entered the +amount of gain in an account book, with a reward of ten pounds to +Captain Simmons, five pounds to the first mate, three pounds to the +second mate, and one pound to every member of the crew for their +bravery and seamanship. + +Captain Simmons' thanks were as brief and dry as his report, but +Robert saw his eyes glisten, and knew that he was not lacking in +gratitude. After the business was settled and the rewards adjusted +they adjourned to a coffee house near Hanover Square where very good +Madeira was brought and served to the men, Robert and Tayoga +declining. Then Benjamin, David and Jonathan drank to the health of +Eliphalet, while the two lads, the white and the red, devoted their +attention to the others in the coffee house, of whom there were at +least a dozen. + +One who sat at a table very near was already examining Tayoga with the +greatest curiosity. He wore the uniform of an English second +lieutenant, very trim, and very red, he had an exceeding ruddiness of +countenance, he was tall and well built, and he was only a year or two +older than Robert. His curiosity obviously had been aroused by the +appearance of Tayoga in the full costume of an Iroquois. It was +equally evident to Robert that he was an Englishman, a member of the +royal forces then in New York. Americans still called themselves +Englishmen and Robert instantly had a feeling of kinship for the young +officer who had a frank and good face. + +The English youth's hat was lying upon the table beside him, and a +gust of wind blowing it upon the floor, rolled it toward Robert, who +picked it up and tendered it to its owner. + +"Thanks," said the officer. "'Twas careless of me." + +"By no means," said Robert. "The wind blows when it pleases, and you +were taken by surprise." + +The Englishman smiled, showing very white and even teeth. + +"I haven't been very long in New York," he said, "but I find it a +polite and vastly interesting town. My name is Grosvenor, Alfred +Grosvenor, and I'm a second lieutenant in the regiment of Colonel +Brandon, that arrived but recently from England." + +Master Hardy looked up and passed an investigating eye over the young +Englishman. + +"You're related to one of the ducal families of England," he said, +"but your own immediate branch of it has no overplus of wealth. Still, +your blood is reckoned highly noble in England, and you have an +excellent standing in your regiment, both as an officer and a man." + +Young Grosvenor's ruddy face became ruddier. + +"How do you happen to know so much about me?" he asked. But there was +no offense in his tone. + +Hardy smiled, and Pillsbury, pursing his thin lips, measured Grosvenor +with his eyes. + +"I make it my business," replied Hardy, "to discover who the people +are who come to New York. I'm a seafaring man and a merchant and I +find profit in it. It's true, in especial, since the war has begun, +and New York begins to fill with the military. Many of these sprightly +young officers will be wishing to borrow money from me before long, +and it will be well for me to know their prospects of repayment." + +The twinkle in his eye belied the irony of his words, and the +lieutenant laughed. + +"And since you're alone," continued the merchant, "we ask you to join +us, and will be happy if you accept. This is Mr. Robert Lennox, of +very good blood too, and this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who, +among his own people has a rank corresponding to a prince of the blood +among yours, and who, if you value such things, is entitled therefore +to precedence over all of us, including yourself. Mr. David Willet, +Mr. Jonathan Pillsbury and Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who is myself, +complete the catalogue." + +He spoke in a tone half whimsical, half earnest, but the young +Englishman, who evidently had a friendly and inquiring mind, received +it in the best spirit and gladly joined them. He was soon deep in the +conversation, but his greatest interest was for Tayoga, from whom he +could seldom take his eyes. It was evident to Robert that he had +expected to find only a savage in an Indian, and the delicate manners +and perfect English of the Onondaga filled him with surprise. + +"I would fain confess," he said at length, "that America is not what I +expected to find. I did not know that it contained princes who could +put some of our own to shame." + +He bowed to Tayoga, who smiled and replied: + +"What small merit I may possess is due to the training of my people." + +"Do you expect early service, Lieutenant Grosvenor?" Mr. Hardy asked. + +"Not immediate--I think I may say so much," replied the Englishman, +"but I understand that our regiment will be with the first force that +takes the field, that of General Braddock. 'Tis well known that we +intend to march against Fort Duquesne, an expedition that should be +easy. A powerful army like General Braddock's can brush aside any +number of forest rovers." + +Robert and Willet exchanged glances, but the face of Tayoga remained a +mask. + +"It's not well to take the French and Indians too lightly," said +Mr. Hardy with gravity. + +"But wandering bands can't face cannon and the bayonet." + +"They don't have to face 'em. They lie hid on your flank and cut you +down, while your fire and steel waste themselves on the uncomplaining +forest." + +They were words which were destined to come back to Robert some day +with extraordinary force, but for the present they were a mere +generalization that did not stay long in his mind. + +"Our leaders will take all the needful precautions," said young +Grosvenor with confidence. + +Mr. Hardy did not insist, but spoke of the play they expected to +witness that evening, suggesting to Lieutenant Grosvenor if he had +leave, that he go with them, an invitation that was accepted promptly +and with warmth. The liking between him and Robert, while of sudden +birth, was destined to be strong and permanent. There was much +similarity of temperament. Grosvenor also was imaginative and +curious. His mind invariably projected itself into the future, and he +was eager to know. He had come to America, inquiring, without +prejudices, wishing to find the good rather than the bad, and he +esteemed it a great stroke of fortune that he should make so early the +acquaintance of two such remarkable youths as Robert and Tayoga. The +three men with them were scarcely less interesting, and he knew that +in their company at the play they would talk to him of strange new +things. He would be exploring a world hidden from him hitherto, and +nothing could have appealed to him more. + +"You landed a week ago," said Hardy. + +"Truly, sir," laughed Grosvenor, "you seem to know not only who I am, +but what I do." + +"And then, as you've had a certain amount of military duty, although +'tis not excessive, you've had little chance to see this most +important town of ours. Can you not join this company of mine at my +house for supper, and then we'll all go together to the play? I'll +obtain your seat for you." + +"With great pleasure, sir," replied Grosvenor. "'Twill be easy for me +to secure the needed leave, and I'll be at your house with +promptness." + +He departed presently for his quarters, and the three men also went +away together on an errand of business, leaving Robert and Tayoga to +go whithersoever they pleased and it pleased them to wander along the +shores of the port. Young Lennox was impressed more than ever by the +great quantity of shipping, and the extreme activity of the town. The +war with France, so far from interfering with this activity, had but +increased it. + +Privateering was a great pursuit of the day, all nations deeming it +legal and worthy in war, and bold and enterprising merchants like +Mr. Hardy never failed to take advantage of it. The weekly news sheets +that Willet had bought contained lists of vessels captured already, +and Robert's hasty glances showed him that at least sixty or seventy +had been taken by the privateers out of New York. Most of the prizes +had been in the West India trade, although some had been captured far +away near the coast of Africa, and nearly all had been loaded richly. + +They saw several of the privateers in port, armed powerfully, and as +they were usually built for speed, Robert admired their graceful +lines. He felt anew the difference between military Quebec and +commercial New York. Quebec was prepared to send forth forces for +destruction, but, here, life-giving commerce flowed in and flowed out +again through arteries continually increasing in number and +power. Once again came to him the thought that the merchant more than +the soldier was the builder of a great nation. The impression made +upon him was all the more vivid because New York, even in the middle +of the eighteenth century, when it was in its infancy, surprised even +travelers from Europe with its manifold activities and intense energy. + +After a day, long but of extraordinary interest, they returned to the +house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor joined them in half an hour, and +then, after another abundant supper, they all went to the play. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PLAY + + +They were all arrayed in their very best clothes, even Master Jonathan +having powdered his hair, and tied it in an uncommonly neat queue, +while his buckled shoes, stockings and small clothes, though of +somewhat ancient fashion, were of fine quality. Mr. Hardy gazed at him +admiringly. + +"Jonathan," he said, "you are usually somewhat sour of visage, but +upon occasion you can ruffle it with the best macaroni of them all." + +Master Jonathan pursed his lips, and smiled with satisfaction. All of +them, in truth, presented a most gallant appearance, but by far the +most noticeable figure was that of Tayoga. Indians often appeared in +New York, but such Indians as the young Onondaga were rare +anywhere. He rose half a head above the ordinary man, and he wore the +costume of a chief of the mighty League of the Hondenosaunee, the +feathers in his lofty headdress blowing back defiantly with the +wind. He attracted universal, and at the same time respectful, +attention. + +They were preceded by a stout link boy who bore aloft a blazing torch, +and as they walked toward the building in Nassau Street, owned by Rip +Van Dam, in which the play was to be given, they overtook others who +were upon the same errand. A carriage drawn by two large white horses +conveyed Governor de Lancey and his wife, and another very much like +it bore his brother-in-law, the conspicuous John Watts, and +Mrs. Watts. All of them saw Mr. Hardy and his party and bowed to them +with great politeness. Robert already understood enough of the world +to know that it denoted much importance on the part of the merchant. + +"A man of influence in our community," said Master Benjamin, speaking +of Mr. Watts. "An uncommonly clear mind and much firmness and +decision. He will leave a great name in New York." + +As he spoke they overtook a tall youth about twenty-three years old, +walking alone, and dressed in the very latest fashion out of +England. Mr. Hardy hailed him with great satisfaction and asked him to +join them. + +"Master Edward Charteris,[A] who is soon to become a member of the +Royal Americans," he said to the others. "He is a native of this town +and belongs to one of our best families here. When he does become a +Royal American he will probably have the finest uniform in his +regiment, because Edward sets the styles in raiment for young men of +his age here." + +[Footnote A: The story of Edward Charteris, and his adventures at +Ticonderoga and Quebec are told in the author's novel, "A Soldier of +Manhattan."] + +Charteris smiled. It was evident that he and the older man were on the +most friendly footing. But he held himself with dignity and had pride, +qualities which Robert liked in him. His manner was most excellent +too, when Mr. Hardy introduced all of his party in turn, and he +readily joined them, speaking of his pleasure in doing so. + +"I shall be able to exchange my seat and obtain one with you," he +said. "We shall be early, but I am glad of it. Mr. Hallam and his fine +company have been performing in Philadelphia, and as we now welcome +them back to New York, nearly all the notable people of our city will +be present. Unless Mr. Hardy wishes to do so, it will give me pleasure +to point them out to you." + +"No, no!" exclaimed Master Benjamin. "The task is yours, Edward, my +lad. You can put more savor and unction into it than I can." + +"Then let it be understood that I'm the guide and expounder," laughed +Charteris. + +"He has a great pride in his city, and it won't suffer from his +telling," said Master Benjamin. + +They were now in Nassau Street near the improvised theater, and many +other link boys, holding aloft their torches, were preceding their +masters and mistresses. Heavy coaches were rolling up, and men and +women in gorgeous costumes were emerging from them. The display of +wealth was amazing for a town in the New World, but Mr. Hardy and his +company quickly went inside and obtained their seats, from which they +watched the fashion of New York enter. Charteris knew them all, and +to many of them he was related. + +The number of De Lanceys was surprising and there was also a profusion +of Livingstons, the two families between them seeming to dominate the +city, although they lived in bitter rivalry, as Charteris whispered to +Robert. There were also Wattses and Morrises and Crugers and Waltons +and Van Rensselaers, Van Cortlandts and Kennedys and Barclays and +Nicolls and Alexanders, and numerous others that endured for +generations in New York. The diverse origin of these names, English, +Scotch, Dutch and Huguenot French, showed even at such an early date +the cosmopolitan nature of New York that it was destined to maintain. + +Robert was intensely interested. Charteris' fund of information was +wonderful, and he flavored it with a salt of his own. He not only knew +the people, but he knew all about them, their personal idiosyncrasies, +their rivalries and jealousies. Robert soon gathered that New York was +not only a seething city commercially, but socially as well. Family +was of extreme importance, and the great landed proprietors who had +received extensive grants along the Hudson in the earlier days from +the Dutch Government, still had and exercised feudal rights, and were +as full of pride and haughtiness as ducal families in Europe. Class +distinctions were preserved to the utmost possible extent, and, while +the original basis of the town had been Dutch, the fashion was now +distinctly English. London set the style for everything. + +When they were all seated, the display of fine dress and jewels was +extraordinary, just as the wealth and splendor shown in some of the +New York houses had already attracted the astonished attention of many +of the British officers, to whom the finest places in their own +country were familiar. + +And while Robert was looking so eagerly, the party to which he +belonged did not pass unnoticed by any means. Master Benjamin Hardy +was well known. He was bold and successful and he was a man of great +substance. He had qualities that commanded respect in colonial New +York, and people were not averse to being seen receiving his friendly +nod. And those who surrounded him and who were evidently his guests +were worthy of notice too. There was Edward Charteris, as well born as +any in the hall, and a pattern in manners and dress for the young men +of New York, and there was the tall youth with the tanned face, and +the wonderful, vivid eyes, who must surely, by his appearance, be the +representative of some noble family, there was the young Indian chief, +uncommon in height and with the dignity and majesty of the forest, an +Indian whose like had never been seen in New York before, and there +was the gigantic Willet, whose massive head and calm face were so +redolent of strength. Beyond all question it was a most unusual and +striking company that Master Benjamin Hardy had brought with him, and +old and young whispered together as they looked at them, especially at +Robert and Tayoga. + +Mr. Hardy was conscious of the stir he had made, and he liked it, not +for himself alone, but also for another. He glanced at Robert and saw +how finely and clearly his features were cut, how clear was the blue +of his eyes and the great width between them, and he drew a long +breath of satisfaction. + +"'Tis a good youth. Nature, lineage and Willet have done well," he +said to himself. + +More of the fashion of New York came in and then a group of British +officers, several of whom nodded to Grosvenor. + +"The tall man with the gray hair at the temples is my colonel, +Brandon," he said. "Very strict, but just to his men, and we like +him. He spent some years in the service of the East India Company, in +one of the hottest parts of the peninsula. That's why he's so brown, +and it made his blood thin, too. He can't endure cold. The officer +with him is one of our majors, Apthorpe. He has had less experience +than the colonel, but thinks he knows more. His opinion of the French +is very poor. Believes we ought to brush 'em aside with ease." + +"I hope you don't think that way, Grosvenor," said Robert. "We in this +country know that the French is one of the most valiant races the +world has produced." + +"And so do most thinking Englishmen. The only victories we boast much +about are those we have won over the French, which shows that we +consider them foes worthy of anybody's steel. But the play is going to +begin, I believe. The hall is well filled now, and I'm not trying to +make an appeal to your local pride, Lennox, when I tell you 'tis an +audience that will compare well with one at Drury Lane or Covent +Garden for splendor, and for variety 'twill excel it." + +Robert was pleased secretly. Although more identified with Albany than +New York, he considered himself nevertheless one of the people who +belonged to the city at the mouth of the Hudson, and he felt already +its coming greatness. + +"We call ourselves Englishmen," he said modestly, "and we hope to +achieve as much as the older Englishmen, our brethren across the +seas." + +"Have you seen many plays, Lennox?" + +"But few, and none by great actors like Mr. Hallam and Mrs. Douglas. I +suppose, Grosvenor, you've seen so many that they're no novelty to +you." + +"I can scarcely lay claim to being such a man about town as that. I +have seen plays, of course, and some by the great Master Will, and I +do confess that the mock life I behold beyond the footlights often +thrills me more than the real life I see this side of them. Once, I +witnessed this play 'Richard III,' which we are now about to see, and +it stirred me so I could scarce contain myself, though some do say +that our Shakespeare has made the hunchback king blacker than he +really was." + +Presently a little bell rang, the curtain rolled up, and Robert passed +into an enchanted land. To vivid and imaginative youth the great style +and action of Shakespeare make an irresistible appeal. Robert had +never seen one of the mighty bard's plays before, and now he was in +another world of romance and tragedy, suffused with poetry and he was +held completely by the spell. Shakespeare may have blackened the +character of the hunchback, but Robert believed him absolutely. To +him Richard was exactly what the play made him. + +Although the stage was but a temporary one, built in the hall of Rip +Van Dam, it was large, the seating capacity was great and Hallam and +his wife were among the best actors of their day, destined to a long +career as stars in the colonies, and also afterward, when they ceased +to be colonies. They and an able support soon took the whole audience +captive, and all, fashionable and unfashionable alike, hung with +breathless attention upon the play. Robert forgot absolutely +everything around him, Willet was carried back to days of his youth, +and Master Benjamin Hardy, who at heart was a lover of adventure and +romance, responded to the great speeches the author has written for +his characters. Tayoga did not stir, his face of bronze was unmoved, +but now and then his dark eyes gleamed. + +In reality the influence of the tragedy upon Tayoga was as great as it +was upon Robert. The Onondaga had an unusual mind and being sent at an +early age to school at Albany he had learned that the difference +between white man and red was due chiefly to environment. Their hopes +and fears, their rivalries and ambitions were, in truth, about the +same. He had seen in some chief a soul much like that of humpbacked +Richard, but, as he looked and listened, he also had a certain feeling +of superiority. As he saw it, the great League, the Hodenosaunee, was +governed better than England when York and Lancaster were tearing it +to pieces. The fifty old sachems in the vale of Onondaga would decide +more wisely and more justly than the English nobles. Tayoga, in that +moment, was prouder than ever that he was born a member of the Clan of +the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, and doubtless his patron saint, +Tododaho, in his home on the great, shining star, agreed with him. + +The first act closed amid great applause, several recalls of smiling +and bowing actors followed, and then, during the wait, came a great +buzz of talk. Robert shook himself and returned to the world. + +"What do you like best about it, Lennox?" asked Grosvenor. + +"The poetry. The things the people say. Things I've thought often +myself, but which I haven't been able to put in a way that makes them +strike upon you like a lightning flash." + +"I think that describes Master Will. In truth, you've given me a +description for my own feelings. Once more I repeat to you, Lennox, +that 'tis a fine audience. I see here much British and Dutch wealth, +and people whose lives have been a continuous drama." + +"Truly it's so," said Robert, and, as his examining eye swept the +crowd, he almost rose in his seat with astonishment, with difficulty +suppressing a cry. Then he charged himself with being a fool. It could +not be so! The thing was incredible! The man might look like him, but +surely he would not be so reckless as to come to such a place. + +Then he looked again, and he could no longer doubt. The stranger sat +near the door and his dress was much like that of a prosperous +seafaring man of the Dutch race. But Robert knew the blue eyes, lofty +and questing like those of the eagle, and he was sure that the reddish +beard had grown on a face other than the one it now adorned. It was +St. Luc, whom he knew to be romantic, adventurous, and ready for any +risk. + +Robert moved his body forward a little, in order that it might be +directly between Tayoga and the Frenchman, it being his first impulse +to shelter St. Luc from the next person who was likely to recognize +him. But the Onondaga was not looking in that direction. The young +English officer, moved by his intense interest, had engaged him in +conversation continually, surprised that Tayoga should know so much +about the white race and history. + +Robert looked so long at St. Luc, and with such a fixed and powerful +gaze, that at last the chevalier turned and their eyes met. Robert's +said: + +"Why are you here? Your life is in danger every moment. If caught you +will be executed as a spy." + +"I'm not afraid," replied the eyes of St. Luc. "You alone have seen me +as I am." + +"But others will see you." + +"I think not." + +"How do you know that I will not proclaim at once who you are?" + +"You will not because you do not wish to see me hanged or shot." + +Then the eyes of St. Luc left Robert and wandered ever the audience, +which was now deeply engrossed in talk, although the Livingstons and +the De Lanceys kept zealously away from one another, and the families +who were closely allied with them by blood, politics or business also, +stayed near their chiefs. Robert began to fancy that he might have +been mistaken, it was not really St. Luc, he had allowed an imaginary +resemblance to impose upon him, but reflection told him that it was no +error. He would have known the intense gaze of those burning blue eyes +anywhere. He was still careful to keep his own body between Tayoga and +the Frenchman. + +The curtain rose and once more Robert fell under the great writer's +spell. Vivid action and poetic speech claimed him anew, and for the +moment he forgot St. Luc. When the second act was finished, and while +the applause was still filling the hall, he cast a fearful glance +toward the place where he had seen the chevalier. Then, in truth, he +rubbed his eyes. No St. Luc was there. The chair in which he had sat +was not empty, but was occupied by a stolid, stout Dutchman, who +seemed not to have moved for hours. + +It had been a vision, a figment of the fancy, after all! But it was +merely an attempt of the will to persuade himself that it was so. He +could not doubt that he had seen St. Luc, who, probably listening to +some counsel of providence, had left the hall. Robert felt an immense +relief, and now he was able to assume his best manner when Mr. Hardy +began to present him and Tayoga to many of the notables. He met the +governor, Mr. Watts, and more De Lanceys, Wilsons and Crugers than he +could remember, and he received invitations to great houses, and made +engagements which he intended to keep, if it were humanly +possible. Willet and Hardy exchanged glances when they noticed how +easily he adapted himself to the great world of his day. He responded +here as he had responded in Quebec, although Quebec and New York, each +a center in its own way, were totally unlike. + +The play went on, and Robert was still absorbed in the majestic +lines. At the next intermission there was much movement in the +audience. People walked about, old acquaintances spoke and strangers +were introduced to one another. Robert looked sharply for St. Luc, but +there was no trace of him. Presently Mr. Hardy was introducing him to +a heavy man, dressed very richly, and obviously full of pride. + +"Mynheer Van Zoon," he said, "this is young Robert Lennox. He has been +for years in the care of David Willet, whom you have met in other and +different times. Robert, Mynheer Van Zoon is one of our greatest +merchants, and one of my most active rivals." + +Robert was about to extend his hand, but noticing that Mynheer Van +Zoon did not offer his he withheld his own. The merchant's face, in +truth, had turned to deeper red than usual, and his eyes lowered. He +was a few years older than Hardy, somewhat stouter, and his heavy +strong features showed a tinge of cruelty. The impression that he made +upon Robert was distinctly unfavorable. + +"Yes, I have met Mr. Willet before," said Van Zoon, "but so many years +have passed that I did not know whether he was still living. I can say +the same about young Mr. Lennox." + +"Oh, they live hazardous lives, but when one is skilled in meeting +peril life is not snuffed out so easily," rejoined Mr. Hardy who +seemed to be speaking from some hidden motive. "They've returned to +civilization, and I think and trust, Adrian, that we'll hear more of +them than for some years past. They're especial friends of mine, and I +shall do the best I can for them, even though my mercantile rivalry +with you absorbs, of necessity, so much of my energy." + +Van Zoon smiled sourly, and then Robert liked him less than ever. + +"The times are full of danger," he said, "and one must watch to keep +his own." + +He bowed, and turned to other acquaintances, evidently relieved at +parting with them. + +"He does not improve with age," said Willet thoughtfully. + +Robert was about to ask questions concerning this Adrian Van Zoon, who +seemed uneasy in their presence, but once more he restrained himself, +his intuition telling him as before that neither Willet nor Master +Hardy would answer them. + +The play moved on towards its dramatic close and Robert was back in +the world of passion and tragedy, of fancy and poetry. Van Zoon was +forgotten, St. Luc faded quite away, and he was not conscious of the +presence of Tayoga, or of Grosvenor, or of any of his friends. +Shakespeare's _Richard_ was wholly the humpbacked villain to him, and +when he met his fate on Bosworth Field he rejoiced greatly. As the +curtain went down for the last time he saw that Tayoga, too, was +moved. + +"The English king was a wicked man," he said, "but he died like a +great chief." + +They all passed out now, the street was filled with carriages and the +torches of the link boys and there was a great hum of conversation. +St. Luc returned to Robert's mind, but he kept to himself the fact +that he had been in the theater. It might be his duty to state to the +military that he had seen in the city an important Frenchman who must +have come as a spy, but he could not do so. Nor did he feel any +pricklings of the conscience about it, because he believed, even if he +gave warning of St. Luc's presence, the wary chevalier would escape. + +They stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching the carriages, great +high-bodied vehicles, roll away. Mr. Hardy had a carriage of his own, +but the distance between his house and the theater was so short that +he had not thought it necessary to use it. The night was clear, very +cold and the illusion of the play was still upon the younger members +of his group. + +"You liked it?" said Mr. Hardy, looking keenly at Robert. + +"It was another and wonderful world to me," replied the youth. + +"I thought it would make a great appeal to you," said Master Benjamin. +"Your type of mind always responds quickly to the poetic drama. Ah, +there goes Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon. He has entered his carriage +without looking once in our direction." + +He and Willet and Master Jonathan laughed together, softly but with +evident zest. Whatever the feeling between them and whatever the cause +might be, Robert felt that they had the advantage of Mynheer Van Zoon +that night and were pushing it. They watched the crowd leave and the +lights fade in the darkness, and then they walked back together to the +solid red brick house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor took leave of +them, all promising that the acquaintance should be continued. + +"A fine young man," said Mr. Hardy, thoughtfully. "I wish that more +of his kind would come over. We can find great use for them in this +country." + +Charteris also said farewell to them, telling them that his own house +was not far away, and offering them his services in any way they +wished as long as they remained in the city. + +"Another fine young man," said Master Benjamin, as the tall figure of +Charteris melted away in the darkness. "A good representative of our +city's best blood and manners, and yes, of morals, too." + +Robert went alone the next morning to the new public library, founded +the year before and known as the New York Society Library, a novelty +then and a great evidence of municipal progress. The most eminent men +of the city, appointed by Governor de Lancey, were its trustees, and, +the collection already being large, Robert spent a happy hour or two +glancing through the books. History and fiction appealed most to him, +but he merely looked a little here and there, opening many volumes. He +was proud that the intelligence and enterprise of New York had founded +so noble an institution and he promised himself that if, in the time +to come, he should be a permanent resident of the city, his visits +there would be frequent. + +When he left the library it was about noon, the day being cloudy and +dark with flurries of snow, those who were in the streets shivering +with the raw cold. Robert drew his own heavy cloak closely about him, +and, bending his head a little, strolled toward the Battery, in order +to look again at the ships that came from so many parts of the +earth. A stranger, walking in slouching fashion, and with the collar +of his coat pulled well up about his face, shambled directly in his +way. When Robert turned the man turned also and said in a low tone: + +"Mr. Lennox!" + +"St. Luc!" exclaimed Robert. "Are you quite mad? Don't you know that +your life is in danger every instant?" + +"I am not mad, nor is the risk as great as you think. Walk on by my +side, as if you knew me." + +"I did not think, chevalier, that your favorite role was that of a +spy." + +"Nor is it. This New York of yours is a busy city, and a man, even a +Frenchman, may come here for other reasons than to learn military +secrets." + +Robert stared at him, but St. Luc admonished him again to look in +front of him, and walk on as if they were old acquaintances on some +business errand. + +"I don't think you want to betray me to the English," he said. + +"No, I don't," said Robert, "though my duty, perhaps, should make me +do so." + +"But you won't. I felt assured of it, else I should not have spoken to +you." + +"What duty, other than that of a spy, can have brought you to New +York?" + +"Why make it a duty? It is true the times are troubled, and full of +wars, but one, on occasion, may seek his pleasure, nevertheless. Let +us say that I came to New York to see the play which both of us +witnessed last night. 'Twas excellently done. I have seen plays +presented in worse style at much more pretentious theaters in +Paris. Moreover I, a Frenchman, love Shakespeare. I consider him the +equal of our magnificent Molière." + +"Which means that if you were not a Frenchman you would think him +better." + +"A pleasant wit, Mr. Lennox. I am glad to see it in you. But you will +admit that I have come a long distance and incurred a great risk to +attend a play by a British author given in a British town, though it +must be admitted that the British town has strong Dutch +lineaments. Furthermore, I do bear witness that I enjoyed the play +greatly. 'Twas worth the trouble and the danger." + +"Since you insist, chevalier, that you came so great a distance and +incurred so great a risk merely to worship at the shrine of our +Shakespeare, as one gentleman to another I cannot say that I doubt +your word. But when we sailed down the Hudson on a sloop, and were +compelled to tie up in a cove to escape the wrath of a storm, I saw +you on the slope above me." + +"I saw you, too, then, Mr. Lennox, and I envied you your snug place on +the sloop. That storm was one of the most unpleasant incidents in my +long journey to New York to see Shakespeare's 'Richard III.' Still, +when one wishes a thing very badly one must be willing to pay a high +price for it. It was a good play by a good writer, the actors were +most excellent, and I have had sufficient reward for my trouble and +danger." + +The collar of his cloak was drawn so high now that it formed almost a +hood around his head and face, but he turned a little, and Robert saw +the blue eyes, as blue as his own, twinkling with a humorous light. It +was borne upon him with renewed force that here was a champion of +romance and high adventure. St. Luc was a survival. He was one of +those knights of the Middle Ages who rode forth with lance and sword +to do battle, perhaps for a lady's favor, and perhaps to crush the +infidel. His own spirit, which had in it a lightness, a gayety and a +humor akin to St. Luc's, responded at once. + +"Since you found the play most excellent, and I had the same delight, +I presume that you will stay for all the others. Mr. Hallam and his +fine company are in New York for two weeks, if not longer. Having come +so far and at such uncommon risks, you will not content yourself with +a single performance?" + +"Alas! that is the poison in my cup. The leave of absence given me by +the Governor General of Canada is but brief, and I can remain in this +city and stronghold of my enemy but a single night." + +They passed several men, but none took any notice of them. The day had +increased in gloominess. Heavy clouds were coming up from the sea, +enveloping the solid town in a thick and somber atmosphere. Snow +began to fall and a sharp wind drove the flakes before it. Pedestrians +bent forward, and drew their cloaks or coats about their faces to +protect themselves from the storm. + +"The weather favors us," said St. Luc. "The people of New York +defending themselves from the wind and the flakes will have no time to +be looking for an enemy among them." + +"Where are we going, chevalier?" + +"That I know not, but being young, healthy and strong, perhaps we walk +in a circle for the sake of exercise." + +"For which also you have come to New York--in order that you may walk +about our Battery and Bowling Green." + +"True! Quite true! You have a most penetrating mind, Mr. Lennox, and +since we speak of the objects of my errand here I recall a third, but +of course, a minor motive." + +"I am interested in that third and minor motive, Chevalier de +St. Luc." + +"I noticed last night at the play that you were speaking to a +merchant, one Adrian Van Zoon." + +"'Tis true, but how do you know Van Zoon?" + +"Let it suffice, lad, that I know him and know him well. I wish you to +beware of him." + +He spoke with a sudden softness of tone that touched Robert, and there +could be no doubt that his meaning was good. They were still walking +in the most casual manner, their faces bent to the driving snow, and +almost hidden by the collars of their cloaks. + +"What can Adrian Van Zoon and I have in common?" asked Robert. + +"Lad, I bid thee again to beware of him! Look to it that you do not +fall into his treacherous hands!" + +His sudden use of the pronoun "thee," and his intense earnestness, +stirred Robert deeply. + +"Friends seem to rise around me, due to no merit of mine," he +said. "Willet has always watched over me. Tayoga is my brother. +Jacobus Huysman has treated me almost as his own son, and +Master Benjamin Hardy has received me with great warmth of heart. And +now you deliver to me a warning that I cannot but believe is given +with the best intent. But again I ask you, why should I fear Adrian +Van Zoon?" + +"That, lad, I will not tell you, but once more I bid you beware of +him. Think you, I'd have taken such a risk to prepare you for a +danger, if it were not real?" + +"I do not. I feel, Chevalier de St. Luc, that you are a friend in +truth. Shall I speak of this to Mr. Willet? He will not blame me for +hiding the knowledge of your presence here." + +"No. Keep it to yourself, but once more I tell you beware of Adrian +Van Zoon. Now you will not see me again for a long time, and perhaps +it will be on the field of battle. Have no fears for my safety. I can +leave this solid town of yours as easily as I entered it. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" said Robert, with a real wrench at the heart. St. Luc left +him and walked swiftly in the direction of St. George's Chapel. The +snow increased so much and was driving so hard that in forty or fifty +paces he disappeared entirely and Robert, wishing shelter, went back +to the house of Benjamin Hardy, moved by many and varied emotions. + +He could not doubt that St. Luc's warning was earnest and important, +but why should he have incurred such great risks to give it? What was +he to Adrian Van Zoon? and what was Adrian Van Zoon to him? And what +did the talk at night between Willet and Hardy mean? He, seemed to be +the center of a singular circle of complications, of which other +people might know much, but of which he knew nothing. + +Mr. Hardy's house was very solid, very warm and very comfortable. He +was still at the Royal Exchange, but Mr. Pillsbury had come home, and +was standing with his back to a great fire, his coattails drawn under +either arm in front of him. A gleam of warmth appeared in his solemn +eyes at the sight of Robert. + +"A fierce day, Master Robert," he said. "'Tis good at such a time to +stand before a red fire like this, and have stout walls between one +and the storm." + +"Spoken truly, Master Jonathan," said Robert, as he joined him before +the fire, and imitated his position. + +"You have been to our new city library? We are quite proud of it." + +"Yes, I was there, but I have also been thinking a little." + +"Thought never hurts one. We should all be better if we took more +thought upon ourselves." + +"I was thinking of a man whom we saw at the play last night, the +merchant, Adrian Van Zoon." + +Master Jonathan let his coattails fall from under his arms, and then +he deliberately gathered them up again. + +"A wealthy and powerful merchant. He has ships on many seas." + +"I have inferred that Mr. Hardy does not like him." + +"Considering my words carefully, I should say that Mr. Hardy does not +like Mr. Van Zoon and that Mr. Van Zoon does not like Mr. Hardy." + +"I'm not seeking to be intrusive, but is it just business rivalry?" + +"You are not intrusive, Master Robert. But my knowledge seldom extends +beyond matters of business." + +"Which means that you might be able to tell me, but you deem it wiser +not to do so." + +"The storm increases, Master Robert. The snow is almost blinding. I +repeat that it is a most excellent fire before which we are +standing. Mr. Hardy and your friends will be here presently and we +shall have food." + +"It seems to me, Master Jonathan, that the people of New York eat much +and often." + +"It sustains life and confers a harmless pleasure." + +"To return a moment to Adrian Van Zoon. You say that his ships are +upon every sea. In what trade are they engaged, mostly?" + +"In almost everything, Master Robert. They say he does much +smuggling--but I don't object to a decent bit of smuggling--and I fear +that certain very fast vessels of his know more than a little about +the slave trade." + +"I trust that Mr. Hardy has never engaged in such a traffic." + +"You may put your mind at rest upon that point, Master Robert. No +amount of profit could induce Mr. Hardy to engage in such commerce." + +Mr. Hardy, Tayoga and Willet came in presently, and the merchant +remained a while after his dinner. The older men smoked pipes and +talked together and Robert and Tayoga looked out at the driving snow. +Tayoga had received a letter from Colonel William Johnson that +morning, informing him that all was well at the vale of Onondaga, and +the young Onondaga was pleased. They were speaking of their expected +departure to join Braddock's army, but they had heard from Willet that +they were to remain longer than they had intended in New York, as the +call to march demanded no hurry. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SLAVER + + +Robert spent more days in New York, and they were all pleasant. His +own handsome face and winning manner would have made his way anywhere, +but it became known universally that a great interest was taken in him +by Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who was a great figure in the city, a man not +to be turned lightly into an enemy. It also seemed that some mystery +enveloped him--mystery always attracts--and the lofty and noble figure +of the young Onondaga, who was nearly always by his side, heightened +the romantic charm he had for all those with whom he came in +contact. Both Hardy and Willet urged him to go wherever he was asked +by the great, and clothes fitted to such occasions were provided +promptly. + +"I am not able to pay for these," said Robert to Willet when he was +being measured for the first of his fine raiment. + +"Don't trouble yourself about it," said the hunter, smiling, "I have +sufficient to meet the bills, and I shall see that all your tailors +are reimbursed duly. Some one must always look after a man of +fashion." + +"I wish I knew more than I do," said Robert in troubled tones, +"because I've a notion that the money with which you will pay my +tailor comes from the till of Master Benjamin Hardy. It's uncommon +strange that he does so much for me. I'm very grateful, but surely +there must be some motive behind it." + +He glanced at Willet to see how he took his words, but the hunter +merely smiled, and Robert knew that the smile was a mask through which +he could not penetrate. + +"Take the goods the gods provide thee," said the hunter. + +"I will," said Robert, cheerfully, "since it seems I can't do anything +else." + +And he did. His response to New York continued to be as vigorous as it +had been to Quebec, and while New York lacked some of the brilliancy, +some of the ultimate finish that, to his mind, had distinguished +Quebec, it was more solid, there was more of an atmosphere of +resource, and it was all vastly interesting. Charteris proved himself +a right true friend, and he opened for him whatever doors he cared to +enter that Mr. Hardy may have left unlocked. He was also thrown much +with Grosvenor, and the instinctive friendship between the two ripened +fast. + +On the fifth day of his stay in New York a letter came out of the +wilderness from Wilton at Fort Refuge. It had been brought by an +Oneida runner to Albany, and was sent thence by post to New York. + +Wilton wrote that time would pass rather heavily with them in the +little fortress, if the hostile Indians allowed it. Small bands now +infested that region, and the soldiers were continually making marches +against them. The strange man, whom they called Black Rifle, was of +vast help, guiding them and saving them from ambush. + +Wilton wrote that he missed Philadelphia, which was certainly the +finest city outside of Europe, but he hoped to go back to it, seasoned +and improved by life in the woods. New York, where he supposed Robert +now to be, was an attractive town, in truth, a great port, but it had +not the wealth and cultivation of Philadelphia, as he hoped to show +Robert some day. Meanwhile he wished him well. + +Robert smiled. He had pleasant memories of Wilton, Colden, Carson and +the others, and while he was making new friends he did not commit the +crime of forgetting old ones. It was his hope that he should meet them +all again, not merely after the war, but long before. + +In his comings and goings among the great of their day Robert kept a +keen eye for the vision of St. Luc. He half hoped, half feared that +some time in the twilight or the full dusk of the night he would see +in some narrow street the tall figure wrapped in its great cloak. But +the chevalier did not appear, and Robert felt that he had not really +come as a spy upon the English army and its preparations. He must have +gone, days since. + +He met Adrian Van Zoon three times, that is, he was in the same room +with him, although they spoke together only once. The merchant had in +his presence an air of detachment. He seemed to be one who continually +carried a burden, and a stripling just from the woods could not long +have a place, either favorable or unfavorable, in his memory. Robert +began to wonder if St. Luc had net been mistaken. What could a man +born and bred in France, and only in recent years an inhabitant of +Canada, know of Adrian Van Zoon of New York? What, above all, could he +know that would cause him to warn Robert against him? But this, like +all his other questions, disappeared in the enjoyments of the +moment. Nature, which had been so kind in giving to him a vivid +imagination, had also given with it an intense appreciation. He liked +nearly everything, and nearly everybody, he could see a rosy mist +where the ordinary man saw only a cloud, and just now New York was so +kind to him that he loved it all. + +A week in the city and he attended a brilliant ball given by William +Walton in the Walton mansion, in Franklin Square, then the most +elaborate and costly home in North America. It was like a great +English country house, with massive brick walls and woodwork, all +imported and beautifully carved. The staircase in particular made of +dark ebony was the wonder of its day, and, in truth, the whole +interior was like that of a palace, instead of a private residence, at +that time, in America. + +Robert enjoyed himself hugely. He realized anew how close was the +blood relationship among all those important families, and he was +already familiar with their names. The powerful sponsorship of Mr. +Hardy had caused them to take him in as one of their number, and for +that reason he liked them all the more. He was worldly wise enough +already to know that we are more apt to call a social circle snobbish +when we do not belong to it. Now, he was a welcome visitor at the best +houses in New York, and all was rose to him. + +Adrian Van Zoon, who had not only wealth but strong connections, was +there, but, as on recent occasions he took no notice of Robert, until +late in the evening when the guests were dancing the latest Paris and +London dances in the great drawing-room. Robert was resting for a +little space and as he leaned against the wall the merchant drew near +him and addressed him with much courtesy. + +"I fear, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I have spoken to you rather +brusquely, for which I offer many apologies. It was due, perhaps, to +the commercial rivalries of myself and Mr. Hardy, in whose house you +are staying. It was but natural for me to associate you with him." + +"I wish to be linked with him," said Robert, coldly. "I have a great +liking and respect for Mr. Hardy." + +Mynheer Van Zoon laughed and seemed not at all offended. + +"The answer of a lad, and a proper one for a lad," he said. "'Tis well +to be loyal to one's friends, and I must admit, too, that Mr. Hardy is +a man of many high qualities, a fact that a rivalry in business +extending over many years, has proved to me. He and I cannot become +friends, but I do respect him." + +He had imparted some warmth to his tone, and his manner bore the +appearance of geniality. Robert, so susceptible to courtesy in others, +began to find him less repellent. He rejoined in the same polite +manner, and Mynheer Van Zoon talked to him a little while as a busy +man of middle age would speak to a youth. He asked him of his +experiences at Quebec, of which he had heard some rumor, and Robert, +out of the fullness of his mind, spoke freely on that subject. + +"Is it true," asked Mynheer Van Zoon, "that David Willet in a duel +with swords slew a famous bravo?" + +"It's quite true," replied Robert. "I was there, and saw it with my +own eyes. Pierre Boucher was the man's name, and never was a death +more deserved." + +"Willet is a marvel with the sword." + +"You knew him in his youth, Mynheer Van Zoon?" + +"I did not say that. It is possible that I was thinking of some one +who had talked to me about him. But, whatever thought may have been in +my mind, David Willet and I are not likely to tread the same path. I +repeat, Master Lennox, that although my manner may have seemed to you +somewhat brusque in the past, I wish you well. Do you remain much +longer in New York?" + +"Only a few days, I think." + +"And you still find much of interest to see?" + +"Enough to occupy the remainder of my time. I wish to see a bit of +Long Island, but tomorrow I go to Paulus Hook to find one Nicholas +Suydam and to carry him a message from Colonel William Johnson, which +has but lately come to me in the post. I suppose it will be easy to +get passage across the Hudson." + +"Plenty of watermen will take you for a fare, but if you are familiar +with the oars yourself it would be fine exercise for a strong youth +like you to row over and then back again." + +"It's a good suggestion, as I do row, and I think I'll adopt it." + +Mynheer Van Zoon passed on a moment or two later, and Robert, with his +extraordinary susceptibility to a friendly manner, felt a pleasant +impression. Surely St. Luc, who at least was an official enemy, did +not know the truth about Van Zoon! And if the Frenchman did happen to +be right, what did he have to fear in New York, surrounded by friends? + +The evening progressed, but Mynheer Van Zoon left early, and then in +the pleasures of the hour, surrounded by youth and brightness, Robert +forgot him, too. A banquet was served late, and there was such a +display of silver and gold plate that the British officers themselves +opened their eyes and later wrote letters to England, telling of the +amazing prosperity and wealth of New York, as proven by what they had +seen in the Walton and other houses. + +Robert did not go back to the home of Mr. Hardy, until a very late +hour, and he slept late the next day. When he rose he found that all +except himself had gone forth for one purpose or another, but it +suited his own plan well, as he could now take the letter of Colonel +William Johnson to his friend, Master Nicholas Suydam, in Paulus +Hook. It was another dark, gloomy day, but clouds and cold had little +effect on his spirits, and when he walked along the shore of the North +River, looking for a boat, he met the chaff of the watermen with +humorous remarks of his own. They discouraged his plan to row himself +across, but being proud of his skill he clung to it, and, having +deposited two golden guineas as security for its return, he selected a +small but strong boat and rowed into the stream. + +A sharp wind was blowing in from the sea, but he was able to manage +his little craft with ease, and, being used to rough water, he enjoyed +the rise and dip of the waves. A third of the way out and he paused +and looked back at New York, the steeple of St. George's showing +above the line of houses. He could distinguish from the mass other +buildings that he knew, and his heart suddenly swelled with affection +for this town, in which he had received such a warm welcome. He would +certainly live here, when the wars were over, and he could settle down +to his career. + +Then he turned his eyes to the inner bay, where he saw the usual +amount of shipping, sloops, schooners, brigs and every other kind of +vessel known to the times. Behind them rose the high wooded shores of +Staten Island, and through the channel between it and Long Island +Robert saw other ships coming in. Truly, it was a noble bay, +apparently made for the creation of a great port, and already busy man +was putting it to its appointed use. Then he looked up the Hudson at +the lofty Palisades, the precipitous shores facing them, and his eyes +came back to the stream. Several vessels under full sail were steering +for the mouth of the Hudson, but he looked longest at a schooner, +painted a dark color, and very trim in her lines. He saw two men +standing on her decks, and two or three others visible in her rigging. + +Evidently she was a neat and speedy craft, but he was not there to +waste his time looking at schooners. The letter of Colonel William +Johnson to Master Nicholas Suydam in Paulus Hook must be delivered, +and, taking up his oars, he rowed vigorously toward the hamlet on the +Jersey shore. + +When he was about two-thirds of the way across he paused to look back +again, but the air was so heavy with wintry mists that New York did +not show at all. He was about to resume the oars once more when the +sound of creaking cordage caused him to look northward. Then he +shouted in alarm. The dark schooner was bearing down directly upon +him, and was coming very swiftly. A man on the deck whom he took to be +the captain shouted at him, but when Robert, pulling hard, shot his +boat ahead, it seemed to him that the schooner changed her course +also. + +It was the last impression he had of the incident, as the prow of the +schooner struck his boat and clove it in twain. He jumped +instinctively, but his head received a glancing blow, and he did not +remember anything more until he awoke in a very dark and close +place. His head ached abominably, and when he strove to raise a hand +to it he found that he could not do so. He thought at first that it +was due to weakness, a sort of temporary paralysis, coming from the +blow that he dimly remembered, but he realized presently that his +hands were bound, tied tightly to his sides. + +He moved his body a little, and it struck against wood on either +side. His feet also were bound, and he became conscious of a swaying +motion. He was in a ship's bunk and he was a prisoner of somebody. He +was filled with a fierce and consuming rage. He had no doubt that he +was on the schooner that had run him down, nor did he doubt either +that he had been run down purposely. Then he lay still and by long +staring was able to make out a low swaying roof above him and very +narrow walls. It was a strait, confined place, and it was certainly +deep down in the schooner's hold. A feeling of horrible despair seized +him. The darkness, his aching head, and his bound hands and feet +filled him with the worst forebodings. Nor did he have any way of +estimating time. He might have been lying in the bunk at least a week, +and he might now be far out at sea. + +In misfortune, the intelligent and imaginative suffer most because +they see and feel everything, and also foresee further misfortunes to +come. Robert's present position brought to him in a glittering train +all that he had lost. Having a keen social sense his life in New York +had been one of continuing charm. Now the balls and receptions that +he had attended at great houses came back to him, even more brilliant +and vivid than their original colors had been. He remembered the many +beautiful women he had seen, in their dresses of silk or satin, with +their rosy faces and powdered hair, and the great merchants and feudal +landowners, and the British and American officers in their bright new +uniforms, talking proudly of the honors they expected to win. + +Then that splendid dream was gone, vanishing like a mist before a +wind, and he was back in the swaying darkness of the bunk, hands and +feet bound, and head aching. All things are relative. He felt now if +only the cruel cords were taken off his wrists and ankles he could be +happy. Then he would be able to sit up, move his limbs, and his head +would stop aching. He called all the powers of his will to his +aid. Since he could not move he would not cause himself any increase +of pain by striving to do so. He commanded his body to lie still and +compose itself and it obeyed. In a little while his head ceased to +ache so fiercely, and the cords did not bite so deep. + +Then he took thought. He was still sure that he was on board the +schooner that had run him down. He remembered the warning of St. Luc +against Adrian Van Zoon, and Adrian Van Zoon's suggestion that he row +his own boat across to Paulus Hook. But it seemed incredible. A +merchant, a rich man of high standing in New York, could not plan his +murder. Where was the motive? And, if such a motive did exist, a man +of Van Zoon's standing could not afford to take so great a risk. In +spite of St. Luc and his faith in him he dismissed it as an +impossibility. If Van Zoon had wished his death he would not have +been taken out of the river. He must seek elsewhere the reason of his +present state. + +He listened attentively, and it seemed to him that the creaking and +groaning of the cordage increased. Once or twice he thought he heard +footsteps over his head, but he concluded that it was merely the +imagination. Then, after an interminable period of waiting, the door +to the room opened and a man carrying a ship's lantern entered, +followed closely by another. Robert was able to turn on his side and +stare at them. + +The one who carried the lantern was short, very dark, and had gold +rings in his ears. Robert judged him to be a Portuguese. But his +attention quickly passed to the man behind him, who was much taller, +rather spare, his face clean shaven, his hard blue eyes set close +together. Robert knew instinctively that he was master of the ship. + +"Hold up the lantern, Miguel," the tall man said, "and let's have a +look at him." + +The Portuguese obeyed. + +Then Robert felt the hard blue eyes fastened upon him, but he raised +himself as much as he could and gave back the gaze fearlessly. + +"Well, how's our sailorman?" said the captain, laughing, and his +laughter was hideous to the prisoner. + +"I don't understand you," said Robert. + +"My meaning is plain enough, I take it." + +"I demand that you set me free at once and restore me to my friends in +New York." + +The tall man laughed until he held his sides, and the short man +laughed with him, laugh for laugh. Their laughter so filled Robert +with loathing and hate that he would have attacked them both had he +been unbound. + +"Come now, Peter," said the captain at last. "Enough of your grand +manner. You carry it well for a common sailor, and old Nick himself +knows where you got your fine clothes, but here you are back among +your old comrades, and you ought to be glad to see 'em." + +"What do you mean?" asked the astonished Robert. + +"Now, don't look so surprised. You can keep up a play too long. You +know as well as we do that you're plain Peter Smith, an able young +sailorman, when you're willing, who deserted us in Baltimore three +months ago, and you with a year yet to serve. And here's your +particular comrade, Miguel, so glad to see you. When we ran your boat +down, all your own fault, too, Miguel jumped overboard, and he didn't +dream that the lad he was risking his life to save was his old +chum. Oh, 'twas a pretty reunion! And now, Peter, thank Miguel for +bringing you back to life and to us." + +A singular spirit seized Robert. He saw that he was at the mercy of +these men, who utterly without scruple wished for some reason to hold +him. He could be a player too, and perhaps more was to be won by being +a player. + +"I'm sorry," he said, "but I was tempted by the follies of the land, +and I've had enough of 'em. If you'll overlook it and let the past be +buried, captain, you'll have no better seaman than Peter Smith. +You've always been a just but kind man, and so I throw myself on your +mercy." + +The captain and Miguel exchanged astonished glances. + +"I know you'll do it, captain," Robert went on in his most winning +tones, "because, as I've just said, you've always been a kind man, +especially kind to me. I suppose when I first signed with you that I +was as ignorant and awkward a land lubber as you ever saw. But your +patient teaching has made me a real sailor. Release me now, and I +think that in a few hours I will be fit to go to work again." + +"Cut the lashings, Miguel," said the captain. + +Miguel's sharp knife quickly severed them, and Robert sat up in the +bunk. When the blood began to flow freely in the veins, cut off +hitherto, he felt stinging pains at first, but presently heavenly +relief came. The captain and Miguel stood looking at him. + +"Peter," said the captain, "you were always a lad of spirit, and I'm +glad to get you back, particularly as we have such a long voyage ahead +of us. One doesn't go to the coast of Africa, gather a cargo of slaves +and get back in a day." + +In spite of himself Robert could not repress a shudder of horror. A +slaver and he a prisoner on board her! He might be gone a year or +more. Never was a lad in worse case, but somewhere in him was a spark +of hope that refused to be extinguished. He gave a more imperious +summons than ever to his will, and it returned to his aid. + +"You've been kind to Peter Smith. Few captains would forgive what I've +done, but I'll try to make it up to you. How long are we out from New +York?" he said. + +"It might be an hour or it might be a day or what's more likely it +might be two days. You see, Peter, a lad who gets a crack on the head +like yours lies still and asleep for a long time. Besides, it don't +make any difference to you how long we've been out. So, just you stay +in your bunk a little while longer, and Miguel will bring you +something to eat and drink." + +"Thank you, captain. You're almost a father to me." + +"That's a good lad, Peter. I am your father, I'm the father of all my +crew, and don't forget that a father sometimes has to punish his +children, so just you stay in your bunk till you're bid to come out of +it." + +"Thank you, captain. I wouldn't think of disobeying you. Besides, I'm +too weak to move yet." + +The captain and Miguel went out, and Robert heard them fastening the +door on the outside. Then the darkness shut him in again, and he lay +back in his bunk. The spark of hope somewhere in his mind had grown a +little larger. His head had ceased to ache and his limbs were +free. The physical difference made a mental difference yet +greater. Although there seemed to be absolutely no way out, he would +find one. + +The door was opened again, and Miguel, bearing the ship's lantern in +one hand and a plate of food in the other, came in. It was rough food +such as was served on rough ships, but Robert sat up and looked at it +hungrily. Miguel grinned, and laughed until the gold hoops in his ears +shook. + +"You, Peter Smith," he said. "Me terrible glad to see you again. Miss +my old comrade. Mourn for him, and then when find him jump into the +cold river to save him." + +"It's true," said Robert, "it was a long and painful parting, but here +we are, shipmates again. It was good of you, Miguel, to risk your life +to save me, and now that we've had so many polite interchanges, +suppose you save me from starving to death and pass that plate of +food." + +"With ver' good will, Peter. Eat, eat with the great heartiness, +because we have ver', ver' hard work before us and for a long +time. The captain will want you to do as much work in t'ree mont' as +t'ree men do, so you can make up the t'ree mont' you have lost." + +"Tell him I'm ready. I've already confessed all my sins to him." + +"He won't let you work as sailor at first. He make you help me in the +cook's galley." + +"I'm willing to do that too. You know I can cook. You'll remember, +Miguel, how I helped you in the Mediterranean, and how I did almost +all your work that time you were sick, when we were cruising down to +the Brazils?" + +Miguel grinned. + +"You have the great courage, you Peter," he said. "You always +have. Feel better now?" + +"A lot, Miguel. The bread was hard, I suppose, and better potatoes +have been grown, but I didn't notice the difference. That was good +water, too. I've always thought that water was a fine drink. And now, +Miguel, hunger and thirst being satisfied, I'll get up and stretch my +limbs a while. Then I'll be ready to go to work." + +"I tell you when the captain wants you. Maybe an hour from now, maybe +two hours." + +He took his lantern and the empty plate and withdrew, but Robert heard +him fastening the door on the outside again. Evidently they did not +yet wholly trust the good intentions of Peter Smith, the deserter, +whom they had recaptured in the Hudson. But the spark of hope lodged +somewhere in the mind of Peter Smith was still growing and +glowing. The removal of the bonds from his wrist and ankles had +brought back a full and free circulation, and the food and water had +already restored strength to one so young and strong. He stood up, +flexed his muscles and took deep breaths. + +He had no familiarity with the sea, but he was used to navigation in +canoes and boats on large and small lakes in the roughest kind of +weather, and the rocking of the schooner, which continued, did not +make him seasick, despite the close foul air of the little room in +which he was locked. He still heard the creaking of cordage and now he +heard the tumbling of waves too, indicating that the weather was +rough. He tried to judge by these sounds how fast the schooner was +moving, but he could make nothing of it. Then he strained his memory +to see if he could discover in any manner how long he had been on the +vessel, but the period of his unconsciousness remained a mystery, +which he could not unveil by a single second. + +Long stay in the room enabled him to penetrate its dusk a little, and +he saw that its light and air came in normal times from a single small +porthole, closed now. Nevertheless a few wisps of mist entered the +tiny crevices, and he inferred the vessel was in a heavy fog. He was +glad of it, because he believed the schooner would move slowly at such +a time, and anything that impeded the long African journey was to his +advantage. + +A period which seemed to be six hours but which he afterward knew to +be only one, passed, and his door swung back for the third time. The +face of Miguel appeared in the opening and again he grinned, until his +mouth formed a mighty slash across his face. + +"You come on deck now, you Peter," he said, "captain wants you." + +Robert's heart gave a mighty beat. Only those who have been shut up in +the dark know what it is to come out into the light. That alone was +sufficient to give him a fresh store of courage and hope. So he +followed Miguel up a narrow ladder and emerged upon the deck. As he +had inferred, the schooner was in a heavy fog, with scarcely any wind +and the sails hanging dead. + +The captain stood near the mast, gazing into the fog. He looked +taller and more evil than ever, and Robert saw the outline of a pistol +beneath his heavy pea jacket. Several other men of various +nationalities stood about the deck, and they gave Robert malicious +smiles. Forward he saw a twelve pound brass cannon, a deadly and +dangerous looking piece. It was extremely cold on deck, too, the raw +fog seeming to be so much liquid ice, but, though Robert shivered, he +liked it. Any kind of fresh air was heaven after that stuffy little +cabin. + +"How are you feeling, Peter?" asked the captain, although there was no +note of sympathy in his voice. + +"Very well, sir, thank you," replied Robert, "and again I wish to make +my apologies for deserting, but the temptations of New York are very +strong, sir. The city went to my head." + +"So it seems. We missed you on the voyage to Boston and back, but we +have you now. Doubtless Miguel has told you that you are to help him a +couple of days in his galley, and you'll stay there close. If you come +out before I give the word it's a belaying pin for you. But when I do +give the word you'll go back to your work as one of the cleverest +sailormen I ever had. You'll remember how you used to go out on the +spars in the iciest and slipperiest weather. None so clever at it as +you, Peter, and I'll soon see that you have the chance to show again +to all the men that you're the best sailor aboard ship." + +Robert shivered mentally. He divined the plan of this villain, who +would send him in the icy rigging to sure death. He, an untrained +sailor, could not keep his footing there in a storm, and it could be +said that it was an accident, as it would be in the fulfilment though +not in the intent. But he divined something else that stopped the +mental shudder and that gave him renewed hope. Why should the captain +threaten him with a belaying pin if he did not stay in the cook's +galley for two days? To Robert's mind but one reason appeared, and it +was the fear that he should be seen on deck. And that fear existed +because they were yet close to land. It was all so clear to him that +he never doubted and again his heart leaped. He was bareheaded, but he +touched the place where his cap brim should have been and replied: + +"I'll remember, captain." + +"See that you do," said the man in level tones, instinct nevertheless +with hardness and cruelty. + +Robert touched his forehead again and turned away with Miguel, +descending to the cook's galley, resolved upon some daring trial, he +did not yet know what. Here the Portuguese set him to work at once, +scouring pots and kettles and pans, and he toiled without complaint +until his arms ached. Miguel at last began to talk. He seemed to +suffer from the lack of companionship, and Robert divined that he was +the only Portuguese on board. + +"Good helper, you Peter," he said. "It no light job to cook for twenty +men, and all of them hungry all the time." + +"Have we our full crew on board, Miguel?" + +"Yes, twenty men and four more, and plenty guns, plenty powder and +ball. Fine cannon, too." + +Robert judged that the slaver would be well armed and well manned, but +he decided to ask no more questions at present, fearing to arouse the +suspicions of Miguel, and he worked on with shut lips. The Portuguese +himself talked--it seemed that he had to do so, as the longing for +companionship overcame him--but he did not tell the name of the +schooner or its captain. He merely chattered of former voyages and of +the ports he had been in, invariably addressing his helper as Peter, +and speaking of him as if he had been his comrade. + +Robert, while apparently absorbed in his tasks, listened attentively +to all that he might hear from above He knew that the fog was as thick +as ever, and that the ship was merely moving up and down with the +swells. She might be anchored in comparatively shallow water. Now he +was absolutely sure that they were somewhere near the coast, and the +coast meant hope and a chance. + +Dinner, rude but plentiful, was served for the sailors and food +somewhat more delicate for the captain in his cabin. + +Robert himself attended to the captain, and he could see enough now to +know that the dark had come. He inferred there would be no objection +to his going upon deck in the night, but he made no such suggestion. +Instead he waited upon the tall man with a care and deftness that made +that somber master grin. + +"I believe absence has really improved you, Peter," he said. "I +haven't been waited on so well in a long time." + +"Thank you, sir," said Robert. + +Secretly he was burning with humiliation. It hurt his pride terribly +to serve a rough sea captain in such a manner, but he had no choice +and he resolved that if the chance came he would pay the debt. When +the dinner or supper, whichever it might be called, was over, he went +back to the galley and cheerfully began to clear away, and to wash and +wipe dishes. Miguel gave him a compliment, saying that he had improved +since their latest voyage and Robert thanked him duly. + +When all the work was done he crawled into a bunk just over the cook's +and in any other situation would have fallen asleep at once. But his +nerves were on edge, and he was not sleepy in the least. Miguel, +without taking off his clothes, lay down in the bunk beneath him, and +Robert soon heard him snoring. He also heard new sounds from above, a +whistle and a shriek and a roar combined that he did not recognize at +first, but which a little thought told him to be a growing wind and +the crash of the waves. The schooner began to dip and rise +violently. He was dizzy for a little while, but he soon recovered. A +storm! The knowledge gave him pleasure. He did not know why, but he +felt that it, too, contributed hope and a chance. + +The roar of the storm increased, but Miguel, who had probably spent +nearly all his life at sea, continued to sleep soundly. Robert was +never in his life more thoroughly awake. + +He sat up in his bunk, and now and then he heard the sound of voices +and of footsteps overhead, but soon they were lost entirely in the +incessant shrieking of the wind and the continuous thunder of the +great waves against the side of the schooner. In truth, it was a +storm, one of great fury. He knew that the ship although stripped to +the utmost, must be driving fast, but in what direction he had no +idea. He would have given much to know. + +The tumult grew and by and by he heard orders shouted through a +trumpet. He could stand it no longer, and, leaping down, he seized the +Portuguese by the shoulder and shook him. + +"Up, Miguel," he cried. "A great storm is upon us!" + +The cook opened his eyes sleepily, and then sprang up, a look of alarm +on his face. While the eyes of the Portuguese were filled with fear, +he also seemed to be in a daze. It was apparent to Robert that he was +a heavy sleeper, and his long black hair falling about his forehead he +stared wildly. His aspect made an appeal to Robert's sense of humor, +even in those tense moments. + +"My judgment tells me, Miguel," he shouted--he was compelled to raise +his voice to a high pitch owing to the tremendous clatter +overhead--"that there is a great storm, and the schooner is in danger! +And you know, too, that your old comrade, Peter Smith, who has sailed +the seas with you so long, is likely to be right in his opinions!" + +The gaze of Miguel became less wild, but he looked at Robert with awe +and then with superstition. + +"You have brought us bad luck," he exclaimed. "An evil day for us +when you came aboard." + +Robert laughed. A fanciful humor seized him. + +"But this is my place," he said. "I, Peter Smith, belong on board this +schooner and you know, Miguel, that you and the captain insisted on my +coming back." + +"We go on deck!" cried the cook, now thoroughly alarmed by the uproar, +which always increased. He rushed up the ladder and Robert followed +him, to be blown completely off his feet when he reached the deck. But +he snatched at the woodwork, held fast, and regained an upright +position. The captain stood not far away, holding to a rope, but he +was so deeply engrossed in directing his men that he paid no attention +to Robert. + +The youth cleared the mist and spray from his eyes and took a +comprehensive look. The aspect of sea and sky was enough to strike +almost any one with terror, but upon this occasion he was an +exception. He had never looked upon a wilder world, but in its very +wildness lay his hope. The icy spars from which he would slip to +plunge to his death in the chilling sea were gone, and so was far +Africa, and the slaver's hunt. He was not a seaman, his experience had +been with lakes, but one could reason from lakes to the universal +ocean, and he knew that the schooner was in a fight for life. And +involved in it was his fight for freedom. + +The wind, cold as death, and sharp as a sword, blew out of the +northeast, and the schooner, heeled far over, was driving fast before +it, in spite of every effort of a capable captain and crew. The ship +rose and fell violently with the huge swells, and water that stung +like an icy sleet swept over her continually. Looking to the westward +Robert saw something that caused his heart to throb violently. It was +a dim low line, but he knew it to be land. + +What land it was he had no idea, nor did he at the moment care, but +there lay freedom. Rows of breakers opening their strong teeth for the +ship might stretch between, but better the breakers than the slaver's +deck and the man hunt in the slimy African lagoons. For him the icy +wind was the breath of life, and he soon ceased to shiver. But he +became conscious of chattering teeth near him and he saw Miguel, his +face a reproduction of terror in all its aspects. + +"We go!" shouted the Portuguese. "The storm drive the ship on the +breakers and she break to pieces, and all of us lost!" + +Robert's fantastic spirit was again strong upon him. + +"Then let us go!" he shouted back. "Better this clean, cold coast than +the fever swamps of Africa! Hold fast, Miguel, and we'll ride in +together!" + +The superstitious awe of the Portuguese deepened, and he drew away +from Robert. In the moment of terrible storm and approaching death +this could be no mortal youth who showed not fear, but instead a joy +that was near to exaltation. Then and there he was convinced that when +they had seized him and brought him aboard they had made their own +doom certain. + +"In twenty minutes, we strike!" cried Miguel. "Ah, how the wind rise! +Many a year since I see such a storm!" + +Spars snapped and were carried away in the foaming sea. Then the mast +went, and the crew began to launch the boats. Robert rushed to the +captain's cabin. When he served the man there he had not failed to +observe what the room contained, and now he snatched from the wall a +huge greatcoat, a belt containing a brace of pistols in a holster with +ammunition, and a small sword. He did not know why he took the sword, +but it was probably some trick of the fancy and he buckled it on with +the rest. Then he returned to the deck, where he could barely hold his +footing, the schooner had heeled so far over, and so powerful was the +wind and the driving of the spray. One of the boats had been launched +under the command of the second mate, but she was overturned almost +instantly, and all on board her were lost. Robert was just in time to +see a head bob once or twice on the surface of the sea, and then +disappear. + +A second boat commanded by the first mate was lowered and seven or +eight men managed to get into it, rowing with all their might toward +an opening that appeared in the white line of foam. A third which +could take the remainder of the crew was made ready and the captain +himself would be in charge of it. + +It was launched successfully and the men dropped into it, one by one, +but very fast. Miguel swung down and into a place. Robert advanced for +the same purpose, but the captain, who was still poised on the rail of +the ship, took notice of him for the first time. + +"No! No, Peter!" he shouted, and even in the roar of the wind Robert +observed the grim humor in his voice. "You've been a good and faithful +sailorman, and we leave you in charge of the ship! It's a great +promotion and honor for you, Peter, but you deserve it! Handle her +well because she's a good schooner and answers kindly to a kind hand! +Now, farewell, Peter, and a long and happy voyage to you!" + +A leveled pistol enforced his command to stop, and the next moment he +slid down a rope and into the boat. A sailor cut the rope and they +pulled quickly away, leaving Robert alone on the schooner. His +exultation turned to despair for a moment, and then his courage came +back. Tayoga in his place would not give up. He would pray to his +Manitou, who was Robert's God, and put complete faith in His wisdom +and mercy. Moreover, he was quit of all that hateful crew. The ship +of the slavers was beneath his feet, but the slavers themselves were +gone. + +As he looked, he saw the second boat overturn, and he thought he heard +the wild cry of those about to be lost, but he felt neither pity nor +sympathy. A stern God, stern to such as they, had called them to +account. The captain's boat had disappeared in the mist and spray. + +Robert, with the huge greatcoat wrapped about him clung to the stump +of the mast, which long since had been blown overboard, and watched +the white line of the breakers rapidly coming nearer, as they reached +out their teeth for the schooner. He knew that he could do nothing +more for himself until the ship struck. Then, with some happy chance +aiding him, he would drop into the sea and make a desperate try for +the land. He would throw off the greatcoat when he leaped, but +meanwhile he kept it on, because one would freeze without it in the +icy wind. + +He heard presently the roaring of the breakers mingled with the +roaring of the wind, and, shutting his eyes, he prayed for a miracle. + +He felt the foam beating upon his face, and believing it must come +from the rocks, he clung with all his might to the stump of the mast, +because the shock must occur within a few moments. He felt the +schooner shivering under him, and rising and falling heavily, and then +he opened his eyes to see where best to leap when the shock did come. + +He beheld the thick white foam to right and left, but he had not +prayed in vain. The miracle had happened. Here was a narrow opening +in the breakers, and, with but one chance in a hundred to guide it, +the schooner had driven directly through, ceasing almost at once to +rock so violently. But there was enough power left in the waves even +behind the rocks to send the schooner upon a sandy beach, where she +must soon break up. + +But Robert was saved. He knew it and he murmured devout thanks. When +the schooner struck in the sand he was thrown roughly forward, but he +managed to regain his feet for an instant, and he leaped outward as +far as he could, forgetting to take off his greatcoat. A returning +wave threw him down and passed over his head, but exerting all his +will, and all his strength he rose when it had passed, and ran for the +land as hard as he could. The wave returned, picked him up, and +hurried him on his way. When it started back again its force was too +much spent and the water was too shallow to have much effect on +Robert. He continued running through the yielding sand, and, when the +wave came in again and snatched at him, it was not able to touch his +feet. + +He reached weeds, then bushes, and clutched them with both hands, lest +some wave higher and more daring than all the rest should yet come for +him and seize him. But, in a moment, he let them go, knowing that he +was safe, and laughing rather giddily, sank down in a faint. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MEETING + + +When Robert revived the wind was still blowing hard, although there +had been some decrease in its violence, and it was yet night. He was +wet and very cold, and, as he arose, he shivered in a chill. The +greatcoat was still wrapped about his body, and although it was soaked +he always believed, nevertheless, that in some measure it had +protected him while he slept. The pistols, the ammunition and the +sword were in his belt, and he believed that the ammunition, fastened +securely in a pouch, was dry, though he would look into that later. + +He was quite sure that he had not been unconscious long, as the +appearance of the sky was unchanged. The bushes among which he had +lain were short but tough, and had run their roots down deeply into +the sand. They were friendly bushes. He remembered how glad he had +been to grasp them when he made that run from the surf, and to some +extent they had protected him from the cold wind when he lay among +them like one dead. + +The big rollers, white at the top, were still thundering on the beach, +and directly in front of him he saw a lowering hulk, that of the +schooner. The slaver's wicked days were done, as every wave drove it +deeper into the sand, and before long it must break up. Robert felt +that it had been overtaken by retributive justice, and, despite the +chill that was shaking him, he was shaken also by a great thrill of +joy. Wet and cold and on a desolate shore, he was, nevertheless, free. + +He began to run back and forth with great vigor, until he felt the +blood flowing in a warm, strong current through his veins again, and +he believed that in time his clothes would dry upon him. He took off +the greatcoat, and hung it upon the bushes where the wind would have a +fair chance at it, and he believed that in the morning it would be +dry, too. Then, finding his powder untouched by the water, he withdrew +the wet charges from the pistols and reloaded them. + +If he had not been seasoned by a life in the wilderness and countless +hardships he probably would have perished from exhaustion and cold, +but his strong, enduring frame threw off the chill, and he did not +pause for three full hours until he had made a successful fight for +his life. Then very tired but fairly warm he stopped for a while, and +became conscious that the wind had died to a great extent. The rollers +were not half so high and the hulk of the ship showed larger and +clearer than ever. He believed that when the storm ceased he could +board her and find food, if he did not find it elsewhere. Meanwhile he +would explore. + +Buckling on his pistols and sword, but leaving the greatcoat to +continue its process of drying, he walked inland, finding only a +desolate region of sand, bushes and salt marshes, without any sign of +human habitation. He believed it was the Jersey coast, and that he +could not be any vast distance from New York. But it seemed hopeless +to continue in that direction and being worn to the bone he returned +to his greatcoat, which had become almost dry in the wind. + +Now he felt that he must address himself to the need of the moment, +which was sleep, and he hunted a long time for a suitable lair. A high +bank of sand was covered with bushes larger and thicker than the +others, and at the back of the bank grew a tree of considerable size +with two spreading roots partly above ground. The sand was quite dry, +and he heaped it much higher along the roots. Then he lay down between +them, being amply protected on three sides, while the bushes waved +over his head. He was not only sheltered, he was hidden also, and +feeling safe, with the greatcoat, now wholly dry, wrapped around him, +and the pistols and sword beside him, he closed his eyes and fell +asleep. + +The kindly fortune that had taken the lad out of such desperate +circumstances remained benevolent. The wind ceased entirely and the +air turned much warmer. Day soon came, and with it a bright cheerful +sun, that gilded the great expanse of low and desolate shore. The boy +slept peacefully while the morning passed and the high sun marked the +coming of the afternoon. + +He had been asleep about ten hours when he awoke, turned once or twice +in his lair and then stood up. It was a beautiful day, in striking +contrast with the black night of storm, and he knew by the position of +the sun that it was within about three hours of its setting. He +tested his body, but there was no soreness. He was not conscious of +anything but a ravening hunger, and he believed that he knew where he +could satisfy it. + +There was no wind and the sea was calm, save for a slight swell. The +schooner, its prow out of the water, was in plain view. It was so +deeply imbedded in the sand that Robert considered it a firm house of +shelter, until it should be broken to pieces by successive storms. But +at present he looked upon it as a storehouse of provisions, and he +hurried down the beach. + +His foot struck against something, and he stopped, shuddering. It was +the body of one of the slavers and presently he passed another. The +sea was giving up its dead. He reached the schooner, glad to leave +these ghastly objects behind him, and, with some difficulty, climbed +aboard. The vessel had shipped much water, but she was not as great a +wreck as he had expected, and he instantly descended to the cook's +galley, where he had given his brief service. In the lockers he found +an abundance of food of all kinds, as the ship had been equipped for a +long voyage, and he ate hungrily, though sparingly at first. Then he +went into the captain's cabin, lay down on a couch, and took a long +and luxurious rest. + +Robert was happy. He felt that he had won, or rather that Providence +had won for him, a most wonderful victory over adverse fate. His +brilliant imagination at once leaped up and painted all things in +vivid colors. Tayoga, Willet and the others must be terribly alarmed +about him as they had full right to be, but he would soon be back in +New York, telling them of his marvelous risk and adventure. + +Then he deliberated about taking a supply of provisions to his den in +the bushes, but when he went on deck the sun was already setting, and +it was becoming so cold again that he decided to remain on the +schooner. Why not? It seemed strange to him that he had not thought of +it at first. The skies were perfectly clear, and he did not think +there was any danger of a storm. + +He rummaged about, discovered plenty of blankets and made a bed for +himself in the captain's cabin, finding a grim humor in the fact that +he should take that sinister man's place. But as it was only three or +four hours since he had awakened he was not at all sleepy and he +returned to the deck, where he wrapped his treasure, the huge +greatcoat, about his body and sat and watched. He saw the big red sun +set and the darkness come down again, the air still and very cold. + +But he was snug and warm, and bethought himself of what he must +undertake on the morrow. If he continued inland long enough he would +surely come to somebody, and at dawn, taking an ample supply of +provisions, he would start. That purpose settled, he let his mind +rest, and remained in a luxurious position on the deck. The rebound +from the hopeless case in which he had seemed to be was so great that +he was not lonely. He had instead a wholly pervading sense of ease and +security. His imagination was able to find beauty in the sand and the +bushes and the salt marshes, and he did not need imagination at all to +discover it in the great, mysterious ocean, which the moon was now +tinting with silver. It was a fine full moon, shedding its largest +supply of beams, and swarms of bright stars sparkled in the cold, blue +skies. A fine night, thought Robert, suited to his fine future. + +It was very late, when he went down to the captain's cabin, ate a +little more food and turned in. He soon slept, but not needing sleep +much now, he awoke at dawn. His awakening may have been hastened by +the footsteps and voices he heard, but in any event he rose softly and +buckled on his sword and pistols. One of the voices, high and sharp, +he recognized, and he believed that once more he was the child of good +fortune, because he had been awakened in time. + +He sat on the couch, facing the door, put the sword by his side and +held one of the pistols, cocked and resting on his knee. The footsteps +and voices came nearer, and then the keen, cruel face appeared at the +door. + +"Good morning, captain," said Robert, equably. "You left me in +command of the ship and I did my best with her. I couldn't keep her +afloat, and so I ran her up here on the beach, where, as you see, she +is still habitable." + +"You're a good seaman, Peter," said the captain, hiding any surprise +that he may have felt, "but you haven't obeyed my orders in full. I +expected you to keep the ship afloat, and you haven't done so." + +"That was too much to expect. I see that you have two men with +you. Tell them to step forward where I can cover them as well as you +with the muzzle of this pistol. That's right. Now, I'm going to +confide in you." + +"Go ahead, Peter." + +"I haven't liked your manner for a long time, captain. I'm only Peter +Smith, a humble seaman, but since you left me in command of the ship +last night I mean to keep the place, with all the responsibilities, +duties and honors appertaining to it. Take your hands away from your +belt. This is a lone coast, and I'm the law, the judge and the +executioner. Now, you and the two men back away from the door, and as +sure as there's a God in Heaven, if any one of you tries to draw a +weapon I'll shoot him. You'll observe that I've two pistols and also a +sword. A sailor engaged in a hazardous trade like ours, catching and +selling slaves, usually learns how to use firearms, but I'm pretty +good with the sword, too, captain, though I've hid the knowledge from +you before. Now, just kindly back into the cook's galley there, and +you and your comrades make up a good big bag of food for me. I'll tell +you what to choose. I warn you a second time to keep your hands away +from your belt. I'll really have to shoot off a finger or two as a +warning, if you don't restrain your murderous instincts. Murder is +always a bad trade, captain. Put in some of those hard biscuits, and +some of the cured meats. No, none of the liquors, I have no use for +them. By the way, what became of Miguel, with whom I worked so often?" + +"He's drowned," replied the captain. + +"I'm sorry," said Robert, and he meant it. Miguel was the only one on +board the slaver who had shown a ray of human sympathy. + +"What do you mean to do?" asked the captain, his face contorted with +rage and chagrin. + +"First, I'll see that you finish filling that bag as I direct. Put in +the packages yourself. I like to watch you work, captain, it's good +for you, and after you fill the bag and pass it to me I'm going to +hand the ship back to you. I've never really liked her, and I mean to +resign the command. I think Peter Smith is fit for better things." + +"So, you intend to leave the schooner?" + +"Yes, but you won't see me do it. Pass me the bag now. Be careful with +your hands. In truth, I think you'd better raise them above your head, +and your comrades can do the same. Quick, up with them, or I shoot! +That's right. Now, I'll back away. I'm going up the ladder backward, +and when I go out I intend to shove in place the grating that covers +the entrance to the deck there. You can escape in five minutes, of +course, but by that time I'll be off the ship and among the bushes out +of your reach. Oh, I know it's humiliating, captain, but you've had +your way a long time, and the slaver's trade is not a nice one. The +ghosts of the blacks whom you have caused to die must haunt you some +time, captain, and since your schooner is lost you'll now have a +chance to turn to a better business. For the last time I tell you to +be careful with your hands. A sailor man would miss his fingers." + +He backed cautiously until his heels touched the ladder, meanwhile +watching the eyes of the man. He knew that the captain was consumed +with rage, but angry and reckless as he was he would not dare to reach +for a weapon of his own, while the pistol confronting him was held +with such a steady hand. He also listened for sounds made by other men +on the ship, but heard none. Then he began to back slowly up the +stairway, continuing his running address. + +"I know that your arms must be growing weary, captain," he said, and +he enjoyed it as he said it, "but you won't have to keep 'em up much +longer. Two more steps will take me out upon the deck, and then you'll +be free to do as you please." + +It was the last two steps that troubled him most. In order to keep +the men covered with the pistol he had to bend far down, and he knew +that when he could no longer bend far enough the danger would come. +But he solved it by straightening up suddenly and taking two steps at +a leap. He heard shouts and oaths, and the report of a pistol, but the +bullet was as futile as the cries. He slammed down the grating, +fastened it in an instant, ran to the low rail and swiftly lowered +himself and his pack over it and into the sand. Then he ran for the +bushes. + +Robert did not waste his breath. Having managed the affair of the +grating, he knew that he was safe for the present. So, when he reached +the higher bushes, he stopped, well hidden by them, and looked +back. In two or three minutes the captain and the two men appeared on +the deck, and he laughed quietly to himself. He could see that their +faces were contorted by rage. They could follow his trail some +distance at least in the sand, but he knew that they would be +cautious. He had shown them his quality and they would fear an +ambush. + +He was justified in his opinion, as they remained on the deck, +evidently searching for a glimpse of him among the bushes, and, after +watching them a little while, he set out inland, bearing his burden of +weapons and food, and laughing to himself at the manner in which he +had made the captain serve him. He felt now that the score between +them was even, and he was willing to part company forever. + +Youth and success had an enormous effect upon him. When one triumph +was achieved his vivid temperament always foresaw others. Willet had +often called him the child of hope, and hope is a powerful factor in +victory. Now it seemed to him for a little while that his own rescue, +achieved by himself, was complete. He had nothing to do but to return +to New York and his friends, and that was just detail. + +He swung along through the bushes, forgetting the burden of his +weapons and his pack of food. In truth, he swaggered a bit, but it was +a gay and gallant swagger, and it became him. He walked for some +distance, feeling that he had been changed from a seaman into a +warrior, and then from a warrior into an explorer, which was his +present character. But he did not see at present the variety and +majesty that all explorers wish to find. The country continued low, +the same alternation of sand and salt marsh, although the bushes were +increasing in size, and they were interspersed here and there with +trees of some height. + +Reaching the crest of a low hill he took his last look backward, and +was barely able to see the upper works of the stranded schooner. Then +he thought of the captain and his exuberant spirits compelled him to +laugh aloud. With the chances a hundred to one against him he had +evened the score. While he had been compelled to serve the captain, +the captain in turn had been forced to serve him. It was enough to +make a sick man well, and to turn despair into confidence. He was in +very truth and essence the child of hope. + +Another low hill and from its summit he saw nothing but the bushy +wilderness, with a strip of forest appearing on the sunken horizon. He +searched the sky for a wisp of smoke that might tell of a human +habitation, below, but saw none. Yet people might live beyond the +strip of forest, where the land would be less sandy and more fertile, +and, after a brief rest, he pushed on with the same vigor of the body +and elation of the spirit, coming soon to firmer ground, of which he +was glad, as he now left no trail, at least none that an ordinary +white man could follow. + +He trudged bravely on for hours through a wilderness that seemed to be +complete so far as man was concerned, although its character steadily +changed, merging into a region of forest and good soil. When he came +into a real wood, of trees large and many, it was about noon, and +finding a comfortable place with his back to a tree he ate from the +precious pack. + +The day was still brilliant but cold and he wisely kept himself +thoroughly wrapped in the greatcoat. As he ate he saw a large black +bear walk leisurely through the forest, look at him a moment or two, +and then waddle on in the same grave, unalarmed manner. The incident +troubled Robert, and his high spirits came down a notch or two. + +If a black bear cared so little for the presence of an armed human +being then he could not be as near to New York as he had +thought. Perhaps he had been unconscious on the schooner a long +time. He felt of the lump which was not yet wholly gone from his head, +and tried his best to tell how old it was, but he could not do it. + +The little cloud in his golden sky disappeared when he rose and +started again through a fine forest. His spirits became as high as +ever. Looking westward he saw the dim blue line of distant hills, and +he turned northward, inferring that New York must lie in that +direction. In two hours his progress was barred by a river running +swiftly between high banks, and with ice at the edges. He could have +waded it as the water would not rise past his waist, but he did not +like the look of the chill current, and he did not want another +wetting on a winter day. + +He followed the stream a long distance, until he came to shallows, +where he was able to cross it on stones. His search for a dry ford had +caused much delay, but he drew comfort from his observation that the +stones making his pathway through the water were large and almost +round. He had seen many such about New York, and he had often marveled +at their smoothness and roundness, although he did not yet know the +geological reason. But the stones in the river seemed to him to be +close kin to the stones about New York, and he inferred, or at least +he hoped, that it indicated the proximity of the city. + +But he believed that he would have to spend another night in the +wilderness. Search the sky as he would, and he often did, there was no +trace of smoke, and, as the sun went down the zenith and the cold +began to increase, his spirits fell a little. But he reasoned with +himself. Why should one inured as he was to the forest and winter, +armed, provisioned and equipped with the greatcoat, be troubled? The +answer to his question was a return of confidence in full tide, and +resolving to be leisurely he looked about in the woods for his new +camp. What he wanted was an abundance of dead leaves out of which to +make a nest. Dead leaves were cold to the touch, but they would serve +as a couch and a wall, shutting out further cold from the earth and +from the outside air, and with the greatcoat between, he would be warm +enough. He would have nothing to fear except snow, and the skies gave +no promise of that danger. + +He found the leaves in a suitable hollow, and disposed them according +to his plan, the whole making a comfortable place for a seasoned +forester, and, while he ate his supper, he watched the sun set over +the wilderness. Long after it was gone he saw the stars come out and +then he looked at the particular one on which Tododaho, Tayoga's +patron saint, had been living more than four hundred years. It was +glittering in uncommon splendor, save for a slight mist across its +face, which must be the snakes in the hair of the great Onondaga +chieftain who he felt was watching over him, because he was the friend +of Tayoga. + +Then he fell asleep, sleeping soundly, all through the night, and +although he was a little stiff in the morning a few minutes of +exercise relieved him of it and he ate his breakfast. His journey +toward the north was resumed, and in an hour he emerged into a little +valley, to come almost face to face with the captain and the two +sailors. They were sitting on a log, apparently weary and at a loss, +but they rose quickly at his coming and the captain's hand slid down +to his pistol. Robert's slid to his, making about the same +speed. Although his heart pounded a moment or two at first he was +surprised to find how soon he became calm. It was perhaps because he +had been through so many dangers that one more did not count for much. + +"You see, captain," he said, "that neither has the advantage of the +other. I did not expect to meet you here, or in truth, anywhere +else. I left you in command of the schooner, and you have deserted +your post. When I held that position I remained true to my duty." + +The captain, who was heavily armed, carrying a cutlass as well as +pistols, smiled sourly. + +"You're a lad of spirit, Peter," he said. "I've always given you +credit for that. In my way I like you, and I think I'll have you to go +along with us again." + +"I couldn't think of it. We must part company forever. We did it once, +but perhaps the second time will count." + +"No, my crew is now reduced to two--the ocean has all the others--and +I need your help. It would be better anyway for you to come along with +us. This Acadia is a desolate coast." + +There was a log opposite the one upon which they had been sitting and +Robert took his place upon it easily, not to say confidently. He felt +sure that they would not fire upon him now, having perhaps nothing to +gain by it, but he kept a calculating eye upon them nevertheless. + +"And so this is Acadia," he said. "I've been wondering what land it +might be. I did not know that we had come so far. Acadia is a long way +from New York." + +"A long, long way, Peter." + +"But you know the coast well, of course, captain?" + +"Of course. I've made several voyages in the neighboring +waters. There's only one settlement within fifty miles of us, and +you'd never find it, it's so small and the wilderness is such a maze." + +"The country does look like much of a puzzle, but I've concluded, +captain, that I won't go with you." + +"Why not?" + +"I'm persuaded that you're the very prince of liars, and in your +company my morals might be contaminated." + +The man's face was too tanned to flush, but his eyes sparkled. + +"You're over loose with words, lad," he said, "and it's an expensive +habit." + +"I can afford it. I know as surely as we're sitting here facing each +other that this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Then what coast is it?" + +"That I know not, but taking the time, I mean to have, I shall find +out. Then I'll tell you if you wish to know. Where shall I deliver my +message?" + +"I think you're insolent. I say again that it's the coast of Acadia, +and you're going with us. We're three to your one, and you'll have to +do as I say." + +Robert turned his gaze from the captain to his two men. While their +faces were far from good they showed no decision of character. He knew +at once that they belonged to the large class of men who are always +led. Both carried pistols, but he did not think it likely that they +would attempt to use them, unless the captain did so first. His gaze +came back to the tall man, and, observing again the heavy cutlass he +carried, a thought leaped up in his mind. + +"You wish me to go with you," he said, "and I don't wish to go, which +leaves it an open question. It's best to decide it in clean and +decisive fashion, and I suggest that we leave it to your cutlass and +my sword." + +The close-set eyes of the captain gleamed. + +"I don't want to kill you, but to take you back alive," he said. "You +were always a strong and handy lad, Peter, and I need your help." + +"You won't kill me. That I promise you." + +"You haven't a chance on earth." + +"You pledge your word that your men will not interfere while the +combat is in progress, nor will they do so afterward, if I win." + +"They will not stir. Remain where you are, lads." + +The two sailors settled themselves back comfortably, clasping their +knees with their hands, and Robert knew that he had nothing to fear +from them. Their confidence in the captain's prowess and easy victory +was sufficient assurance. They were not to be blamed for the belief, +as their leader's cutlass was heavy and his opponent was only a +youth. The captain was of the same opinion and his mood became light +and gay. + +"I don't intend to kill you, Peter," he said, "but a goodly cut or two +will let out some of your impertinent blood." + +"Thanks, captain, for so much saving grace, because I like to live. I +make you the same promise. I don't want your death on my hands, but +there is poison in the veins of a man who is willing to be a slaver. I +will let it out, in order that its place may be taken by pure and +wholesome blood." + +The captain frowned, and made a few swings with his cutlass. Then he +ran a finger along its keen edge, and he felt satisfied with +himself. A vast amount of rage and mortification was confined in his +system, and not charging any of it to the storm, the full volume of +his anger was directed against his cook's former assistant, Peter +Smith, who was entirely too jaunty and independent in his manner. He +could not understand Robert's presumption in challenging him to a +combat with swords, but he would punish him cruelly, while the two +sailors looked on and saw it well done. + +Robert put his pack, his greatcoat, his coat, and his belt with the +pistols and ammunition in a heap, and looked carefully to the sword +that he had taken from the captain's cabin. It was a fine weapon, +though much lighter than the cutlass. He bent the blade a little, and +then made it whistle in curves about his head. He had a purpose in +doing so, and it was attained at once. The captain looked at him with +rising curiosity. + +"Peter," he said, "you don't seem to be wholly unfamiliar with the +sword, and you nothing but a cook's helper." + +"It's true, captain. The hilt fits lovingly into my hand. In my spare +moments and when nobody was looking I've often stolen this sword of +yours from the cabin and practiced with it. I mean now to make you +feel the result of that practice." + +The captain gazed at him doubtfully, but in a moment or two the +confident smile returned to his eyes. It was not possible that a mere +stripling could stand before him and his cutlass. But he took off his +own coat which he had believed hitherto was a useless precaution. + +There was a level space about thirty feet across, and Robert, sword in +hand, advanced toward the center of it. He had already chosen his +course, which would be psychological as well as physical. He intended +that the battle should play upon the slaver's mind as well as upon his +body. + +"I'm ready, captain," he said. "Don't keep us waiting. It's winter as +you well know, and we'll both grow cold standing here. In weather like +this we need work quick and warm." + +The angry blood surged into the captain's face, although it did not +show through his tan. But he made an impatient movement, and stepped +forward hastily. + +"It can't be told of me that I kept a lad waiting," he said. "I'll +warrant you you'll soon be warm enough." + +"Then we're both well suited, captain, and it should be a fine passage +at arms." + +The two sailors, sitting on the log, looked at each other and +chuckled. It was evident to Robert that they had supreme confidence in +the captain and expected to see Peter Smith receive a lesson that +would put him permanently in his place. The mutual look and the mutual +chuckle aroused some anger in Robert, but did not impair his certainty +of victory. Nevertheless he neglected no precaution. + +The captain advanced, holding the heavy cutlass with ease and +lightness. He was a tall and very strong man, and Robert noted the +look of cruelty in the close-set eyes. He knew what he must expect in +case of defeat, and again telling himself to be careful he recalled +all the cunning that Willet had taught him. + +"Are you ready?" he asked quietly. + +"Aye, Peter, and your bad quarter of an hour is upon you." + +Again the two sailors on the log looked at each other and chuckled. + +"I don't think so, captain," said Robert. "Perhaps the bad quarter of +an hour is yours." + +He stared straight into the close-set cruel eyes so fixedly and so +long that the captain lowered his gaze, proving that the superior +strength of will lay with his younger opponent. Then he shook himself +angrily, his temper stirred, because his eyes had given way. + +"Begin!" said Robert. + +The captain slashed with the heavy cutlass, and Robert easily turned +aside the blow with his lighter weapon. He saw then that the captain +was no swordsman in the true sense, and he believed he had nothing to +fear. He waited until the man attacked again, and again he deftly +turned aside the blow. + +The two sailors sitting on the log looked at each other once more, but +they did not chuckle. + +Robert, still watching the close-set cruel eyes, saw a look of doubt +appear there. + +"My bad quarter of an hour seems to be delayed, captain," he said with +irony. + +The man, stung beyond endurance, attacked with fury, the heavy cutlass +singing and whistling as he slashed and thrust. Robert contented +himself with the defense, giving ground slowly and moving about in a +circle. The captain's eye at first glittered with a triumphant light +as he saw his foe retreat, and the two sailors sitting on the log and +exchanging looks found cause to chuckle once more. + +But the light sank as they completed the circle, leaving Robert +untouched, and breathing as easily as ever, while the captain was +panting. Now he decided that his own time had come and knowing that +the combat was mental as well as physical he taunted his opponent. + +"In truth, captain," he said, "my bad quarter of an hour did not +arrive, but yours, I think, is coming. Look! Look! See the red spot +on your waistcoat!" + +Despite himself the captain looked down. The sword flickered in like +lightning, and then flashed away again, but when it was gone the red +spot on the waistcoat was there. His flesh stung with a slight wound, +but the wound to his spirit was deeper. He rushed in and slashed +recklessly. + +"Have a care, captain!" cried Robert. "You are fencing very wildly! I +tell you again that your play with the cutlass is bad. You can't see +it, but there is now a red spot on your cheek to match the one on your +waistcoat." + +His sword darted by the other's guard, and when it came away it's +point was red with blood. A deep and dripping gash in the captain's +left cheek showed where it had passed. The two sailors sitting on the +log exchanged looks once more, but there was no sign of a chuckle. + +"That's for being a slaver, captain," said Robert. "It's a bad +occupation, and you ought to quit it. But your wound will leave a +scar, and you will not like to say that it was made by one whom you +kidnapped, and undertook to carry away to his death." + +The captain in a long career of crime and cruelty had met with but few +checks, and to experience one now from the hands of a lad was bitter +beyond endurance. The sting was all the greater because of his +knowledge that the two sailors who still exchanged looks but no +chuckles, were witnesses of it. The blood falling from his left cheek +stained his left shoulder and he was a gruesome sight. He rushed in +again, mad with anger. + +"Worse and worse, captain," said his young opponent. "You're not +showing a single quality of a swordsman. You've nothing but +strength. I bade you have a care! Now your right cheek is a match for +your left!" + +The captain uttered a cry, drawn as much by anger as by pain. The deep +point of his opponent's sword had passed across his right cheek and +the red drops fell on both shoulders. The two sailors looked at each +other in dismay. The man paused for breath and he was a ghastly sight. + +"I told you more than once to beware, captain," said Robert, "but you +would not heed me. Your temper has been spoiled by success, but in +time nearly every slaver meets his punishment. I'm grateful that it's +been permitted to me to inflict upon you a little of all that's owing +to you. Wounds in the face are very painful and they leave scars, as +you'll learn." + +He had already decided upon his finishing stroke, and his taunts were +meant to push the captain into further reckless action. They were +wholly successful as the man sprang forward, and slashed almost at +random. Now, Robert, light of foot and agile, danced before him like +a fencing master. The captain cut and thrust at the flitting form but +always it danced away, and the heavy slashes of his cutlass cut the +empty air, his dripping wounds and his vain anger making him weaker +and weaker. But he would not stop. Losing all control of his temper he +rushed continually at his opponent. + +The two sailors looked once more at each other, half rose to their +feet, but sat down again, and were silent. + +Now the captain saw a flash of light before him, and he felt a darting +pain across his brow, as the keen point of the sword passed there. The +blood ran down into his eyes, blinding him for the time. He could not +see the figure before him, but he knew that it was tense and +waiting. He groped with his cutlass, but touching only thin air he +threw it away, and clapped his hands to his eyes to keep away the +trickling blood. + +"You'll have three scars, captain," came the maddening voice, "one on +each cheek and one on the forehead. It's not enough punishment for a +slaver, but, in truth, it's something. And now I'm going. You can't +see to follow me, or even to take care of yourself but I leave you in +the hands of your two sailors." + +Robert put on his coat and greatcoat, resumed all his weapons and his +pack and turned away. The sailors were still sitting on the log, +gazing at each other in amazement and awe. Neither had spoken +throughout the duel, nor did they speak now. The victor did not look +back, but walked swiftly toward the north, glad that he had been the +instrument in the hands of fate to give to the slaver at least a part +of the punishment due him. + +He kept steadily on several hours, until he saw a smoke on the western +sky, when he changed his course and came in another half hour to a +small log house, from which the smoke arose. A man standing on the +wooden step looked at him with all the curiosity to which he had a +right. + +"Friend," said Robert, "how far is it to New York?" + +"About ten miles." + +"And this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Acadia! What country is that? I never heard of it." + +"It exists, but never mind. And New York is so near? Tell me that +distance again. I like to hear it." + +"Ten miles, stranger. When you reach the top of the hill there you can +see the houses of Paulus Hook." + +Robert felt a great sense of elation, and then of thankfulness. While +fortune had been cruel in putting him into the hands of the slaver, it +had relented and had taken him out of them, when the chance of escape +seemed none. + +"Stranger," said the man, "you look grateful about something." + +"I am. I have cause to be grateful. I'm grateful that I have my life, +I'm grateful that I have no wounds and I'm grateful that from the top +of the hill there I shall be able to see the houses of Paulus +Hook. And I say also that yours is the kindliest and most welcome face +I've looked upon in many a day. Farewell." + +"Farewell," said the man, staring after him. + +Two hours later Robert was being rowed across the Hudson by a stalwart +waterman. As he passed by the spot where his boat had been cut down by +the schooner he took off his hat. + +"Why do you do that?" asked the waterman. + +"Because at this spot my life was in great peril a few days ago, or +rather, here started the peril from which I have been delivered most +mercifully." + +An hour later he stood on the solid stone doorstep of Master Benjamin +Hardy, important ship owner, merchant and financier. The whimsical +fancy that so often turned his troubles and hardships into little +things seized Robert again. He adjusted carefully his somewhat +bedraggled clothing, set the sword and pistols in his belt at a rakish +slant, put the pack on the step beside him, and, lifting the heavy +brass knocker, struck loudly. He heard presently the sound of +footsteps inside, and Master Jonathan Pillsbury, looking thinner and +sadder than ever, threw open the door. When he saw who was standing +before him he stared and stared. + +"Body o' me!" he cried at last, throwing up his hands. "Is it +Mr. Lennox or his ghost?" + +"It's Mr. Lennox and no ghost," said Robert briskly. "Let me in, +Mr. Pillsbury. I've grown cold standing here on the steps." + +"Are you sure you're no ghost?" + +"Quite sure. Here pinch me on the arm and see that I'm substantial +flesh. Not quite so hard! You needn't take out a piece. Are you +satisfied now?" + +"More than satisfied, Mr. Lennox! I'm delighted, Overjoyed! We feared +that you were dead! Where have you been?" + +"I've been serving on board a slaver on the Guinea coast. That's a +long distance from here, and it was an exciting life, but I'm back +again safe and sound, Master Jonathan." + +"I don't understand you. You jest, Mr. Lennox." + +"And so I do, but I tell you, Master Jonathan, I'm glad to be back +again, you don't know how glad. Do you hear me, Master Jonathan? The +sight of you is as welcome as that of an angel!" + +The air grew black before him, and he reeled and would have fallen, +but the strong arm of Jonathan Pillsbury caught him. In a moment or +two his eyes cleared and he became steady. + +"It was not altogether a pleasure voyage of yours," said Master +Jonathan, dryly. + +"No, Mr. Pillsbury, it wasn't. But I came near fainting then, because +I was so glad to see you. Is Mr. Hardy here?" + +"No, he has gone to the Royal Exchange. He has been nigh prostrated +with grief, but I persuaded him that business might lighten it a +little, and he went out today for the first time. Oh, young sir, he +will be truly delighted to find that you have come back safely, +because, although you may know it not, he has a strong affection for +you!" + +"And I have a high regard for him, Master Jonathan. He has been most +kind to me." + +"Come in, Mr. Lennox. Sit down in the drawingroom and rest yourself, +while I hurry forth with the welcome news." + +Robert saw that his prim and elderly heart was in truth rejoiced, and +his own heart warmed in turn. Obscure and of unknown origin though he +might be, friends were continually appearing for him everywhere. A +servant took his weapons and what was left of his pack, Master +Jonathan insisted upon his drinking a small glass of wine to refresh +himself, and then he was left alone in the imposing drawing-room of +Mr. Hardy. + +He sank back in a deep chair of Spanish leather, and shutting his eyes +took several long breaths of relief. He had come back safely and his +escape seemed marvelous even to himself. As he opened his eyes a mild +voice said: + +"And so Dagaeoga who went, no one knows where, has returned no one +knows how." + +Tayoga, smiling but grave, and looking taller and more majestic than +ever, stood before him. + +"Aye, I'm back, and right glad I am to be here!" exclaimed Robert, +springing to his feet and seizing Tayoga's hand. "Oh, I've been on a +long voyage, Tayoga! I've been to the coast of Africa on a slaver, +though we caught no slaves, and I was wrecked on the coast of Acadia, +and I fought and walked my way back to New York! But it's a long tale, +and I'll not tell it till all of you are together. I hope you were not +too much alarmed about me, Tayoga." + +"I know that Dagaeoga is in the keeping of Manitou. I have seen too +many proofs of it to doubt. I was sure that at the right time he would +return." + +Mr. Hardy came presently and then Willet. They made no display of +emotion, but their joy was deep. Then Robert told his story to them +all. + +"Did you see any name on the wrecked schooner?" asked Mr. Hardy. + +"None at all," replied Robert. "If she had borne a name at any time +I'm sure it was painted out." + +"Nor did you hear the captain called by name, either?" + +"No, sir. It was always just 'captain' when the men addressed him." + +"That complicates our problem. There's no doubt in my mind that you +were the intended victim of a conspiracy, from which you were saved by +the storm. I can send a trusty man down the North Jersey coast to +examine the wreck of the schooner, but I doubt whether he could learn +anything from it." + +He drew Willet aside and the two talked together a while in a low +voice, but with great earnestness. + +"We have our beliefs," said Willet at length, "but we shall not be +able to prove anything, no, not a thing, and, having nothing upon +which to base an accusation against anybody, we shall accuse nobody." + +"'Tis the prudent way," Hardy concurred, "though there is no doubt in +my mind about the identity of the man who set this most wicked pot to +brewing." + +Robert had his own beliefs, too, but he remained silent. + +"We'll keep the story of your absence to ourselves," said +Mr. Hardy. "We did not raise any alarm, believing that you would +return, a belief due in large measure to the faith of Tayoga, and +we'll explain that you were called away suddenly on a mission of a +somewhat secret nature to the numerous friends who have been asking +about you." + +Willet concurred, and he also said it was desirable that they should +depart at once for Virginia, where the provincial governors were to +meet in council, and from which province Braddock's force, or a +considerable portion of it, would march. Then Robert, after a +substantial supper, went to his room and slept. The next morning, both +Charteris and Grosvenor came to see him and expressed their delight at +his return. A few days later they were at sea with Grosvenor and other +young English officers, bound for the mouth of the James and the great +expedition against Fort Duquesne. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + + +They were on a large schooner, and while Robert looked forward with +eagerness to the campaign, he also looked back with regret at the +roofs of New York, as they sank behind the sea. The city suited +him. It had seemed to him while he was there that he belonged in it, +and now that he was going away the feeling was stronger upon him than +ever. He resolved once more that it should be his home when the war +was over. + +Their voyage down the coast was stormy and long. Baffling winds +continually beat them back, and, then they lay for long periods in +dead calms, but at last they reached the mouth of the James, going +presently the short distance overland to Williamsburg, the town that +had succeeded Jamestown as the capital of the great province of +Virginia. + +Spring was already coming here in the south and in the lowlands by the +sea, and the tinge of green in the foliage and the warm winds were +grateful after the winter of the cold north. Robert, eager as always +for new scenes, and fresh knowledge, anticipated with curiosity his +first sight of Williamsburg, one of the oldest British towns in North +America. He knew that it was not large, but he found it even smaller +than he had expected. + +He and his comrades reached it on horseback, and they found that it +contained only a thousand inhabitants, and one street, straight and +very wide. On this street stood the brick buildings of William and +Mary, the oldest college in the country, a new capitol erected in the +place of one burned, not long before, and a large building called the +Governor's Palace. It looked very small, very quiet, and very content. + +Robert was conscious of a change in atmosphere that was not a mere +matter of temperature. Keen, commercial New York was gone. Here, +people talked of politics and the land. The men who came into +Williamsburg on horseback or in their high coaches were owners of +great plantations, where they lived as patriarchs, and feudal +lords. The human stock was purely British and the personal customs and +modes of thought of the British gentry had been transplanted. + +"I like it," said Grosvenor. "I feel that I've found England again." + +"There appears to be very little town life," said Robert. "It seems +strange that Williamsburg is so small, when Virginia has many more +people than New York or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts." + +"They're spread upon the land," said Willet. "I've been in Virginia +before. They don't care much about commerce, but you'll find that a +lot of the men who own the great plantations are hard and good +thinkers." + +Robert soon discovered that in Virginia a town was rather a meeting +place for the landed aristocracy than a commercial center. The arrival +of the British troops and of Americans from other colonies brought +much life into the little capital. The people began to pour in from +the country houses, and the single street was thronged with the best +horses and the best carriages Virginia could show, their owners, +attended by swarms of black men and black women whose mouths were +invariably stretched in happy grins, their splendid white teeth +glittering. + +There was much splendor, a great mingling of the fine and the tawdry, +as was inevitable in a society that maintained slavery on a large +scale. Nearly all the carriages had been brought from London, and they +were of the best. When their owners drove forth in the streets or the +country roundabout they were escorted by black coachmen and footmen in +livery. The younger men were invariably on horseback, dressed like +English country gentlemen, and they rode with a skill and grace that +Robert had never before seen equaled. The parsons, as in England, rode +with the best, and often drank with them too. + +It was a proud little society, exclusive perhaps, and a little bit +provincial too, possibly, but it was soon to show to the world a group +of men whose abilities and reputation and service to the state have +been unequaled, perhaps, since ancient Athens. One warm afternoon as +Robert walked down the single street with Tayoga and Grosvenor, he saw +a very young man, only three or four years older than himself, riding +a large, white horse. + +The rider's lofty stature, apparent even on horseback, attracted +Robert's notice. He was large of bone, too, with hands and feet of +great size, and a very powerful figure. His color was ruddy and high, +showing one who lived out of doors almost all the time. + +The man, Robert soon learned, was the young officer, George +Washington, who had commanded the Virginians in the first skirmish +with the French and Indians in the Ohio country. + +"One of most grave and sober mien," said Grosvenor. "I take him to be +of fine quality." + +"There can scarce be a doubt of it," said Robert. + +But he did not dream then that succeeding generations would reckon the +horseman the first man of all time. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga saw the governor, Dinwiddie, a thrifty +Scotchman, and offered to him their services, saying that they wished +to go with the Braddock expedition as scouts. + +"But I should think, young sir," said Dinwiddie to Robert, "that you, +at least, would want a commission. 'Twill be easy to obtain it in the +Virginia troops." + +"I thank you, sir, for the offer, which is very kind," said Robert, +"but I have spent a large part of my life in the woods with +Mr. Willet, and I feel that I can be of more use as a scout and +skirmisher. You know that they will be needed badly in the forest. +Moreover, Mr. Willet would not be separated from Tayoga, who in the +land of the Six Nations, known to themselves as the Hodenosaunee, is a +great figure." + +Governor Dinwiddie regarded the Onondaga, who gave back his gaze +steadily. The shrewd Scotchman knew that here stood a man, and he +treated him as one. + +"Have your way," he said. "Perhaps you are right. Many think that +General Braddock has little to fear from ambush, they say that his +powerful army of regulars and colonials can brush aside any force the +French and Indians may gather, but I've been long enough in this +country to know that the wilderness always has its dangers. Such eyes +as the eyes of you three will have their value. You shall have the +commissions you wish." + +Willet was highly pleased. He had been even more insistent than Robert +on the point, saying they must not sacrifice their freedom and +independence of movement, but Grosvenor was much surprised. + +"An army rank will help you," he said. + +"It's help that we don't need," said Robert smiling. + +The governor showed them great courtesy. He liked them and his +penetrating Scotch mind told him that they had quality. Despite his +hunter's dress, which he had resumed, Willet's manners were those of +the great world, and Dinwiddie often looked at him with +curiosity. Robert seemed to him to be wrapped in the same veil of +mystery, and he judged that the lad, whose manners were not inferior +to those of Willet, had in him the making of a personage. As for +Tayoga, Dinwiddie had been too long in America and he knew too much of +the Hodenosaunee not to appreciate his great position. An insult or a +slight in Virginia to the coming young chief of the Clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga would soon be known in the far land of the Six +Nations, and its cost would be so great that none might count it. Just +as tall oaks from little acorns grow, so a personal affront may sow +the seed of a great war or break a great alliance, and Dinwiddie knew +it. + +The governor, assisted by his wife and two daughters, entertained at +his house, and Robert, Tayoga, Willet, and Grosvenor, arrayed in their +best, attended, forming conspicuous figures in a great crowd, as the +Virginia gentry, also clad in their finest, attended. Robert, with +his adaptable and imaginative mind, was at home at once among them. He +liked the soft southern speech, the grace of manner and the good +feeling that obtained. They were even more closely related than the +great families of New York, and it was obvious that they formed a +cultivated society, in close touch with the mother country, intensely +British in manner and mode of thought, and devoted in both theory and +practice to personal independence. + +As the spring was now well advanced the night was warm and the windows +and doors of the Governor's Palace were left open. Negroes in livery +played violins and harps while all the guests who wished +danced. Others played cards in smaller rooms, but there was no such +betting as Robert had seen at Bigot's ball in Quebec. There was some +drinking of claret and punch, but no intoxication. The general note +was of great gayety, but with proper restraints. + +Robert noticed that the men, spending their lives in the open air and +having abundant and wholesome food, were invariably tall and big of +bone. The women looked strong and their complexions were rosy. The +same facility of mind that had made him like New York and Quebec, such +contrasting places, made him like Williamsburg too, which was +different from either. + +Quickly at home, in this society as elsewhere, the hours were all too +short for him. Both he and Grosvenor, who was also adaptable, seeing +good in everything, plunged deep into the festivities. He danced with +young women and with old, and Willet more than once gave him an +approving glance. It seemed that the hunter always wished him to fit +himself into any group with which he might be cast, and to make +himself popular, and to do so Robert's temperament needed little +encouragement. + +The music and the dancing never ceased. When the black musicians grew +tired their places were taken by others as black and as zealous, and +on they went in a ceaseless alternation. Robert learned that the +guests would dance all night and far into the next day, and that +frequently at the great houses a ball continued two days and two +nights. + +About three o'clock in the morning, after a long dance that left him +somewhat weary, he went upon one of the wide piazzas to rest and take +the fresh air. There, his attention was specially attracted by two +young men who were waging a controversy with energy, but without +acrimony. + +"I tell you, James," said one, who was noticeable for his great shock +of fair hair and his blazing red face, "that at two miles Blenheim is +unbeatable." + +"Unbeatable he may be, Walter," said the other, "but there is no horse +so good that there isn't a better. Blenheim, I grant you, is a +splendid three year old, but my Cressy is just about twenty yards +swifter in two miles. There is not another such colt in all Virginia, +and it gives me great pride to be his owner." + +The other laughed, a soft drawling laugh, but it was touched with +incredulity. + +"You're a vain man, James," he said, "not vain for yourself, but vain +for your sorrel colt." + +"I admit my vanity, Walter, but it rests upon a just basis. Cressy, I +repeat, is the best three year old in Virginia, which of course means +the best in all the colonies, and I have a thousand weight of prime +tobacco to prove it." + +"My plantation grows good tobacco too, James, and I also have a +thousand weight of prime leaf which talks back to your thousand +weight, and tells it that Cressy is the second best three year old in +Virginia, not the best." + +"Done. Nothing is left but to arrange the time." + +Both at this moment noticed Robert, who was sitting not far away, and +they hailed him with glad voices. He remembered meeting them earlier +in the evening. They were young men, Walter Stuart and James Cabell, +who had inherited great estates on the James and they shipped their +tobacco in their own vessels to London, and detecting in Robert a +somewhat kindred spirit they had received him with great friendliness. +Already they were old acquaintances in feeling, if not in time. + +"Lennox, listen to this vain boaster!" exclaimed Cabell. "He has a +good horse, I admit, but his spirit has become unduly inflated about +it. You know, don't you, Lennox, that my colt, Cressy, has all +Virginia beaten in speed?" + +"You know nothing of the kind, Lennox!" exclaimed Stuart, "but you do +know that my three year old Blenheim is the swiftest horse ever bred +in the colony. Now, don't you?" + +"I can't give an affirmative to either of you," laughed Robert, "as +I've never seen your horses, but this I do say, I shall be very glad +to see the test and let the colts decide it for themselves." + +"A just decision, O Judge!" said Stuart. "You shall have an honored +place as a guest when the match is run. What say you to tomorrow +morning at ten, James?" + +"A fit hour, Walter. You ride Blenheim yourself, of course?" + +"Truly, and you take the mount on Cressy?" + +"None other shall ride him. I've black boys cunning with horses, but +since it's horse against horse it should also be master against +master." + +"A match well made, and 'twill be a glorious contest. Come, Lennox, +you shall be a judge, and so shall be your friend Willet, and so shall +that splendid Indian, Tayoga." + +Robert was delighted. He had thrown himself with his whole soul into +the Virginia life, and he was eager to see the race run. So were all +the others, and even the grave eyes of Tayoga sparkled when he heard +of it. + +It was broad daylight when he went to bed, but he was up at noon, and +in the afternoon he went to the House of Burgesses to hear the +governor make a speech to the members on the war and its emergencies. +Dinwiddie, like Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, appreciated +the extreme gravity of the crisis, and his address was solemn and +weighty. + +He told them that the shadow in the north was black and menacing. The +French were an ambitious people, brave, tenacious and skillful. They +had won the friendship of the savages and now they dominated the +wilderness. They would strike heavy blows, but their movements were +enveloped in mystery, and none knew where or when the sword would +fall. The spirit animating them flowed from the haughty and powerful +court at Versailles that aimed at universal dominion. It became the +Virginians, as it became the people of all the colonies, to gather +their full force against them. + +The members listened with serious faces, and Robert knew that the +governor was right. He had been to Quebec, and he had already met +Frenchmen in battle. None understood better than he their skill, +courage and perseverance, and the shadow in the north was very heavy +and menacing to him too. + +But his depression quickly disappeared when he returned to the bright +sunshine, and met his young friends again. The Virginians were a +singular compound of gayety and gravity. Away from the House of +Burgesses the coming horse race displaced the war for a brief +space. It was the great topic in Williamsburg and the historic names, +Blenheim and Cressy, were in the mouths of everybody. + +Robert soon discovered that the horses were well known, and each had +its numerous group of partisans. Their qualities were discussed by +the women and girls as well as the men and with intelligence. Robert, +filled with the spirit of it, laid a small wager on Blenheim, and +then, in order to show no partiality, laid another in another quarter, +but of exactly the same amount on Cressy. + +The evening witnessed more arrivals in Williamsburg, drawn by the news +of the race, and young men galloped up and down the wide street in the +moonlight, testing their own horses, and riding improvised +matches. The rivalry was always friendly, the gentlemen's code that +there should be no ill feeling prevailed, and more than ever the +entire gathering seemed to Robert one vast family. Grosvenor was +intensely interested in the race, and also in the new sights he was +seeing. + +"Still," he said, "if it were not for the colored people I could +imagine with ease that I was back at a country meeting at home. Do you +know anything, Lennox, about these horses, Blenheim and +Cressy--patriotic fellows their owners must be--and could you give a +chap advice about laying a small wager?" + +"I know nothing about them except what Stuart and Cabell say." + +"What do they say?" + +"Stuart knows that Blenheim is the fastest horse in Virginia, and +Cabell knows that Cressy is, and so there the matter stands until the +race is run." + +"I think I'll put a pound on Blenheim, nevertheless. Blenheim has a +much more modern sound than Cressy, and I'm all for modernity." + +There was an excellent race track, the sport already being highly +developed in Virginia, and, the next day being beautiful, the seats +were filled very early in the morning. The governor with his wife and +daughters was present, and so were many other notables. Robert, +Tayoga and Grosvenor were in a group of nearly fifty young +Virginians. All about were women and girls in their best spring +dresses, many imported from London, and there were several men whom +Robert knew by their garb to be clergymen. Colored women, their heads +wrapped in great bandanna handkerchiefs, were selling fruits or +refreshing liquids. + +The whole was exhilarating to the last degree, and all the youth and +imagination in Robert responded. Dangers befell him, but delights +offered themselves also, and he took both as they came. Several +preliminary races, improvised the day before, were run, and they +served to keep the crowd amused, while they waited for the great +match. + +Robert and Tayoga then moved to advanced seats near the Governor, +where Willet was already placed, in order that they might fulfill +their honorable functions as judges, and the people began to stir with +a great breath of expectation. They were packed in a close group for a +long distance, and Robert's eye roved over them, noting that their +faces, ruddy or brown, were those of an open air race, like the +English. Almost unconsciously his mind traveled back to a night in +New York, when he had seen another crowd gather in a theater, and then +with a thrill he recalled the face that he had beheld there. He could +never account for it, although some connection of circumstances was +back of it, but he had a sudden instinctive belief that in this new +crowd he would see the same face once more. + +It obsessed him like a superstition, and, for the moment, he forgot +the horses, the race, and all that had brought him there. His eye +roved on, and then, down, near the front of the seats he found him, +shaved cleanly and dressed neatly, like a gentleman, but like one in +poor circumstances. Robert saw at first only the side of his face, the +massive jaw, the strong, curving chin, and the fair hair crisping +slightly at the temples, but he would have known him anywhere and in +any company. + +St. Luc sat very still, apparently absorbed in the great race which +would soon be run. In an ordinary time any stranger in Williamsburg +would have been noticed, but this was far from being an ordinary time. +The little town overflowed with British troops, and American visitors +known and unknown. Tayoga or Willet, if they saw him, might recognize +him, although Robert was not sure, but they, too, might keep silent. + +For a little while, he wondered why St. Luc had come to the Virginia +capital, a journey so full of danger for him. Was he following him? +Was it because of some tie between them? Or was it because St. Luc was +now spying upon the Anglo-American preparations? He understood to the +full the romantic and adventurous nature of the Frenchman, and knew +that he would dare anything. Then he had a consuming desire for the +eyes of St. Luc to meet his, and he bent upon him a gaze so long, and +of such concentration, that at last the chevalier looked up. + +St. Luc showed recognition, but in a moment or two he looked +away. Robert also turned his eyes in another direction, lest Tayoga or +Willet should follow his gaze, and when he glanced back again in a +minute or two St. Luc was gone. His roving eyes, traveling over the +crowd once more, could not find him, and he was glad. He believed now +that St. Luc had come to Williamsburg to discover the size and +preparations of the American force and its plan, and Robert felt that +he must have him seized if he could. He would be wanting in his +patriotism and duty if he failed to do so. He must sink all his liking +for St. Luc, and make every effort to secure his capture. + +But there was a sudden murmur that grew into a deep hum of +expectation, punctuated now and then by shouts: "Blenheim!" "Cressy!" +"Cabell!" "Stuart!" Horses and horsemen alike seemed to have their +partisans in about equal numbers. Ladies rose to their feet, and waved +bright fans, and men gave suggestions to those on whom they had laid +their money. + +The race, for a space, crowded St. Luc wholly out of Robert's +mind. Stuart and Cabell, each dressed very neatly in jockey attire, +came out and mounted their horses, which the grooms had been leading +back and forth. The three year olds, excited by the noise and +multitude of faces, leaped and strained at their bits. Robert did not +know much of races, but it seemed to him that there was little to +choose between either horses or riders. + +The circular track was a mile in length, and they would round it +twice, start and finish alike being made directly in front of the +judges' stand. The starter, a tall Virginian, finally brought the +horses to the line, neck and neck, and they were away. The whole crowd +rose to its feet and shouted approval as they flashed past. Blenheim +was a bay and Cressy was a sorrel, and when they began to turn the +curve in the distance Robert saw that bay and sorrel were still neck +and neck. Then he saw them far across the field, and neither yet had +the advantage. + +Now, Robert understood why the Virginians loved the sport. The test of +a horse's strength and endurance and of a horseman's skill and +judgment was thrilling. Presently he found that he was shouting with +the shouting multitude, and sometimes he shouted Cressy and sometimes +he shouted Blenheim. + +They came around the curve, the finish of the first mile being near, +and Robert saw the nose of the sorrel creeping past the nose of the +bay. A shout of triumph came from the followers of Cressy and Cabell, +but the partisans of Blenheim and Stuart replied that the race was not +yet half run. Cressy, though it was only in inches, was still +gaining. The sorrel nose crept forward farther and yet a little +farther. When they passed the judges' stand Cressy led by a head and a +neck. + +Robert, having no favorite before, now felt a sudden sympathy for +Blenheim and Stuart, because they were behind, and he began to shout +for them continuously, until sorrel and bay were well around the curve +on the second mile, when the entire crowd became silent. Then a sharp +shout came from the believers in Blenheim and Stuart. The bay was +beginning to win back his loss. The Cressy men were silent and gloomy, +as Blenheim, drawing upon the stores of strength that had been +conserved, continued to gain, until now the bay nose was creeping past +the sorrel. Then the bay was a full length ahead and that sharp shout +of triumph burst now from the Blenheim people. Robert found his +feelings changing suddenly, and he was all for Cressy and Cabell. + +The joy of the Blenheim people did not last long. The sorrel came +back to the side of the bay, the second mile was half done, and a +blanket would have covered the two. It was yet impossible to detect +any sign indicating the winner. The eyes of Tayoga, sitting beside +Robert, sparkled. The Indians from time unknown had loved ball games +and had played them with extraordinary zest and fire. As soon as they +came to know the horse of the white man they loved racing in the same +way. Their sporting instincts were as genuine as those of any country +gentleman. + +"It is a great race," said Tayoga. "The horses run well and the men +ride well. Tododaho himself, sitting on his great and shining star, +does not know which will win." + +"The kind of race I like to see," said Robert. "Stuart and Cabell +were justified in their faith in their horses. A magnificent pair, +Blenheim and Cressy!" + +"It has been said, Dagaeoga, that there is always one horse that can +run faster than another, but it seems that neither of these two can +run faster than the other. Now, Blenheim thrusts his nose ahead, and +now Cressy regains the lead by a few inches. Now they are so nearly +even that they seem to be but one horse and one rider." + +"A truly great race, Tayoga, and a prettily matched pair! Ah, the bay +leads! No, 'tis the sorrel! Now, they are even again, and the finish +is not far away!" + +The great crowd, which had been shouting, each side for its favorite, +became silent as Blenheim and Cressy swept into the stretch. Stuart +and Cabell, leaning far over the straining necks, begged and prayed +their brave horses to go a little faster, and Blenheim and Cressy, +hearing the voices that they knew so well, responded but in the same +measure. The heads were even, as if they had been locked fast, and +there was still no sign to indicate the winner. Faster and faster +they came, their riders leaning yet farther forward, continually +urging them, and they thundered past the stand, matched so evenly that +not a hair's breadth seemed to separate the noses of the sorrel and +the bay. + +"It's a dead heat!" exclaimed Robert, as the people, unable to +restrain their enthusiasm, swarmed over the track, and such was the +unanimous opinion of the judges. Yet it was the belief of all that a +finer race was never run in Virginia, and while the horses, covered +with blankets, were walked back and forth to cool, men followed them +and uttered their admiration. + +Stuart and Cabell were eager to run the heat over, after the horses +had rested, but the judges would not allow it. + +"No! No, lads!" said the Governor. "Be content! You have two splendid +horses, the best in Virginia, and matched evenly. Moreover, you rode +them superbly. Now, let them rest with the ample share of honor that +belongs to each." + +Stuart and Cabell, after the heat of rivalry was over, thought it a +good plan, shook hands with great warmth three or four times, each +swearing that the other was the best fellow in the world, and then +with a great group of friends they adjourned to the tavern where huge +beakers of punch were drunk. + +"And mighty Todadaho himself, although he looks into the future, does +not yet know which is the better horse," said Tayoga. "It is +well. Some things should remain to be discovered, else the salt would +go out of life." + +"That's sound philosophy," said Willet. "It's the mystery of things +that attracts us, and that race ended in the happiest manner +possible. Neither owner can be jealous or envious of the other; +instead they are feeling like brothers." + +Then Robert's mind with a sudden rush, went back to St. Luc, and his +sense of duty tempted him to speak of his presence to Willet, but he +concluded to wait a little. He looked around for him again, but he did +not see him, and he thought it possible that he had now left the +dangerous neighborhood of Williamsburg. + +As they walked back to their quarters at a tavern Willet informed them +that there was to be, two days later, a grand council of provincial +governors and high officers at Alexandria on the Potomac, where +General Braddock with his army already lay in camp, and he suggested +that they go too. As they were free lances with their authority +issuing from Governor Dinwiddie alone, they could do practically as +they pleased. Both Robert and Tayoga were all for it, but in the +afternoon they, as well as Willet, were invited to a race dinner to be +given at the tavern that evening by Stuart and Cabell in honor of the +great contest, in which neither had lost, but in which both had won. + +"I suppose," said Willet, "that while here we might take our full +share of Virginia hospitality, which is equal to any on earth, +because, as I see it, before very long we will be in the woods where +so much to eat and drink will not be offered to us. March and battle +will train us down." + +The dinner to thirty guests was spread in the great room of the tavern +and the black servants of Stuart and Cabell, well trained, dextrous +and clad in livery, helped those of the landlord to serve. The +abundance and quality of the food were amazing. Besides the resources +of civilization, air, wood and water were drawn upon for +game. Virginia, already renowned for hospitality, was resolved that +through her young sons, Stuart and Cabell, she should do her best that +night. + +A dozen young British officers were present, and there was much +toasting and conviviality. The tie of kinship between the old country +and the new seemed stronger here than in New England, where the +England of Cromwell still prevailed, or in New York, where the Dutch +and other influences not English were so powerful. They had begun with +the best of feeling, and it was heightened by the warmth that food and +drink bring. They talked with animation of the great adventure, on +which they would soon start, as Stuart and Cabell and most of the +Virginians were going with Braddock. They drank a speedy capture of +Fort Duquesne, and confusion to the French and their red allies. + +Robert, imitating the example of Tayoga, ate sparingly and scarcely +tasted the punch. About eleven o'clock, the night being warm, +unusually warm for that early period of spring, and nearly all the +guests having joined in the singing, more or less well, of patriotic +songs, Robert, thinking that his absence would not be noticed, walked +outside in search of coolness and air. + +It was but a step from the lights and brilliancy of the tavern to the +darkness of Williamsburg's single avenue. There were no street +lanterns, and only a moon by which to see. He could discern the dim +bulk of William and Mary College and of the Governor's Palace, but +except near at hand the smaller buildings were lost in the dusk. A +breeze touched with salt, as if from the sea, was blowing, and its +touch was so grateful on Robert's face that he walked on, hat in hand, +while the wind played on his cheeks and forehead and lifted his +hair. Then a darker shadow appeared in the darkness, and St. Luc stood +before him. + +"Why do you come here! Why do you incur such danger? Don't you know +that I must give warning of your presence?" exclaimed Robert +passionately. + +The Frenchman laughed lightly. He seemed very well pleased with +himself, and then he hummed: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +"Your danger is great!" repeated Robert. + +"Not as great as you think," said St. Luc. "You will not protect +me. You will warn the British officers that a French spy is here. I +read it in your face at the race today, and moreover, I know you +better than you know yourself. I know, too, more about you than you +know about yourself. Did I not warn you in New York to beware of +Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon?" + +"You did, and I know that you meant me well." + +"And what happened?" + +"I was kidnapped by a slaver, and I was to have been taken to the +coast of Africa, but a storm intervened and saved me. Perhaps the +slaver was acting for Mynheer Van Zoon, but I talked it over with Mr. +Hardy and we haven't a shred of proof." + +"Perhaps a storm will not intervene next time. You must look to +yourself, Robert Lennox." + +"And you to yourself, Chevalier de St. Luc. I'm grateful to you for +the warning you gave me, and other acts of friendship, but whatever +your mission may have been in New York I'm sure that one of your +errands, perhaps the main one, in Williamsburg, is to gather +information for France, and, sir, I should be little of a patriot did +I not give the alarm, much as it hurts me to do so." + +Robert saw very clearly by the moonlight that the blue eyes of St. Luc +were twinkling. His situation might be dangerous, but obviously he +took no alarm from it. + +"You'll bear in mind, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I'm not asking you +to shield me. Consider me a French spy, if you wish--and you'll not be +wholly wrong--and then act as you think becomes a man with a +commission as army scout from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia." + +There was a little touch of irony in his voice. His adventures and +romantic spirit was in the ascendant, and it seemed to Robert that he +was giving him a dare. That he would have endured because of his +admiration for St. Luc, and also because of his gratitude, but the +allusion to his commission from the governor of Virginia recalled him +to his sense of duty. + +"I can do nothing else!" he exclaimed. "'Tis a poor return for the +services you have done me, and I tender my apologies for the action +I'm about to take. But guard yourself, St. Luc!" + +"And you, Lennox, look well to yourself when Braddock marches! Every +twig and leaf will spout danger!" + +His light manner was wholly gone for the moment, and his words were +full of menace. Up the street, a sentinel walked back and forth, and +Robert could hear the faint fall of his feet on the sand. + +"Once more I bid you beware, St. Luc!" he exclaimed, and raising his +voice he shouted: "A spy! A spy!" + +He heard the sentinel drop the butt of his musket heavily against the +earth, utter an exclamation and then run toward them. His shout had +also been heard at the tavern, and the guests, bareheaded, began to +pour out, and look about confusedly to see whence the alarm had come. + +Robert looked at the sentinel who was approaching rapidly, and then he +turned to see what St Luc would do. But the Frenchman was gone. Near +them was a mass of shrubbery and he believed that he had flitted into +it, as silently as the passing of a shadow. But the sentinel had +caught a glimpse of the dusky figure, and he cried: + +"Who was he? What is it?" + +"A spy!" replied Robert hastily. "A Frenchman whom I have seen in +Canada! I think he sprang into those bushes and flowers!" + +The sentinel and Robert rushed into the shrubbery but nothing was +there. As they looked about in the dusk, Robert heard a refrain, +distant, faint and taunting: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +It was only for an instant, then it died like a summer echo, and he +knew that St. Luc was gone. An immense weight rolled from him. He had +done what he should have done, but the result that he feared had not +followed. + +"I can find nothing, sir," said the sentinel, who recognized in Robert +one of superior rank. + +"Nor I, but you saw the figure, did you not?" + +"I did, sir. 'Twas more like a shadow, but 'twas a man, I'll swear." + +Robert was glad to have the sentinel's testimony, because in another +moment the revelers were upon him, making sport of him for his false +alarm, and asserting that not his eyes but the punch he had drunk had +seen a French spy. + +"I scarce tasted the punch," said Robert, "and the soldier here is +witness that I spoke true." + +A farther and longer search was organized, but the Frenchman had +vanished into the thinnest of thin air. As Robert walked with Willet +and Tayoga back to the tavern, the hunter said: + +"I suppose it was St. Luc?" + +"Yes, but why did you think it was he?" + +"Because it was just the sort of deed he would do. Did you speak with +him?" + +"Yes, and I told him I must give the alarm. He disappeared with +amazing speed and silence." + +Robert made a brief report the next day to Governor Dinwiddie, not +telling that St. Luc and he had spoken together, stating merely that +he had seen him, giving his name, and describing him as one of the +most formidable of the French forest leaders. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the Governor. "Your information shall +be conveyed to General Braddock. Yet I think our force will be too +great for the wilderness bands." + +On the following day they were at Alexandria on the Potomac, where the +great council was to be held. Here Braddock's camp was spread, and in +a large tent he met Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, Governor de Lancey +of New York, Governor Sharpe of Maryland, Governor Dobbs of North +Carolina and Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, an elderly lawyer, but +the ablest and most energetic of all the governors. + +It was the most momentous council yet held in North America, and all +the young officers waited with the most intense eagerness the news +from the tent. Robert saw Braddock as he went in, a middle-aged man of +high color and an obstinate chin. Grosvenor gave him some of the +gossip about the general. + +"London has many stories of him," he said. "He has spent most of his +life in the army. He is a gambler, but brave, rough but generous, +irritable, but often very kind. Opposition inflames him, but he likes +zeal and good service. He is very fond of your young Mr. Washington, +who, I hear is much of a man." + +The council in the great tent was long and weighty, and well it might +have been, even far beyond the wildest thoughts of any of the +participants. These were the beginnings of events that shook not only +America but Europe for sixty years. In the tent they agreed upon a +great and comprehensive scheme of campaign that had been proposed some +time before. Braddock would proceed with his attack upon Fort +Duquesne, Shirley would see that the forces of New England seized +Beauséjour and De Lancey would have Colonel William Johnson to move +upon Crown Point and then Niagara. Acadia also would be +taken. Dinwiddie after Shirley was the most vigorous of the governors, +and he promised that the full force of Virginia should be behind +Braddock. But to Shirley was given the great vision. He foresaw the +complete disappearance of French power from North America, and, to +achieve a result that he desired so much, it was only necessary for +the colonists to act together and with vigor. While he recognized in +Braddock infirmities of temper and insufficient knowledge of his +battlefield, he knew him to be energetic and courageous and he +believed that the first blow, the one that he was to strike at Fort +Duquesne, would inflict a mortal blow upon France in the New World. In +every vigorous measure that he proposed Dinwiddie backed him, and the +other governors, overborne by their will, gave their consent. + +While Robert sat with his friends in the shade of a grove, awaiting +the result of the deliberations in the tent, his attention was +attracted by a strong, thick-set figure in a British uniform. + +"Colonel Johnson!" he cried, and running forward he shook hands +eagerly with Colonel William Johnson. + +"Why, Colonel!" he exclaimed, "I didn't dream that you were here, but +I'm most happy to see you." + +"And I to see you, Mr. Lennox, or Robert, as I shall call you," said +Colonel Johnson. "Alexandria is a long journey from Mount Johnson, but +you see I'm here, awaiting the results of this council, which I tell +you may have vast significance for North America." + +"But why are you not in the tent with the others, you who know so much +more about conditions on the border than any man who is in there?" + +"I am not one of the governors, Robert, my lad, nor am I General +Braddock. Hence I'm not eligible, but I'm not to be neglected. I may +as well tell you that we are planning several expeditions, and that +I'm to lead one in the north." + +"And Madam Johnson, and everybody at your home? Are they well?" + +"As well of body as human beings can be when I left. Molly told me +that if I saw you to give you her special love. Ah, you young blade, +if you were older I should be jealous, and then, again, perhaps I +shouldn't!" + +"And Joseph?" + +"Young Thayendanegea? Fierce and warlike as becomes his lineage. He +demands if I lead an army to the war that he go with me, and he scarce +twelve. What is more, he will demand and insist, until I have to take +him. 'Tis a true eagle that young Joseph. But here is Willet! It +soothes my eyes to see you again, brave hunter, and Tayoga, too, who +is fully as welcome." + +He shook hands with them both and the Onondaga gravely asked: + +"What news of my people, Waraiyageh?" + +Colonel Johnson's face clouded. + +"Things do not go well between us and the vale of Onondaga," he +replied. "The Hodenosaunee complain of the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and with justice. Moreover, the French advance and the +superior French vigor create a fear that the British and Americans may +lose. Then the Hodenosaunee will be left alone to fight the French and +all the hostile tribes. Father Drouillard has come back and is working +with his converts." + +"The nations of the Hodenosaunee will never go with the French," +declared Tayoga with emphasis. "Although the times seem dark, and +men's minds may waver for a while, they will remain loyal to their +ancient allies. Their doubts will cease, Waraiyageh, when the king +across the sea takes away the power of dealing with us from the Dutch +commissioners at Albany, and gives it to you, you who know us so well +and who have always been our friend." + +Colonel Johnson's face flushed with pleasure. + +"Your opinion of me is too high, Tayoga," he said, "but I'll not deny +that it gratifies me to hear it." + +"Have you heard anything from Fort Refuge, and Colden and Wilton and +the others?" asked Robert. + +"An Oneida runner brought a letter just before I left Mount +Johnson. The brave Philadelphia lads still hold the little fortress, +and have occasional skirmishes with wandering bands. Theirs has been a +good work, well done." + +But while Colonel Johnson was not a member of the council and could +not sit with it, he had a great reputation with all the governors, and +the next day he was asked to appear before them and General Braddock, +where he was treated with the consideration due to a man of his +achievements, and where the council, without waiting for the authority +of the English king, gave him full and complete powers to treat with +the Hodenosaunee, and to heal the wounds inflicted upon the pride of +the nations by the commissioners at Albany. He was thus made +superintendent of Indian affairs in North America, and he was also as +he had said to lead the expedition against Crown Point. He came forth +from the council exultant, his eyes glowing. + +"'Tis even more than I had hoped," he said to Willet, "and now I must +say farewell to you and the brave lads with you. We have come to the +edge of great things, and there is no time to waste." + +He hastened northward, the council broke up the next day, and the +visiting governors hurried back to their respective provinces to +prepare for the campaigns, leaving Braddock to strike the first blow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FOREST FIGHT + + +Robert thought they would march at once, but annoying delays +occurred. He had noticed that Hamilton, the governor of the great +neighboring province of Pennsylvania, was not present at the council, +but he did not know the cause of it until Stuart, the young Virginian, +told him. + +"Pennsylvania is in a huff," he said, "because General Braddock's army +has been landed at Alexandria instead of Philadelphia. Truth to tell, +for an expedition against Fort Duquesne, Philadelphia would have been +a nearer and better place, but I hear that one John Hanbury, a +powerful merchant who trades much in Virginia, wanted the troops to +come this way that he might sell them supplies, and he persuaded the +Duke of Newcastle to choose Alexandria. 'Tis a bad state of affairs, +Lennox, but you and I can't remedy it. The chief trouble is between +the general and the Pennsylvanians, many of whom are Quakers and +Germans, as obstinate people as this world has ever produced." + +The differences and difficulties were soon patent to all. A month of +spring was passing, and the army was far from having the necessary +supplies. Neither Virginia nor Pennsylvania responded properly. In +Pennsylvania there was a bitter quarrel between the people and the +proprietary government that hampered action. Many of the contractors +who were to furnish equipment thought much more of profit than of +patriotism. Braddock, brave and honest, but tactless and wholly +ignorant of the conditions predominant in any new country, raged and +stormed. He denounced the Virginia troops that came to his standard, +calling shameful their lack of uniforms and what he considered their +lack of discipline. + +Robert heard that in these turbulent days young Washington, whom +Braddock had taken on his staff as a colonel and for whom he had a +warm personal regard, was the best mediator between the testy general +and the stubborn population. In his difficult position, and while yet +scarcely more than a boy, he was showing all the great qualities of +character that he was to display so grandly in the long war twenty +years later. + +"Tis related," said Willet, "that General Braddock will listen to +anything from him, that he has the most absolute confidence in his +honesty and good judgment, and, judging from what I hear, General +Braddock is right." + +But to Robert, despite the anxieties, the days were happy. As he had +affiliated readily with the young Virginians he was also quickly a +friend of the young British officers, who were anxious to learn about +the new conditions into which they had been cast with so little +preparation. There was Captain Robert Orme, Braddock's aide-de-camp, a +fine manly fellow, for whom he soon formed a reciprocal liking, and +the son of Sir Peter Halket, a lieutenant, and Morris, an American, +another aide-de-camp, and young William Shirley, the son of the +governor of Massachusetts, who had become Braddock's secretary. He +also became well acquainted with older officers, Gladwin who was to +defend Detroit so gallantly against Pontiac and his allied tribes, +Gates, Gage, Barton and others, many of whom were destined to serve +again on one side or other in the great Revolution. + +Grosvenor knew all the Englishmen, and often in the evenings, since +May had now come they sat about the camp fires, and Robert listened +with eagerness as they told stories of gay life in London, tales of +the theater, of the heavy betting at the clubs and the races, and now +and then in low tones some gossip of royalty. Tayoga was more than +welcome in this group, as the great Thayendanegea was destined to be +years later. His height, his splendid appearance, his dignity and his +manners were respected and admired. Willet sometimes sat with them, +but said little. Robert knew that he approved of his new friendships. + +Willet was undoubtedly anxious. The delays which were still numerous +weighed heavily upon him, and he confided to Robert that every day +lost would increase the danger of the march. + +"The French and Indians of course know our troubles," he +said. "St. Luc has gone like an arrow into the wilderness with all the +news about us, and he's not the only one. If we could adjust this +trouble with the Pennsylvanians we might start at once." + +An hour or two after he uttered his complaint, Robert saw a middle +aged man, not remarkable of appearance, talking with Braddock. His +dress was homespun and careless, but his large head was beautifully +shaped, and his features, though they might have been called homely, +shone with the light of an extraordinary intelligence. His manner as +he talked to Braddock, without showing any tinge of deference, was +soothing. Robert saw at once, despite his homespun dress, that here +was a man of the great world and of great affairs. + +"Who is he?" he said to Willet. + +"It's Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania," replied the hunter. "I hear +he's one of the shrewdest men in all the colonies, and I don't doubt +the report." + +It was Robert's first sight of Franklin, certainly not the least in +that amazing group of men who founded the American Union. + +"They say," continued Willet, "that he's already achieved the +impossible, that he's drawing General Braddock and the Pennsylvanians +together, and that we'll soon get weapons, horses and all the other +supplies we need." + +It was no false news. Franklin had done what he alone could do. One of +the greatest masters of diplomacy the world has ever known, he brought +Braddock and Pennsylvania together, and smoothed out the +difficulties. All the needed supplies began to flow in, and on the +tenth of an eventful May the whole army started from Wills Creek to +which point it had advanced, while Franklin was removing the +difficulties. A new fort named Cumberland had been established there, +and stalwart Virginians had been cutting a road ahead through the +wilderness. + +The place was on the edge of the unending forest. The narrow fringe +of settlements on the Atlantic coast was left behind, and henceforth +they must march through regions known only to the Indians and the +woods rangers. But it was a fine army, two British regiments under +Halket and Dunbar, their numbers reinforced by Virginia volunteers, +and five hundred other Virginians, divided into nine companies. There +was a company of British sailors, too, and artillery, and hundreds of +wagons and baggage horses. Among the teamsters was a strong lad named +Daniel Boone destined to immortality as the most famous of all +pioneers. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga could have had horses to ride, but against +the protests of Grosvenor and their other new English friends they +declined them. They knew that they could scout along the flanks of an +army far better on foot. + +"In one way," said Willet, to Grosvenor, "we three, Robert, Tayoga and +I, are going back home. The lads, at least have spent the greater +part of their lives in the forest, and to me it has given a kindly +welcome for these many years. It may look inhospitable to you who come +from a country of roads and open fields, but it's not so to us. We +know its ways. We can find shelter where you would see none, and it +offers food to us, where you would starve, and you're a young man of +intelligence too." + +"At least I can see its beauty," laughed Grosvenor, as he looked upon +the great green wilderness, stretching away and away to the far blue +hills. "In truth 'tis a great and romantic adventure to go with a +force like ours into an unknown country of such majestic quality." + +He looked with a kindling eye from the wilderness back to the army, +the greatest that had yet been gathered in the forest, the red coats +of the soldiers gleaming now in the spring sunshine, and the air +resounding with whips as the teamsters started their trains. + +"A great force! A grand force!" said Robert, catching his +enthusiasm. "The French and Indians can't stand before it!" + +"How far is Fort Duquesne?" asked Grosvenor. + +"In the extreme western part of the province of Pennsylvania, many +days' march from here. At least, we claim that it's in Pennsylvania +province, although the French assert it's on their soil, and they have +possession. But it's in the Ohio country, because the waters there +flow westward, the Alleghany and Monongahela joining at the fort and +forming the great Ohio." + +"And so we shall see much of the wilderness. Well, I'm not sorry, +Lennox. 'Twill be something to talk about in England. I don't think +they realize there the vastness and magnificence of the colonies." + +That day a trader named Croghan brought about fifty Indian warriors to +the camp, among them a few belonging to the Hodenosaunee, and offered +their services as scouts and skirmishers. Braddock, who loved +regularity and outward discipline, gazed at them in astonishment. + +"Savages!" he said. "We will have none of them!" + +The Indians, uttering no complaint, disappeared in the green forest, +with Willet and Tayoga gazing somberly after them. + +"'Twas a mistake," said the hunter. "They would have been our eyes and +ears, where we needed eyes and ears most." + +"A warrior of my kin was among them," said Tayoga. "Word will fly +north that an insult has been offered to the Hodenosaunee." + +"But," said Willet, "Colonel William Johnson will take a word of +another kind. As you know, Tayoga, as I know, and, as all the nations +of the Hodenosaunee know, Waraiyageh is their friend. He will speak to +them no word that is not true. He will brush away all that web of +craft, and cunning and cheating, spun by the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and he will see that there is no infringement upon the rights +of the great League." + +"Waraiyageh will do all that, if he can reach Mount Johnson in time," +said Tayoga, "but Onontio rises before the dawn, and he does not sleep +until after midnight. He sings beautiful songs in the ears of the +warriors, and the songs he sings seem to be true. Already the French +and their allies have been victorious everywhere save at Fort Refuge, +and they carry the trophies of triumph into Canada." + +"But the time for us to strike a great blow is at hand, Tayoga," said +Robert, who, with Grosvenor had been listening. "Behold this splendid +army! No such force was ever before sent into the American +wilderness. When we take Fort Duquesne we shall hold the key to the +whole Ohio country, and we shall turn it in the lock and fasten it +against the Governor General of Canada and all his allies." + +"But the wilderness is mighty," said Tayoga. "Even the army of the +great English king is small when it enters its depths." + +"On the other hand so is that of the enemy, much smaller than ours," +said Grosvenor. + +Soon after Croghan and his Indians left the camp a figure tall, dark +and somber, followed by a dozen men wild of appearance and clad in +hunter's garb, emerged from the forest and walked in silence toward +General Braddock's tent. The regular soldiers stared at them in +astonishment, but their dark leader took no notice. Robert uttered an +exclamation of surprise and pleasure. + +"Black Rifle!" he said. + +"And who is Black Rifle?" asked Grosvenor. + +"A great hunter and scout and a friend of mine. I'm glad he's +here. The general can find many uses for Black Rifle and his men." + +He ran forward and greeted Black Rifle, who smiled one of his rare +smiles at sight of the youth. Willet and Tayoga gave him the same warm +welcome. + +"What news, Black Rifle?" asked Robert. + +"The French and Indians gather at Fort Duquesne to meet you. They are +not in great force, but the wilderness will help them and the best of +the French leaders are there." + +"Have you heard anything of St. Luc?" asked Robert. + +"We met a Seneca runner who had seen him. The Senecas are not at war +with the French, and the man talked with him a little, but the +Frenchman didn't tell him anything. We think he was on the way to Fort +Duquesne to join the other French leaders there." + +"Have you heard the names of any of these Frenchmen?" + +"Besides St. Luc there's Beaujeu, Dumas, Ligneris and Contrecoeur who +commands. French regulars and Canadian troops are in the fort, and the +heathen are pouring in from the west and north." + +"Those are brave and skillful men," said Willet, as he listened to the +names of the French leaders who would oppose them. "But 'twas good of +you, Black Rifle, to come with these lads of yours to help us." + +After the men had enjoyed food and a little rest, they were taken into +the great tent, where the general sat, Willet having procured the +interview, and accompanying them. Robert waited near with Grosvenor +and Tayoga, knowing how useful Black Rifle and his men could be to a +wilderness expedition, and hoping that they would be thrown together +in future service. + +A quarter of an hour passed, and then Black Rifle strode from the +tent, his face dark as night. His men followed him, and, almost +without a word, they left the camp, plunged into the forest and +disappeared. Willet also came from the tent, crestfallen. + +"What has happened, Dave?" asked Robert in astonishment. + +"The worst. I suppose that when unlike meets unlike only trouble can +come. I introduced Black Rifle and his men to General Braddock. They +did not salute. They did not take off their caps in his presence,--not +knowing, of course, that such things were done in armies. General +Braddock rebuked them. I smoothed it all over as much as I could. Then +he demanded what they wanted there, as a haughty giver of gifts would +speak to a suppliant. Black Rifle said he and his men came to watch on +the front and flanks of the army against Indian ambush, knowing how +much it was needed. Braddock laughed and sneered. He said that an +army such as his did not need to fear a few wandering Indians, and, in +any event, it had eyes of its own to watch for itself. Black Rifle +said he doubted it, that soldiers in the woods could seldom see +anything but themselves. There was blame on both sides, but men like +General Braddock and Black Rifle can't understand each other, they'll +never understand each other, and, hot with wrath Black Rifle has taken +his band and gone into the woods. Nor will he come back, and we need +him! I tell you, Robert, we need him! We need him!" + +"It is bad," said Tayoga. "An army can never have too many eyes." + +Robert was deeply disappointed. He regretted not only the loss of +Black Rifle and his men, but the further evidence of an unyielding +temperament on the part of their commander. His own mind however so +ready to comprehend the mind of others, could understand Braddock's +point of view. To the general Black Rifle and his men were mere woods +rovers, savages themselves in everything except race, and the army +that he led was invincible. + +"We'll have to make the best of it," he said. + +"They've gone and they're a great loss, but the rest of us will try to +do the work they would have done." + +"That is so," said Tayoga, gravely. + +At last the army moved proudly away into the wilderness. Hundreds of +axmen, going ahead, cut a road twelve feet wide, along which cavalry, +infantry, artillery and wagons and pack horses stretched for +miles. The weather was beautiful, the forest was both beautiful and +grand, and to most of the Englishmen and Virginians the march appealed +as a great and romantic adventure. The trees were in the tender green +leafage of early May, and their solid expanse stretched away hundreds +and thousands of miles into the unknown west. Early wild flowers, a +shy pink or a modest blue, bloomed in the grass. Deer started from +their coverts, crashed through the thickets, and the sky darkened with +the swarms of wild fowl flying north. Birds of brilliant plumage +flashed among the leaves and often chattered overhead, heedless of the +passing army. Now and then the soldiers sang, and the song passed from +the head of the column along its rippling red, yellow and brown length +of four miles. + +It was a cheerful army, more it was a gay army, enjoying the +wilderness which it was seeing at one of the finest periods of the +year, wondering at the magnificence of the forest, and the great +number of streams that came rushing down from the mountains. + +"It's a noble country," said Grosvenor to Robert. "I'll admit all +that you claim for it." + +"And there's so much of it, Grosvenor, even allowing for the portion, +the very big portion, the French claim." + +"But from which we are going to drive them very soon, Robert, my lad." + +"I think so, too, Grosvenor." + +Often Robert, Willet and Tayoga went far ahead on swift foot, +searching the forest for ambush, and finding none, they would come +back and watch the axmen, three hundred in number, who were cutting +the road for the army. They were stalwart fellows, skilled in their +business, and their axes rang through the woods. Robert felt regret +when he saw the splendid trees fall and be dragged to one side, there +to rot, despite the fact that the unbroken forest covered millions of +square miles. + +The camps at night were scenes of good humor. Scouts and flankers +were thrown out in the forest, and huge fires were built of the fallen +wood which was abundant everywhere. The flames, roaring and leaping, +threw a ruddy light over the soldiers, and gave them pleasant warmth, +as often in the hills the dusk came on heavy with chill. + +Despite the favorable nature of the season some of the soldiers unused +to hardships fell ill, and, more than a week later, when they reached +a place known as the Little Meadows, Braddock left there the sick and +the heavy baggage with a rear guard under Colonel Dunbar. A scout had +brought word that a formidable force of French regulars was expected +to reinforce the garrison at Fort Duquesne, and the general was +anxious to forestall them. Young Washington, in whom he had great +confidence, also advised him to push on, and now the army of chosen +troops increased its speed. + +Robert came into contact with Braddock only once or twice, and then he +was noticed with a nod, but on the whole he was glad to escape so +easily. The general brave and honest, but irritable, had a closed +mind. He thought all things should be done in the way to which he was +used, and he had little use for the Americans, save for young +Washington, and young Morris, who were on his staff, and young Shirley +who was his secretary. To them he was invariably kind and considerate. + +The regular officers made no attempt to interfere with Robert, Tayoga +and Willet, who, having their commissions as scouts, roamed as they +pleased, and, even on foot, their pace being so much greater than that +of the army, they often went far ahead in the night seeking traces of +the enemy. Now, although the march was not resisted, they saw +unmistakable signs that it was watched. They found trails of small +Indian bands and several soldiers who straggled into the forest were +killed and scalped. Braddock was enraged but not alarmed. The army +would brush away these flies and proceed to the achievement of its +object, the capture of Fort Duquesne. The soldiers from England +shuddered at the sight of their scalped comrades. It was a new form +of war to them, and very ghastly. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were the best scouts and the regular +officers soon learned to rely on them. Grosvenor often begged to go +with them, but they laughingly refused. + +"We don't claim to be of special excellence ourselves, Grosvenor," +said Robert, "but such work needs a very long training. One, so to +speak, must be born to it, and to be born to it you have to be born in +this country, and not in England." + +It was about the close of June and they had been nearly three weeks on +the way when the three, scouting on a moonlight night, struck a trail +larger than usual. Tayoga reckoned that it had been made by at least a +dozen warriors, and Willet agreed with him. + +"And behold the trace of the big moccasin, Great Bear," said the +Onondaga, pointing to a faint impression among the leaves. "It is very +large, and it turns in much. We do not see it for the first time." + +"Tandakora," said Willet. + +"It can be none other." + +"We shouldn't be surprised at seeing it. The Ojibway, like a wolf, +will rush to the place of killing." + +"I am not surprised, Great Bear. It is strange, perhaps, that we have +not seen his footsteps before. No doubt he has looked many times upon +the marching army." + +"Since Tandakora is here, probably leading the Indian scouts, we'll +have to take every precaution ourselves. I like my scalp, and I like +for it to remain where it has grown, on the top of my head." + +They moved now with the most extreme care, always keeping under cover +of bushes, and never making any sound as they walked, but the army +kept on steadily in the road cut for it by the axmen. Encounters +between the flankers and small bands still occurred, but there was yet +no sign of serious resistance, and the fort was drawing nearer and +nearer. + +"I've no doubt the French commander will abandon it," said Grosvenor +to Robert. "He'll conclude that our army is too powerful for him." + +"I scarce think so," replied Robert doubtfully. "'Tis not the French +way, at least, not on this continent. Like as not they will depend on +the savages, whom they have with them." + +They had been on the march nearly a month when they came to Turtle +Creek, which flows into the Monongahela only eight miles from Fort +Duquesne a strong fortress of logs with bastions, ravelins, ditch, +glacis and covered ways, standing at the junction of the twin streams, +the Monongahela and the Alleghany, that form the great Ohio. Here they +made a little halt and the scouts who had been sent into the woods +reported silence and desolation. + +The army rejoiced. It had been a long march, and the wilderness is +hard for those not used to it, even in the best of times. Victory was +now almost in sight. The next day, perhaps, they would march into +Fort Duquesne and take possession, and doubtless a strong detachment +would be sent in pursuit of the flying French and Indians. + +Full warrant had they for their expectations, as nothing seemed more +peaceful than the wilderness. The flames from the cooking fires threw +their ruddy light over bough and bush, and disclosed no enemy, and, as +the glow of the coals died down, the peaceful tails of the night birds +showed that the forest was undisturbed. + +Far in the night, Robert, Tayoga and Willet crept through the woods to +Fort Duquesne. They found many small trails of both white men and red +men, but none indicating a large force. At last they saw a light under +the western horizon, which they believed to come from Duquesne itself. + +"Perhaps they've burned the fort and are abandoning it," said Robert. + +Willet shook his head. + +"Not likely," he said. "It's more probable that the light comes from +great fires, around which the savages are dancing the war dance." + +"What do you think, Tayoga?" + +"That the Great Bear is right." + +"But surely," said Robert, "they can't hope to withstand an army like +ours." + +"Robert," said Willet, "you've lived long enough in it to know that +anything is possible in the wilderness. Contrecoeur, the French +commander at Duquesne, is a brave and capable man. Beaujeu, who stands +next to him, has, they say, a soul of fire. You know what St. Luc is, +the bravest of the brave, and as wise as a fox, and Dumas and Ligneris +are great partisan leaders. Do you think these men will run away +without a fight?" + +"But they must depend chiefly on the Indians!" + +"Even so. They won't let the Indians run away either. We're bound to +have some kind of a battle somewhere, though we ought to win." + +"Do you know the general's plans for tomorrow?" + +"We're to start at dawn. We'll cross the Monongahela for the second +time about noon, or a little later, and then, if the French and +Indians have run away, as you seemed a little while ago to believe +they would, we'll proceed, colors flying into the fort." + +"If the enemy makes a stand I should think it would be at the ford." + +"Seems likely." + +"Come! Come, Dave! Be cheerful. If they meet us at the ford or +anywhere else we'll brush 'em aside. That big body of French regulars +from Canada hasn't come--we know that--and there isn't force enough in +Duquesne to withstand us." + +Willet did not say anything more, but his steps were not at all +buoyant as they walked back toward the camp. Robert, lying on a +blanket, slept soundly before one of the fires, but awoke at dawn, and +took breakfast with Willet, Tayoga, Grosvenor and the two young +Virginians, Stuart and Cabell. + +"We'll be in Duquesne tonight," said the sanguine Stuart. + +"In very truth we will," said the equally confident Grosvenor. + +The dawn came clear and brilliant, and the army advanced, to the music +of a fine band. The light cavalry led the way, then came a detachment +of sailors who had been loaned by Admiral Keppel, followed by the +English regulars in red and the Virginians in blue. Behind them came +the cannon, the packhorses, and all the elements that make up the +train of an army. + +It was a gay and inspiriting sight, especially so to youth, and +Robert's heart thrilled as he looked. The hour of triumph had come at +last. Away with the forebodings of Willet! Here was the might of +England and the colonies, and, brave and cunning as St. Luc and +Beaujeu and the other Frenchmen might be their bravery and cunning +would avail them nothing. + +They marched on all the morning, a long and brilliant line of red and +blue and brown, and nothing happened. The forest on either side of +them was still silent and tenantless, and they expected in a few more +hours to see the fort they had come so far to take. The heavens +themselves were propitious. Only little white clouds were to be seen +in the sky of dazzling blue, and the green forest, stirred by a gentle +wind, waved its boughs at them in friendly fashion. + +About noon they approached the river, and Gage leading a strong +advance guard across it, found no enemy on the other side, puzzling +and also pleasing news. The foe, whom they had expected to find in +this formidable position, seemed to have melted away. No trace of him +could be found in the forest, and to many it appeared that the road to +Fort Duquesne lay open. + +"They've concluded our force is too great and have abandoned the +fort," said Robert. "I can't make anything else of it, Dave." + +"It does look like it," said the hunter doubtfully. "I certainly +thought they would meet us here. The ford is the place of places for a +defensive battle." + +Gage made his report to Braddock, confirming the general in his belief +that the French and Indians would not dare to meet him, and that the +dangers of the wilderness had been overrated. The order to resume the +march was given and the trumpets in the advance sang merrily, the +silent woods giving back their echoes in faint musical notes. The +afternoon that had now come was as brilliant as the morning. A great +sun blazed down from a sky of cloudless blue, deepening and +intensifying the green of the forest, the red uniforms of the British +and the blue uniforms of the Virginians. Robert again admired the +sight. The army marched as if on parade, and it presented a splendid +spectacle. + +The head of the column entered the shallows, and soon the long line +was passing the river. Robert had a lingering belief that the bullets +would rain upon them in the water, but nothing stirred in the forest +beyond. The head of the column emerged upon the opposite bank, and +then its long red and blue length trailed slowly after. Robert and his +comrades crossed in a wagon. They had wanted to go into the woods, +seeking for the enemy, but the orders of Braddock, who wished to keep +all his force together, held them. + +The entire army was now across, and, within the shade of the forest, +the general ordered a short period for rest and food, before they +completed the few miles that yet separated them from Fort +Duquesne. The troops were in great spirits. They might have been held +at the dangerous ford, they thought, but now that it had been passed +without resistance the woods could offer nothing able to stop them. + +"What has become of your warlike Frenchmen, Mr. Willet?" asked +Grosvenor. "So far as this campaign is concerned they seem to excel as +runners rather than warriors." + +"I confess that I'm surprised, Mr. Grosvenor," replied the +hunter. "Beaujeu, St. Luc and Dumas are not the men to make a carpet +of roses for us to march on. There is something here that does not +meet the eye. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"I like it not," replied the Onondaga. "In war I fear the forest when +it is silent." + +Near them a small circle of land had been cleared and in it stood a +house, lone and deserted. It had been built by a trader named Fraser +and in it Washington, who had visited it once before on a former +mission, and one or two others sat, during the period of rest and +refreshment. The young Virginian, despite his great frame and gigantic +strength, was so much wasted by fever that, when he came forth to +remount, he was barely able to keep his place in his saddle. + +Now the merry trumpets sang again and the red and blue column, lifting +itself up, resumed its march along the trail through the forest toward +Duquesne. The river was on one side and a line of high hills on the +other, but the forest everywhere was dense and in its heaviest +foliage. Braddock, despite the safe passage of the ford, was not +reckless. A troop of guides and Virginia light horsemen led the way. A +hundred yards behind them came the vanguard, then Gage with a picked +body of British troops, after them the axmen, who had done such great +work, behind them the main body of the artillery, the wagons and the +packhorses, while a strong force of regulars and Virginians closed up +the rear. Scouts and skirmishers ranged the flanks, though they were +ordered to go not more than a few hundred yards away. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were with the guides at the very apex of the +column, and they continually searched the forests and the thickets +with keen eyes for a possible enemy. But all was quiet there. The +game, frightened by the advancing army, had gone away. Not a leaf, not +a bough stirred. The blazing sun, now near the zenith, poured down +fiery rays and it was hot in the shade of the great trees that grew so +closely together. + +Robert and the other scouts and guides in the apex marched on +soundless feet, but he heard close behind him the tread of the +Virginia light horsemen, behind them the steady march of the regulars +under Gage, and behind them the deep hum and murmur of the army, the +creaking of wheels and the clank of the great guns. Despite the +following sounds he was conscious all the time of the deep, intense +silence in the forest on either side of him. The birds, like the game, +had gone away, and there was no flash of blue or of flame among the +green leaves. + +"There's a dip just ahead," said Willet, pointing to a wide ravine +filled with bushes that ran directly across the trail. + +They continued their steady advance, and Robert's heart fluttered, but +when they came to the ravine they found it empty of everything save +the bushes, and the scouts and guides, plunging into it, crossed to +the other side. The light horsemen of Virginia followed, after them +Gage's regulars and then the main army drew on its red and blue +length, expecting to cross in the same way. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet, leading, entered the deep forest +again. Some chance had put young Lennox slightly in advance of his +comrades, but suddenly he stopped. A short distance ahead a figure +bounded across the trail and disappeared in the thicket. It was only a +flitting glimpse, but he recognized St. Luc, the athletic figure, the +fair hair and the strong face. + +"St. Luc!" he exclaimed. "Did you see, Dave? Did you see?" + +"Aye, I saw," said the hunter, "and the enemy is here!" + +He whirled about, threw up his arms and shouted to the column to +stop. At the same moment, a terrible cry, the long fierce war whoop of +the savages, burst from the forest, filled the air and came back in +ferocious echoes. Then a deadly fire of rifles and muskets was poured +from both right and left upon the marching column. Men and horses went +down, and cries of pain and surprise blended with the war whoop of the +savages which swelled and fell again. + +Robert and his comrades had thrown themselves flat upon the ground at +the first fire, and escaped the bullets. Now they rose to their +knees, and began to send their own bullets at the flitting forms among +the trees and bushes. Robert caught glimpses of the savages, naked to +the waist, coated thickly with war paint, their fierce eyes gleaming, +and now and then he saw a man in French uniform passing among them and +encouraging them. He saw one gigantic figure which he knew to be that +of Tandakora, and he raised his reloaded rifle to fire at him, but the +Ojibway was gone. + +Surprised in the ominous forest, the British and the Virginians +nevertheless showed a courage worthy of all praise. Gage formed his +regulars on the trail, and they sent volley after volley into the +dense shades on either side, the big muskets thundering together like +cannon. Leaves and twigs and little boughs fell in showers before +their bullets, but whether they struck any of the foe they did not +know. The smoke soon rose in clouds and added to the dimness and +obscurity of the forest. + +"A great noise," shouted Tayoga in Robert's ear, "but it does not hurt +the enemy, who sees his target and sends his bullets against it!" + +The soldiers were dropping fast and the bullets of the French and the +savages were coming from their coverts in a deadly rain. Robert, +Willet and Tayoga, with the wisdom of the wilderness, remained +crouched at the edge of the trail, but in shelter, and did not fire +until they saw an enemy upon whom to draw the trigger. Then a deeper +roar was added to the thundering of the big muskets, as Braddock +brought up the cannon, and they began to sweep the forest. The English +troops, eager to get at the foe, crowded forward, shouting "God save +the King!" and the cheers of the Virginians joined with them. + +"We'll win! We'll win!" cried Robert. "They can't stop such brave men +as ours!" + +But the fire of the French and the savages was increasing in volume +and accuracy. The bullets and cannon balls of the English and +Americans fired almost at random were passing over their heads, but +the great column of scarlet and blue on the trail formed a target +which the leaden missiles could not miss. Continually shouting the war +whoop, exultant now with the joy of expected triumph, the savages +hovered on either flank of Braddock's army like a swarm of bees, but +with a sting far more deadly. The brave and wily Beaujeu had been +killed in the first minute of the battle, but St. Luc, Dumas and +Ligneris, equally brave and wily, directed the onset, and the huge +Tandakora raged before his warriors. + +The head of the British column was destroyed, and the three crept back +toward Gage's regulars, but the fire of the enemy was now spreading +along both flanks of the column to its full length. Robert remembered +the warning words of St. Luc. Every twig and leaf in the forest was +spouting death. Gage's regulars, raked by a terrible fire, and in +danger of complete destruction, were compelled to retreat upon the +main body, and, to their infinite mortification, abandon two cannon, +which the savages seized with fierce shouts of joy and dragged into +the woods. + +"It goes ill," said Willet, as the terrible forest, raining death from +every side, seemed to close in on them like the shadow of +doom. Braddock, hearing the tremendous fire ahead, rushed forward his +own immediate troops as fast as possible, and meeting Gage's +retreating men, the two bodies became a great mass of scarlet in the +forest, upon which French and Indian bullets, that could not miss, +beat like a storm of hail. The shouts and cheers of the regulars +ceased. In an appalling situation, the like of which they had never +known before, hemmed in on every side by an unseen death, they fell +into confusion, but they did not lose courage. The savage ring now +enclosed the whole army, and to stand and to retreat alike meant +death. + +The British charged with the bayonet into the thickets. The Indians +melted away before them, and, when the exhausted regulars came back +into the trail, the Indians rushed after them, still pouring in a +murderous fire, and making the forest ring with the ferocious war +whoop. The Virginians, knowing the warfare of the wilderness, began to +take to the shelter of the trees, from which they could fire at the +enemy. The brave though mistaken Braddock fiercely ordered them out +again. A score lying behind a fallen trunk and, matching the savages +at their own game, were mistaken by the regulars for the foe, and were +fired upon with deadly effect. Other regulars who tried to imitate the +hostile tactics were set upon by Braddock himself who beat them with +the flat of his sword and drove them back into the open trail, where +the rain of bullets fell directly upon them. + +Robert looked upon the scene and he found it awful to the last +degree. The bodies of the dead in red or blue lay everywhere. +Officers, English and Virginian, ran here and there begging +and praying their troops to stand and form in order. "Fire +upon the enemy!" they shouted. "Show us somebody to fire at and we'll +fire," the men shouted back. The confusion was deepening, and the +signs of a panic were appearing. In the forest the circle of Indians, +mad with battle and the greatest taking of scalps they had ever known, +pressed closer and closer, and sent sheets of bullets into the huddled +mass. Many of them leaped in and scalped the fallen before the eyes of +the horrified soldiers. The yelling never ceased, and it was so +terrific that the few British officers who survived declared that they +would never forget it to their dying day. + +Among the officers the mortality was now frightful. The brave Sir +Peter Halket was shot dead, and his young son, the lieutenant, rushing +to raise up his body, was killed and fell by his side. The youthful +Shirley, Braddock's secretary, received a bullet in his brain and died +instantly. Out of eighty-six officers sixty-three were down. +Washington alone seemed to bear a charmed life. Two horses were +killed under him and four bullets pierced his clothing. Braddock +galloped back and forth, cursing and shouting to his men, and showing +undaunted courage. Robert believed that he never really understood +what was happening, that the deadly nature of the surprise and its +appalling completeness left him dazed. + +How long Robert stood at the edge of the circle of death and fired +into the bushes he never knew, but it seemed to him that almost an +eternity had passed, when Tayoga seized him by the arm and shouted in +his ear. + +"It is finished! Our army has perished! Come, Lennox!" + +He wiped the smoke from his eyes, and saw that the mass in red and +blue was much smaller. Braddock was still on his horse, and, at the +insistence of his officers, he was at last giving the command to +retreat. Just as the trumpet sounded that note of defeat he was shot +through the body and fell to the ground where, in his rage and +despair, he begged the men to leave him to die alone. But two of the +Virginia officers lifted him up and bore him toward the rear. Then the +army that had fought so long against an invisible foe broke into a +panic, that is what was left of it, as two thirds of its numbers had +already been killed or wounded. Shouting with horror and ignoring +their officers, they rushed for the river. + +Everything was lost, cannon and baggage were abandoned, and often +rifles and muskets were thrown away. Into the water they rushed, and +the Indians, who had followed howling like wolves, stopped, though +they fired at the fleeing men in the stream. + +As the retreat began, Robert, Tayoga and Willet, whom some miracle +seemed to preserve from harm, joined the Virginians who covered the +rear, and, as fast as they could reload their rifles, they fired at +the demon horde that pressed closer and closer, and that never ceased +to cut down the fleeing army. It was much like a ghastly dream to +Robert. Nothing was real, except his overwhelming sense of horror. Men +fell around him, and he wondered why he did not fall too, but he was +untouched, and Willet and Tayoga also were unwounded. He saw near him +young Stuart who had lost his horse long since, but who had snatched a +rifle from a fallen soldier, and who was fighting gallantly on foot. + +"Who would have thought it?" exclaimed the Virginian. "An army such +as ours, to be beaten, nay, to be destroyed, by a swarm of savages!" + +"But don't forget the Frenchmen!" shouted Robert in reply. "They're +directing!" + +"Which is no consolation to us," cried Stuart. He said something else, +but it was lost in the tremendous firing and yelling of the Indians, +who were now only a score of yards away from the devoted rear guard +that was doing its best to protect the flying and confused mass of +soldiers. + +Robert discharged his bullet at a brown face and then, as he walked +backward, he tripped and fell over a root. He sprang up at once, but +in an instant a gigantic figure bounded out of the fire and smoke, and +Tandakora, uttering a fierce shout of triumph, circled his tomahawk +swiftly above his head, preparatory to the mortal blow. But Tayoga, +quick as lightning, hurled his pistol with all his might. It struck +the huge Ojibway on the head with such force that the tomahawk fell +from his hand, and he staggered back into the smoke. + +"Tayoga, again I thank you!" cried Robert. + +"You will do the same for me," said the Onondaga, and then they too +were lost in the smoke, as with the rear guard of Virginians they +followed the retreating army. + +Robert and his comrades, swept on in the press, crossed the river with +the others and gained the farther shore unhurt. Willet looked back at +the woods, which still flamed with the hostile rifles, and shuddered. + +"It's worse than anything of which I ever dreamed," he said. "Now the +tomahawk and the scalping knife will sweep the border from Canada to +Carolina." + +The panic was stopped at last and the broken remnants of the army, +covered by the Virginians who understood the forest, began their +retreat. Braddock died the next day, his last words being, "We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Washington, Orme, +Morris and the others carried the news of the great defeat to Virginia +and Pennsylvania, whence it was sent to England, to be received there +at first with incredulity, men saying that such a thing was +impossible. But England too was soon to be in mourning, because so +many of her bravest had fallen at the hands of an invisible foe in the +far American wilderness. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga followed the retreating army only a short +distance beyond the Monongahela. They saw that Grosvenor, Stuart and +Cabell had escaped with slight wounds, and, slipping quietly into the +forest, they circled about Fort Duquesne, seeing the lights where the +Indians were burning their wretched prisoners alive, and then plunging +again into the woods. + +Late at night they lay down in a dense covert, and exhausted, +slept. They rose at dawn, and tried to shake off the horror. + +"Be of good courage, Robert," said Willet. "It's a terrible blow, but +England and the colonies have not yet gathered their full strength." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "Our sachems tell us that he who wins the +first victory does not always win the last." + +A bird on a bough over their heads began to sing a song of greeting to +the new day, and Robert hoped and believed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Shadow of the North, by Joseph A. 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For example: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11881-8.zip b/old/11881-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..08ad90b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11881-8.zip diff --git a/old/11881.txt b/old/11881.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4da6c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11881.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11280 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Shadow of the North, by Joseph A. 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 Shadow of the North + A Story of Old New York and a Lost Campaign + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: April 3, 2004 [EBook #11881] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHADOW OF THE NORTH *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Ari J Joki and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + THE SHADOW + OF THE NORTH + + A STORY OF OLD NEW YORK + AND A LOST CAMPAIGN + + BY + + JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + + + 1917 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Shadow of the North," while an independent story, in itself, is +also the second volume of the Great French and Indian War series which +began with "The Hunters of the Hills." All the important characters of +the first romance reappear in the second. + + + + +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 +ARMAN GLANDELET A young Frenchman +PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo +PHILIBERT DROUILLAR 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 ONONDAGA + II. THE AMBUSH + III. THE SIGNAL + IV. THE PERILOUS PATH + V. THE RUNNER + VI. THE RETURN + VII. THE RED WEAPON + VIII. WARAIYAGEH + IX. THE WATCHER + X. THE PORT + X1. THE PLAY + XII. THE SLAVER + XIII. THE MEETING + XIV. THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + XV. THE FOREST FIGHT + + + + + + + THE SHADOW OF THE + NORTH + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ONONDAGA + + +Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, advanced with utmost caution through a +forest, so thick with undergrowth that it hid all objects twenty yards +away. He was not armed with a rifle, but carried instead a heavy bow, +while a quiver full of arrows hung over his shoulder. He wore less +clothing than when he was in the white man's school at Albany, his +arms and shoulders being bare, though not painted. + +The young Indian's aspect, too, had changed. The great struggle +between English and French, drawing with it the whole North American +wilderness, had begun and, although the fifty sachems still sought to +hold the Six Nations neutral, many of their bravest warriors were +already serving with the Americans and English, ranging the forest as +scouts and guides and skirmishers, bringing to the campaign an +unrivaled skill, and a faith sealed by the long alliance. + +Tayoga had thrown himself into the war heart and soul. Nothing could +diminish by a hair his hostility to the French and the tribes allied +with them. The deeds of Champlain and Frontenac were but of yesterday, +and the nation to which they belonged could never be a friend of the +Hodenosaunee. He trusted the Americans and the English, but his chief +devotion, by the decree of nature was for his own people, and now, +that fighting in the forest had occurred between the rival nations, he +shed more of the white ways and became a true son of the wilderness, +seeing as red men saw and thinking as red men thought. + +He was bent over a little, as he walked slowly among the bushes, in +the position of one poised for instant flight or pursuit as the need +might be. His eyes, black and piercing, ranged about incessantly, +nothing escaping a vision so keen and trained so thoroughly that he +not only heard everything passing in the wilderness, but he knew the +nature of the sound, and what had made it. + +The kindly look that distinguished Tayoga in repose had +disappeared. Unnumbered generations were speaking in him now, and the +Indian, often so gentle in peace, had become his usual self, stern and +unrelenting in war. His strong sharp chin was thrust forward. His +cheek bones seemed to be a little higher. His tread was so light that +the grass scarcely bent before his moccasins, and no leaves +rustled. He was in every respect the wilderness hunter and warrior, +fitted perfectly by the Supreme Hand into his setting, and if an enemy +appeared now he would fight as his people had fought for centuries, +and the customs and feelings of the new races that had come across the +ocean would be nothing to him. + +A hundred yards more, and he sat down by the trunk of a great oak, +convinced that no foe was near. His own five splendid senses had told +him so, and the fact had been confirmed by an unrivaled sentinel +hidden among the leaves over his head, a small bird that poured forth +a wonderful volume of song. Were any other coming the bird would cease +his melody and fly away, but Tayoga felt that this tiny feathered +being was his ally and would not leave because of him. The song had +wonderful power, too, soothing his senses and casting a pleasing +spell. His imaginative mind, infused with the religion and beliefs of +his ancestors, filled the forest with friendly spirits. Unseen, they +hovered in the air and watched over him, and the trees, alive, bent +protecting boughs toward him. He saw, too, the very spot in the +heavens where the great shining star on which Tododaho lived came out +at night and glittered. + +He remembered the time when he had gone forth in the dusk to meet +Tandakora and his friends, and how Tododaho had looked down on him +with approval. He had found favor in the sight of the great league's +founder, and the spirit that dwelt on the shining star still watched +over him. The Ojibway, whom he hated and who hated him in yet greater +measure, might be somewhere in the forest, but if he came near, the +feathered sentinel among the leaves over his head would give warning. + +Tayoga sat nearly half an hour listening to the song of the bird. He +had no object in remaining there, his errand bade him move on, but +there was no hurry and he was content merely to breathe and to feel +the glory and splendor of the forest about him. He knew now that the +Indian nature had never been taken out of him by the schools. He loved +the wilderness, the trees, the lakes, the streams and all their +magnificent disorder, and war itself did not greatly trouble him, +since the legends of the tribes made it the natural state of man. He +knew well that he was in Tododaho's keeping, and, if by chance, the +great chief should turn against him it would be for some grave fault, +and he would deserve his punishment. + +He sat in that absolute stillness of which the Indian by nature and +training was capable, the green of his tanned and beautifully soft +deerskin blending so perfectly with the emerald hue of the foliage +that the bird above his head at last took him for a part of the forest +itself and so, having no fear, came down within a foot of his head and +sang with more ecstasy than ever. It was a little gray bird, but +Tayoga knew that often the smaller a bird was, and the more sober its +plumage the finer was its song. He understood those musical notes +too. They expressed sheer delight, the joy of life just as he felt it +then himself, and the kinship between the two was strong. + +The bird at last flew away and the Onondaga heard its song dying among +the distant leaves. A portion of the forest spell departed with it, +and Tayoga, returning to thoughts of his task, rose and walked on, +instinct rather than will causing him to keep a close watch on earth +and foliage. When he saw the faint trace of a large moccasin on the +earth all that was left of the spell departed suddenly and he became +at once the wilderness warrior, active, alert, ready to read every +sign. + +He studied the imprint, which turned in, and hence had been made by an +Indian. Its great size too indicated to him that it might be that of +Tandakora, a belief becoming with him almost a certainty as he found +other and similar traces farther on. He followed them about a mile, +reaching stony ground where they vanished altogether, and then he +turned to the west. + +The fact that Tandakora was so near, and might approach again was not +unpleasant to him, as Tayoga, having all the soul of a warrior, was +anxious to match himself with the gigantic Ojibway, and since the war +was now active on the border it seemed that the opportunity might +come. But his attention must be occupied with something else for the +present, and he went toward the west for a full hour through the +primeval forest. Now and then he stopped to listen, even lying down +and putting his ear to the ground, but the sounds he heard, although +varied and many, were natural to the wild. + +He knew them all. The steady tapping was a woodpecker at work upon an +old tree. The faint musical note was another little gray bird singing +the delight of his soul as he perched himself upon a twig; the light +shuffling noise was the tread of a bear hunting succulent nuts; a +caw-caw so distant that it was like an echo was the voice of a +circling crow, and the tiny trickling noise that only the keenest ear +could have heard was made by a brook a yard wide taking a terrific +plunge over a precipice six inches high. The rustling, one great +blended note, universal but soft, was that of the leaves moving in +harmony before the gentle wind. + +The young Onondaga was sure that the forest held no alien +presence. The traces of Tandakora were hours old, and he must now be +many miles away with his band, and, such being the case, it was fit +time for him to choose a camp and call his friends. + +It pleased Tayoga, zealous of mind, to do all the work before the +others came, and, treading so lightly and delicately, that he would +not have alarmed a rabbit in the bush, he gathered together dead +sticks and heaped them in a little sunken place, clear of undergrowth. +Flint and steel soon lighted a fire, and then he sent forth his call, +the long penetrating whine of the wolf. The reply came from the north, +and, building his fire a little higher, he awaited the result, without +anxiety. + +The dry wood crackled and many little flames red or yellow arose. +Tayoga heaped dead leaves against the trunk of a tree and sat down +comfortably, his shoulders and back resting against the bark. Presently +he heard the first alien sound in the forest, a light tread approaching +That he knew was Willet, and then he heard the second tread, even +lighter than the first, and he knew that it was the footstep of Robert. + + +"All ready! It's like you, Tayoga," said Willet, as he entered the +open space. "Here you are, with the house built and the fire burning +on the hearth!" + +"I lighted the fire," said Tayoga, rising, "but Manitou made the +hearth, and built the house which is worthy of Him." + +He looked with admiration at the magnificent trees spreading away on +every side, and the foliage in its most splendid, new luxuriant green. + +"It is worthy, Tayoga," said Robert, whose soul was like that of the +Onondaga, "and it takes Manitou himself a century or more to grow +trees like these." + +"Some of them, I dare say, are three or four hundred years old or +more," said Willet, "and the forest goes west, so I've heard the +Indians say, a matter of near two thousand miles. It's pleasant to +know that if all the axes in the world were at work it couldn't all be +cut down in our time or in the time of our children." + +Tayoga's heart swelled with indignation at the idea that the forest +might be destroyed, but he said nothing, as he knew that Willet and +Robert shared his feeling. + +"Here's your rifle, Tayoga," said the hunter; "I suppose you didn't +have an occasion to use your bow and arrows." + +"No, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga, "but I might have had the +chance had I come earlier." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"I saw on the grass a human trace. It was made by a foot clothed in a +moccasin, a large foot, a very large foot, the foot of a man whom we +all have cause to hate." + +"I take it you're speaking of Tandakora, the Ojibway." + +"None other. I cannot be mistaken. But the trail was cold. He and his +warriors have gone north. They may be thirty, forty miles from here." + +"Likely enough, Tayoga. They're on their way to join the force the +French are sending to the fort at the junction of the Monongahela and +the Alleghany. Perhaps St. Luc--and there isn't a cleverer officer in +this continent--is with them. I tell you, Tayoga, and you too, Robert, +I don't like it! That young Washington ought to have been sent earlier +into the Ohio country, and they should have given him a much larger +force. We're sluggards and all our governors are sluggards, except +maybe Shirley of Massachusetts. With the war just blazing up the +French are already in possession, and we're to drive 'em out, which +doubles our task. It was a great victory for us to keep the +Hodenosaunee on our side, or, in the main, neutral, but it's going to +be uphill work for us to win. The young French leaders are genuine +kings of the wilderness. You know that, Robert, as well as I do." + +"Yes," said the youth. "I know they're the men whom the English +colonies have good cause to fear." + +When he spoke he was thinking of St. Luc, as he had last seen him in +the vale of Onondaga, defeated in the appeal to the fifty sachems, but +gallant, well bred, showing nothing of chagrin, and sure to be a +formidable foe on the field of battle. He was an enemy of whom one +could be proud, and Robert felt an actual wish to see him again, even +though in opposing ranks. + +"We may come into contact with some of 'em," said the hunter. "The +French are using all their influence over the Indians, and are +directing their movements. I know that St. Luc, Jumonville, Beaujeu, +Dumas, De Villiers, De Courcelles and all their best men are in the +forest. It's likely that Tandakora, fierce and wild as he is, is +acting under the direction of some Frenchman. St. Luc could control +him." + +Robert thought it highly probable that the chevalier was in truth with +the Indians on the border, either leading some daring band or +gathering the warriors to the banner of France. His influence with +them would be great, as he understood their ways, adapted himself to +them and showed in battle a skill and daring that always make a +powerful appeal to the savage heart. The youth had matched himself +against St. Luc in the test of words in the vale of Onondaga, and now +he felt that he must match himself anew, but in the test of forest +war. + +Tayoga having lighted the fire, the hunter cooked the food over it, +while the two youths reposed calmly. Robert watched Willet with +interest, and he was impressed for the thousandth time by his great +strength, and the lightness of his movements. When he was younger, the +disparity in years had made him think of Willet as an old man, but he +saw now that he was only in early middle age. There was not a gray +hair on his head, and his face was free from wrinkles. + +An extraordinarily vivid memory of that night in Quebec when the +hunter had faced Boucher, the bully and bravo, reputed the best +swordsman of France, leaped up in Robert's mind. He had found no time +to think of Willet's past recently and he realized now that he knew +little about it. The origin of that hunter was as obscure as his +own. But the story of the past and its mysteries must wait. The +present was so great and overwhelming that it blotted out everything +else. + +"The venison and the bacon are ready," said Willet, "and you two lads +can fall on. You're not what I'd call epicures, but I've never known +your appetites to fail." + +"Nor will they," said Robert, as he and Tayoga helped +themselves. "What's the news from Britain, Dave? You must have heard a +lot when you were in Albany." + +"It's vague, Robert, vague. The English are slow, just as we Americans +are, too. They're going to send out troops, but the French have +dispatched a fleet and regiments already. The fact that our colonies +are so much larger than theirs is perhaps an advantage to them, as it +gives them a bigger target to aim at, and our people who are trying to +till their farms, will be struck down by their Indians from ambush." + +"And you see now what a bulwark the great League of the Hodenosaunee +is to the English," said Tayoga. + +"A fact that I've always foreseen," said Willet warmly. "Nobody knows +better than I do the power of the Six Nations, and nobody has ever +been readier to admit it." + +"I know, Great Bear. You have always been our true friend. If all the +white men were like you no trouble would ever arise between them and +the Hodenosaunee." + +Robert finished his food and resumed a comfortable place against a +tree. Willet put out the fire and he and Tayoga sat down in like +fashion. Their trees were close together, but they did not talk +now. Each was absorbed in his own thoughts and Robert had much to +think about. + +The war was going slowly. He had believed a great flare would come at +once and that everybody would soon be in the thick of action, but +since young Washington had been defeated by Coulon de Villiers at the +Great Meadows the British Colonies had spent much time debating and +pulling in different directions. The union for which his eager soul +craved did not come, and the shadow of the French power in the north, +reinforced by innumerable savages, hung heavy and black over the +land. Every runner brought news of French activities. Rumor painted as +impregnable the fort they had built where two rivers uniting formed +the Ohio, and it was certain that many bands already ranged down in +the regions the English called their own. + +Spring had lingered far into summer where they were, and the foliage +was not yet touched by heat. All the forest was in deep and heavy +green, hiding every object a hundred yards away, but from their +opening they saw a blue and speckless sky, which the three by and by +watched attentively, and with the same motive. Before the dark had +begun to come in the east they saw a thin dark line drawn slowly +across it, the trail of smoke. It might not have been noticed by eyes +less keen, but they understood at once that it was a signal. Robert +noted its drifting progress across the heavens, and then he said to +Willet: + +"How far from here do you calculate the base of that smoke is, Dave?" + +"A long distance, Robert. Several miles maybe. The fire, I've no +doubt, was kindled on top of a hill. It may be French speaking to +Indians, or Indians talking to Indians." + +"And you don't think it's people of ours?" + +"I'm sure it isn't. We've no hunters or runners in these parts, except +ourselves." + +"And it's not Tandakora," said the Onondaga. "He must be much farther +away." + +"But the signal may be intended for him," said the hunter. "It may be +carried to him by relays of smoke. I wish I could read that trail +across the sky." + +"It's thinning out fast," said Robert. "You can hardly see it! and now +it's gone entirely!" + +But the hunter continued to look thoughtfully at the sky, where the +smoke had been. He never underrated the activity of the French, and he +believed that a movement of importance, something the nature of which +they should discover was at hand. + +"Lads," he said, "I expected an easy night of good sleep for all three +of us, but I'm thinking instead that we'd better take to the trail, +and travel toward the place where that smoke was started." + +"It's what scouts would do," said Tayoga tersely. + +"And such we claim to be," said Robert. + +As the sun began to sink they saw far in the west another smoke, that +would have been invisible had it not been outlined against a fiery red +sky, across which it lay like a dark thread. It was gone in a few +moments, and then the dusk began to come. + +"An answer to the first signal," said Tayoga. "It is very likely that +a strong force is gathering. Perhaps Tandakora has come back and is +planning a blow." + +"It can't be possible that they're aiming it at us," said the hunter, +thoughtfully. "They don't know of our presence here, and if they did +we've too small a party for such big preparations." + +"Perhaps a troop of Pennsylvanians are marching westward," said +Tayoga, "and the French and their allies are laying a trap for them." + +"Then," said Robert, "there is but one thing for us to do. We must +warn our friends and save them from the snare." + +"Of course," said Willet, "but we don't know where they are, and +meanwhile we'd better wait an hour or two. Perhaps something will +happen that will help us to locate them." + +Robert and Tayoga nodded and the three remained silent while the night +came. The blazing red in the west faded rapidly and darkness swept +down over the wilderness. The three, each leaning against his tree, +did not move but kept their rifles across their knees ready at once +for possible use. Tayoga had fastened his bow over his back by the +side of his quiver, and their packs were adjusted also. + +Robert was anxious not so much for himself as for the unknown others +who were marching through the wilderness, and for whom the French and +Indians were laying an ambush. It had been put forward first as a +suggestion, but it quickly became a conviction with him, and he felt +that his comrades and he must act as if it were a certainty. But no +sound that would tell them which way to go came out of this black +forest, and they remained silent, waiting for the word. + +The night thickened and they were still uncertain what to do. Robert +made a silent prayer to the God of the white man, the Manitou of the +red man, for a sign, but none came, and infected strongly as he was +with the Indian philosophy and religion, he felt that it must be due +to some lack of virtue in himself. He searched his memory, but he +could not discover in what particular he had erred, and he was forced +to continue his anxious waiting, until the stars should choose to +fight for him. + +Tayoga too was troubled, his mind in its own way being as active as +Robert's. He knew all the spirits of earth, air and water were abroad, +but he hoped at least one of them would look upon him with favor, and +give him a warning. He sought Tododaho's star in the heavens, but the +clouds were too thick, and, eye failing, he relied upon his ear for +the signal which he and his young white comrade sought so earnestly. + +If Tayoga had erred either in omission or commission then the spirits +that hovered about him forgave him, as when the night was thickest +they gave the sign. It was but the faint fall of a foot, and, at +first, he thought a bear or a deer had made it, but at the fourth or +fifth fall he knew that it was a human footstep and he whispered to +his comrades: + +"Some one comes!" + +As if by preconcerted signal the three arose and crept silently into +the dense underbrush, where they crouched, their rifles thrust +forward. + +"It is but one man and he walks directly toward us," whispered Tayoga. + +"I hear him now," said Robert. "He is wearing moccasins, as his step +is too light for boots." + +"Which means that he's a rover like ourselves," said Willet. "Now he's +stopped. There isn't a sound. The man, whoever he is, has taken alarm, +or at least he's decided that it's best for him to be more +watchful. Perhaps he's caught a whiff from the ashes of our fire. He's +white or he wouldn't be here alone, and he's used to the forest, or he +wouldn't have suspected a presence from so little." + +"The Great Bear thinks clearly," said Tayoga. "It is surely a white +man and some great scout or hunter. He moved a little now to the +right, because I heard his buckskin brush lightly against a bush. I +think Great Bear is right about the fire. The wind has brought the +ashes from it to his nostrils, and he will lie in the bush long before +moving." + +"Which doesn't suit our plans at all," said Willet. "There's a +chance, just a chance, that I may know who he is. White men of the +kind to go scouting through the wilderness are not so plenty on the +border that one has to make many guesses. You lads move away a little +so you won't be in line if a shot comes, and I'll give a signal." + +Robert and Tayoga crept to other points in the brush, and the hunter +uttered a whistle, low but very clear and musical. In a moment or two, +a like answer came from a place about a hundred yards away, and Willet +rising, advanced without hesitation. Robert and Tayoga followed +promptly, and a tall figure, emerging from the darkness, came forward +to meet them. + +The stranger was a man of middle years, and of a singularly wild +appearance. His eyes roved continually, and were full of suspicion, +and of a sort of smoldering anger, as if he had a grievance against +all the world. His hair was long and tangled, his face brown with sun +and storm, and his dress more Indian than white. He was heavily armed, +and, whether seen in the dusk or in the light, his whole aspect was +formidable and dangerous. But Willet continued to advance without +hesitation. + +"Captain Jack," he said extending his hand. "We were not looking for +you tonight, but no man could be more welcome. These are young friends +of mine, brave warriors both, the white and the red, Robert Lennox, +who is almost a son to me, and Tayoga, the Onondaga, to whom I feel +nearly like a father too." + +Now Robert knew him, and he felt a thrill of surprise, and of the most +intense curiosity. Who along the whole border had not heard of Captain +Jack, known also as the Black Hunter, the Black Rifle and by many +other names? The tale had been told in every cabin in the woods how +returning home, he had found his wife and children tomahawked and +scalped, and how he had taken a vow of lifelong vengeance upon the +Indians, a vow most terribly kept. In all the villages in the Ohio +country and along the Great Lakes, the name of Black Rifle was spoken +with awe and terror. No more singular and ominous figure ever crossed +the pages of border story. + +He swept the two youths with questing glances, but they met his gaze +firmly, and while his eye had clouded at first sight of the Onondaga +the threatening look soon passed. + +"Friends of yours are friends of mine, Dave Willet," he said. "I know +you to be a good man and true, and once when I was at Albany I heard +of Robert Lennox, and of the great young warrior, Tayoga, of the clan +of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the +Hodenosaunee." + +The young Onondaga's eyes flashed with pleasure, but he was silent. + +"How does it happen, Willet?" asked Black Rifle, "that we meet here in +the forest at such a time?" + +"We're on our way to the Ohio country to learn something about the +gathering of the French and Indian forces. Just before sundown we saw +smoke signals and we think our enemies are planning to cut off a force +of ours, somewhere here in the forest." + +Black Rifle laughed, but it was not a pleasant laugh. It had in it a +quality that made Robert shudder. + +"Your guesses are good, Dave," said Black Rifle. "About fifty men of +the Pennsylvania militia are in camp on the banks of a little creek +two miles from here. They have been sent out to guard the farthest +settlements. Think of that, Dave! They're to be a guard against the +French and Indians!" + +His face contracted into a wry smile, and Robert understood his +feeling of derision for the militia. + +"As I told you, they're in camp," continued Black Rifle. "They built a +fire there to cook their supper, and to show the French and Indians +where they are, lest they miss 'em in the darkness. They don't know +what part of the country they're in, but they're sure it's a long +distance west of Philadelphia, and if the Indians will only tell 'em +when they're coming they'll be ready for 'em. Oh, they're brave +enough! They'll probably all die with their faces to the enemy." + +He spoke with grim irony and Robert shuddered. He knew how helpless +men from the older parts of the country were in the depths of the +wilderness, and he was sure that the net was already being drawn about +the Pennsylvanians. + +"Are the French here too, Black Rifle?" asked Willet. + +The strange man pointed toward the north. + +"A band led by a Frenchman is there," he replied. "He is the most +skillful of all their men in the forest, the one whom they call +St. Luc." + +"I thought so!" exclaimed Robert. "I believed all the while he would +be here. I've no doubt he will direct the ambush." + +"We must warn this troop," said Willet, "and save 'em if they will let +us. You agree with me, don't you, Tayoga?" + +"The Great Bear is right." + +"And you'll back me up, of course, Robert. Will you help us too, Black +Rifle?" + +The singular man smiled again, but his smile was not like that of +anybody else. It was sinister and full of menace. It was the smile of +a man who rejoiced in sanguinary work, and it made Robert think again +of his extraordinary history, around which the border had built so +much of truth and legend. + +"I will help, of course," he replied. "It's my trade. It was my +purpose to warn 'em before I met you, but I feared they would not +listen to me. Now, the words of four may sound more real to 'em than +the words of one." + +"Then lead the way," said Willet. "'Tis not a time to linger." + +Black Rifle, without another word, threw his rifle over his shoulder +and started toward the north, the others falling into Indian file +behind him. A light, pleased smile played over his massive and rugged +features. More than the rest he rejoiced in the prospect of combat. +They did not seek battle and they fought only when they were compelled +to do so, but he, with his whole nature embittered forever by that +massacre of long ago, loved it for its own sake. He had ranged the +border, a torch of fire, for years, and now he foresaw more of the +revenge that he craved incessantly. + +He led without hesitation straight toward the north. All four were +accomplished trailers and the flitting figures were soundless as they +made their swift march through the forest. In a half hour they reached +the crest of a rather high hill and Black Rifle, stopping, pointed +with a long forefinger toward a low and dim light. + +"The camp of the Pennsylvanians," he said with bitter irony. "As I +told you, fearing lest the savages should miss 'em in the forest they +keep their fire burning as a beacon." + +"Don't be too hard on 'em, Black Rifle," said Willet. "Maybe they +come from Philadelphia itself, and city bred men can scarcely be +expected to learn all about the wilderness in a few days." + +"They'll learn, when it's too late, at the muzzles of the French and +Indian rifles," rejoined Black Rifle, abating a little his tone of +savage derision. + +"At least they're likely to be brave men," said Willet, "and now what +do you think will be our best manner of approaching 'em?" + +"We'll walk directly toward their fire, the four of us abreast. They'll +blaze away all fifty of 'em together, as soon as they see us, but the +darkness will spoil their aim, and at least one of us will be left +alive, able to walk, and able to tell 'em of their danger. We don't +know who'll be the lucky man, but we'll see." + +"Come, come, Captain Jack! Give 'em a chance! They may be a more +likely lot than you think. You three wait here and I'll go forward and +announce our coming. I dare say we'll be welcome." + +Willet advanced boldly toward the fire, which he soon saw consisted of +a great bed of coals, surrounded by sleepers. But the figures of men, +pacing back and forth, showed that the watch had not been neglected, +although in the deep forest such sentinels would be but little +protection against the kind of ambush the French and Indians were able +to lay. + +Not caring to come within the circle of light lest he be fired upon, +the hunter whistled, and when he saw that the sentinels were at +attention he whistled again. Then he emerged from the bushes, and +walked boldly toward the fire. + +"Who are you?" a voice demanded sharply, and a young man in a fine +uniform stood up in front of the fire. The hunter's quick and +penetrating look noted that he was tall, built well, and that his face +was frank and open. + +"My name is David Willet," he replied, "and I am sometimes called by +my friends, the Iroquois, the Great Bear. Behind me in the woods are +three comrades, young Robert Lennox, of New York and Albany; Tayoga, a +young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the +great League of the Hodenosaunee, and the famous hunter and border +fighter, of whom everybody has heard, Captain Jack, Black Hunter, or +Black Rifle as he has been called variously." + +"I know the name," replied the young man, "and yours too, Mr. +Willet. My own is Colden, James Colden of Philadelphia, and I am in +command of this troop, sent to guard the farthest settlements against +the French and Indians. Will you call your comrades, Mr. Willet? All +of you are welcome." + +The hunter whistled again, and Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle, +advancing from the forest, came within the area of half light cast by +the glow from the coals, young Captain Colden watching them with the +most intense curiosity as they approached. And well he might feel +surprise. All, even Robert, wore the dress of the wilderness, and +their appearance at such a time was uncommon and striking. Most of the +soldiers had been awakened by the voices, and were sitting up, rubbing +sleepy eyes. Robert saw at once that they were city men, singularly +out of place in the vast forest and the darkness. + +"We welcome you to our camp," said young Captain Colden, with dignity. +"If you are hungry we have food, and if you are without blankets we +can furnish them to you." + +Willet and Tayoga looked at Robert and he knew they expected him to +fill his usual role of spokesman. The words rushed to his lips, but +they were held there by embarrassment. The soldiers who had been +awakened were already going back to sleep. Captain Colden sat down on +a log and waited for them to state their wants. Then Robert spoke, +knowing they could not afford to delay. + +"We thank you, Captain Colden," he said, "for the offer of supper and +bed, but I must say to you, sir, that it's no time for either." + +"I don't take your meaning, Mr. Lennox." + +"Tayoga, Mr. Willet and Black Rifle, are the best scouts in the +wilderness, and before sunset they saw smoke on the horizon. Then they +saw smoke answering smoke, and Black Rifle has seen more. The French +and Indians, sir, are in the forest, and they're led, too, by +Frenchmen." + +Young James Colden was a brave man, and his eyes glittered. + +"We ask nothing better than to meet 'em," he said, "At the first +breath of dawn we'll march against 'em, if your friends will only be +so good as to show us the way." + +"It's not a matter of waiting until dawn, nor even of going to meet +'em. They'll bring the battle to us. You and your force, Captain +Colden, are surrounded already." + +The young captain stared at Robert, but his eyes were full of +incredulity. Several of the soldiers were standing near, and they too +heard, but the warning found no answer in their minds. Robert looked +around at the men asleep and the others ready to follow them, and, +despite his instinctive liking for Colden, his anger began to rise. + +"I said that you were surrounded," he repeated sharply, "and it's no +time, Captain Colden, for unbelief! Mr. Willet, Tayoga and I saw the +signals of the enemy, but Black Rifle here has looked upon the +warriors themselves. They're led too by the French, and the best of +all the French forest captains, St. Luc, is undoubtedly with them off +there." + +He waved his hand toward the north, and a little of the high color +left Colden's face. The youth's manner was so earnest and his words +were spoken with so much power of conviction that they could not fail +to impress. + +"You really mean that the French and Indians are here, that they're +planning to attack us tonight?" said the Philadelphian. + +"Beyond a doubt and we must be prepared to meet them." + +Colden took a few steps back and forth, and then, like the brave young +man he was, he swallowed his pride. + +"I confess that I don't know much of the forest, nor do my men," he +said, "and so I shall have to ask you four to help me." + +"We'll do it gladly," said Robert. "What do you propose, Dave?" + +"I think we'd better draw off some distance from the fire," replied +the hunter. "To the right there is a low hill, covered with thick +brush, and old logs thrown down by an ancient storm. It's the very +place." + +"Then," said Captain Colden briskly, "we'll occupy it inside of five +minutes. Up, men, up!" + +The sleepers were awakened rapidly, and, although they were awkward +and made much more noise than was necessary, they obeyed their +captain's sharp order, and marched away with all their arms and stores +to the thicket on the hill, where, as Willet had predicted, they found +also a network of fallen trees, affording a fine shelter and +defense. Here they crouched and Willet enjoined upon them the +necessity of silence. + +"Sir," said young Captain Colden, again putting down his pride, "I beg +to thank you and your comrades." + +"You don't owe us any thanks. It's just what we ought to have done," +said Willet lightly. "The wilderness often turns a false face to those +who are not used to it, and if we hadn't warned you we'd have deserved +shooting." + +The faint whine of a wolf came from a point far in the north. + +"It's one of their signals," said Willet. "They'll attack inside of an +hour." + +Then they relapsed into silence and waited, every heart beating hard. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE AMBUSH + + +Robert now had much experience of Indian attack and forest warfare, +but it always made a tremendous impression upon his vivid and uncommon +imagination. The great pulses in his throat and temples leaped, and +his ear became so keen that he seemed to himself to hear the fall of +the leaf in the forest. It was this acute sharpening of the senses, +the painting of pictures before him, that gave him the gift of golden +speech that the Indians had first noticed in him. He saw and heard +much that others could neither hear nor see, and the words to describe +it were always ready to pour forth. + +Willet and Tayoga were crouched near him, their rifles thrust forward +a little, and just beyond them was Captain Colden who had drawn a +small sword, more as an evidence of command than as a weapon. The +men, city bred, were silent, but the faces of some of them still +expressed amazement and incredulity. Robert's quick and powerful +imagination instantly projected itself into their minds, and he saw as +they saw. To them the cry of a wolf was the cry of a real wolf, the +forest was dark, lonely and uncomfortable, but it was empty of any +foe, and the four who had come to them were merely trying to create a +sense of their own importance. They began to move restlessly, and it +required Captain Colden's whispered but sharp command to still them +again. + +The cry of the wolf, used much by both the Indians and the borderers +as a signal, came now from the east, and after the lapse of a minute +it was repeated from the west. Call and answer were a relief to +Robert, whose faculties were attuned to such a high degree that any +relief to the strain, though it brought the certainty of attack, was +welcome. + +"You're sure those cries were made by our enemies?" said young Colden. + +"Beyond a doubt," replied Willet. "I can tell the difference between +the note and that of a genuine wolf, but then I've spent many years in +the wilderness, and I had to learn these things in order to live. +They'll send forward scouts, and they'll expect to find you and your +men around the fire, most of you asleep. When they miss you there +they'll try to locate you, and they'll soon trail us to these bushes." + +Captain James Colden had his share of pride, and much faith in +himself, but he had nobility of soul, too. + +"I believe you implicitly, Mr. Willet," he said. "If it had not been +for you and your friends the enemy would have been upon us when we +expected him not at all, and 'tis most likely that all of us would +have been killed and scalped. So, I thank you now, lest I fall in the +battle, and it be too late then to express my gratitude." + +It was a little bit formal, and a little bit youthful, but Willet +accepted the words in the fine spirit in which they were uttered. + +"What we did was no more than we should have done," he replied, "and +you'll pay us back. In such times as these everybody ought to help +everybody else. Caution your soldiers, captain, won't you, not to +make any noise at all. The wolf will howl no more, and I fancy their +scouts are now within two or three hundred yards of the fire. I'm glad +it's turned darker." + +The troop, hidden in the bushes, was now completely silent. The +Philadelphia men, used to contiguous houses and streets, were not +afraid, but they were appalled by their extraordinary position at +night, in the deep brush of an unknown wilderness with a creeping foe +coming down upon them. Many a hand quivered upon the rifle barrel, but +the heart of its owner did not tremble. + +The moonlight was scant and the stars were few. To the city men trees +and bushes melted together in a general blackness, relieved only by a +single point of light where the fire yet smoldered, but Robert, +kneeling by the side of Tayoga, saw with his trained eyes the separate +trunks stretching away like columns, and then far beyond the fire he +thought he caught a glimpse of a red feather raised for a moment above +the undergrowth. + +"Did you see!" he whispered to Tayoga. + +"Yes. It was a painted feather in the scalp lock of a Huron," replied +the Onondaga. + +"And where he is others are sure to be." + +"Well spoken, Dagaeoga. They have discovered already that the soldiers +are not by the fire, and now they will search for them." + +"They will lie almost flat on their faces and follow, a little, the +broad trail the city men have left." + +"Doubtless, Dagaeoga." + +Willet had already warned Captain Colden, and the soldiers were ready. +Tayoga was on Robert's right, and on his left was Black Rifle to whom +his attention was now attracted. The man's eyes were blazing in his +dark face, and his crouched figure was tense like that of a lion about +to spring. Face and attitude alike expressed the most eager +anticipation, and Robert shuddered. The ranger would add more lives to +the toll of his revenge, and yet the youth felt sympathy for him, too. +Then his mind became wholly absorbed in the battle, which obviously +was so close at hand. + +Their position was strong. Just behind them the thickets ended in a +cliff hard to climb, and on the right was an open space that the enemy +could not cross without being seen. Hence the chief danger was in +front and on the left, and most of the men watched those points. + +"I can see the bushes moving about a hundred yards away," whispered +Tayoga. "A warrior is there, but to fire at him would be shooting at +random." + +"Let them begin it. They'll open soon. They'll know by our absence +from the fire that we're looking for 'em." + +"Spoken well, Dagaeoga. You'll be a warrior some day." + +Robert smiled in the dark. Tayoga himself was so great a warrior that +he could preserve his sense of humor upon the eve of a deadly battle. +Robert also saw bushes moving now, but nothing was definite enough for +a shot, and he waited with his fingers on the trigger. + +"The enemy is at hand, Captain Colden," said Willet. "If you will look +very closely at the thicket about one hundred yards directly in front +of us you'll see the leaves shaking." + +"Yes, I can make out some movement there," said Colden. + +"They've discovered, of course, that we've left the fire, and they +know also where we are." + +"Do you think they'll try to rush us?" + +"Not at all. It's not the Indian way, nor is it the way either of the +French, who go with them. They know your men are raw--pardon +me--inexperienced troops, and they'll put a cruel burden upon your +patience. They may wait for hours, and they'll try in every manner to +wear them out, and to provoke them at last into some rash movement. +You'll have to guard most, Captain Colden, against the temper of your +troop. If you'll take advice from one who's a veteran in the woods, +you'd better threaten them with death for disobedience of orders." + +"As I said before, I'm grateful to you for any advice or suggestion, +Mr. Willet. This seems a long way from Philadelphia, and I'll confess +I'm not so very much at home here." + +He crawled among his men, and Willet and Robert heard him threatening +them in fierce whispers, and their replies that they would be cautious +and patient. It was well that Willet had given the advice, as a full +hour passed without any sign from the foe. Troops even more +experienced than the city men might well have concluded it was a false +alarm, and that the forest contained nothing more dangerous than a +bear. There was no sound, and Captain Colden himself asked if the +warriors had not gone away. + +"Not a chance of it," replied Willet. "They think they're certain of a +victory, and they would not dream of retiring." + +"And we have more long waiting in the dark to do?" + +"I warned you. There is no other way to fight such enemies. We must +never make the mistake of undervaluing them." + +Captain Colden sighed. He had a gallant heart, and he and his troop +had made a fine parade through the streets of Philadelphia, before he +started for the frontier, but he had expected to meet the French in +the open, perhaps with a bugle playing, and he would charge at the +head of his men, waving the neat small sword, now buckled to his side. +Instead he lay in a black thicket, awaiting the attack of creeping +savages. Nevertheless, he put down his pride for the third time, and +resolved to trust the four who had come so opportunely to his aid, and +who seemed to be so thoroughly at home in the wilderness. + +Another hour dragged its weary length away, and there was no sound of +anything stirring in the forest. The skies lightened a little as the +moon came out, casting a faint whitish tint over trees and bushes, but +the brave young captain was yet unable to see any trace of the enemy. + +"Do you feel quite sure that we're still besieged?" he whispered to +Willet. + +"Yes, Captain," replied the hunter, "and, as I said, patience is the +commodity we need most. It would be fatal for us to force the action, +but I don't think we have much longer to wait. Since they can't induce +us to take some rash step they're likely to make a movement soon." + +"I see the bushes waving again," said Tayoga. "It is proof that the +warriors are approaching. It would be well for the soldiers to lie +flat for a little while." + +Captain Colden, adhering to his resolution to take the advice of his +new friends, crept along the line, telling the men in sharp whispers +to hug the earth, a command that they obeyed willingly, as the +darkness, the silence and the mysterious nature of the danger had +begun to weigh heavily upon their nerves. + +Robert saw a bead of flame among the bushes, and heard a sharp report. +A bullet cut a bough over his head, and a leaf drifted down upon his +face. The soldiers shifted uneasily and began to thrust their rifles +forward, but again the stern command of the young captain prompted by +the hunter, held them down. + +"'Twas intended merely to draw us," said Willet. "They're sure we're +in this wood, but of course they don't know the exact location of our +men. They're hoping for a glimpse of the bright uniforms, but, if the +men keep very low, they won't get it." + +It was a tremendous trial for young and raw troops, but they managed +to still their nerves, and to remain crouched and motionless. A second +shot was fired soon, and then a third, but like the first they were +trial bullets and both went high. Black Rifle grew impatient. The +memory of his murdered family began to press upon him once more. The +night was black, but now it looked red to him. Lying almost flat, he +slowly pulled himself forward like a great wild beast, stalking its +prey. Colden looked at him, and then at Willet, who nodded. + +"Don't try to stop him," whispered the hunter, "because he'll go +anyhow. Besides, it's time for us to reply to their shots." + +The dark form, moving forward without noise, had a singular +fascination for Robert. His imagination, which colored and magnified +everything, made Black Rifle sinister and supernatural. The complete +absence of sound, as he advanced, heightened the effect. Not a leaf +nor a blade of grass rustled. Presently he stopped and Robert saw the +black muzzle of his rifle shoot forward. A stream of flame leaped +forth, and then the man quickly slid into a new position. + +A fierce shout came from the opposing thicket, and a half dozen shots +were fired. Bullets again cut twigs and leaves over Robert's head, but +all of them went too high. + +"Do you think Black Rifle hit his mark?" whispered Robert to Tayoga. + +"It is likely," replied the Onondaga, "but we may never know. I think +it would be well, Dagaeoga, for you and me to go toward the left. They +may try to creep around our flank, and we must meet them there." + +Willet and Colden approved of the plan, and a half dozen of the best +soldiers went with them, the movement proving to be wise, as within +five minutes a scattering fire was opened upon that point. The +soldiers fired two rash shots, merely aiming at the reports and the +general blackness, but Robert and Tayoga quickly reduced them to +control, insisting that they wait until they saw a foe, before pulling +trigger again. Then they sank back among the bushes and remained quite +still. + +Tayoga suddenly drew a deep and very long breath, which with him was +equivalent to an exclamation. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked Robert. + +"I saw a bit of a uniform, and I caught just a glimpse of a white +face." + +"An officer. Then we were right in our surmise that the French are +here, leading the warriors." + +"It was but a glimpse, but it showed the curve of his jaw and chin, +and I knew him. He is one who is beginning to be important in your +life, Dagaeoga." + +"St. Luc." + +"None other. I could not be mistaken. He is leading the attack upon +us. Perhaps Tandakora is with him. The Frenchman does not like the +Ojibway, but war makes strange comrades. That was close!" + +A bullet whistled directly between them, and Tayoga, kneeling, fired +in return. There was no doubt about his aim, as a warrior uttered the +death cry, and a fierce shout of rage from a dozen throats followed. +Robert, imaginative, ready to flame up in a moment, exulted, not +because a warrior had fallen, but because the flank attack upon his +own people had been stopped in the beginning. St. Luc himself would +have admitted that the Americans, or the English, as he would have +called them, were acting wisely. The soldiers, stirred by the +successful shot, showed again a great desire to fire at the black +woods, but Robert and the Onondaga still kept them down. + +A crackling fire arose behind them, showing that the main force had +engaged, and now and then the warriors uttered defiant cries. But +Robert had enough power of will to watch in front, sure that Willet +and Black Rifle were sufficient to guide the central defense. He +observed intently the segment of the circle in front of them, and he +wondered if St. Luc would appear there again, but he concluded that he +would not, since the failure of the attempted surprise at that point +would be likely to send him back to the main force. + +"Do you think they'll go away and concentrate in front?" he asked +Tayoga. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "They still think perhaps that they have +only the soldiers from the city to meet, and they may attempt a rush." + +Robert crept from soldier to soldier, cautioning every one to take +shelter, and to have his rifle ready, and they, being good men, though +without experience, obeyed the one who so obviously knew what he was +doing. Meantime the combat behind them proceeded with vigor, the shots +crashing in volleys, accompanied by shouts, and once by the cry of a +stricken soldier. It was evident that St. Luc was now pushing the +battle, and Robert was quite sure the attack on the flank would soon +come again. + +They did not wait much longer. The warriors suddenly leaped from the +undergrowth and rushed straight toward them, a white man now in front. +The light was sufficient for Robert to see that the leader was not +St. Luc, and then without hesitation he raised his rifle and fired. +The man fell, Tayoga stopped the rush of a warrior, and the bullets of +the soldiers wounded others. But their white leader was gone, and +Indians have little love for an attack upon a sheltered enemy. So the +charge broke, before it was half way to the defenders, and the savages +vanished in the thickets. + +The soldiers began to exult, but Robert bade them reload as fast as +possible, and keep well under cover. The warriors from new points +would fire at every exposed head, and they could not afford to relax +their caution for an instant. + +But it was a difficult task for the youthful veterans of the forest to +keep the older but inexperienced men from the city under cover. They +had an almost overpowering desire to see the Indians who were shooting +at them, and against whom they were sending their bullets. In spite of +every command and entreaty a man would raise his head now and then, +and one, as he did so, received a bullet between the eyes, falling +back quietly, dead before he touched the ground. + +"A brave lad has been lost," whispered Tayoga to Robert, "but he has +been an involuntary example to the rest." + +The Onondaga spoke in his precise school English, but he knew what he +was saying, as the soldiers now became much more cautious, and +controlled their impulse to raise up for a look, after every shot. +Another man was wounded, but the hurt was not serious and he went on +with his firing. Robert, seeing that the line on the flank could be +held without great difficulty, left Tayoga in command, and crept back +to the main force, where the bullets were coming much faster. + +Two of the soldiers in the center had been slain, and three had been +wounded, but Captain Colden had not given ground. He was sitting +behind a rocky outcrop and at the suggestion of Willet was giving +orders to his men. Oppressed at first by the ambush and weight of +responsibility he was exulting now in their ability to check the +savage onset. Robert was quite willing to play a little to his pride +and he said in the formal military manner: + +"I wish to report, sir, that all is going well on the southern flank. +One of our men has been killed, but we have made it impossible for the +enemy to advance there." + +"Thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the young captain with dignity. "We have +also had some success here, due chiefly to the good advice of +Mr. Willet, and the prowess and sharpshooting of the extraordinary man +whom you call Black Rifle. See him now!" + +He indicated a dark figure a little distance ahead, behind a clump of +bushes, and, as Robert looked, a jet of fire leaped from the muzzle of +the man's rifle, followed almost immediately by a cry in the forest. + +"I think he has slain more of our enemies than the rest of us +combined," said Captain Colden. + +Robert shuddered a little, but those who lived on the border became +used to strange things. The constant struggle for existence hardened +the nerves, and terrible scenes did not dwell long in the mind. He +bent forward for a better look, and a bullet cut the hair upon his +forehead. He started back, feeling as if he had been seared by +lightning and Willet looked at him anxiously. + +"The lead burned as it passed," the lad said, "but the skin is not +broken. I was guilty of the same rashness, for which I have been +lecturing the men on the flank." + +"I caught a glimpse of the fellow who fired the shot," said Willet. "I +think it was the Canadian, Dubois, whom we saw with St. Luc." + +"Tayoga saw St. Luc himself on the flank," said Robert, "and so there +is no doubt that he is leading the attack. The fact makes it certain +that it will be carried on with persistence." + +"We shall be here, still besieged, when day comes," said the hunter. +"It's lucky that the cliff protects us on one side." + +As if to disprove his assertion, all the firing stopped suddenly, and +for a long time the forest was silent. Fortunately they had water in +their canteens, and they were able to soothe the thirst of the wounded +men. They talked also of victory, and, knowing that it was only two or +three hours until dawn, Captain Colden's spirits rose to great +heights. He was sure now that the warriors, defeated, had gone away. +This Frenchman, St. Luc, of whom they talked, might be a great +partisan leader, but he would know when the price he was paying became +too high, and would draw off. + +The men believed their captain, and, despite the earnest protest of +the foresters, began to stir in the bushes shortly before dawn. A +rifle shot came from the opposing thickets and one of them would stir +no more. Captain Colden, appalled, was all remorse. He took the death +of the man directly to himself, and told Willet with emotion that all +advice of his would now be taken at once. + +"Let the men lie as close as they can," said the hunter. "The day will +soon be here." + +Robert found shelter behind the trunk of a huge oak, and crouched +there, his nerves relaxing. He did not believe any further movement of +the enemy would come now. As the great tension passed for a time he +was conscious of an immense weariness. The strain upon all the +physical senses and upon the mind as well made him weak. It was a +luxury merely to sit there with his back against the bark and rest. +Near him he heard the soldiers moving softly, and now and then a +wounded man asking for water. A light breeze had sprung up, and it had +upon his face the freshness of the dawn. He wondered what the day +would bring. The light that came with it would be cheerful and +uplifting, but it would disclose their covert, at least in part, and +St. Luc might lead both French and Indians in one great rush. + +"Better eat a little," said Tayoga, who had returned to the center. +"Remember that we have plenty of food in our knapsacks, nor are our +canteens empty." + +"I had forgotten it," said Robert, and he ate and drank sparingly. The +breeze continued to freshen, and in the east the dawn broke, gray, +turning to silver, and then to red and gold. The forest soon stood +out, an infinite tracery in the dazzling light, and then a white fleck +appeared against the wall of green. + +"A flag of truce!" exclaimed Captain Colden. "What can they want to +say to us?" + +"Let the bearer of the flag appear first," suggested Willet, "and then +we'll talk with 'em." + +The figure of a man holding up a white handkerchief appeared and it +was St. Luc himself, as neat and irreproachable as if he were +attending a ball in the Intendant's palace at Quebec. Robert knew that +he must have been active in the battle all through the night, but he +showed no signs of it. He wore a fine close-fitting uniform of dark +blue, and the handkerchief of lace was held aloft on the point of a +small sword, the golden hilt of which glittered in the morning +sunlight. He was a strange figure in the forest, but a most gallant +one, and to Robert's eyes a chevalier without fear and without +reproach. + +"I know that you speak good French, Mr. Lennox," said Captain +Colden. "Will you go forward and meet the Frenchman? You will perhaps +know what to say to him, and, if not, you can refer to Mr. Willet and +myself." + +"I will do my best, sir," said Robert, glad of the chance to meet +St. Luc face to face again. He did not know why his heart leaped so +every time he saw the chevalier, but his friendship for him was +undeniable. It seemed too that St. Luc liked him, and Robert felt +sure that whatever hostility his official enemy felt for the English +cause there was none for him personally. + +Unconsciously he began to arrange his own attire of forest green, +beautifully dyed and decorated deerskin, that he might not look less +neat than the man whom he was going to meet. St. Luc was standing +under the wide boughs of an oak, his gold hilted rapier returned to +its sheath and his white lace handkerchief to its pocket. The smile of +welcome upon his face as he saw the herald was genuine. + +"I salute you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "and wish you a very good +morning. I learned that you were in the force besieged by us, and it's +a pleasure to see that you've escaped unhurt. When last we met the +honors were yours. You fairly defeated me at the word play in the vale +of Onondaga, but you will admit that the savage, Tandakora, played +into your hands most opportunely. You will admit also that word play +is not sword play, and that in the appeal to the sword we have the +advantage of you." + +"It may seem so to one who sees with your eyes and from your +position," said Robert, "but being myself I'm compelled to see with my +own eyes and from our side. I wish to say first, however, Chevalier de +St. Luc, that since you have wished me a very good morning I even wish +you a better." + +St. Luc laughed gayly. + +"You and I will never be enemies. It would be against nature," he +said. + +"No, we'll never be enemies, but why is it against nature?" + +"Perhaps I was not happy in my phrase. We like each other too well, +and--in a way--our temperaments resemble too much to engender a mutual +hate. But we'll to business. Mine's a mission of mercy. I come to +receive the surrender of your friends and yourself, since continued +resistance to us will be vain!" + +Robert smiled. His gift of golden speech was again making its presence +felt. He had matched himself against St. Luc before the great League +of the Hodenosaunee in the vale of Onondaga, and they had spoken where +all might hear. Now they two alone could hear, but he felt that the +test was the same in kind. He knew that his friends in the thickets +behind him were watching, and he was equally sure that French and +savages in the thickets before him were watching too. He had no doubt +the baleful eyes of Tandakora were glaring at him at that very moment, +and that the fingers of the Ojibway were eager to grasp his scalp. The +idea, singularly enough, caused him amusement, because his imagination, +vivid as usual, leaped far ahead, and he foresaw that his hair would +never become a trophy for Tandakora. + +"You smile, Mr. Lennox," said St. Luc. "Do you find my words so +amusing?" + +"Not amusing, chevalier! Oh, no! And if, in truth, I found them so I +would not be so impolite as to smile. But there is a satisfaction in +knowing that your official enemy has underrated the strength of your +position. That is why my eyes expressed content--I would scarcely call +it a smile." + +"I see once more that you're a master of words, Mr. Lennox. You play +with them as the wind sports among the leaves." + +"But I don't speak in jest, Monsieur de St. Luc. I'm not in command +here. I'm merely a spokesman a herald or a messenger, in whichever way +you should choose to define me. Captain James Colden, a gallant young +officer of Philadelphia, is our leader, but, in this instance, I don't +feel the need of consulting him. I know that your offer is kindly, +that it comes from a generous soul, but however much it may disappoint +you I must decline it. Our resistance in the night has been quite +successful, we have inflicted upon you much more damage than you have +inflicted upon us, and I've no doubt the day will witness a battle +continued in the same proportion." + +St. Luc threw back his head and laughed, not loud, but gayly and with +unction. Robert reddened, but he could not take offense, as he saw +that none was meant. + +"I no longer wonder at my defeat by you in the vale of Onondaga," said +the chevalier, "since you're not merely a master of words, you're a +master-artist. I've no doubt if I listen to you you'll persuade me +it's not you but we who are besieged, and it would be wise for us to +yield to you without further ado." + +"Perhaps you're not so very far wrong," said Robert, recovering his +assurance, which was nearly always great. "I'm sure Captain Colden +would receive your surrender and treat you well." + +The eyes of the two met and twinkled. + +"Tandakora is with us," said St. Luc, "and I've a notion he wouldn't +relish it. Perhaps he distrusts the mercy he would receive at the +hands of your Onondaga, Tayoga. And at this point in our dialogue, +Mr. Lennox, I want to apologize to you again, for the actions of the +Ojibway before the war really began. I couldn't prevent them, but, +since there is genuine war, he is our ally, and I must accord to him +all the dignities and honors appertaining to his position." + +"You're rather deft with words yourself, Monsieur de St. Luc. Once, at +New York, I saw a juggler with balls who could keep five in the air at +the same time, and in some dim and remote way you make me think of +him. You'll pardon the illustration, chevalier, because I really mean +it as a compliment." + +"I pardon gladly enough, because I see your intentions are good. We +both play with words, perhaps because the exercise tickles our fancy, +but to return to the true spirit and essence of things, I warn you +that it would be wise to surrender. My force is very much greater than +Captain Colden's, and has him hemmed in. If my Indian allies suffer +too much in the attack it will be difficult to restrain them. I'm not +stating this as a threat--you know me too well for that--but to make +the facts plain, and to avoid something that I should regret as much +as you." + +"I don't think it necessary to consult Captain Colden, and without +doing so I decline your offer. We have food to eat, water to drink +and bullets to shoot, and if you care to take us you must come and do +so." + +"And that is the final answer? You're quite sure you don't wish to +consult your superior officer, Captain Colden?" + +"Absolutely sure. It would waste the time of all of us." + +"Then it seems there is nothing more to say, and to use your own +fanciful way of putting it, we must go back from the play of words to +the play of swords." + +"I see no alternative." + +"And yet I hope that you will survive the combat, Mr. Lennox." + +"I've the same hope for you, Chevalier de St. Luc." + +Each meant it, and, in the same high manner of the day, they saluted +and withdrew. Robert, as he walked back to the thickets in which the +defenders lay, felt that Indian eyes were upon him, and that perhaps +an Indian bullet would speed toward him, despite St. Luc. Tandakora +and the savages around him could not always be controlled by their +French allies, as was to be shown too often in this war. His sensitive +mind once more turned fancy into reality and the hair on his head +lifted a little, but pride would not let him hasten his steps. + +No gun was fired, and, with an immense relief, he sank down behind a +fallen log, and by the side of Colden and Willet. + +"What did the Frenchman want?" asked the young captain. + +"Our instant and unconditional surrender. Knowing how you felt about +it, I gave him your refusal at once." + +"Well done, Mr. Lennox." + +"He said that in case of a rush and heavy loss by his Indians he +perhaps would not be able to control them in the moment of victory, +which doubtless is true." + +"They will know no moment of victory. We can hold them off." + +"Where is Tayoga?" asked Robert of Willet. + +The hunter pointed westward. + +"Why, the cliff shuts off the way in that direction!" said Robert. + +"Not to a good climber." + +"Do you mean, then, that Tayoga is gone?" + +"I saw him go. He went while you were talking with St. Luc." + +"Why should Tayoga leave us?" + +"He saw another smoke against the sky. It was but a faint trace. Only +an extremely keen eye would have noticed it, and having much natural +curiosity, Tayoga is now on his way to see who built the fire that +made the smoke." + +"And it may have been made by friends." + +"That's our hope." + +Robert drew a long breath and looked toward the west. The sky was now +clear there, but he knew that Tayoga could not have made any mistake. +Then, his heart high once more, he settled himself down to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE SIGNAL + + +The day advanced, brilliant with sunshine, and the forces of St. Luc +were quiet. For a long time, not a shot was fired, and it seemed to +the besieged that the forest was empty of human beings save themselves. +Robert did not believe the French leader would attempt a long siege, +since an engagement could not be conducted in that manner in the +forest, where a result of some kind must be reached soon. Yet it was +impossible to tell what plan St. Luc had in mind, and they must wait +until Tayoga came. + +Young Captain Colden was in good spirits. It was his first taste of +wilderness warfare, and he knew that he had done well. The dead were +laid decently among the bushes to receive Christian burial later, if +the chance came, and the wounded, their hurts bound up, prepared to +take what part they could in a new battle. Robert crept to the edge +of the cliff, and looked toward the west, whence Tayoga had gone. He +saw only a dazzling blue sky, unflecked by anything save little white +clouds, and there was nothing to indicate whether the mission of his +young Onondaga comrade would have any success. He crept back to the +side of Willet. + +"Have you any opinion, Dave, about the smoke that Tayoga saw," he +asked. + +"None, Robert, just a hope. It might have been made by another French +and Indian band, most probably it was, but there is a chance, too, +that friends built the fire." + +"If it's a force of any size it could hardly be English. I don't +think any troop of ours except Captain Colden's is in this region." + +"We can't look for help from our own race." + +Robert was silent, gazing intently into the west, whence Tayoga had +gone. He recognized the immense difficulties of their position. +Indians, if an attack or two of theirs failed, would be likely to go +away, but the French, and especially St. Luc, would increase their +persistence and hold them to the task. He returned to the forest, and +his attention was drawn once more by Black Rifle. The man was lying +almost flat in the thicket, and evidently he had caught a glimpse of a +foe, as he was writhing slowly forward like a great beast of prey, and +his eyes once more had the expectant look of one who is going to +strike. Robert considered him. He knew that the man's whole nature +had been poisoned by the great tragedy in his life, and that it gave +him a sinister pleasure to inflict blows upon those who had inflicted +the great blow upon him. Yet he would be useful in the fierce war that +was upon them and he was useful now. + +Black Rifle crept forward two or three yards more, and, after he had +lain quite still for a few moments, he suddenly thrust out his rifle +and fired. A cry came from the opposing thicket and Robert heard the +sharpshooter utter a deep sigh of satisfaction. He knew that St. Luc +was one warrior less, which was good for the defense, but he shuddered +a little. He could never bring himself to steal through the bushes and +shoot an unseeing enemy. Still Black Rifle was Black Rifle, and being +what he was he was not to be judged as other men were. + +After a half hour's silence, the besiegers suddenly opened fire from +five or six points, sending perhaps two score bullets into the wood, +clipping off many twigs and leaves which fell upon the heads of the +defenders. Captain Colden did not forget to be grateful to Willet for +his insistence that the soldiers should always lie low, as the hostile +lead, instead of striking, now merely sent a harmless shower upon +them. But the fusillade was brief, Robert, in truth, judging that it +had been against the commands of St. Luc, who was too wise a leader to +wish ammunition to be wasted in random firing. At the advice of +Willet, Captain Colden would not let his men reply, restraining their +eagerness, and silence soon returned. + +It was nearly noon now and a huge golden sun shone over the vast +wilderness in which two little bands of men fought, mere motes in the +limitless sea of green. Robert ate some venison, and drank a little +water from the canteen of a friendly soldier. Then his thoughts turned +again to Tayoga. The Onondaga was a peerless runner, he had been gone +long now, and what would he find at the base of the smoke? If it had +been the fire of an enemy then he would be back in the middle of the +afternoon, and they would be in no worse case than before. They might +try to escape in the night down the cliff, but it was not likely that +vigilant foes would permit men, clumsy in the woods like the soldiers, +to steal away in such a manner. + +The earlier hours of the afternoon were passed by the sharpshooters on +either side trying to stalk one another. Although Robert had no part +in it, it was a savage play that alternately fascinated and repelled +him. He had no way to tell exactly, but he believed that two more of +the Indians had fallen, while a soldier received a wound. A bullet +grazed Black Rifle's head, but instead of daunting him it seemed to +give him a kind of fierce joy, and to inspire in him a greater desire +to slay. + +These efforts, since they achieved no positive results, soon died +down, and both sides lay silent in their coverts. Robert made himself +as comfortable as he could behind a log, although he longed to stand +upright, and walk about once more like a human being. It was now +mid-afternoon and if the smoke had meant nothing good for them it was +time for Tayoga to be back. It was not conceivable that such a +marvelous forester and matchless runner could have been taken, and, +since he had not come, Robert's heart again beat to the tune of hope. + +Willet with whom he talked a little, was of like opinion. He looked to +Tayoga to bring them help, and, if he failed their case, already hard, +would become harder. The hunter did not conceal from himself the +prowess and skill of St. Luc and he knew too, that the savage +persistency of Tandakora was not to be held lightly. Like Robert he +gazed long into the blue west, which was flecked only by little clouds +of white. + +"A sign! A sign!" he said. "If we could only behold a sign!" + +But the heavens said nothing. The sun, a huge ball of glowing copper, +was already far down the Western curve, and the hunter's heart beat +hard with anxiety. He felt that if help came it should come soon. But +little water was left to the soldiers, although their food might last +another day, and the night itself, now not far away, would bring the +danger of a new attack by a creeping foe, greatly superior in +numbers. He turned away from the cliff, but Robert remained, and +presently the youth called in a sharp thrilling whisper: + +"Dave! Dave! Come back!" + +Robert had continued to watch the sky and he thought he saw a faint +dark line against the sea of blue. He rubbed his eyes, fearing it was +a fault of vision, but the trace was still there, and he believed it +to be smoke. + +"Dave! Dave! The signal! Look! Look!" he cried. + +The hunter came to the edge of the cliff and stared into the west. A +thread of black lay across the blue, and his heart leaped. + +"Do you believe that Tayoga has anything to do with it?" asked Robert. + +"I do. If it were our foes out there he'd have been back long since." + +"And since it may be friends they've sent up this smoke, hoping we'll +divine what they mean." + +"It looks like it. Tayoga is a sharp lad, and he'll want to put heart +in the soldiers. It must be the Onondaga, and I wish I knew what his +smoke was saying." + +Captain Colden joined them, and they pointed out to him the trace +across the sky which was now broadening, explaining at the same time +that it was probably a signal sent up by Tayoga, and that he might be +leading a force to their aid. + +"What help could he bring?" asked the captain. + +Willet shook his head. + +"I can't answer you there," he replied; "but the smoke has +significance for us. Of that I feel sure. By sundown we'll know what +it means." + +"And that's only about two hours away," said Captain Colden. "Whatever +happens we'll hold out to the last. I suppose, though, that St. Luc's +force also will see the smoke." + +"Quite likely," replied Willet, "and the Frenchman may send a runner, +too, to see what it means, but however good a runner he may be he'll +be no match for Tayoga." + +"That's sure," said Robert. + +So great was his confidence in the Onondaga that it never occurred to +him that he might be killed or taken, and he awaited his certain +return, either with or without a helping force. He lay now near the +edge of the cliff, whence he could look toward the west, the point of +hope, whenever he wished, ate another strip of venison, and took +another drink of water out of a friendly canteen. + +The west was now blazing with terraces of red and yellow, rising above +one another, and the east was misty, gray and dim. Twilight was not +far away. The thread of smoke that had lain against the sky above the +forest was gone, the glittering bar of red and gold being absolutely +free from any trace. St. Luc's force opened fire again, bullets +clipping twigs and leaves, but the defense lay quiet, except Black +Rifle, who crept back and forth, continually seeking a target, and +pulling the trigger whenever he found it. + +The misty gray in the east turned to darkness, in the west the sun +went down the slope of the world, and the brilliant terraces of color +began to fade. The firing ceased and another tense period of quiet, +hard, to endure, came. At the suggestion of the hunter Colden drew in +his whole troop near the cliff and waited, all, despite their +weariness and strain, keeping the keenest watch they could. + +But Robert, instead of looking toward the east, where St. Luc's force +was, invariably looked into the sunset, because it was there that +Tayoga had gone, and it was there that they had seen the smoke, of +which they expected so much. The terraces of color, already grown dim, +were now fading fast. At the top they were gone altogether, and they +only lingered low down. But on the forest the red light yet blazed. +Every twig and leaf seemed to stand individual and distinct, black +against a scarlet shield. But it was for merely a few minutes. Then +all the red glow disappeared, like a great light going out suddenly, +and the western forest as well as the eastern, lay in a gray gloom. + +It always seemed to Robert that the last going of the sunset that day +was like a signal, because, when the night swept down, black and +complete everywhere, there was a burst of heavy firing from the south +and a long exultant yell. No bullet sped through the thickets, where +the defenders lay, and Willet cried: + +"Tayoga! Tayoga and help! Ah, here they come! The Mohawks!" + +Tayoga, panting from exertion, sprang into the bushes among them, and +he was followed by a tall figure in war paint, lofty plumes waving +from his war bonnet. Behind him came many warriors, and others were +already on the flanks, spreading out like a fan, filing rapidly and +shouting the war whoop. Robert recognized at once the great figure +that stood before them. It was Daganoweda, the young Mohawk chief of +his earlier acquaintance, whom he had met both on the war path and at +the great council of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga. Had +his been the right to choose the man who was to come to their aid, the +Mohawk would have been his first choice. Robert knew his intense +hatred of the French and their red allies, and he also knew his fierce +courage and great ability in battle. + +The soldiers looked in some alarm at the painted host that had sprung +among them, but Willet and Robert assured them insistently that these +were friends, and the sound of the battle they were already waging on +the flank with St. Luc's force, was proof enough. + +"Captain Colden," said Robert, not forgetful that an Indian likes the +courtesies of life, and can take his compliments thick, "this is the +great young Mohawk Chief, Daganoweda, which in our language means 'The +Inexhaustible' and such he is, inexhaustible in resource and courage +in battle, and in loyalty to his friends." + +Daganoweda smiled and extended his hand in the white man's fashion. +Young Colden had the tact to shake it heartily at once and to say in +English, which the young Mohawk chief understood perfectly: + +"Daganoweda, whatever praise of you Mr. Lennox has given it's not half +enough. I confess now although I would not have admitted it before, +that if you had not come we should probably have been lost." + +He had made a friend for life, and then, without further words the two +turned to the battle. But Robert remained for a minute beside Tayoga, +whose chest was still heaving with his great exertions. + +"Where did you find them?" he asked. + +"Many miles to the west, Lennox. After I descended the cliff I was +pursued by Huron skirmishers, and I had to shake them off. Then I ran +at full speed toward the point where the smoke had risen, knowing that +the need was great, and I overtook Daganoweda and the Mohawks. Their +first smoke was but that from a camp-fire, as being in strong force +they did not care who saw them, but the last, just before the sunset, +was sent up as a signal by two warriors whom we left behind for the +purpose. We thought you might take it to mean that help was coming." + +"And so we did. How many warriors has Daganoweda?" + +"Fifty, and that is enough. Already they push the Frenchman and his +force before them. Come, we must join them, Dagaeoga. The breath has +come back into my body and I am a strong man again!" + +The two now quickly took their places in the battle in the night and +the forest, the position of the two forces being reversed. The +soldiers and the Mohawks were pushing the combat at every point, and +the agile warriors extending themselves on the flanks had already +driven in St. Luc's skirmishers. Black Rifle, uttering fierce shouts, +was leading a strong attack in the center. The firing was now rapid +and much heavier than it had been at any time before. Flashes of flame +appeared everywhere in the thicket. Above the crackle of rifles and +muskets swelled the long thrilling war cry of the Mohawks, and back in +fierce defiance came the yells of the Hurons and Abenakis. + +Willet joined Robert and the two, with Tayoga, saw that the soldiers +fought well under cover. The young Philadelphians, in the excitement +of battle and of a sudden and triumphant reversal of fortune, were +likely to expose themselves rashly, and the advice of the forest +veterans was timely. Captain Colden saw that it was taken, although +two more of his men were slain as they advanced and several were +wounded. But the issue was no longer doubtful. The weight that the +Mohawks had suddenly thrown into the battle was too great. The force +of St. Luc was steadily driven northward, and Daganoweda's alert +skirmishers on the flanks kept it compressed together. + +Robert knew how bitter the defeat would be to St. Luc, but the +knowledge did not keep his exultation from mounting to a high pitch. +St. Luc might strive with all his might to keep his men in the battle, +but the Frenchmen could not be numerous, and it was the custom of +Indians, once a combat seemed lost, to melt away like a mist. They +believed thoroughly that it was best to run away and fight another +day, and there was no disgrace in escaping from a stricken field. + +"They run! They run! And the Frenchmen must run with them!" exclaimed +Black Rifle. As he spoke, a bullet grazed his side and struck a +soldier behind him, but the force pressed on with the ardor fed by +victory. Willet did not try any longer to restrain them, although he +understood full well the danger of a battle in the dark. But he knew +that Daganoweda and his Mohawks, experienced in every forest wile, +would guard them against surprise, and he deemed it best now that they +should strike with all their might. + +Robert seldom saw any of the warriors before him, and he did not once +catch a glimpse of a Frenchman. Whenever his rifle was loaded he +fired at a flitting form, never knowing whether or not his bullet +struck true, and glad of his ignorance. His sensitive and imaginative +mind became greatly excited. The flashes of flame in the thickets were +multiplied a hundred fold, a thousand little pulses beat heavily in +his temples, and the shouts of the savages seemed to fill the forest. +But he pressed on, conscious that the enemy was disappearing before +them. + +In his eagerness he passed ahead of Willet and Tayoga and came very +near to St. Luc's retreating line. His foot became entangled in +trailing vines and he fell, but he was up in an instant, and he fired +at a shadowy figure not more than twenty feet in advance. In his haste +he missed, and the figure, turning, raised a rifle. There was a fair +moonlight and Robert saw the muzzle of the weapon bearing directly +upon him, and he knew too that the rifle was held by firm hands. His +vivid and sensitive imagination at once leaped into intense life. His +own weapon was empty and his last moment had come. He saw the strong +brown hands holding the rifle, and then his gaze passed on to the face +of St. Luc. He saw the blue eyes of the Frenchman, as they looked down +the sights, open wide in a kind of horror. Then he abruptly dropped +the muzzle, waved one hand to Robert, and vanished in the thickets and +the darkness. + +The battle was over. There were a few dying shots, scattered beads of +flame, an occasional shout of triumph from the Mohawks, a defiant yell +or two in reply from the Hurons and the Abenakis, and then the trail +of the combat swept out of the sight and hearing of Robert, who stood +dazed and yet with a heart full of gratitude. St. Luc had held his +life upon the pressure of a trigger, and the trigger would have been +pulled had he not seen before it was too late who stood before the +muzzle of his rifle. The moonlight was enough for Robert to see that +look of horror in his eyes when he recognized the target. And then the +weapon had been turned away and he had gone like a flash! Why? For +what reason had St. Luc spared him in the heat and fury of a desperate +and losing battle? It must have been a powerful motive for a man to +stay his bullet at such a time! + +"Wake up, lad! Wake up! The battle has been won!" + +Willet's heavy but friendly hand fell upon his shoulder, and Robert +came out of his daze. He decided at once that he would say nothing +about the meeting with St. Luc, and merely remarked in a cryptic +manner: + +"I was stunned for a moment by a bullet that did not hit me. Yes, +we've won, Dave, thanks to the Mohawks." + +"Thanks to Daganoweda and his brave Mohawks, and to Tayoga, and to the +gallant Captain Colden and his gallant men. All of us together have +made the triumph possible. I understand that the bodies of only two +Frenchmen have been found and that neither was that of St. Luc. Well, +I'm glad. That Frenchman will do us great damage in this war, but he's +an honorable foe, and a man of heart, and I like him." + +A man of heart! Yes, truly! None knew it better than Robert, but again +he kept his own counsel. He too was glad that his had not been one of +the two French bodies found, but there was still danger from the +pursuing Mohawks, who would hang on tenaciously, and he felt a sudden +thrill of alarm. But it passed, as he remembered that the chevalier +was a woodsman of experience and surpassing skill. + +Tayoga came back to them somewhat blown. He had followed the fleeing +French and Indian force two or three miles. But there was a limit even +to his nerves and sinews of wrought steel. He had already run thirty +miles before joining in the combat, and now it was time to rest. + +"Come, Tayoga," said the hunter, "we'll go back to the ground our lads +have defended so well, and eat, drink and sleep. The Mohawks will +attend to all the work that's left, which isn't much. We've earned our +repose." + +Captain Colden, slightly wounded in the arm, appeared and Willet gave +him the high compliments that he and his soldiers deserved. He told +him it was seldom that men unused to the woods bore themselves so well +in an Indian fight, but the young captain modestly disclaimed the +chief merit, replying that he and his detachment would surely have +been lost, had it not been for Willet and his comrades. + +Then they went back to the ground near the cliff, where they had made +their great fight, and Willet although the night was warm, wisely had +a large fire built. He knew the psychological and stimulating effect +of heat and light upon the lads of the city, who had passed through +such a fearful ordeal in the dark and Indian-haunted forest. He +encouraged them to throw on more dead boughs, until the blaze leaped +higher and higher and sparkled and roared, sending up myriads of +joyous sparks that glowed for their brief lives among the trees and +then died. No fear of St. Luc and the Indians now! That fierce fringe +of Mohawks was a barrier that they could never pass, even should they +choose to return, and no such choice could possibly be theirs! The +fire crackled and blazed in increasing volume, and the Philadelphia +lads, recovering from the collapse that had followed tremendous +exertions and excitement, began to appreciate the extent of their +victory and to talk eagerly with one another. + +But the period of full rest had not yet come. Captain Colden made them +dig with their bayonets shallow graves for their dead, six in number. +Fluent of speech, his sensitive mind again fitting into the deep +gravity of the situation, Robert said a few words above them, words +that he felt, words that moved those who heard. Then the earth was +thrown in and stones and heavy boughs were placed over all to keep +away the digging wolves or other wild animals. + +The wounded were made as comfortable as possible before the fire, and +in the light of the brilliant flames the awe created by the dead +quickly passed. Food was served and fresh water was drunk, the +canteens being refilled from a spring that Tayoga found a quarter of a +mile away. Then the soldiers, save six who had been posted as guard, +stretched themselves on grass or leaves, and fell asleep, one by +one. Tayoga who had made the greatest physical effort followed them to +the land of slumber, but Captain Colden sat and talked with Robert and +Willet, although it was now far past midnight. + +The bushes parted and a dark figure, making no sound as it came, +stepped into the circle of light. It was Black Rifle and his eyes +still glittered, but he said nothing. Robert thought he saw upon his +face a look of intense satisfaction and once more he shuddered a +little. The man lay down with his rifle beside him, and fell asleep, +his hands still clutching his weapon. + +Before dawn Daganoweda and the Mohawks came back also, and Robert in +behalf of them all thanked the young chief in the purest Mohawk, and +with the fine phrasing and apt allegory so dear to the Indian heart. +Daganoweda made a fitting reply, saying that the merit did not belong +to him but to Manitou, and then, leaving a half dozen of his warriors +to join in the watch, he and the others slept before the fire. + +"It was well that you played so strongly upon the feelings of the +Mohawks at that test in the vale of Onondaga, Robert," said Willet. "If +you had not said over and over again that the Quebec of the French was +once the Stadacona of the Mohawks they would not have been here +tonight to save us. They say that deeds speak louder than words, but +when the same man speaks with both words and deeds people have got to +hear." + +"You give me too much credit, Dave. The time was ripe for a Mohawk +attack upon the French." + +"Aye, lad, but one had to see a chance and use it. Now, join all +those fellows in sleep. We won't move before noon." + +But Robert's brain was too active for sleep just yet. While his +imaginative power made him see things before other people saw them, he +also continued to see them after they were gone. The wilderness battle +passed once more before him, and when he brushed his eyes to thrust it +away, he looked at the sleeping Mohawks and thought what splendid +savages they were. The other tribes of the Hodenosaunee were still +holding to their neutrality--all that was asked of them--but the +Mohawks, with the memories of their ancient wrongs burning in their +hearts, had openly taken the side of the English, and tonight their +valor and skill had undoubtedly saved the American force. Daganoweda +was a hero! And so was Tayoga, the Onondaga, always the first of red +men to Robert. + +His heated brain began to grow cool at last. The vivid pictures that +had been passing so fast before his eyes faded. He saw only reality, +the blazing fire, the dusky figures lying motionless before it, and +the circling wall of dark woods. Then he slept. + +Willet was the only white man who remained awake. He saw the great +fire die, and the dawn come in its place. He felt then for the first +time in all that long encounter the strangeness of his own position. +The wilderness, savages and forest battle had become natural to him, +and yet his life had once been far different. There was a taste of a +distant past in that fierce duel at Quebec when he slew the bravo, +Boucher, a deed for which he had never felt a moment's regret, and yet +when he balanced the old times against the present, he could not say +which had the advantage. He had found true friends in the woods, men +who would and did risk their own lives to save his. + +The dawn came swiftly, flooding the earth with light. Daganoweda and +many of the Mohawk warriors awoke, but the young Philadelphia captain +and his men slept on, plunged in the utter stupor of exhaustion. +Tayoga, who had made a supreme effort, both physical and mental, also +continued to sleep, and Robert, lying with his feet to the coals, +never stirred. + +Daganoweda shook himself, and, so shaking, shook the last shred of +sleep from his eyes. Then he looked with pride at his warriors, those +who yet lay upon the ground and those who had arisen. He was a young +chief, not yet thirty years of age, and he was the bloom and flower of +Mohawk courage and daring. His name, Daganoweda, the Inexhaustible, +was fully deserved, as his bravery and resource were unlimited. But +unlike Tayoga, he had in him none of the priestly quality. He had not +drunk or even sipped at the white man's civilization. The spirituality +so often to be found in the Onondagas was unknown to him. He was a +warrior first, last and all the time. He was Daganoweda of the Clan of +the Turtle, of the Nation Ganeagaono, the Keepers of the Eastern Gate, +of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, and he craved no glory save +that to be won in battle, which he craved all the time. + +Daganoweda, as he looked at his men, felt intense satisfaction, +because the achievement of his Mohawks the night before had been +brilliant and successful, but he concealed it from all save himself. It +was not for a chief who wished to win not one victory, but a hundred +to show undue elation. But he turned and for a few moments gazed +directly into the sun with unwinking eyes, and when he shifted his +gaze away, a great tide of life leaped in his veins. + +Then he gave silent thanks. Like all the other Indians in North +America the Mohawks personified and worshipped the sun, which to them +was the mighty Dweller in Heaven, almost the same as Manitou, a great +spirit to whom sacrifices and thanksgivings were to be made. The sun, +an immortal being, had risen that morning and from his seat in the +highest of the high heavens he had looked down with his invincible eye +which no man could face more than a few seconds, upon his favorite +children, the Mohawks, to whom he had given the victory. Daganoweda +bowed a head naturally haughty and under his breath murmured thanks +for the triumph given and prayers for others to come. + +The warriors built the fire anew and cooked their breakfasts. They had +venison and hominy of three kinds according to the corn of which it +was made, _Onaogaant_ or the white corn, _Ticne_ or the red corn, and +_Hagowa_ or the white flint corn. They also had bear meat and dried +beans. So their breakfast was abundant, and they ate with the appetite +of warriors who had done mighty deeds. + +Daganoweda and Willet, as became great men, sat together on a log and +were served by a warrior who took honor from the task. Black Rifle sat +alone a little distance away. He would have been welcome in the +company of the Mohawk chief and the hunter, but, brooding and solitary +in mind, he wished to be alone and they knew and respected his wish. +Daganoweda glanced at him more than once as he remained in silence, +and always there was pity in his looks. And there was admiration too, +because Black Rifle was a great warrior. The woods held none greater. + +When Robert awoke it was well on toward noon and he sprang up, +refreshed and strong. + +"You've had quite a nap, Robert," said Willet, who had not slept at +all, "but some of the soldiers are still sleeping, and Tayoga has just +gone down to the spring to bathe his face." + +"Which I also will do," said Robert. + +"And when you come back food will be ready for you." + +Robert found Tayoga at the spring, flexing his muscles, and taking +short steps back and forth. "It was a great run you made," said the +white youth, "and it saved us. There's no stiffness, I hope?" + +"There was a little, Dagaeoga, but I have worked it out of my +body. Now all my muscles are as they were. I am ready to make another +and equal run." + +"It's not needed, and for that I'm thankful. St. Luc will not come +back, nor will Tandakora, I think, linger in the woods, hoping for a +shot. He knows that the Mohawk skirmishers will be too vigilant." + +As they went back to the fire for their food they heard a droning song +and the regular beat of feet. Some of the Mohawks were dancing the +Buffalo Dance, a dance named after an animal never found in their +country, but which they knew well. It was a tribute to the vast energy +and daring of the nations of the Hodenosaunee that they should range +in such remote regions as Kentucky and Tennessee and hunt the buffalo +with the Cherokees, who came up from the south. + +They called the dance Dageyagooanno, and it was always danced by men +only. One warrior beat upon the drum, _ganojoo_, and another used +_gusdawasa_ or the rattle made of the shell of a squash. A dozen +warriors danced, and players and dancers alike sang. It was a most +singular dance and Robert, as he ate and drank, watched it with +curious interest. + +The warriors capered back and forth, and often they bent themselves +far over, until their hands touched the ground. Then they would arch +their backs, until they formed a kind of hump, and they leaped to and +fro, bellowing all the time. The imitation was that of a buffalo, +recognizable at once, and, while it was rude and monotonous, both +dancing and singing preserved a rhythm, and as one listened +continuously it soon crept into the blood. Robert, with that singular +temperament of his, so receptive to all impressions, began to feel +it. Their chant was of war and victory and he stirred to both. He was +on the warpath with them, and he passed with them through the thick of +battle. + +They danced for a long time, quitting only when exhaustion +compelled. By that time all the soldiers were awake and Captain Colden +talked with the other leaders, red and white. His instructions took +him farther west, where he was to build a fort for the defense of the +border, and, staunch and true, he did not mean to turn back because he +had been in desperate battle with the French and their Indian allies. + +"I was sent to protect a section of the frontier," he said to Willet, +"and while I've found it hard to protect my men and myself, yet I must +go on. I could never return to Philadelphia and face our people +there." + +"It's a just view you take, Captain Colden," said Willet. + +"I feel, though, that my men and I are but children in the +woods. Yesterday and last night proved it. If you and your friends +continue with us our march may not be in vain." + +Willet glanced at Robert, and then at Tayoga. + +"Ours for the present, at least, is a roving commission," said young +Lennox. "It seems to me that the best we can do is to go with Captain +Colden." + +"I am not called back to the vale of Onondaga," said Tayoga, "I would +see the building of this fort that Captain Colden has planned." + +"Then we three are agreed," said the hunter. "It's best not to speak +to Black Rifle, because he'll follow his own notions anyway, and as +for Daganoweda and his Mohawks I think they're likely to resume their +march northward against the French border." + +"I'm grateful to you three," said Captain Colden, "and, now that it's +settled, we'll start as soon as we can." + +"Better give them all a good rest, and wait until the morning," said +the hunter. + +Again Captain Colden agreed with him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PERILOUS PATH + + +After a long night of sleep and rest, the little troop resumed its +march the next morning. The wounded fortunately were not hurt so +badly that they could not limp along with the others, and, while the +surgery of the soldiers was rude, it was effective nevertheless. +Daganoweda, as they had expected, prepared to leave them for a raid +toward the St. Lawrence. But he said rather grimly that he might +return, in a month perhaps. He knew where they were going to build +their fort, and unless Corlear and all the other British governors +awoke much earlier in the morning it was more than likely that the +young captain from Philadelphia would need the help of the Mohawks +again. + +Then Daganoweda said farewell to Robert, Tayoga, Willet and Black +Rifle, addressing each according to his quality. Them he trusted. He +knew them to be great warriors and daring rovers of the wilderness. +He had no advice for them, because he knew they did not need it, but +he expected them to be his comrades often in the great war, and he +wished them well. To Tayoga he said: + +"You and I, oh, young chief of the Onondagas, have hearts that beat +alike. The Onondagas do well to keep aloof from the white man's +quarrels for the present, and to sit at peace, though watchful, in the +vale of Onondaga, but your hopes are with our friends the English and +you in person fight for them. We Mohawks know whom to hate. We know +that the French have robbed us more than any others. We know, that +their Quebec is our Stadacona. So we have dug up the tomahawk and last +night we showed to Sharp Sword and his men and Tandakora the Ojibway +how we could use it." + +Sharp Sword was the Iroquois name for St. Luc, who had already proved +his great ability and daring as a forest leader. + +"The Ganeagaono are now the chief barrier against the French and their +tribes," said Tayoga. + +The brilliant eyes of Daganoweda glittered in his dark face. He knew +that Tayoga would not pay the Mohawks so high a compliment unless he +meant it. + +"Tayoga," he said, "we belong to the leading nations of the great +League of the Hodenosaunee, you to the Onundahgaono and I to the +Ganeagaono. You are first in the council and we are first on the +warpath. It was Tododaho, the Onondaga, who first formed the great +League and it was Hayowentha, the Mohawk, who combed the snakes out of +his hair and who strengthened it and who helped him to build it so +firmly that it shall last forever. Brothers are we, and always shall +be." + +He touched his forehead in salute, and the Onondaga touched his in +reply. + +"Aye, brothers are we," he said, "Mohawk and Onondaga, Onondaga and +Mohawk. The great war of the white kings which draws us in it has +come, but I know that Hayowentha watches over his people, and Tododaho +over his. In the spring when I went forth in the night to fight the +Hurons I gazed off there in the west where shines the great star on +which Tododaho makes his home, and I saw him looking down upon me, and +casting about me the veil of his protection." + +Daganoweda looked up at the gleaming blue of the heavens, and his eyes +glittered again. He believed every word that Tayoga said. + +"As Tododaho watches over you, so Hayowentha watches over me," he +said, "and he will bring me back in safety and victory from the +St. Lawrence. Farewell again, my brother." + +"Farewell once more, Daganoweda!" + +The Mohawk chief plunged into the forest, and his fifty warriors +followed him. Like a shadow they were gone, and the waving bushes gave +back no sign that they had ever been. Captain Colden rubbed his eyes +and then laughed. + +"I never knew men to vanish so swiftly before," he said, "but last +night was good proof that they were here, and that they came in +time. I suppose it's about the only victory of which we can make +boast." + +He spoke the full truth. From the St. Lawrence to the Ohio the border +was already ravaged with fire and sword. Appeals for help were pouring +in from the distant settlements, and the governors of New York, +Pennsylvania and Massachusetts scarcely knew what to do. France had +struck the first blow, and she had struck hard. Young Washington, +defeated by overwhelming numbers, was going back to Virginia, and +Duquesne, the fort of the French at the junction of the Monongahela +and Allegheny, was a powerful rallying place for their own forces and +the swarming Indian bands, pouring out of the wilderness, drawn by the +tales of unlimited scalps and plunder. + +The task before Captain Colden's slender force was full of danger. His +numbers might have been five times as great and then they would not +have been too many to build and hold the fort he was sent to build and +hold. But he had no thought of turning back, and, as soon as +Daganoweda and the Mohawks were gone, they started, bending their +course somewhat farther toward the south. At the ford of a river +twenty men with horses carrying food, ammunition and other supplies +were to meet them, and they reckoned that they could reach it by +midnight. + +The men with the horses had been sent from another point, and it was +not thought then that there was any danger of French and Indian attack +before the junction was made, but the colonial authorities had +reckoned without the vigor and daring of St. Luc. Now the most cruel +fears assailed young Captain Colden, and Robert and the hunter could +not find much argument to remove them. It was possible that the second +force had been ambushed also, and, if so, it had certainly been +destroyed, being capable of no such resistance as that made by +Colden's men, and without the aid of the three friends and the +Mohawks. And if the supplies were gone the expedition would be +useless. + +"Don't be downhearted about it, captain," said Willet. "You say +there's not a man in the party who knows anything about the +wilderness, and that they've got just enough woods sense to take them +to the ford. Well, that has its saving grace, because now and then, +the Lord seems to watch over fool men. The best of hunters are trapped +sometimes in the forest, when fellows who don't know a deer from a +beaver, go through 'em without harm." + +"Then if there's any virtue in what you say we'll pray that these men +are the biggest fools who ever lived." + +"Smoke! smoke again!" called Robert cheerily, pointing straight ahead. + +Sure enough, that long dark thread appeared once more, now against the +western sky. Willet laughed. + +"They're the biggest fools in the forest, just as you hoped, Captain," +he said, "and they've taken no more harm than if they had built their +fires in a Philadelphia street. They've set themselves down for the +night, as peaceful and happy as you please. If that isn't the campfire +of your men with the pack horses then I'll eat my cap." + +Captain Colden laughed, but it was the slightly hysterical laugh of +relief. He was bent upon doing his task, and, since the Lord had +carried him so far through a mighty danger, the disappointment of +losing the supplies would have been almost too much to bear. + +"You're sure it's they, Mr. Willet?" he said. + +"Of course. Didn't I tell you it wasn't possible for another such +party of fools to be here in the wilderness, and that the God of the +white man and the Manitou of the red man taking pity on their +simplicity and innocence have protected them?" + +"I like to think what you say is true, Mr. Willet." + +"It's true. Be not afraid that it isn't. Now, I think we'd better stop +here, and let Robert and Tayoga go ahead, spy 'em out and make +signals. It would be just like 'em to blaze away at us the moment they +saw the bushes move with our coming." + +Captain Colden was glad to take his advice, and the white youth and +the red went forward silently through the forest, hearing the sound of +cheerful voices, as they drew near to the campfire which was a large +one blazing brightly. They also heard the sound of horses moving and +they knew that the detachment had taken no harm. Tayoga parted the +bushes and peered forth. + +"Look!" he said. "Surely they are watched over by Manitou!" + +About twenty men, or rather boys, for all of them were very young, +were standing or lying about a fire. A tall, very ruddy youth in the +uniform of a colonial lieutenant was speaking to them. + +"Didn't I tell you, lads," he said, "there wasn't an Indian nearer +than Fort Duquesne, and that's a long way from here! We've come a +great distance and not a foe has appeared anywhere. It may be that the +French vanish when they hear this valiant Quaker troop is coming, but +it's my own personal opinion they'll stay pretty well back in the west +with their red allies." + +The youth, although he called himself so, did not look much like a +Quaker to Robert. He had a frank face and merry eyes, and manner and +voice indicated a tendency to gayety. Judging from his words he had no +cares and Indians and ambush were far from his thoughts. Proof of this +was the absence of sentinels. The men, scattered about the fire, were +eating their suppers and the horses, forty in number, were grazing in +an open space. It all looked like a great picnic, and the effect was +heightened by the youth of the soldiers. + +"As the Great Bear truly said," whispered Tayoga, "Manitou has watched +over them. The forest does not hold easier game for the taking, and +had Tandakora known that they were here he would have come seeking +revenge for his loss in the attack upon Captain Colden's troop." + +"You're right as usual, Tayoga, and now we'd better hail them. But +don't you come forward just yet. They don't know the difference +between Indians and likely your welcome would be a bullet." + +"I will wait," said Tayoga. + +"I tell you, Carson," the young lieutenant was saying in an oratorical +manner, "that they magnify the dangers of the wilderness. The ford at +which we were to meet Colden is just ahead, and we've come straight to +it without the slightest mishap. Colden is no sluggard, and he should +be here in the morning at the latest. Do you find anything wrong with +my reasoning, Hugh?" + +"Naught, William," replied the other, who seemed to be second in +command. "Your logic is both precise and beautiful. The dangers of the +border are greatly exaggerated, and as soon as we get together a good +force all these French and Indians will flee back to Canada. Ah, who +is this?" + +Both he and his chief turned and faced the woods in astonishment. A +youth had stepped forth, and stood in full view. He was taller than +either, but younger, dressed completely in deerskin, although superior +in cut and quality to that of the ordinary borderer, his complexion +fair beneath his tan, and his hair light. He gazed at them steadily +with bright blue eyes, and both the first lieutenant and the second +lieutenant of the Quaker troop saw that he was no common person. + +"Who are you?" repeated William Wilton, who was the first lieutenant. + +"Who are you?" repeated Hugh Carson, who was the second lieutenant. + +"My name is Robert Lennox," replied the young stranger in a mellow +voice of amazing quality, "and you, I suppose, are Lieutenant William +Wilton, the commander of this little troop." + +He spoke directly to the first lieutenant, who replied, impressed as +much by the youth's voice as he was by his appearance: + +"Yes, such is my name. But how did you know it? I don't recall ever +having met you before, which doubtless is my loss." + +"I heard it from an associate of yours, your chief in command, Captain +James Colden, and I am here with a message from him." + +"And so Colden is coming up? Well, we beat him to the place of +meeting. We've triumphed with ease over the hardships of the +wilderness." "Yes, you arrived first, but he was delayed by a matter +of importance, a problem that had to be solved before he could resume +his march." + +"You speak in riddles, sir." + +"Perhaps I do for the present, but I shall soon make full +explanations. I wish to call first a friend of mine, an +Indian--although you say there are no Indians in the forest--a most +excellent friend of ours. Tayoga, come!" + +The Onondaga appeared silently in the circle of light, a splendid +primeval figure, drawn to the uttermost of his great height, his lofty +gaze meeting that of Wilton, half in challenge and half in +greeting. Robert had been an impressive figure, but Tayoga, owing to +the difference in race, was even more so. The hands of several of the +soldiers moved towards their weapons. + +"Did I not tell you that he was a friend, a most excellent friend of +ours?" said Robert sharply. "Who raises a hand against him raises a +hand against me also, and above all raises a hand against our +cause. Lieutenant Wilton, this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee. He is a +prince, as much a prince as any in Europe. His mind and his valor have +both been expended freely in our service, and they will be expended +with equal freedom again." + +Robert's tone was so sharp and commanding that Wilton, impressed by +it, saluted the Onondaga with the greatest courtesy, and Tayoga bowed +gravely in reply. + +"You're correct in assuming that my name is Wilton," said the young +lieutenant. "I'm William Wilton, of Philadelphia, and I beg to present +my second in command, Hugh Carson, of the same city." + +He looked questioningly at Robert, who promptly responded: + +"My name is Lennox, Robert Lennox, and I can claim either Albany or +New York as a home." + +"I think I've heard of you," said Wilton. "A rumor came to +Philadelphia about a man of that name going to Quebec on an errand for +the governor of New York." + +"I was the messenger," said Robert, "but since the mission was a +failure it may as well be forgotten." + +"But it will not be forgotten. I've heard that you bore yourself with +great judgment and address. Nevertheless, if your modesty forbids the +subject we'll come back to another more pressing. What did you mean +when you said Captain Colden's delay was due to the solution of a +vexing problem?" + +"It had to do with Indians, who you say are not to be found in these +forests. I could not help overhearing you, as I approached your camp." + +Wilton reddened and then his generous impulse and sense of truth came +to his aid. + +"I'll admit that I'm careless and that my knowledge may be small!" he +exclaimed. "But tell me the facts, Mr. Lennox. I judge by your face +that events of grave importance have occurred." + +"Captain Colden, far east of this point, was attacked by a strong +force of French and Indians under the renowned partisan leader, +St. Luc. Tayoga, David Willet, the hunter, the famous ranger Black +Rifle and I were able to warn him and give him some help, but even +then we should have been overborne and destroyed had not a Mohawk +chief, Daganoweda, and a formidable band come to our aid. United, we +defeated St. Luc and drove him northward. Captain Colden lost several +of his men, but with the rest he is now marching to the junction with +you." + +Wilton's face turned gray, but in a moment or two his eyes brightened. + +"Then a special Providence has been watching over us," he said. "We +haven't seen or heard of an Indian." + +His tone was one of mingled relief and humor, and Robert could not +keep from laughing. + +"At all events," he said, "you are safe for the present. I'll remain +with you while Tayoga goes back for Captain Colden." + +"If you'll be so good," said Wilton, who did not forget his manners, +despite the circumstances. "I've begun to feel that we have more eyes, +or at least better ones, with you among us. Where is that Indian? You +don't mean to say he's gone?" + +Robert laughed again. Tayoga, after his fashion, had vanished in +silence. + +"He's well on his way to Captain Colden now," he said, exaggerating a +little for the sake of effect. "He'll be a great chief some day, and +meanwhile he's the fastest runner in the whole Six Nations." + +Colden and his troop arrived soon, and the two little commands were +united, to the great joy of all. Lieutenant Wilton had passed from +the extreme of confidence to the utmost distrust. Where it had not +been possible for an Indian to exist he now saw a scalplock in every +bush. + +"On my honor," he said to Colden, "James, I was never before in my +life so happy to see you. I'm glad you have the entire command now. As +Mr. Lennox said, Providence saved me so far, but perhaps it wouldn't +lend a helping hand any longer." + +The pack horses carried surgical supplies for the wounded, and Willet +and Black Rifle were skillful in using them. All of the hurt, they +were sure would be well again within a week, and there was little to +mar the general feeling of high spirits that prevailed in the +camp. Wilton and Carson were lads of mettle, full of talk of +Philadelphia, then the greatest city in the British Colonies, and +related to most of its leading families, as was Colden too, his family +being a branch of the New York family of that name. Robert was at home +with them at once, and they were eager to hear from him about Quebec +and the latest fashions of the French, already the arbiters of +fashion, and recognized as such, despite the war between them, by +English and Americans. + +"I had hoped to go to Quebec myself," said Wilton reflectively, "but I +suppose it's a visit that's delayed for a long time now." + +"How does it happen that you, a Quaker, are second in command here?" +asked Robert. + +"It must be the belligerency repressed through three or four +generations and breaking out at last in me," replied Wilton, his eyes +twinkling. "I suppose there's just so much fighting in every family, +and if three or four generations in succession are peaceful the next +that follows is likely to be full of warlike fury. So, as soon as the +war began I started for it. It's not inherent in me. As I said, it's +the confined ardor of generations bursting forth suddenly in my +person. I'm not an active agent. I'm merely an instrument." + +"It was the same warlike fury that caused you to come here, build your +fire and set no watch, expecting the woods to be as peaceful as +Philadelphia?" said Colden. + +Wilton colored. + +"I didn't dream the French and Indians were so near," he replied +apologetically. + +"If comparisons are valuable you needn't feel any mortification about +it, Will," said Colden. "I was just about as careless myself, and all +of us would have lost our scalps, if Willet, Lennox and Tayoga hadn't +come along." + +Wilton was consoled. But both he and Colden after the severe lesson +the latter had received were now all for vigilance. Many sentinels had +been posted, and since Colden was glad to follow the advice of Willet +and Tayoga they were put in the best places. They let the fire die +early, as the weather had now become very warm, and all of them, save +the watch soon slept. The night brought little coolness with it, and +the wind that blew was warm and drying. Under its touch the leaves +began to crinkle up at the edge and turn brown, the grass showed signs +of withering and Willet, who had taken charge of the guard that night, +noticed that summer was passing into the brown leaf. It caused him a +pang of disappointment. + +Great Britain and the Colonies had not yet begun to move. The +Provincial legislatures still wrangled, and the government at London +was provokingly slow. There was still no plan of campaign, the great +resources of the Anglo-Saxons had not yet been brought together for +use against the quick and daring French, and while their slow, patient +courage might win in the end, Willet foresaw a long and terrible war +with many disasters at the beginning. + +He was depressed for the moment. He knew what an impression the early +French successes would make on the Indian tribes, and he knew, too, as +he heard the wind rustling through the dry leaves, that there would be +no English campaign that year. One might lead an army in winter on the +good roads and through the open fields of Europe, but then only +borderers could make way through the vast North American wilderness in +the deep snows and bitter cold, where Indian trails alone existed. The +hunter foresaw a long delay before the British and Colonial forces +moved, and meanwhile the French and Indians would be more strongly +planted in the territory claimed by the rival nations, and, while in +law possession was often nine points, it seemed in war to be ten +points and all. + +As he walked back and forth Black Rifle touched him on the arm. + +"I'm going, Dave," he said. "They don't need me here any +longer. Daganoweda and his Mohawks, likely enough, will follow the +French and Indians, and have another brush with 'em. At any rate, it's +sure that St. Luc and Tandakora won't come back, and these young men +can go on without being attacked again and build their fort. But +they'll be threatened there later on, and I'll come again with a +warning." + +"I know you will," said Willet. "Wherever danger appears on the +border, Black Rifle, there you are. I see great and terrible days +ahead for us all." + +"And so do I," said Black Rifle. "This continent is on fire." + +The two shook hands, and the somber figure of Black Rifle disappeared +in the forest. Willet looked after him thoughtfully, and then resumed +his pacing to and fro. + +They made an early start at dawn of a bright hot day, crossed the +ford, and resumed their long march through the forest which under the +light wind now rustled continually with the increasing dryness. + +But the company was joyous. The wounded were put upon the pack horses, +and the others, young, strong and refreshed by abundant rest, went +forward with springing steps. Robert and Tayoga walked with the three +Philadelphians. Colden already knew the quality of the Onondaga, and +respected and admired him, and Wilton and Carson, surprised at first +at his excellent English education, soon saw that he was no ordinary +youth. The five, each a type of his own, were fast friends before the +day's march was over. Wilton, the Quaker, was the greatest talker of +them all, which he declared was due to suppression in childhood. + +"It's something like the battle fever which will come out along about +the fourth or fifth generation," he said. "I suppose there's a certain +amount of talk that every man must do in his lifetime, and, having +been kept in a state of silence by my parents all through my youth, +I'm now letting myself loose in the woods." + +"Don't apologize, Will," said Colden. "Your chatter is harmless, and +it lightens the spirits of us all." + +"The talker has his uses," said Tayoga gravely. "My friend Lennox, +known to the Hodenosaunee as Dagaeoga, is golden-mouthed. The gift of +great speech descends upon him when time and place are fitting." + +"And so you're an orator, are you?" said Carson, looking at Robert. + +Young Lennox blushed. + +"Tayoga is my very good friend," he replied, "and he gives me praise I +don't deserve." + +"When one has a gift direct from Manitou," said the Onondaga, gravely, +"it is not well to deny it. It is a sign of great favor, and you must +not show ingratitude, Dagaeoga." + +"He has you, Lennox," laughed Wilton, "but you needn't say more. I +know that Tayoga is right, and I'm waiting to hear you talk in a +crisis." + +Robert blushed once more, but was silent. He knew that if he protested +again the young Philadelphians would chaff him without mercy, and he +knew at heart also that Tayoga's statement about him was true. He +remembered with pride his defeat of St. Luc in the great test of words +in the vale of Onondaga. But Wilton's mind quickly turned to another +subject. He seemed to exemplify the truth of his own declaration that +all the impulses bottled up in four or five generations of Quaker +ancestors were at last bursting out in him. He talked more than all +the others combined, and he rejoiced in the freedom of the wilderness. + +"I'm a spirit released," he said. "That's why I chatter so." + +"Perhaps it's just as well, Will, that while you have the chance you +should chatter to your heart's content, because at any time an Indian +arrow may cut short your chance for chattering," said Carson. + +"I can't believe it, Hugh," said Wilton, "because if Providence was +willing to preserve us, when we camped squarely among the Indians, put +out no guards, and fairly asked them to come and shoot at us, then it +was for a purpose and we'll be preserved through greater and +continuous dangers." + +"There may be something in it, Will. I notice that those who deserve +it least are often the chosen favorites of fortune." + +"Which seems to be a hit at your superior officer, but I'll pass it +over, Hugh, as you're always right at heart though often wrong in the +head." + +Although the young officers talked much and with apparent lightness, +the troop marched with vigilance now. Willet and Tayoga, and Colden, +who had profited by bitter experience, saw to it. The hunter and the +Onondaga, often assisted by Robert, scouted on the flanks, and three +or four soldiers, who developed rapid skill in the woods, were soon +able to help. But Tayoga and Willet were the main reliance, and they +found no further trace of Indians. Nevertheless the guard was never +relaxed for an instant. + +Robert found the march not only pleasant but exhilarating. It +appealed to his imaginative and sensitive mind, which magnified +everything, and made the tints more vivid and brilliant. To him the +forests were larger and grander than they were to the others, and the +rivers were wider and deeper. The hours were more intense, he lived +every second of them, and the future had a scope and brilliancy that +few others would foresee. In company with youths of his own age coming +from the largest city of the British colonies, the one that had the +richest social traditions, his whole nature expanded, and he cast away +much of his reserve. Around the campfires in the evening he became one +of the most industrious talkers, and now and then he was carried away +so much by his own impulse that all the rest would cease and listen to +the mellow, golden voice merely for the pleasure of hearing. Then +Tayoga and Willet would look at each other and smile, knowing that +Dagaeoga, though all unconsciously, held the center of the stage, and +the others were more than willing for him to hold it. + +The friendships of the young ripen fast, and under such circumstances +they ripen faster than ever. Robert soon felt that he had known the +three young Philadelphians for years, and a warm friendship, destined +to last all their lives, in which Tayoga was included, was soon +formed. Robert saw that his new comrades, although they did not know +much of the forest, were intelligent, staunch and brave, and they saw +in him all that Tayoga and Willet saw, which was a great deal. + +The heat and dryness increased, and the brown of leaf and grass +deepened. Nearly all the green was gone now, and autumn would soon +come. The forest was full of game, and Willet and Tayoga kept them +well supplied, yet their progress became slower. Those who had been +wounded severely approached the critical stage, and once they stopped +two days until all danger had passed. + +Three days later a fierce summer storm burst upon them. Tayoga had +foreseen it, and the whole troop was gathered in the lee of a hill, +with all their ammunition protected by blankets, canvas and the skins +of deer that they had killed. But the young Philadelphians, +unaccustomed to the fury of the elements in the wilderness, looked +upon it with awe. + +In the west the lightning blazed and the thunder crashed for a long +time. Often the forest seemed to swim in a red glare, and Robert +himself was forced to shut his eyes before the rapid flashes of +dazzling brightness. Then came a great rushing of wind with a mighty +rain on its edge, and, when the wind died, the rain fell straight down +in torrents more than an hour. + +Although they kept their ammunition and other supplies dry the men +themselves were drenched to the bone, but the storm passed more +suddenly than it had come. The clouds parted on the horizon, then all +fled away. The last raindrop fell and a shining sun came out in a hot +blue sky. As the men resumed a drooping march their clothes dried fast +in the fiery rays and their spirits revived. + +When night came they were dry again, and youth had taken no harm. The +next day they struck an Indian trail, but both Willet and Tayoga said +it had been made by less than a dozen warriors, and that they were +going north. + +"It's my belief," said Willet, "that they were warriors from the Ohio +country on their way to join the French along the Canadian border." + +"And they're not staying to meet us," said Colden. "I'm afraid, Will, +it'll be some time before you have a chance to show your unbottled +Quaker valor." + +"Perhaps not so long as you think," replied Wilton, who had plenty of +penetration. "I don't claim to be any great forest rover, although I +do think I've learned something since I left Philadelphia, but I +imagine that our building of a fort in the woods will draw 'em. The +Indian runners will soon be carrying the news of it, and then they'll +cluster around us like flies seeking sugar." + +"You're right, Mr. Wilton," said Willet. "After we build this fort +it's as sure as the sun is in the heavens that we'll have to fight for +it." + +Two days later they reached the site for their little fortress which +they named Fort Refuge, because they intended it as a place in which +harried settlers might find shelter. It was a hill near a large creek, +and the source of a small brook lay within the grounds they intended +to occupy, securing to them an unfailing supply of good water in case +of siege. + +Now, the young soldiers entered upon one of the most arduous tasks of +the war, to build a fort, which was even more trying to them than +battle. Arms and backs ached as Colden, Wilton and Carson, advised by +Willet, drove them hard. A strong log blockhouse was erected, and then +a stout palisade, enclosing the house and about an acre of ground, +including the precious spring which spouted from under a ledge of +stone at the very wall of the blockhouse itself. Behind the building +they raised a shed in which the horses could be sheltered, as all of +them foresaw a long stay, dragging into winter with its sleet and +snow, and it was important to save the animals. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga had a roving commission, and, as they could +stay with Colden and his command as long as they chose, they chose +accordingly to remain where they thought they could do the most +good. Robert took little part in the hunting, but labored with the +soldiers on the building, although it was not the kind of work to +which his mind turned. + +The blockhouse itself, was divided into a number of rooms, in which +the soldiers who were not on guard could sleep, and they had blankets +and the skins of the larger animals the hunters killed for +beds. Venison jerked in great quantities was stored away in case of +siege, and the whole forest was made to contribute to their +larder. The work was hard, but it toughened the sinews of the young +soldiers, and gave them an occupation in which they were interested. +Before it was finished they were joined by another small detachment +with loaded pack horses, which by the same kind of miracle had come +safely through the wilderness. Colden now had a hundred men, fifty +horses and powder and lead for all the needs of which one could think. + +"If we only had a cannon!" he said, looking proudly at their new +blockhouse, "I think I'd build a platform for it there on the roof, +and then we could sweep the forest in every direction. Eh, Will, my +lad?" + +"But as we haven't," said Wilton, "we'll have to do the sweeping with +our rifles." + +"And our men are good marksmen, as they showed in that fight with +St. Luc. But it seems a world away from Philadelphia, doesn't it, +Will? I wonder what they're doing there!" + +"Counting their gains in the West India trade, looking at the latest +fashions from England that have come on the ships up the Delaware, +building new houses out Germantown way, none of them thinking much of +the war, except old Ben Franklin, who pegs forever at the governor of +the Province, the Legislature, and every influential man to take +action before the French and Indians seize the whole border." + +"I hope Franklin will stir 'em up, and that they won't forget us out +here in the woods. For us at least the French and Indians are a +reality." + +Meanwhile summer had turned into autumn, and autumn itself was +passing. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RUNNER + + +Fort Refuge, the stronghold raised by young arms, was the most distant +point in the wilderness held by the Anglo-American forces, and for a +long time it was cut off entirely from the world. No message came out +of the great forest that rimmed it round, but Colden had been told to +build it and hold it until he had orders to leave it, and he and his +men waited patiently, until word of some kind should come or they +should be attacked by the French and Indian forces that were gathering +continually in the north. + +They saw the autumn reach its full glory. The wilderness glowed in +intense yellows and reds. The days grew cool, and the nights cold, the +air was crisp and fresh like the breath of life, the young men felt +their muscles expand and their courage rise, and they longed for the +appearance of the enemy, sure that behind their stout palisade they +would be able to defeat whatever numbers came. + +Tayoga left them early one morning for a visit to his people. The +leaves were falling then under a sharp west wind, and the sky had a +cold, hard tint of blue steel. Winter was not far away, but the day +suited a runner like Tayoga who wished to make speed through the +wilderness. He stood for a moment or two at the edge of the forest, a +strong, slender figure outlined against the brown, waved his hand to +his friends watching on the palisade, and then disappeared. + +"A great Indian," said young Wilton thoughtfully. "I confess that I +never knew much about the red men or thought much about them until I +met him. I don't recall having come into contact with a finer mind of +its kind." + +"Most of the white people make the mistake of undervaluing the +Indians," said Robert, "but we'll learn in this war what a power they +are. If the Hodenosaunee had turned against us we'd have been beaten +already." + +"At any rate, Tayoga is a noble type. Since I had to come into the +forest I'm glad to meet such fellows as he. Do you think, Lennox, that +he'll get through safely?" + +Robert laughed. + +"Get through safely?" he repeated. "Why, Tayoga is the fastest runner +among the Indian nations, and they train for speed. He goes like the +wind, he never tires, night and day are the same to him, he's so light +of foot that he could pass through a band of his own comrades and they +would never know he was there, and yet his own ears are so keen that +he can hear the leaves falling a hundred yards away. The path from +here to the vale of Onondaga may be lined on either side with the +French and the hostile tribes, standing as thick as trees in the +forest, but he will flit between them as safely and easily as you and +I would ride along a highroad into Philadelphia. He will arrive at the +vale of Onondaga, unharmed, at the exact minute he intends to arrive, +and he will return, reaching Fort Refuge also on the exact day, and at +the exact hour and minute he has already selected." + +The young Quaker surveyed Robert with admiration and then laughed. + +"What they tell of you is true," he said. "In truth that was a most +gorgeous and rounded speech you made about your friend. I don't recall +finer and more flowing periods! What vividness! What imagery! I'm +proud to know you, Lennox!" + +Robert reddened and then laughed. + +"I do grow enthusiastic when I talk about Tayoga," he said, "but +you'll see that what I predict will come to pass. He's probably told +Willet just when he'll be back at Fort Refuge. We'll ask him." + +The hunter informed them that Tayoga intended to take exactly ten +days. + +"This is Monday," he said. "He'll be here a week from next Thursday at +noon." + +"But suppose something happens to detain him," said Wilton, "suppose +the weather is too bad for traveling, or suppose a lot of other things +that can happen easily." + +Willet shrugged his shoulders. + +"In such a case as this where Tayoga is concerned," he said, "we don't +suppose anything, we go by certainties. Before he left, Tayoga +settled the day and the hour when he would return and it's not now a +problem or a question. He has disposed of the subject." + +"I can't quite see it that way," said Wilton tenaciously. "I admit +that Tayoga is a wonderful fellow, but he cannot possibly tell the +exact hour of his return from such a journey as the one he has +undertaken." + +"You wait and see," said the hunter in the utmost good nature. "You +think you know Tayoga, but you don't yet know him fully." + +"If I were not a Quaker I'd wager a small sum of money that he does +not come at the time appointed," said Wilton. + +"Then it's lucky for your pocket that you're a Quaker," laughed +Willet. + +It turned much colder that very afternoon, and the raw edge of winter +showed. The wind from the northwest was bitter and the dead leaves +fell in showers. At dusk a chilling rain began, and the young +soldiers, shivering, were glad enough to seek the shelter of the +blockhouse, where a great fire was blazing on the broad hearth. They +had made many rude camp stools and sitting down on one before the +blaze Wilton let the pleasant warmth fall upon his face. + +"I'm sorry for Tayoga," he said to Robert. "Just when you and Willet +were boasting most about him this winter rain had to come and he was +no more than fairly started. He'll have to hunt a den somewhere in the +forest and crouch in it wrapped in his blanket." + +Robert smiled serenely. + +"Den! Crouch! Wrapped in his blanket! What do you mean?" he asked in +his mellow, golden voice. "Are you speaking of my friend, Tayoga, of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee? Can it be possible, Wilton, that you are referring +to him, when you talk of such humiliating subterfuges?" + +"I refer to him and none other, Lennox. I see him now, stumbling about +in the deep forest, looking for shelter." + +"No, Wilton, you don't see Tayoga. You merely see an idle figment of a +brain that does not yet fully know my friend, the great young Onondaga. +But _I_ see him, and I see him clearly. I behold a tall, strong figure, +head slightly bent against the rain, eyes that see in the dark as well +as yours see in the brightest sunlight, feet that move surely and +steadily in the path, never stumbling and never veering, tireless +muscles that carry him on without slackening." + +"Dithyrambic again, Lennox. You are certainly loyal to your friend. As +for me, I'm glad I'm not out there in the black and wet forest. No +human being can keep to his pace at such a time." + +Robert again smiled serenely, but he said nothing more. His confidence +was unlimited. Presently he wrapped around his body a rude but +serviceable overcoat of beaver skin that he had made for himself, and +went out. The cold, drizzling icy rain that creeps into one's veins +was still falling, and he shivered despite his furs. He looked toward +the northeast whither Tayoga's course took him, and he felt sorry for +his red comrade, but he never doubted that he was speeding on his way +with sure and unfaltering step. + +The sentinels, mounted on the broad plank that ran behind the +palisade, were walking to and fro, wrapped to their eyes. A month or +two earlier they might have left everything on such a night to take +care of itself, but now they knew far better. Captain Colden, with the +terrible lesson of the battle in the bush, had become a strict +disciplinarian, and Willet was always at his elbow with unobtrusive +but valuable advice which the young Philadelphian had the good sense +to welcome. + +Robert spoke to them, and one or two referred to the Indian runner who +had gone east, saying that he might have had a better night for his +start. The repetition of Wilton's words depressed Robert for a moment, +but his heart came back with a bound. Nothing could defeat +Tayoga. Did he not know his red comrade? The wilderness was like a +trimmed garden to him, and neither rain, nor hail, nor snow could stop +him. + +As he said the word "hail" to himself it came, pattering upon the dead +leaves and the palisade in a whirlwind of white pellets. Again he +shivered, and knowing it was no use to linger there returned inside, +where most of the men had already gone to sleep. He stretched himself +on his blanket and followed them in slumber. When he awoke the next +morning it was still hailing, and Wilton said in a serious tone that +he hoped Tayoga would give up the journey and come back to Fort +Refuge. + +"I like that Onondaga," he said, "and I don't want him to freeze to +death in the forest. Why, the earth and all the trees are coated with +ice now, and even if a man lives he is able to make no progress." + +Once more Robert smiled serenely. + +"You're thinking of the men you knew in Philadelphia, Will," he +said. "They, of course, couldn't make such a flight through a white +forest, but Tayoga is an altogether different kind of fellow. He'll +merely exert himself a little more, and go on as fast as ever." + +Wilton looked at the vast expanse of glittering ice, and then drew the +folds of a heavy cloak more closely about his body. + +"I rejoice," he said, "that it's the Onondaga and not myself who has +to make the great journey. I rejoice, too, that we have built this +fort. It's not Philadelphia, that fine, true, comfortable city, but +it's shelter against the hard winter that I see coming so fast." + +Colden, still following the advice of Willet, kept his men busy, +knowing that idleness bred discontent and destroyed discipline. At +least a dozen soldiers, taught by Willet and Robert, had developed +into excellent hunters, and as the game was abundant, owing to the +absence of Indians, they had killed deer, bear, panther and all the +other kinds of animals that ranged these forests. The flesh of such as +were edible was cured and stored, as they foresaw the day when many +people might be in Fort Refuge and the food would be needed. The skins +also were dressed and were put upon the floor or hung upon the +walls. The young men working hard were happy nevertheless, as they +were continually learning new arts. And the life was healthy to an +extraordinary degree. All the wounded were as whole as before, and +everybody acquired new and stronger muscles. + +Their content would have been yet greater in degree had they been able +to learn what was going on outside, in that vast world where France +and Britain and their colonies contended so fiercely for the +mastery. But they looked at the wall of the forest, and it was a +blank. They were shut away from all things as completely as Crusoe on +his island. Nor would they hear a single whisper until Tayoga came +back--if he came back. + +On the second day after the Onondaga's departure the air softened, but +became darker. The glittering white of the forest assumed a more +somber tinge, clouds marched up in solemn procession from the +southwest, and mobilized in the center of the heavens, a wind, touched +with damp, blew. Robert knew very well what the elements portended and +again he was sorry for Tayoga, but as before, after the first few +moments of discouragement his courage leaped up higher than ever. His +brilliant imagination at once painted a picture in which every detail +was vivid and full of life, and this picture was of a vast forest, +trees and bushes alike clothed in ice, and in the center of it a +slender figure, but straight, tall and strong, Tayoga himself speeding +on like the arrow from the bow, never wavering, never weary. Then his +mind allowed the picture to fade. Wilton might not believe Tayoga +could succeed, but how could this young Quaker know Tayoga as he knew +him? + +The clouds, having finished their mobilization in the center of the +heavens, soon spread to the horizon on every side. Then a single great +white flake dropped slowly and gracefully from the zenith, fell within +the palisade, and melted before the eyes of Robert and Wilton. But it +was merely a herald of its fellows which, descending at first like +skirmishers, soon thickened into companies, regiments, brigades, +divisions and armies. Then all the air was filled with the flakes, and +they were so thick they could not see the forest. + +"The first snow of the winter and a big one," said Wilton, "and again +I give thanks for our well furnished fort. There may be greater +fortresses in Europe, and of a certainty there are many more famous, +but there is none finer to me than this with its' stout log walls, its +strong, broad roofs, and its abundance of supplies. Once more, though, +I'm sorry for your friend, Tayoga. A runner may go fast over ice, if +he's extremely sure of foot and his moccasins are good, but I know of +no way in which he can speed like the gull in its flight through deep +snow." + +"Not through the snow, but he may be on it," said Robert. + +"And how on it, wise but cryptic young sir?" + +"Snow shoes." + +"But he took none with him and had none to take." + +"Which proves nothing. The Indians often hide in the forest articles +they'll need at some far day. A canoe may be concealed in a thicket at +the creek's edge, a bow and arrows may be thrust away under a ledge, +all awaiting the coming of their owner when he needs them most." + +"The chance seems too small to me, Lennox. I can't think a pair of +snow shoes will rise out of the forest just when Tayoga wants 'em, +walk up to him and say: 'Please strap us on your feet.' I make +concession freely that the Onondaga is a most wonderful fellow, but he +can't work miracles. He does not hold such complete mastery over the +wilderness that it will obey his lightest whisper. I read fairy tales +in my youth and they pleased me much, but alas! they were fairy +tales! The impossible doesn't happen!" + +"Who's the great talker now? Your words were flowing then like the +trickling of water from a spout. But you're wrong, Will, about the +impossible. The impossible often happens. Great spirits like Tayoga +love the impossible. It draws them on, it arouses their energy, they +think it worth while. I've seen Tayoga more than once since he +started, as plainly as I see you, Will. Now, I shut my eyes and I +behold him once more. He's in the forest. The snow is pouring down. It +lies a foot deep on the ground, the boughs bend with it, and sometimes +they crack under it with a report like that of a rifle. The tops of +the bushes crowned with white bend their weight toward the ground, the +panthers, the wolves, and the wildcats all lie snug in their +dens. It's a dead world save for one figure. Squarely in the center of +it I see Tayoga, bent over a little, but flying straight forward at a +speed that neither you nor I could match, Will. His feet do not sink +in the snow. He skims upon it like a swallow through the air. His feet +are encased in something long and narrow. He has on snow shoes and he +goes like the wind!" + +"You do have supreme confidence in the Onondaga, Lennox!" + +"So would you if you knew him as I do, Will, a truth I've told you +several times already." + +"But he can't provide for every emergency!" + +"Must I tell you for the twentieth time that you don't know Tayoga as +I know him?" + +"No, Lennox, but I'll wait and see what happens." + +The fall of snow lasted the entire day and the following night. The +wilderness was singularly beautiful, but it was also inaccessible, +comfortable for those in the fort, but outside the snow lay nearly two +feet deep. + +"I hope that vision of yours comes true," said Wilton to Robert, as +they looked at the forest. "They say the Highland Scotch can go into +trances or something of that kind, and look into the future, and I +believe the Indians claim the gift, but I've never heard that English +and Americans assumed the possession of such powers." + +"I'm no seer," laughed Robert. "I merely use my imagination and +produce for myself a picture of things two or three days ahead." + +"Which comes to the same thing. Well, we'll see. I take so great an +interest in the journey of your Onondaga friend that somehow I feel +myself traveling along with him." + +"I know I'm going with him or I wouldn't have seen him flying ahead on +his snow shoes. But come, Will, I've promised to teach you how to sew +buckskin with tendons and sinews, and I'm going to see that you do +it." + +The snow despite its great depth was premature, because on the fourth +day soft winds began to blow, and all the following night a warm rain +fell. It came down so fast that the whole earth was flooded, and the +air was all fog and mist. The creek rose far beyond its banks, and the +water stood in pools and lakes in the forest. + +"Now, in very truth, our friend Tayoga has been compelled to seek a +lair," said Wilton emphatically. "His snow shoes would be the +sorriest of drags upon his feet in mud and water, and without them he +will sink to his knees. The wilderness has become impassable." + +Robert laughed. + +"I see no way out of it for him," said Wilton. + +"But I do." + +"Then what, in Heaven's name, is it?" + +"I not only see the way for Tayoga, but I shut my eyes once more and I +see him using it. He has put away his snow shoes, and, going to the +thick bushes at the edge of a creek, he has taken out his hidden +canoe. He has been in it some time, and with mighty sweeps of the +paddle, that he knows so well how to use, it flies like a wild duck +over the water. Now he passes from the creek into a river flowing +eastward, and swollen by the floods to a vast width. The rain has +poured upon him, but he does not mind it. The powerful exercise with +the paddles dries his body, and sends the pleasant warmth through +every vein. His feet and ankles rest, after his long flight on the +snow shoes, and his heart swells with pleasure, because it is one of +the easiest parts of his journey. His rifle is lying by his side, and +he could seize it in a moment should an enemy appear, but the forest +on either side of the stream is deserted, and he speeds on unhindered. +There may be better canoemen in the world than Tayoga, but I doubt +it." + +"Come, come, Lennox! You go too far! I can admit the possibility of +the snow shoes and their appearance at the very moment they're needed, +but the evocation of a river and a canoe at the opportune instant puts +too high a strain upon credibility." + +"Then don't believe it unless you wish to do so," laughed Robert, "but +as for me I'm not only believing it, but I'm almost at the stage of +knowing it." + +The flood was so great that all hunting ceased for the time, and the +men stayed under shelter in the fort, while the fires were kept +burning for the sake of both warmth and cheer. But they were on the +edge of the great Ohio Valley, where changes in temperature are often +rapid and violent. The warm rain ceased, the wind came out of the +southwest cold and then colder. The logs of the buildings popped with +the contracting cold all through the following night and the next dawn +came bright, clear and still, but far below zero. The ice was thick +on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered. The trees and +bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver +mail. Breath curled away like smoke from the lips. + +"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in +the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it until a thaw +comes." + +Robert laughed with genuine amusement and also with a certain scorn. + +"I've told you many times, Will," he said, "that you didn't know all +about Tayoga, but now it seems that you know nothing about him." + +"Well, then, wherein am I wrong, Sir Robert the Omniscient?" asked +Wilton. + +"In your assumption that Tayoga would not foresee what was +coming. Having spent nearly all his life with nature he has naturally +been forced to observe all of its manifestations, even the most +delicate. And when you add to these necessities the powers of an +exceedingly strong and penetrating mind you have developed faculties +that can cope with almost anything. Tayoga foresaw this big freeze, +and I can tell you exactly what he did as accurately as if I had been +there and had seen it. He kept to the river and his canoe almost until +the first thin skim of ice began to show. Then he paddled to land, and +hid the canoe again among thick bushes. He raised it up a little on +low boughs in such a manner that it would not touch the water. Thus it +was safe from the ice, and so leaving it well hidden and in proper +condition, and situation, he sped on." + +"Of course you're a master with words, Robert, and the longer they are +the better you seem to like 'em, but how is the Onondaga to make speed +over the ice which now covers the earth? Snow shoes, I take it, would +not be available upon such a smooth and tricky surface, and, at any +rate, he has left them far behind." + +"In part of your assumption you're right, Will. Tayoga hasn't the +snow shoes now, and he wouldn't use 'em if he had 'em. He foresaw the +possibility of the freeze, and took with him in his pack a pair of +heavy moose skin moccasins with the hair on the outside. They're so +rough they do not slip on the ice, especially when they inclose the +feet of a runner, so wiry, so agile and so experienced as Tayoga. Once +more I close my eyes and I see his brown figure shooting through the +white forest. He goes even faster than he did when he had on the snow +shoes, because whenever he comes to a slope he throws himself back +upon his heels and lets himself slide down the ice almost at the speed +of a bird darting through the air." + +"If you're right, Lennox, your red friend is not merely a marvel, but +a series of marvels." + +"I'm right, Will. I do not doubt it. At the conclusion of the tenth +day when Tayoga arrives on the return from the vale of Onondaga you +will gladly admit the truth." + +"There can be no doubt about my gladness, Lennox, if it should come +true, but the elements seem to have conspired against him, and I've +learned that in the wilderness the elements count very heavily." + +"Earth, fire and water may all join against him, but at the time +appointed he will come. I know it." + +The great cold, and it was hard, fierce and bitter, lasted two +days. At night the popping of the contracting timbers sounded like a +continuous pistol fire, but Willet had foreseen everything. At his +instance, Colden had made the young soldiers gather vast quantities of +fuel long ago from a forest which was filled everywhere with dead +boughs and fallen timber, the accumulation of scores of years. + +Then another great thaw came, and the fickle climate proceeded to show +what it could do. When the thaw had been going on for a day and a +night a terrific winter hurricane broke over the forest. Trees were +shattered as if their trunks had been shot through by huge cannon +balls. Here and there long windrows were piled up, and vast areas were +a litter of broken boughs. + +"As I reckon, and allowing for the marvels you say he can perform, +Tayoga is now in the vale of Onondaga, Lennox," said Wilton. "It's +lucky that he's there in the comfortable log houses of his own people, +because a man could scarcely live in the forest in such a storm as +this, as he would be beaten to death by flying timbers." + +"This time, Will, you're wrong in both assumptions. Tayoga has +already been to the vale of Onondaga. He has spent there the half day +that he allowed to himself, and now on the return journey has left the +vale far behind him. I told you how sensitive he was to the changes of +the weather, and he knew it was coming several hours before it +arrived. He sought at once protection, probably a cleft in the rock, +or an opening of two or three feet under a stony ledge. He is lying +there now, just as snug and safe as you please, while this storm, +which covers a vast area, rages over his head. There is much that is +primeval in Tayoga, and his comfort and safety make him fairly enjoy +the storm. As he lies under the ledge with his blanket drawn around +him, he is warm and dry and his sense of comfort, contrasting his +pleasant little den with the fierce storm without, becomes one of +luxury." + +"I suppose of course, Lennox, that you can shut your eyes and see him +once more without any trouble." + +"In all truth and certainty I can, Will. He is lying on a stone shelf +with a stone ledge above him. His blanket takes away the hardness of +the stone that supports him. He sees boughs and sticks whirled past by +the storm, but none of them touches him. He hears the wind whistling +and screaming at a pitch so fierce that it would terrify one unused to +the forest, but it is only a song in the ears of Tayoga. It soothes +him, it lulls him, and knowing that he can't use the period of the +storm for traveling, he uses it for sleep, thus enabling him to take +less later on when the storm has ceased. So, after all, he loses +nothing so far as his journey is concerned. Now his lids droop, his +eyes close, and he slumbers while the storm thunders past, unable to +touch him." + +"You do have the gift, Lennox. I believe that sometimes your words are +music in your own ears, and inspire you to greater efforts. When the +war is over you must surely become a public man--one who is often +called upon to address the people." + +"We'll fight the war first," laughed Robert. + +The storm in its rise, its zenith and its decline lasted several +hours, and, when it was over, the forest looked like a wreck, but +Robert knew that nature would soon restore everything. The foliage of +next spring would cover up the ruin and new growth would take the +place of the old and broken. The wilderness, forever restoring what +was lost, always took care of itself. + +A day or two of fine, clear winter weather, not too cold, followed, +and Willet went forth to scout. He was gone until the next morning and +when he returned his face was very grave. + +"There are Indians in the forest," he said, "not friendly warriors of +the Hodenosaunee, but those allied with the enemy. I think a +formidable Ojibway band under Tandakora is there, and also other +Indians from the region of the Great Lakes. They may have started +against us some time back, but were probably halted by the bad +weather. They're in different bodies now, scattered perhaps for +hunting, but they'll reunite before long." + +"Did you see signs of any white men, Dave?" asked Robert. + +"Yes, French officers and some soldiers are with 'em, but I don't +think St. Luc is in the number. More likely it's De Courcelles and +Jumonville, whom we have such good cause to remember." + +"I hope so, Dave, I'd rather fight against those two than against +St. Luc." + +"So would I, and for several reasons. St. Luc is a better leader than +they are. They're able, but he's the best of all the French." + +That afternoon two men who ventured a short distance from Fort Refuge +were shot at, and one was wounded slightly, but both were able to +regain the little fortress. Willet slipped out again, and reported the +forest swarming with Indians, although there was yet no indication of +a preconcerted attack. Still, it was well for the garrison to keep +close and take every precaution. + +"And this shuts out Tayoga," said Wilton regretfully to Robert. "He +may make his way through rain and flood and sleet and snow and +hurricane, but he can never pass those watchful hordes of Indians in +the woods." + +Once more the Onondaga's loyal friend laughed. "The warriors turn +Tayoga back, Will?" he said. "He will pass through 'em just as if +they were not there. The time will be up day after tomorrow at noon, +and then he will be here." + +"Even if the Indians move up and besiege us in regular form?" + +"Even that, and even anything else. At noon day after tomorrow Tayoga +will be here." + +Another man who went out to bring in a horse that had been left +grazing near the fort was fired upon, not with rifles or muskets but +with arrows, and grazed in the shoulder. He had, however, the presence +of mind to spring upon the animal's back and gallop for Fort Refuge, +where the watchful Willet threw open the gate to the stockade, let him +in, then quickly closed and barred it fast. A long fierce whining cry, +the war whoop, came from the forest. + +"The siege has closed in already," said Robert, "and it's well that we +have no other men outside." + +"Except Tayoga," said Wilton. + +"The barrier of the red army doesn't count so far as Tayoga is +concerned. How many times must I tell you, Will, that Tayoga will come +at the time appointed?" + +After the shout from the woods there was a long silence that weighed +upon the young soldiers, isolated thus in the wintry and desolate +wilderness. They were city men, used to the streets and the sounds of +people, and their situation had many aspects that were weird and +appalling. They were hundreds of miles from civilization, and around +them everywhere stretched a black forest, hiding a tenacious and cruel +foe. But on the other hand their stockade was stout, they had plenty +of ammunition, water and provisions, and one victory already to their +credit. After the first moments of depression they recalled their +courage and eagerly awaited an attack. + +But the attack did not come and Robert knew it would not be made, at +least not yet. The Indians were too wary to batter themselves to +pieces against the palisade, and the Frenchmen with them, skilled in +forest war, would hold them back. + +"Perhaps they've gone away, realizing that we're too strong for 'em," +said Wilton. + +"That's just what we must guard against," said Robert. "The Indian +fights with trick and stratagem. He always has more time than the +white man, and he is wholly willing to wait. They want us to think +they've left, and then they'll cut off the incautious." + +The afternoon wore on, and the silence which had grown oppressive +persisted. A light pleasant wind blew through the forest, which was +now dry, and the dead bark and wintry branches rustled. To many of the +youths it became a forest of gloom and threat, and they asked +impatiently why the warriors did not come out and show themselves like +men. Certainly, it did not become Frenchmen, if they were there to +lurk in the woods and seek ambush. + +Willet was the pervading spirit of the defense. Deft in word and +action, acknowledging at all times that Colden was the commander, thus +saving the young Philadelphian's pride in the presence of his men, he +contrived in an unobtrusive way to direct everything. The guards were +placed at suitable intervals about the palisade, and were instructed +to fire at anything suspicious, the others were compelled to stay in +the blockhouse and take their ease, in order that their nerves might +be steady and true, when the time for battle came. The cooks were also +instructed to prepare an unusually bountiful supper for them. + +Robert was Willet's right hand. Next to the hunter he knew most about +the wilderness, and the ways of its red people. There was no +possibility that the Indians had gone. Even if they did not undertake +to storm the fort they would linger near it, in the hope of cutting +off men who came forth incautiously, and at night, especially if it +happened to be dark, they would be sure to come very close. + +The palisade was about eight feet high, and the men stood on a +horizontal plank three feet from the ground, leaving only the head to +project above the shelter, and Willet warned them to be exceedingly +careful when the twilight came, since the besiegers would undoubtedly +use the darkness as a cover for sharp-shooting. Then both he and +Robert looked anxiously at the sun, which was just setting behind the +black waste. + +"The night will be dark," said the hunter, "and that's bad. I'm afraid +some of our sentinels will be picked off. Robert, you and I must not +sleep until tomorrow. We must stay on watch here all the while." + +As he predicted, the night came down black and grim. Vast banks of +darkness rolled up close to the palisade, and the forest showed but +dimly. Then the warriors proved to the most incredulous that they had +not gone far away. Scattered shots were fired from the woods, and one +sentinel who in spite of warnings thrust his head too high above the +palisade, received a bullet through it falling back dead. It was a +terrible lesson, but afterwards the others took no risks, although +they were anxious to fire on hostile figures that their fancy saw for +them among the trees. Willet, Robert and Colden compelled them to +withhold their fire until a real and tangible enemy appeared. + +Later in the night burning arrows were discharged in showers and fell +within the palisade, some on the buildings. But they had pails, and an +unfailing spring, and they easily put out the flames, although one man +was struck and suffered both a burn and a bruise. + +Toward midnight a terrific succession of war whoops came, and a great +number of warriors charged in the darkness against the palisade. The +garrison was ready, and, despite the darkness, poured forth such a +fierce fire that in a few minutes the horde vanished, leaving behind +several still forms which they stole away later. Another of the young +Philadelphians was killed, and before dawn he and his comrade who had +been slain earlier in the evening were buried behind the blockhouse. + +At intervals in the remainder of the night the warriors fired either +arrows or bullets, doing no farther damage except the slight wounding +of one man, and when day came Willet and Robert, worn to the bone, +sought a little rest and sleep in the blockhouse. They knew that +Golden could not be surprised while the sun was shining, and that the +savages were not likely to attempt anything serious until the +following night So they felt they were not needed for the present. + +Robert slept until nearly noon, when he ate heartily of the abundant +food one of the young cooks had prepared, and learned that beyond an +occasional arrow or bullet the forest had given forth no threat. His +own spirits rose high with the day, which was uncommonly brilliant, +with a great sun shining in the center of the heavens, and not a cloud +in the sky. Wilton was near the blockhouse and was confident about +the siege, but worried about Tayoga. + +"You tell me that the Indians won't go away," he said, "and if you're +right, and I think you are, the Onondaga is surely shut off from Fort +Refuge." + +Robert smiled. + +"I tell you for the last time that he will come at the appointed +hour," he said. + +A long day began. Hours that seemed days in themselves passed, and +quiet prevailed in the forest, although the young soldiers no longer +had any belief that the warriors had gone away. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RETURN + + +It was near the close of a day that had been marked by little +demonstration from the enemy, and the young officers, growing used to +the siege, attained a philosophical state of mind. They felt sure they +could hold the palisade against any number of enemies, and the +foresight of Willet, Robert and Tayoga had been so great that by no +possibility could they be starved out. They began now to have a +certain exultation. They were inside comfortable walls, with plenty +to eat and drink, while the enemy was outside and must forage for +game. + +"If it were not for Tayoga," said Wilton to Robert, "I should feel +more than satisfied with the situation. But the fate of your Onondaga +friend sticks in my mind. Mr. Willet, who knows everything, says we're +surrounded completely, and I don't wish him to lose his life in an +attempt to get through at a certain time, merely on a point of honor." + +"It's no point of honor, Will. It's just the completion of a plan at +the time and place chosen. Do you see anything in that tall tree to +the east of the palisade?" + +"Something appears to be moving up the trunk, but as it's on the far +side, I catch only a glimpse of it." + +"That's an Indian warrior, seeking a place for a shot at us. He'll +reach the high fork, but he'll always keep well behind the body of the +tree. It's really too far for a bullet, but I think it would be wise +for us to slip back under cover." + +The sharpshooter reached his desired station and fired, but his bullet +fell short. He tried three more, all without avail, and then Willet +picked him off with his long and deadly rifle. Robert shut his eyes +when he saw the body begin its fall, but his vivid imagination, so +easily excited, made him hear its thump when it struck the earth. + +"And so ends that attempt!" he said. + +An hour later he saw a white flag among the trees, and when Willet +mounted the palisade two French officers came forward. Robert saw at +once that they were De Courcelles and Jumonville, and his heart beat +hard. They linked him with Quebec, in which he had spent some +momentous days, and despite their treachery to him he did not feel +hatred of them at that moment. + +"Will you stay with me, Mr. Willet, and you also, Mr. Lennox, while I +talk to them?" asked Captain Colden. "You know these Frenchmen better +than I do, and their experience is so much greater than mine that I +need your help." + +Robert and the hunter assented gladly. Robert, in truth, was very +curious to hear what these old friends and enemies of his had to say, +and he felt a thrill when the two recognized and saluted him in the +most friendly fashion, just as if they had never meant him any harm. + +"Chance brings about strange meetings between us, Mr. Lennox," said De +Courcelles. "It gives me pleasure to note that you have not yet taken +any personal harm from our siege." + +"Nor you nor Monsieur de Jumonville, from our successful defense," +replied Robert in the same spirit. + +"You have us there. The points so far are in your favor, although only +superficially so, as I shall make clear to you presently." + +Then De Courcelles turned his attention to Colden, who he saw was the +nominal leader of the garrison. + +"My name," he said, "is Auguste de Courcelles, a colonel in the +service of His Majesty, King Louis of France. My friend is Captain +Francois de Jumonville, and we have the honor to lead the numerous and +powerful force of French and Indians now besieging you." + +"And my name is Colden, Captain James Colden," replied the young +officer. "I've heard of you from my friends, Mr. Lennox and +Mr. Willet, and I have the honor of asking you what I can do for you." + +"You cannot do for us more than you can do for yourself, Captain +Colden. We ask the surrender of your little fort, and of your little +garrison, which we freely admit has defended itself most +gallantly. It's not necessary for us to make an assault. You're deep +in the wilderness, we can hold you here all winter, and help cannot +possibly come to you. We guarantee you good treatment in Canada, where +you will be held until the war is over." + +Young Colden smiled. They were standing before the single gate in the +palisade, and he looked back at the solid buildings, erected by the +hands of his own men, with the comfortable smoke curling up against +the cold sky. And he looked also at the wintry forest that curved in +every direction. + +"Colonel de Courcelles," he said, "it seems to me that we are in and +you are out. If it comes to holding us here all winter we who have +good houses can stand it much better than you who merely have the +forest as a home, where you will be rained upon, snowed upon, hailed +upon, and maybe frozen. Why should we exchange our warm house for your +cold forest?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned. There was a humorous inflection in +Colden's tone that did not please him, and the young officer's words +also had a strong element of truth. + +"It's not a time to talk about houses and forests," he said, somewhat +haughtily. "We have here a formidable force capable of carrying your +fort, and, for that reason, we demand your surrender. Indians are +always inflamed by a long and desperate resistance and while Captain +de Jumonville and I will do our best to restrain them, it's possible +that they may escape from our control in the hour of victory." + +Young Colden smiled again. With Willet at his right hand and Robert at +his left, he acquired lightness of spirit. + +"A demand and a threat together," he replied. "For the threat we +don't care. We don't believe you'll ever see that hour of victory in +which you can't control your Indians, and there'll be no need for you, +Colonel de Courcelles, to apologize for a massacre committed by your +allies, and which you couldn't help. We're also growing used to +requests of surrender. + +"There was your countryman, St. Luc, a very brave and skillful man, who +asked it of us, but we declined, and in the end we defeated him. And +if we beat St. Luc without the aid of a strong fort, why shouldn't we +beat you with it, Colonel de Courcelles?" + +Colonel de Courcelles frowned once more, and Captain de Jumonville +frowned with him. + +"You don't know the wilderness, Captain Colden," he said, "and you +don't give our demand the serious consideration to which it is +entitled. Later on, the truth of what I tell you may bear heavily upon +you." + +"I may not know the forest as you do, Colonel de Courcelles, but I +have with me masters of woodcraft, Mr. Lennox and Mr. Willet, with +whom you're already acquainted." + +"We've had passages of various kinds with Colonel de Courcelles, both +in the forest and at Quebec," said Robert, quietly. + +Both De Courcelles and Jumonville flushed, and it became apparent that +they were anxious to end the interview. + +"This, I take it, is your final answer," the French Colonel said to +the young Philadelphia captain. + +"It is, sir." + +"Then what may occur rests upon the knees of the gods." + +"It does, sir, and I'm as willing as you to abide by the result." + +"And I have the honor of bidding you good day." + +"An equally great honor is mine." + +The two French officers were ceremonious. They lifted their fine, +three-cornered hats, and bowed politely, and Colden, Willet and Robert +were not inferior in courtesy. Then the Frenchmen walked away into the +forest, while the three Americans went inside the palisade, where the +heavy gate was quickly shut behind them and fastened securely. But +before he turned back Robert thought he saw the huge figure of +Tandakora in the forest. + +When the French officers disappeared several shots were fired and the +savages uttered a long and menacing war whoop, but the young soldiers +had grown used to such manifestations, and, instead of being +frightened, they felt a certain defiant pleasure. + +"Yells don't hurt us," said Wilton to Robert. "Instead I feel my +Quaker blood rising in anger, and I'd rejoice if they were to attack +now. A very heavy responsibility rests upon me, Robert, since I've to +fight not only for myself but for my ancestors who wouldn't fight at +all. It rests upon me, one humble youth, to bring up the warlike +average of the family." + +"You're one, Will, but you're not humble," laughed Robert. "I believe +that jest of yours about the still, blood of generations bursting +forth in you at last is not a jest wholly. When it comes to a pitched +battle I expect to see you perform prodigies of valor." + +"If I do it won't be Will Wilton, myself, and I won't be entitled to +any credit. I'll be merely an instrument in the hands of fate, working +out the law of averages. But what do you think those French officers +and their savage allies will do now, Robert, since Colden, so to +speak, has thrown a very hard glove in their faces?" + +"Draw the lines tighter about Fort Refuge. It's cold in the forest, +but they can live there for a while at least. They'll build fires and +throw up a few tepees, maybe for the French. But their anger and their +desire to take us will make them watch all the more closely. They'll +draw tight lines around this snug little, strong little fort of ours." + +"Which removes all possibility that your friend Tayoga will come at +the appointed time." + +Robert glared at him. + +"Will," he said, "I've discovered that you have a double nature, +although the two are never struggling for you at the same time." + +"That is I march tandem with my two natures, so to speak?" + +"They alternate. At times you're a sensible boy." + +"Boy? I'm older than you are!" + +"One wouldn't think it. But a well bred Quaker never interrupts. As I +said, you're quite sensible at times and you ought to thank me for +saying so. At other times your mind loves folly. It fairly swims and +dives in the foolish pool, and it dives deepest when you're talking +about Tayoga. I trust, foolish young, sir, that I've heard the last +word of folly from you about the arrival of Tayoga, or rather what you +conceive will be his failure to arrive. Peace, not a word!" + +"At least let me say this," protested Wilton. "I wish that I could +feel the absolute confidence in any human being that you so obviously +have in the Onondaga." + +The night came, white and beautiful. It was white, because the Milky +Way was at its brightest, which was uncommonly bright, and every star +that ever showed itself in that latitude came out and danced. The +heavens were full of them, disporting themselves in clusters on +spangled seas, and the forest was all in light, paler than that of +day, but almost as vivid. + +The Indians lighted several fires, well beyond rifle shot, and the +sentinels on the palisade distinctly saw their figures passing back +and forth before the blaze Robert also noticed the uniforms of +Frenchmen, and he thought it likely that De Courcelles and Jumonville +had with them more soldiers than he had supposed at first. The fires +burned at different points of the compass, and thus the fort was +encircled completely by them. Both young Lennox and Willet knew they +had been lighted that way purposely, that is in order to show to the +defenders that a belt of fire and steel was drawn close about them. + +To Wilton at least the Indian circle seemed impassable, and despite +the enormous confidence of Robert he now had none at all himself. It +was impossible for Tayoga, even if he had triumphed over sleet and +snow and flood and storm, to pass so close a siege. He would not +speak of it again, but Robert had allowed himself to be deluded by +friendship. He felt sorry for his new friend, and he did not wish to +see his disappointment on the morrow. + +Wilton was in charge of the guard until midnight, and then he slept +soundly until dawn, awakening to a brilliant day, the fit successor of +such a brilliant night. The Indian fires were still burning and he +could see the warriors beside them sleeping or eating at leisure. +They still formed a complete circle about the fort, and while the +young Quaker felt safe inside the palisade, he saw no chance for a +friend outside. Robert joined him presently but, respecting his +feelings, the Philadelphian said nothing about Tayoga. + +The winter, it seemed, was exerting itself to show how fine a day it +could produce. It was cold but dazzling. A gorgeous sun, all red and +gold, was rising, and the light was so vivid and intense that they +could see far in the forest, bare of leaf. Robert clearly discerned +both De Courcelles and Jumonville about six hundred yards away, +standing by one of the fires. Then he saw the gigantic figure of +Tandakora, as the Ojibway joined them. Despite the cold, Tandakora +wore little but the breechcloth, and his mighty chest and shoulders +were painted with many hideous devices. In the distance and in the +glow of the flames his size was exaggerated until he looked like one +of the giants of ancient mythology. + +Robert was quite sure the siege would never be raised if the voice of +the Ojibway prevailed in the allied French and Indian councils. +Tandakora had been wounded twice, once by the hunter and once by the +Onondaga, and a mind already inflamed against the Americans and the +Hodenosaunee cherished a bitter personal hate. Robert knew that +Willet, Tayoga and he must be eternally on guard against his murderous +attacks. + +The savages built their fires higher, as if in defiance and +triumph. They could defend themselves against cold, because the forest +furnished unending fuel, but rain or hail, sleet or snow would bring +severe hardship. The day, however, favored them to the utmost. It +had seemed at dawn that it could not be more brilliant, but as the +morning advanced the world fairly glowed with color. The sky was +golden save in the east, where it burned in red, and the trunks and +black boughs of the forest, to the last and least little twig, were +touched with it until they too were clothed in a luminous glow. + +The besiegers seemed lazy, but Robert knew that the watch upon the +fort and its approaches was never neglected for an instant. A fox +could not steal through their lines, unseen, and yet he never doubted. +Tayoga would come, and moreover he would come at the time +appointed. Toward the middle of the morning the Indians shot some +arrows that fell inside the palisade, and uttered a shout or two of +defiance, but nobody was hurt, and nobody was stirred to action. The +demonstration passed unanswered, and, after a while, Wilton called +Robert's attention to the fact that it was only two hours until +noon. Robert did not reply, but he knew that the conditions could not +be more unfavorable. Rain or hail, sleet or snow might cover the +passage of a warrior, but the dazzling sunlight that enlarged twigs +two hundred yards away into boughs, seemed to make all such efforts +vain. Yet he knew Tayoga, and he still believed. + +Soon a stir came in the forest, and they heard a long, droning +chant. A dozen warriors appeared coming out of the north, and they +were welcomed with shouts by the others. + +"Hurons, I think," said Willet. "Yes, I'm sure of it. They've +undoubtedly sent away for help, and it's probable that other bands +will come about this time." He reckoned right, as in half an hour a +detachment of Abenakis came, and they too were received with approving +shouts, after which food was given to them and they sat luxuriously +before the fires. Then three runners arrived, one from the north, one +from the west, and one from the east, and a great shout of welcome was +uttered for each. + +"What does it mean?" Wilton asked Robert. + +"The runners were sent out by De Courcelles and Tandakora to rally +more strength for our siege. They've returned with the news that +fresh forces are coming, as the exultant shout from the warriors +proves." + +The young Philadelphian's heart sank. He knew that it was only a half +hour until noon, and noon was the appointed time. Nor did the heavens +give any favoring sign. The whole mighty vault was a blaze of gold and +blue. Nothing could stir in such a light and remain hidden from the +warriors. Wilton looked at his comrade and he caught a sudden glitter +in his eyes. It was not the look of one who despaired. Instead it was +a flash of triumph, and the young Philadelphian wondered. Had Robert +seen a sign, a sign that had escaped all others? He searched the +forest everywhere with his own eyes, but he could detect nothing +unusual. There were the French, and there were the Indians. There were +the new warriors, and there were the three runners resting by the +fires. + +The runners rose presently, and the one who had come out of the north +talked with Tandakora, the one who had come out of the west stood near +the edge of the forest with an Abenaki chief and looked at the +fort. The one who had come out of the east joined De Courcelles +himself and they came nearer to the fort than any of the others, +although they remained just beyond rifle shot. Evidently De Courcelles +was explaining something to the Indian as once he pointed toward the +blockhouse. + +Wilton heard Robert beside him draw a deep breath, and he turned in +surprise. The face of young Lennox was tense and his eyes fairly +blazed as he gazed at De Courcelles and the warrior. Then looking back +at the forest Robert uttered a sudden sharp, Ah! the release of +uncontrollable emotion, snapping like a pistol shot. + +"Did you see it, Will? Did you see it?" he exclaimed. "It was quicker +than lightning!" + +The Indian runner stooped, snatched the pistol from the belt of De +Courcelles, struck him such a heavy blow on the head with the butt of +it that he fell without a sound, and then his brown body shot forward +like an arrow for the fort. + +"Open the gate! Open the gate!" thundered Willet, and strong arms +unbarred it and flung it back in an instant. The brown body of Tayoga +flashed through, and, in another instant, it was closed and barred +again. + +"He is here with five minutes to spare!" said Robert as he left the +palisade with Wilton, and went toward the blockhouse to greet his +friend. + +Tayoga, painted like a Micmac and stooping somewhat hitherto, drew +himself to his full height, held out his hand in the white man's +fashion to Robert, while his eyes, usually so calm, showed a passing +gleam of triumph. + +"I said, Tayoga, that you would be back on time, that is by noon +today," said Robert, "and though the task has been hard you're with us +and you have a few minutes to spare. How did you deceive the sharp +eyes of Tandakora?" + +"I did not let him see me, knowing he would look through my disguise, +but I asked the French colonel to come forward with me at once and +inspect the fort, knowing that it was my only chance to enter here, +and he agreed to do so. You saw the rest, and thus I have come. It is +not pleasant to those who besiege us, as your ears tell you." + +Fierce yells of anger and disappointment were rising in the +forest. Jumonville and two French soldiers had rushed forward, seized +the reviving De Courcelles and were carrying him to one of the fires, +where they would bind up his injured head. But inside the fort there +was only exultation at the arrival of Tayoga and admiration for his +skill. He insisted first on being allowed to wash off the Micmac +paint, enabling him to return to his true character. Then he took food +and drink. + +"Tayoga," said Wilton, "I believed you could not come. I said so often +to Lennox. You would never have known my belief, because Lennox would +not have told it to you, but I feel that I must apologize to you for +the thought. I underrated you, but I underrated you because I did not +believe any human being could do what you have done." + +Tayoga smiled, showing his splendid white teeth. "Your thoughts did +me no wrong," he said in his precise school English, "because the +elements and chance itself seemed to have conspired against me." + +Later he told what he had heard in the vale of Onondaga where the +sachems and chiefs kept themselves well informed concerning the +movements of the belligerent nations. The French were still the more +active of the rival powers, and their energy and conquests were +bringing the western tribes in great numbers to their flag. Throughout +the Ohio country the warriors were on the side of the French who were +continuing the construction of the powerful fortress at the junction +of the Alleghany and the Monongahela. The French were far down in the +province of New York, and they held control of Lake Champlain and of +Lake George also. More settlements had been cut off, and more women +and children had been taken prisoners into Canada. + +But the British colonies and Great Britain too would move, so Tayoga +said. They were slow, much slower than Canada, but they had the +greater strength and the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga knew +it. They could not be moved from their attitude of friendliness toward +the English, and the Mohawks openly espoused the English side. The +American, Franklin, was very active, and a great movement against Fort +Duquesne would be begun, although it might not start until next +spring. An English force under an English general was coming across +the sea, and the might of England was gathering for a great blow. + +The Onondaga had few changes in the situation to report, but he at +least brought news of the outside world, driving away from the young +soldiers the feeling that they were cut off from the human +race. Wilton was present when he was telling of these things and when +he had finished Robert asked: + +"How did you make your way through the great snow, Tayoga?" + +"It is well to think long before of difficulties," he replied. "Last +year when the winter was finished I hid a pair of snow shoes in this +part of the forest, and when the deep snow came I found them and used +them." + +Robert glanced at Wilton, whose eyes were widening. + +"And the great rain and flood, how did you meet that obstacle?" asked +Robert. + +"That, too, was forethought. I have two canoes hidden in this region, +and it was easy to reach one of them, in which I traveled with speed +and comfort, until I could use it no longer. Then I hid it away again +that it might help me another time." + +"And what did you do when the hurricane came, tearing up the bushes, +cutting down the trees, and making the forest as dangerous as if it +were being showered by cannon balls?" + +"I crept under a wide ledge of stone in the side of a hill, where I +lay snug, dry and safe." + +Wilton looked at Tayoga and Robert, and then back at the Onondaga. + +"Is this wizardry?" he cried. + +"No," replied Robert. + +"Then it's singular chance." + +"Nor that either. It was the necessities that confronted Tayoga in the +face of varied dangers, and my knowledge of what he would be likely to +do in either case. Merely a rather fortunate use of the reasoning +faculties, Will." + +Willet, who had come in, smiled. + +"Don't let 'em make game of you, Mr. Wilton," he said, "but there's +truth in what Robert tells you. He understands Tayoga so thoroughly +that he knows pretty well what he'll do in every crisis." + +After the Onondaga had eaten he wrapped himself in blankets, went to +sleep in one of the rooms of the blockhouse and slept twenty-four +hours. When he awoke he showed no signs of his tremendous journey and +infinite dangers. He was once more the lithe and powerful Tayoga of +the Clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga of the great League of +the Hodenosaunee. + +The besiegers meanwhile undertook no movement, but, as if in defiance, +they increased the fires in the red ring around the fort and they +showed themselves ostentatiously. Robert several times saw De +Courcelles with a thick bandage about his head, and he knew that the +Frenchman's mortification and rage at being tricked so by the Onondaga +must be intense. + +Now the weather began to grow very cold again, and Robert saw the +number of tepees in the forest increase. The Indians, not content +with the fires, were providing themselves with good shelters, and to +every one it indicated a long siege. There was neither snow, nor hail, +but clear, bitter, intense cold, and again the timbers of the +blockhouse and outbuildings popped as they contracted under the lower +temperature. + +The horses were pretty well sheltered from the cold, and Willet, with +his usual foresight, had suggested before the siege closed in that a +great deal of grass be cut for them, though should the French and +Indians hang on for a month or two, they would certainly become a +problem. Food for the men would last indefinitely, but a time might +arrive when none would be left for the horses. + +"If the pinch comes," said Willet, "we know how to relieve it." + +"How?" asked Colden. + +"We'll eat the horses." + +Colden made a wry face. + +"It's often been done in Europe," said the hunter. "At the famous +sieges of Leyden and Haarlem, when the Dutch held out so long against +the Spanish, they'd have been glad enough to have had horseflesh." + +"I look ahead again," said Robert, hiding a humorous gleam in his eyes +from Colden, "and I see a number of young men behind a palisade which +they have held gallantly for months. They come mostly from +Philadelphia and they call themselves Quakers. They are thin, awfully +thin, terribly thin, so thin that there is scarcely enough to make a +circle for their belts. They have not eaten for four days, and they +are about to kill their last horse. When he is gone they will have to +live on fresh air and scenery." + +"Now I know Lennox that you're drawing on your imagination and that +you're a false prophet," said Colden. + +"I hope my prediction won't come true, and I don't believe it will," +said Robert cheerfully. + +Several nights later when there was no moon, and no stars, Willet and +Tayoga slipped out of the fort. Colden was much opposed to their +going, fearing for their lives, and knowing, too, how great a loss +they would be if they were taken or slain, but the hunter and the +Onondaga showed the utmost confidence, assuring him they would return +in safety. + +Colden became quite uneasy for them after they had been gone some +hours, and Robert, although he refused to show it, felt a trace of +apprehension. He knew their great skill in the forest, but Tandakora +was a master of woodcraft too, and the Frenchmen also were experienced +and alert. As he, Colden, Wilton and Carson watched at the palisade he +was in fear lest a triumphant shout from the Indian lines would show +that the hunter and the Onondaga had been trapped. + +But the long hours passed without an alarm and about three o'clock in +the morning two shadows appeared at the palisade and whispered to +them. Robert felt great relief as Willet and Tayoga climbed silently +over. + +"We're half frozen," said the hunter. "Take us into the blockhouse and +over the fire we'll tell you all we've seen." + +They always kept a bed of live coals on the hearth in the main +building, and the two who had returned bent over the grateful heat, +warming their hands and faces. Not until they were in a normal +physical condition did Colden or Robert ask them any questions and +then Willet said: + +"Their ring about the fort is complete, but in the darkness we were +able to slip through and then back again. I should judge that they +have at least three hundred warriors and Tandakora is first among +them. There are about thirty Frenchmen. De Courcelles has taken off +his bandage, but he still has a bruise where Tayoga struck +him. Peeping from the bushes I saw him and his face has grown more +evil. It was evident to me that the blow of Tayoga has inflamed his +mind. He feels mortified and humiliated at the way in which he was +outwitted, and, as Tandakora also nurses a personal hatred against us, +it's likely that they'll keep up the siege all winter, if they think +in the end they can get us. + +"Their camp, too, shows increasing signs of permanency. They've built +a dozen bark huts in which all the French, all the chiefs and some of +the warriors sleep, and there are skin lodges for the rest. Oh, it's +quite a village! And they've accumulated game, too, for a long time." + +Colden looked depressed. + +"We're not fulfilling our mission," he said. "We've come out here to +protect the settlers on the border, and give them a place of +refuge. Instead, it looks as if we'd pass the winter fighting for our +own lives." + +"I think I have a plan," said Robert, who had been very thoughtful. + +"What is it?" asked Colden. + +"I remember something I read in our Roman history in the school at +Albany. It was an event that happened a tremendously long time ago, +but I fancy it's still useful as an example. Scipio took his army over +to Africa to meet Hannibal, and one night his men set fire to the +tents of the Carthaginians. They destroyed their camp, created a +terrible tumult, and inflicted great losses." + +Tayoga's eyes glistened. + +"Then you mean," he said, "that we are to burn the camp of the French +and their allies?" + +"No less." + +"It is a good plan. If Great Bear and the captain agree to it we will +do it." + +"It's fearfully risky," said Colden. + +"If Great Bear and I can go out once and come back safely," said +Tayoga, "we can do it twice." + +The young captain looked at Willet. + +"It's the best plan," said the hunter. "Robert hasn't read his Roman +history in vain." + +"Then it's agreed," said Colden, "and as soon as another night as dark +as this comes we'll try it." + +The plan being formed, they waited a week before a night, pitchy +black, arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RED WEAPON + + +The night was admirably suited to their purpose--otherwise they would +not have dared to leave Fort Refuge--and Willet, Tayoga and Robert +alone undertook the task. Wilton, Carson and others were anxious to +go, but, as an enterprise of such great danger required surpassing +skill, the three promptly ruled them out. The hunter and young Lennox +would have disguised themselves as Indians, but as they did not have +any paint in the fort they were compelled to go forth in their own +garb. + +The cold had softened greatly, and, as heavy clouds had come with it, +there was promise of snow, which in truth the three hoped would fall, +since it would be an admirable cloak for their purpose. But in any +event theirs was to be a perilous path, and Colden shook hands with +the three as they lowered themselves softly from the palisade. + +"Come back," he whispered. "If you find the task too dangerous let it +go and return at once. We need you here in the fort." + +"We'll come back as victors," Robert replied with confidence. Then he +and his comrades crouched, close against the palisade and +listened. The Indian fires showed dimly in the heavy dusk, and they +knew that sentinels were on watch in the woods, but still keeping in +the shadow of the palisade they went to the far side, where the Indian +line was thinner. Then they dropped to hand and knee and crept toward +the forest. + +They stopped at intervals, lying flat upon the ground, looking with +all their eyes and listening with all their ears. They saw ahead but +one fire, apparently about four hundred yards away, and they heard +only a light damp wind rustling the dry boughs and bushes. But they +knew they could not afford to relax their caution by a hair, and they +continued a slow creeping progress until they reached the woods. Then +they rested on their elbows in a thicket, and took long breaths of +relief. They had been a quarter of an hour in crossing the open and it +was an immense relief to sit up again. They kept very close together, +while their muscles recovered elasticity, and still used their eyes +and ears to the utmost. It was impossible to say that a warrior was +not near crouching in the thicket as they were, and they did not +intend to run any useless risk. Moreover, if the alarm were raised +now, they would escape into the fort, and await another chance. + +But they neither heard nor saw a hostile presence. In truth, they saw +nothing that betokened a siege, save the dim light flickering several +hundred yards ahead of them, and they resumed their advance, bent so +low that they could drop flat at the first menace. Their eyes looked +continually for a sentinel, but they saw none. + +"Don't you think the wind is rising a bit, Tayoga?" whispered the +hunter. + +"Yes," replied the Onondaga. + +"And it feels damper to the face?" + +"Yes, Great Bear." + +"And it doesn't mean rain, because the air's too cold, but it does +mean snow, for which the air is just right, and I think it's coming, +as the clouds grow thicker and thicker all the time." + +"Which proves that we are favored. Tododaho from his great and shining +star, that we cannot see tonight, looks down upon us and will help us, +since we have tried to do the things that are right. We wish the snow +to come, because we wish a veil about us, while we confound our +enemies, and Tododaho will send it." + +He spoke devoutly and Robert admired and respected his faith, the +center of which was Manitou, and Manitou in the mind of the Christian +boy was the same as God. He also shared the faith of Tayoga that +Tododaho would wrap the snow like a white robe about them to hide them +from their enemies. Meanwhile the three crept slowly toward the fire, +and Robert felt something damp brush his face. It was the first flake +of snow, and Tododaho, on his shining star, was keeping his unspoken +promise. + +Tayoga looked up toward the point in the heavens where the great +chief's star shone on clear nights, and, even in the dark, Robert saw +the spiritual exaltation on his face. The Onondaga never doubted for +an instant. The mighty chief who had gone away four centuries ago had +answered the prayer made to him by one of his loyal children, and was +sending the snow that it might be a veil before them while they +destroyed the camp of their enemies. The soul of Tayoga leaped +up. They had received a sign. They were in the care of Tododaho and +they could not fail. + +Another flake fell on Robert's face and a third followed, and then +they came down in a white and gentle stream that soon covered him, +Willet and Tayoga and hung like a curtain before them. He looked back +toward the fort, but the veil there also hung between and he could not +see it. Then he looked again, and the dim fire had disappeared in the +white mist. + +"Will it keep their huts and lodges from burning?" he whispered to +the hunter. + +Willet shook his head. + +"If we get a fire started well," he said, "the snow will seem to feed +it rather than put it out. It's going to help us in more ways than +one, too. I'd expected that we'd have to use flint and steel to touch +off our blaze, but as they're likely to leave their own fire and seek +shelter, maybe we can get a torch there. Now, you two boys keep close +to me and we'll approach that fire, or the place where it was." + +They continued a cautious advance, their moccasins making no sound in +the soft snow, all objects invisible at a distance of twelve or +fifteen feet. Yet they saw one Indian warrior on watch, although he +did not see or hear them. He was under the boughs of a small tree and +was crouched against the trunk, protecting himself as well as he could +from the tumbling flakes. He was a Huron, a capable warrior with his +five senses developed well, and in normal times he was ambitious and +eager for distinction in his wilderness world, but just now he did not +dream that any one from the fort could be near. So the three passed +him, unsuspected, and drew close to the fire, which now showed as a +white glow through the dusk, sufficient proof that it was still +burning. Further progress proved that the warriors had abandoned it +for shelter, and they left the next task to Tayoga. + +The Onondaga lay down in the snow and crept forward until he reached +the fire, where he paused and waited two or three minutes to see that +his presence was not detected. Then he took three burning sticks and +passed them back swiftly to his comrades. Willet had already discerned +the outline of a bark hut on his right and Robert had made out another +on his left. Just beyond were skin tepees. They must now act quickly, +and each went upon his chosen way. + +Robert approached the hut on the left from the rear, and applied the +torch to the wall which was made of dry and seasoned bark. Despite the +snow, it ignited at once and burned with extraordinary speed. The +roar of flames from the right showed that the hunter had done as well, +and a light flash among the skin tepees was proof that Tayoga was not +behind them. + +The besieging force was taken completely by surprise. The three had +imitated to perfection the classic example of Scipio's soldiers in the +Carthaginian camp. The confusion was terrible as French and Indians +rushed for their lives from the burning huts and lodges into the +blinding snow, where they saw little, and, for the present, understood +less. Tayoga who, in the white dusk readily passed for one of their +own, slipped here and there, continually setting new fires, traveling +in a circle about the fort, while Robert and Willet kept near him, but +on the inner side of the circle and well behind the veil of snow. + +The huts and lodges burned fiercely. Where they stood thickest each +became a lofty pyramid of fire and then blended into a mighty mass of +flames, forming an intense red core in the white cloud of falling +snow. French soldiers and Indian warriors ran about, seeking to save +their arms, ammunition and stores, but they were not always +successful. Several explosions showed that the flames had reached +powder, and Robert laughed to himself in pleasure. The destruction of +their powder was a better result than he had hoped or foreseen. + +The hunter uttered a low whistle and Tayoga throwing down his torch, +at once joined him and Robert who had already cast theirs far from +them. + +"Back to the fort!" said Willet. "We've already done 'em damage they +can't repair in a long time, and maybe we've broken up their camp for +the winter! What a godsend the snow was!" + +"It was Tododaho who sent it," said Tayoga, reverently. "They almost +make a red ring around our fort. We have succeeded because the mighty +chief, the founder of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who went +away to his star four centuries ago, willed for us to succeed. How +splendidly the fires burn! Not a hut, not a lodge will be left!" + +"And it's time for us to be going," said the hunter. "Men like De +Courcelles, Jumonville and Tandakora will soon bring order out of all +that tumult, and they'll be looking for those who set the torch. The +snow is coming down heavier and heavier and it hides our flight, +although it is not able to put out the fires. You're right, Tayoga, +about Tododaho pouring his favor upon us." + +It was easy for the three to regain the palisade, and they were not +afraid of mistaken bullets fired at them for enemies, since Colden and +Wilton had warned the soldiers that they might expect the return of +the three. Tododaho continued to watch over, them as they reached the +palisade, at the point where the young Philadelphia captain himself +stood upon the raised plank behind it. + +"Captain Colden! Captain Colden!" called Willet through the white +cloud. + +"Is it you, Mr. Willet?" exclaimed Colden. "Thank God you've +come. I've been in great fear for you! I knew that you had set the +fires, because my own eyes tell me so, but I didn't know what had +become of you." + +"I'm here, safe and well." + +"And Mr. Lennox?" + +"Here, unhurt, too," replied Robert. + +"And the Onondaga?" + +"All right and rejoicing that we have done even more than we hoped to +do," said Tayoga, in his measured and scholastic English. + +The three, coated with snow until they looked like white bears, +quickly scaled the wall, and received the joyous welcome, given to +those who have done a great deed, and who return unhurt to their +comrades. Colden, Wilton and Carson shook their hands again and again +and Robert knew that it was due as much to pleasure at the return as +at the destruction of the besieging camp. + +The entire population of Fort Refuge was at the palisade, heedless of +the snow, watching the burning huts and lodges. There was no wind, but +cinders and ashes fell near them, to be covered quickly with white. +Fierce yells now came from the forest and arrows and bullets were +fired at the fort, but they were harmless and the defenders did not +reply. + +The flames began to decline by and by, then they sank fast, and after +a while the snow which still came down as if it meant never to stop +covered everything. The circling white wall enveloped the stronghold +completely, and Robert knew that the disaster to the French and +Indians had been overwhelming. Probably all of them had saved their +lives, but they had lost ammunition--the explosions had told him +that--much of their stores, and doubtless all of their food. They +would have to withdraw, for the present at least. + +Robert felt immense exultation. They had struck a great blow, and it +was he who had suggested the plan. His pride increased, although he +hid it, when Willet put his large hand on his shoulder and said: + +"'Twas well done, Robert, my lad, and 'twould not have been done at +all had it not been for you. Your mind bred the idea, from which the +action flowed." + +"And you think the French and Indians have gone away now?" + +"Surely, lad! Surely! Indians can stand a lot, and so can French, but +neither can stand still in the middle of a snow that bids fair to be +two feet deep and live. They may have to travel until they reach some +Indian village farther west and north." + +"Such being the case, there can be no pressing need for me just at +present, and I think I shall sleep. I feel now as if I were bound to +relax." + +"The best thing you could do, and I'll take a turn between the +blankets myself." + +Robert had a great sleep. Some of the rooms in the blockhouse offered +a high degree of frontier comfort, and he lay down upon a soft couch +of skins. A fine fire blazing upon a stone hearth dried his deerskin +garments, and, when he awoke about noon, he was strong and thoroughly +refreshed. The snow was still falling heavily. The wilderness in its +white blanket was beautiful, but it did not look like a possible home +to Robert now. His vivid imagination leaped up at once and pictured +the difficulties of any one struggling for life, even in that vast +white silence. + +Willet and Tayoga were up before him, and they were talking of another +expedition to see how far the besieging force had gone, but while they +were discussing it a figure appeared at the edge of the forest. + +"It's a white man," exclaimed Wilton, "and so it must be one of the +Frenchmen. He's a bold fellow walking directly within our range. What +on earth can he want?" + +One of the guards on the palisade raised his rifle, but Willet +promptly pushed down the muzzle. + +"That's no Frenchman," he said. + +"Then who is it?" asked Wilton. + +"He's clothed in white, as any one walking in this snow is bound to +be, but I could tell at the first glimpse that it was none other than +our friend, Black Rifle." + +"Coming to us for refuge, and so our fort is well named." + +"Not for refuge. Black Rifle has taken care of himself too long in the +wilderness to be at a loss at any time. I suspect that he has +something of importance to tell us or he would not come at all." + +At the command of Colden the great gate was thrown open that the +strange rover might enter in all honor, and as he came in, apparently +oblivious of the storm, his eyes gleamed a little at the sight of +Willet, his friend. + +"You've come to tell us something," said the hunter. + +"So I have," said Black Rifle. + +"Brush off the snow, warm yourself by the fire, and then we'll +listen." + +"I can tell it now. I don't mind the snow. I saw from a distance the +great fire last night, when the camp of the French and Indians +burned. It was clever to destroy their huts and lodges, and I knew at +once who did it. Such a thing as that could not have happened without +you having a hand in it, Dave Willet. I watched to see what the +French and Indians would do, and I followed them in their hurried +retreat into the north. I hid in the snowy bushes, and heard some of +their talk, too. They will not stop until they reach a village a full +hundred miles from here. The Frenchmen, De Courcelles and Jumonville +are mad with anger and disappointment, and so is the Indian chief +Tandakora." + +"And well they may be!" jubilantly exclaimed Captain Colden, off whose +mind a great weight seemed to have slid. "It was splendid tactics to +burn their home over their heads. I wouldn't have thought of it +myself, but since others have thought of it, and, it has succeeded so +admirably, we can now do the work we were sent here to do." + +Tayoga and Willet made snow-shoes and went out on them a few days +later, confirming the report of Black Rifle. Then small parties were +sent forth to search the forest for settlers and their families. Robert +had a large share in this work, and sometimes he looked upon terrible +things. In more than one place, torch and tomahawk had already done +their dreadful work, but in others they found the people alive and +well, still clinging to their homes. It was often difficult, even in +the face of imminent danger, to persuade them to leave, and when they +finally went, under mild compulsion, it was with the resolve to return +to their log cabins in the spring. + +Fort Refuge now deserved its name. There were many axes, with plenty +of strong and skillful arms to wield them, and new buildings were +erected within the palisade, the smoke rising from a half dozen +chimneys. They were rude structures, but the people who occupied +them, used all their lives to hardships, did not ask much, and they +seemed snug and comfortable enough to them. Fires always blazed on the +broad stone hearths and the voices of children were heard within the +log walls. The hands of women furnished the rooms, and made new +clothes of deerskin. + +The note of life at Fort Refuge was comfort and good cheer. They felt +that they could hold the little fortress against any force that might +come. The hunters, Willet, Tayoga and Black Rifle at their head, +brought in an abundance of game. There was no ill health. The little +children grew mightily, and, thus thrown together in a group, they had +the happiest time they had ever known. Robert was their hero. No other +could tell such glorious tales. He had read fairy stories at Albany, +and he not only brought them all from the store of his memory but he +embroidered and enlarged them. He had a manner with him, too. His +musical, golden voice, his vivid eyes and his intense earnestness of +tone, the same that had impressed so greatly the fifty sachems in the +vale of Onondaga, carried conviction. If one telling a tale believed +in it so thoroughly himself then those who heard it must believe in it +too. + +Robert fulfilled a great mission. He was not the orator, the golden +mouthed, for nothing. If the winter came down a little too fiercely, +his vivid eyes and gay voice were sufficient to lift the +depression. Even the somber face of Black Rifle would light up when he +came near. Nor was the young Quaker, Wilton, far behind him. He was a +spontaneously happy youth, always bubbling with good nature, and he +formed an able second for Lennox. + +"Will," said Robert, "I believe it actually gives you joy to be here +in this log fortress in the snow and wilderness. You do not miss the +great capital, Philadelphia, to which you have been used all your +life." + +"No, I don't, Robert. I like Fort Refuge, because I'm free from +restraints. It's the first time my true nature has had a chance to +come out, and I'm making the most of the opportunity. Oh, I'm +developing! In the spring you'll see me the gayest and most reckless +blade that ever came into the forest." + +The deep snow lasted a long time. More snowshoes were made, but only +six or eight of the soldiers learned to use them well. There were +sufficient, however, as Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Black Rifle were +already adepts, and they ranged the forest far in all directions. They +saw no further sign of French or Indians, but they steadily increased +their supply of game. + +Christmas came, January passed and then the big snow began to +melt. New stirrings entered Robert's mind. He felt that their work at +Fort Refuge was done. They had gathered into it all the outlying +settlers who could be reached, and Colden, Wilton and Carson were now +entirely competent to guard it and hold it. Robert felt that he and +Willet should return to Albany, and get into the main current of the +great war. Tayoga, of course, would go with them. + +He talked it over with Willet and Tayoga, and they agreed with him at +once. Black Rifle also decided to depart about the same time, and +Colden, although grieved to see them go, could say nothing against it. +When the four left they received an ovation that would have warmed the +heart of any man. As they stood at the edge of the forest with their +packs on their backs, Captain Colden gave a sharp command. Sixty +rifles turned their muzzles upward, and sixty fingers pulled sixty +triggers. Sixty weapons roared as one, and the four with dew in their +eyes, lifted their caps to the splendid salute. Then a long, shrill +cheer followed. Every child in the fort had been lifted above the +palisade, and they sent the best wishes of their hearts with those who +were going. + +"That cheer of the little ones was mostly for you, Robert," said +Willet, when the forest hid them. + +"It was for all of us equally," said Robert modestly. + +"No, I'm right and it must help us to have the good wishes of little +children go with us. If they and Tododaho watch over us we can't come +to much harm." + +"It is a good omen," said Tayoga soberly. "When I lie down to sleep +tonight I shall hear their voices in my ear." + +Black Rifle now left them, going on one of his solitary expeditions +into the wilderness and the others traveled diligently all the day, +but owing to the condition of the earth did not make their usual +progress. Most of the snow had melted and everything was dripping +with water. It fell from every bough and twig, and in every ravine and +gully a rivulet was running, while ponds stood in every +depression. Many swollen brooks and creeks had to be forded, and when +night came they were wet and soaked to the waist. + +But Tayoga then achieved a great triumph. In the face of difficulties +that seemed insuperable, he coaxed a fire in the lee of a hill, and +the three fed it, until it threw out a great circle of heat in which +they warmed and dried themselves. When they had eaten and rested a +long time they put out the fire, waited for the coals and ashes to +cool, and then spread over them their blankets, thus securing a dry +base upon which to sleep. They were so thoroughly exhausted, and they +were so sure that the forest contained no hostile presence that all +three went to sleep at the same time and remained buried in slumber +throughout the night. + +Tayoga was the first to awake, and he saw the dawn of a new winter +day, the earth reeking with cold damp and the thawing snow. He +unrolled himself from his blankets and arose a little stiffly, but +with a few movements of the limbs all his flexibility returned. The +air was chill and the scene in the black forest of winter was +desolate, but Tayoga was happy. Tododaho on his great shining star had +watched over him and showered him with favors, and he had no doubt +that he would remain under the protection of the mighty chief who had +gone away so long ago. + +Tayoga looked down at his comrades, who still slept soundly, and +smiled. The three were bound together by powerful ties, and the events +of recent months had made them stronger than ever. In the school at +Albany he had absorbed much of the white man's education, and, while +his Indian nature remained unchanged, he understood also the white +point of view. He could meet both Robert and Willet on common ground, +and theirs was a friendship that could not be severed. + +Now he made a circle about their camp, and, being assured that no +enemy was near, came back to the point where Robert and Willet yet +slept. Then he took his flint and steel, and, withdrawing a little, +kindled a fire, doing so as quietly as he could, in order that the two +awaking might have a pleasant surprise. When the little flames were +licking the wood, and the sparks began to fly upwards, he shook Robert +by the shoulder. + +"Arise, sluggard," he said. "Did not our teacher in Albany tell us it +was proof of a lazy nature to sleep while the sun was rising? The fire +even has grown impatient and has lighted itself while you abode with +Tarenyawagon (the sender of dreams). Get up and cook our breakfast, +Oh, Heavy Head!" + +Robert sat up and so did Willet. Then Robert drew his blankets about +his body and lay down again. + +"You've done so well with the fire, Tayoga, and you've shown such a +spirit," he said, "that it would be a pity to interfere with your +activity. Go ahead, and awake me again when breakfast is ready." + +Tayoga made a rush, seized the edge of his blanket and unrolled it, +depositing Robert in the ashes. Then he darted away among the bushes, +avoiding the white youth's pursuit. Willet meanwhile warmed himself by +the fire and laughed. + +"Come back, you two," he said. "You think you're little lads again at +your school in Albany, but you're not. You're here in the wilderness, +confronted by many difficulties, all of which you can overcome, and +subject to many perils, all of which you know how to avoid." + +"I'll come," said Robert, "if you promise to protect me from this +fierce Onondaga chief who is trying to secure my scalp." + +"Tayoga, return to the fire and cook these strips of venison. Here is +the sharp stick left from last night. Robert, take our canteens, find +a spring and fill them with fresh water. By right of seniority I'm in +command this morning, and I intend to subject my army to extremely +severe discipline, because it's good for it. Obey at once!" + +Tayoga obediently took the sharpened stick and began to fry strips of +venison. Robert, the canteens over his shoulder, found a spring near +by and refilled them. Like Tayoga, the raw chill of the morning and +the desolate forest of winter had no effect upon him. He too, was +happy, uplifted, and he sang to himself the song he had heard De +Galissonniere sing: + + "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." + +All that seemed far away now, yet the words of the song brought it +back, and his extraordinary imagination made the scenes at Bigot's +ball pass before his eyes again, almost as vivid as reality. Once more +he saw the Intendant, his portly figure swaying in the dance, his red +face beaming, and once more he beheld the fiery duel in the garden +when the hunter dealt with Boucher, the bully and bravo. + +Quebec was far away. He had been glad to go to it, and he had been +glad to come away, too. He would be glad to go to it again, and he +felt that he would do so some day, though the torrent of battle now +rolled between. He was still humming the air when he came back to the +fire, and saluting Willet politely, tendered a canteen each to him and +Tayoga. + +"Sir David Willet, baronet and general," he said, "I have the honor to +report to you that in accordance with your command I have found the +water, spring water, fine, fresh, pure, as good as any the northern +wilderness can furnish, and that is the best in the world. Shall I +tender it to you, sir, on my bended knee!" + +"No, Mr. Lennox, we can dispense with the bended knee, but I am glad, +young sir, to note in your voice the tone of deep respect for your +elders which sometimes and sadly is lacking." + +"If Dagaeoga works well, and always does as he is bidden," said +Tayoga, "perhaps I'll let him look on at the ceremonies when I take my +place as one of the fifteen sachems of the Onondaga nation." + +While they ate their venison and some bread they had also brought with +them, they discussed the next stage of their journey, and Tayoga made +a suggestion. Traveling would remain difficult for several days, and +instead of going directly to Albany, their original purpose, they +might take a canoe, and visit Mount Johnson, the seat of Colonel +William Johnson, who was such a power with the Hodenosaunee, and who +was in his person a center of important affairs in North America. For +a while, Mount Johnson might, in truth, suit their purpose better than +Albany. + +The idea appealed at once to both Robert and Willet. Colonel Johnson, +more than any one else could tell them what to do, and owing to his +strong alliance, marital and otherwise, with the Mohawks, they were +likely to find chiefs of the Ganeagaono at his house or in the +neighborhood. + +"It is agreed," said Willet, after a brief discussion. "If my +calculations be correct we can reach Mount Johnson in four days, and I +don't think we're likely to cross the trail of an enemy, unless +St. Luc is making some daring expedition." + +"In any event, he's a nobler foe than De Courcelles or Jumonville," +said Robert. + +"I grant you that, readily," said the hunter. "Still, I don't think +we're likely to encounter him on our way to Mount Johnson." + +But on the second day they did cross a trail which they attributed to +a hostile force. It contained, however, no white footsteps, and not +pausing to investigate, they continued their course toward their +destination. As all the snow was now gone, and the earth was drying +fast, they were able almost to double their speed and they pressed +forward, eager to see the celebrated Colonel William Johnson, who was +now filling and who was destined to fill for so long a time so large a +place in the affairs of North America. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WARAIYAGEH + + +Now, a few pleasant days of winter came. The ground dried under +comparatively warm winds, and the forest awoke. They heard everywhere +the ripple of running water, and wild animals came out of their +dens. Tayoga shot a young bear which made a welcome addition to their +supplies. + +"I hold that there's nothing better in the woods than young bear," +said Willet, as he ate a juicy steak Robert had broiled over the +coals. "Venison is mighty good, especially so when you're hungry, but +you can get tired of it. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"It is true," replied the Onondaga. "Fat young bear is very fine. None +of us wants one thing all the time, and we want something besides +meat, too. The nations of the Hodenosaunee are great and civilized, +much ahead of the other red people, because they plant gardens and +orchards and fields, and have grain and vegetables, corn, beans, +squash and many other things good for the table." + +"And the Iroquois, while they grow more particular about the table, +remain the most valiant of all the forest people. I see your point, +Tayoga. Civilization doesn't take anything from a man's courage and +tenacity. Rather it adds to them. There are our enemies, the French, +who are as brave and enduring as anybody, and yet they're the best +cooks in the world, and more particular about their food than any +other nation." + +"You always speak of the French with a kind of affection, Dave," said +Robert. + +"I suppose I do," said the hunter. "I have reasons." + +"As I know now, Dave, you've been in Paris, can't you tell us +something about the city?" + +"It's the finest town in the world, Robert, and they've the brightest, +gayest life there, at least a part of 'em have, but things are not +going right at home with the French. They say a whole nation's fortune +has been sunk in the palace at Versailles, and the people are growing +poorer all the time, but the government hopes to dazzle 'em by waging +a successful and brilliant war over here. I repeat, though, Robert, +that I like the French. A great nation, sound at the core, splendid +soldiers as we're seeing, and as we're likely to see for a long time +to come." + +They pushed on with all speed toward Mount Johnson, the weather still +favoring them, making their last camp in a fine oak grove, and +reckoning that they would achieve their journey's end before noon the +next day. They did not build any fire that night, but when they rose +at dawn they saw the smoke of somebody else's fire on the eastern +horizon. + +"It couldn't be the enemy," said Willet. "He wouldn't let his smoke go +up here for all the world to see, so near to the home of Colonel +William Johnson and within the range of the Mohawks." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "It is likely to be some force of Colonel +Johnson himself, and we can advance with certainty." + +Looking well to their arms in the possible contingency of a foe, they +pushed forward through the woodland, the smoke growing meanwhile as if +those who had built the fire either felt sure of friendly territory, +or were ready to challenge the world. The Onondaga presently held up a +hand and the three stopped. + +"What is it, Tayoga?" asked the hunter. + +"I wish to sing a song." + +"Then sing it, Tayoga." + +A bird suddenly gave forth a long, musical, thrilling note. It rose in +a series of trills, singularly penetrating, and died away in a +haunting echo. A few moments of silence and then from a point in the +forest in front of them another bird sang a like song. + +"They are friends," said Tayoga, who was the first bird, "and it may +be, since we are within the range of the Mohawks, that it is our +friend, the great young chief Daganoweda, who replied. I do not think +any one else could sing a song so like my own." + +"I'm wagering that it's Daganoweda and nobody else," said Willet +confidently, and scorning cover now they advanced at increased speed +toward the fire. + +A splendid figure, tall, heroic, the nose lofty and beaked like that +of an ancient Roman, the feather headdress brilliant and defiant like +that of Tayoga, came forward to meet them, and Robert saw with intense +pleasure that it was none other than Daganoweda himself. Nor was the +delight of the young Mohawk chieftain any less--the taciturnity and +blank faces of Indians disappeared among their friends--and he came +forward, smiling and uttering words of welcome. + +"Daganoweda," said Willet, "the sight of you is balm to the eyes. Your +name means in our language, 'The Inexhaustible' and you're an +inexhaustible friend. You're always appearing when we need you most, +and that's the very finest kind of a friend." + +"Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga come out of the great wilderness," +said Daganoweda, smiling. + +"So we do, Daganoweda. We've been there a long time, but we were not +so idle." + +"I have heard of the fort that was built in the forest and how the +young white soldiers with the help of Great Bear, Tayoga and Dagaeoga +beat off the French and the savage tribes." + +"I supposed that runners of the Hodenosaunee would keep you +informed. Well, the fort is there and our people still hold it, and we +are here, anxious to get back into the main stream of big events. Who +are at the fire, Daganoweda?" + +"Waraiyageh (Colonel William Johnson) himself is there. He was fishing +yesterday, it being an idle time for a few days, and with ten of my +warriors I joined him last night. He will be glad to see you, Great +Bear, whom he knows. And he will be glad to meet Tayoga and Dagaeoga +who are to bear great names." + +"Easy, Daganoweda, easy!" laughed Willet. + +"These are fine lads, but don't flatter 'em too much just yet. They've +done brave deeds, but before this war is over they'll have to do a lot +more. We'll go with you and meet Colonel Johnson." + +As they walked toward the fire a tall, strongly built man, of middle +years, dressed in the uniform of an English officer, came forward to +meet them. His face, with a distinct Irish cast, was frank, open and +resolute. + +"Ah, Willet, my friend," he said, extending his hand. "So you and I +meet again, and glad I am to hold your fingers in mine once more. A +faithful report has come to us of what you did in Quebec, and it seems +the Willet of old has not changed much." + +The hunter reddened under his tan. + +"It was forced upon me, colonel," he said. + +Colonel William Johnson laughed heartily. + +"And he who forced it did not live to regret it," he said. "I've heard +that French officers themselves did not blame you, but as for me, +knowing you as I do, I'd have expected no less of David Willet." + +He laughed again, and his laugh was deep and hearty. Robert, looking +closely at him, thought him a fine, strong man, and he was quite sure +he would like him. The colonel glanced at him and Tayoga, and the +hunter said: + +"Colonel Johnson, I wish to present Tayoga, who is of the most ancient +blood of the Onondagas, a member of the Clan of the Bear, and destined +to be a great chief. A most valiant and noble youth, too, I assure +you, and the white lad is Robert Lennox, to whom I stand in the place +of a father." + +"I have heard of Tayoga," said Colonel Johnson, "and his people and +mine are friends." + +"It is true," said Tayoga, "Waraiyageh has been the best friend among +the white people that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have ever +had. He has never tricked us. He has never lied to us, and often he +has incurred great hardship and danger to help us." + +"It is pleasant in my ears to hear you say so, Tayoga," said Colonel +Johnson, "and as for Mr. Lennox, who, my eyes tell me is also a noble +and gallant youth, it seems to me I've heard some report of him +too. You carried the private letters from the Governor of New York to +the Marquis Duquesne, Governor General of Canada?" + +"I did, sir," replied Robert. + +"And of course you were there with Willet. Your mission, I believe, +was kept as secret as possible, but I learned at Albany that you bore +yourself well, and that you also gave an exhibition with the sword." + +It was Robert's turn to flush. + +"I'm a poor swordsman, sir," he said, "by the side of Mr. Willet." + +"Good enough though, for the occasion. But come, I'll make an end to +badinage. You must be on your way to Mount Johnson." + +"That was our destination," said Willet. + +"Then right welcome guests you'll be. I have a little camp but a short +distance away. Molly is there, and so is that young eagle, her +brother, Joseph Brant. Molly will see that you're well served with +food, and after that you shall stay at Mount Johnson as long as you +like, and the longer you'll stay the better it will please Molly and +me. You shall tell us of your adventures, Mr. Lennox, and about that +Quebec in which you and Mr. Willet seem to have cut so wide a swath +with your rapiers." + +"We did but meet the difficulties that were forced upon us," protested +Willet. + +Colonel Johnson laughed once more, and most heartily. + +"If all people met in like fashion the difficulties that were forced +upon them," he said, "it would be a wondrous efficient world, so much +superior to the world that now is that one would never dream they had +been the same. But just beyond the hill is our little camp which, for +want of a better name, I'll call a bower. Here is Joseph, now, coming +to meet us." + +An Indian lad of about eleven years, but large and uncommonly strong +for his age, was walking down the hill toward them. He was dressed +partly in civilized clothing, and his manner was such that he would +have drawn the notice of the observing anywhere. His face was open +and strong, with great width between the eyes, and his gaze was direct +and firm. Robert knew at once that here was an unusual boy, one +destined if he lived to do great things. His prevision was more than +fulfilled. It was Joseph Brant, the renowned Thayendanegea, the most +famous and probably the ablest Indian chief with whom the white men +ever came into contact. + +"This is Joseph Brant, the brother of Molly, my wife, and hence my +young brother-in-law," said Colonel Johnson. "Joseph, our new friends +are David Willet, known to the Hodenosaunee as the Great Bear, Robert +Lennox, who seems to be in some sort a ward of Mr. Willet, and Tayoga, +of the Clan of the Bear, of your great brother nation, Onondaga." + +Young Thayendanegea saluted them all in a friendly but dignified +way. He, like Tayoga, had a white education, and spoke perfect, but +measured English. + +"We welcome you," he said. "Colonel Johnson, sir, my sister has +already seen the strangers from the hill, and is anxious to greet +them." + +"Molly, for all her dignity, has her fair share of curiosity," laughed +Colonel Johnson, "and since it's our duty to gratify it, we'll go +forward." + +Robert had heard often of Molly Brant, the famous Mohawk wife of +Colonel, afterward Sir William Johnson, a great figure in that region +in her time, and he was eager to see her. He beheld a woman, young, +tall, a face decidedly Iroquois, but handsome and lofty. She wore the +dress of the white people, and it was of fine material. She obviously +had some of the distinguished character that had already set its seal +upon her young brother, then known as Keghneghtada, his famous name of +Thayendanegea to come later. Her husband presented the three, and she +received them in turn in a manner that was quiet and dignified, +although Robert could see her examining them with swift Indian eyes +that missed nothing. And with his knowledge of both white heart and +red heart, of white manner and red manner, he was aware that he stood +in the presence of a great lady, a great lady who fitted into her +setting of the vast New York wilderness. So, with the ornate manner +of the day, he bent over and kissed her hand as he was presented. + +"Madam," he said, "it is a great pleasure to us to meet Colonel +Johnson here in the forest, but we have the unexpected and still +greater pleasure of meeting his lady also." + +Colonel Johnson laughed, and patted Robert on the shoulder. + +"Mr. Willet has been whispering to me something about you," he +said. "He has been telling me of your gift of speech, and by my faith, +he has not told all of it. You do address the ladies in a most +graceful fashion, and Molly likes it. I can see that." + +"Assuredly I do, sir," said she who had been Molly Brant, the Mohawk, +but who was now the wife of the greatest man in the north +country. "Tis a goodly youth and he speaks well. I like him, and he +shall have the best our house can offer." + +Colonel Johnson's mellow laugh rang out again. + +"Spoken like a woman of spirit, Molly," he said. "I expected none the +less of you. It's in the blood of the Ganeagaono and had you answered +otherwise you would have been unworthy of your cousin, Daganoweda, +here." + +The young Mohawk chieftain smiled. Johnson, who had married a girl of +their race, could jest with the Mohawks almost as he pleased, and +among themselves and among those whom they trusted the Indians were +fond of joking and laughter. + +"The wife of Waraiyageh not only has a great chief for a husband," he +said, "but she is a great chief herself. Among the Wyandots she would +be one of the rulers." + +The women were the governing power in the valiant Wyandot nation, and +Daganoweda could pay his cousin no higher compliment. + +"We talk much," said Colonel Johnson, "but we must remember that our +friends are tired. They've come afar in bad weather. We must let them +rest now and give them refreshment." + +He led the way to the light summer house that he had called a +bower. It was built of poles and thatch, and was open on the eastern +side, where it faced a fine creek running with a strong current. A +fire was burning in one corner, and a heavy curtain of tanned skins +could be draped over the wide doorway. Articles of women's apparel +hung on the walls, and others indicating woman's work stood +about. There were also chairs of wicker, and a lounge covered with +haircloth. It was a comfortable place, the most attractive that Robert +had seen in a long time, and his eyes responded to it with a glitter +that Colonel Johnson noticed. + +"I don't wonder that you like it, lad," he said. "I've spent some +happy hours here myself, when I came in weary or worn from hunting or +fishing. But sit you down, all three of you. I'll warrant me that +you're weary enough, tramping through this wintry forest. Blunt, shove +the faggots closer together and make up a better fire." + +The command was to a white servant who obeyed promptly, but Madame +Johnson herself had already shifted the chairs for the guests, and had +taken their deerskin cloaks. Without ceasing to be the great lady she +moved, nevertheless, with a lightness of foot and a celerity that was +all a daughter of the forest. Robert watched her with fascinated eyes +as she put the summer house in order and made it ready for the comfort +of her guests. Here was one who had acquired civilization without +losing the spirit of the wild. She was an educated and well bred +woman, the wife of the most powerful man in the colonies, and she was +at the same time a true Mohawk. Robert knew as he looked at her that +if left alone in the wilderness she could take care of herself almost +as well as her cousin, Daganoweda, the young chief. + +Then his gaze shifted from Molly Brant to her brother. Despite his +youth all his actions showed pride and unlimited confidence in +himself. He stood near the door, and addressed Robert in English, +asking him questions about himself, and he also spoke to Tayoga, +showing him the greatest friendliness. + +"We be of the mighty brother nations, Onondaga and Mohawk, the first +of the great League," he said, "and some day we will sit together in +the councils of the fifty sachems in the vale of Onondaga." + +"It is so," said Tayoga gravely, speaking to the young lad as man to +man. "We will ever serve the Hodenosaunee as our fathers before us +have done." + +"Leave the subject of the Hodenosaunee," said Colonel Johnson +cheerily. "I know that you lads are prouder of your birth than the old +Roman patricians ever were, but Mr. Willet, Mr. Lennox and I were not +fortunate enough to be born into the great League, and you will +perhaps arouse our jealousy or envy. Come, gentlemen, sit you down +and eat and drink." + +His Mohawk wife seconded the request and food and drink were +served. Robert saw that the bower was divided into two rooms the one +beyond them evidently being a sleeping chamber, but the evidences of +comfort, even luxury, were numerous, making the place an oasis in the +wilderness. Colonel Johnson had wine, which Robert did not touch, nor +did Tayoga nor Daganoweda, and there were dishes of china or silver +brought from England. He noticed also, and it was an unusual sight in +a lodge in the forest, about twenty books upon two shelves. From his +chair he read the titles, Le Brun's "Battles of Alexander," a bound +volume of _The Gentleman's Magazine,_ "Roderick Random," and several +others. Colonel Johnson's eyes followed him. + +"I see that you are a reader," he said. "I know it because your eyes +linger upon my books. I have packages brought from time to time from +England, and, before I came upon this expedition, I had these sent +ahead of me to the bower that I might dip into them in the evenings if +I felt so inclined. Reading gives us a wider horizon, and, at the same +time, takes us away from the day's troubles." + +"I agree with you heartily, sir," said Robert, "but, unfortunately, we +have little time for reading now." + +"That is true," sighed Colonel Johnson. "I fear it's going to be a +long and terrible war. What do you see, Joseph?" + +Young Brant was sitting with his face to the door, and he had risen +suddenly. + +"A runner comes," he replied. "He is in the forest beyond the creek, +but I see that he is one of our own people. He comes fast." + +Colonel Johnson also arose. + +"Can it be some trouble among the Ganeagaono?" he said. + +"I think not," said the Indian boy. + +The runner emerged from the wood, crossed the creek and stood in the +doorway of the bower. He was a tall, thin young Mohawk, and he panted +as if he had come fast and long. + +"What is it, Oagowa?" asked Colonel Johnson. + +"A hostile band, Hurons, Abenakis, Caughnawagas, and others, has +entered the territory of the Ganeagaono on the west," replied the +warrior. "They are led by an Ojibway chief, a giant, called +Tandakora." + +Robert uttered an exclamation. + +"The name of the Ojibway attracts your attention," said Colonel +Johnson. + +"We've had many encounters with him," replied the youth. "Besides +hating the Hodenosaunee and all the white people, I think he also has +a personal grievance against Mr. Willet, Tayoga and myself. He is the +most bitter and persistent of all our enemies." + +"Then this man must be dealt with. I can't go against him +myself. Other affairs press too much, but I can raise a force with +speed." + +"Let me go, sir, against Tandakora!" exclaimed young Brant eagerly and +in English. + +Colonel Johnson looked at him a moment, his eyes glistening, and then +he laughed, not with irony but gently and with approval. + +"Truly 'tis a young eagle," he said, "but, Joseph, you must remember +that your years are yet short of twelve, and you still have much time +to spend over the books in which you have done so well. If I let you +be cut off at such an early age you can never become the great chief +you are destined to be. Bide a while, Joseph, and your cousin, +Daganoweda, will attend to this Ojibway who has wandered so far from +his own country." + +Young Brant made no protest. Trained in the wonderful discipline of +the Hodenosaunee he knew that he must obey before he could command. He +resumed his seat quietly, but his eager eyes watched his tall cousin, +the young Mohawk chieftain, as Colonel Johnson gave him orders. + +"Take with you the warriors that you have now, Daganoweda," he +said. "Gather the fifty who are now encamped at Teugega. Take thirty +more from Talaquega, and I think that will be enough. I don't know +you, Daganoweda, and I don't know your valiant Mohawk warriors, if you +are not able to account thoroughly for the Ojibway and his men. Don't +come back until you've destroyed them or driven them out of your +country." + +Colonel Johnson's tone was at once urgent and complimentary. It +intimated that the work was important and that Daganoweda would be +sure to do it. The Mohawk's eyes glittered in his dark face. He lifted +his hand in a salute, glided from the bower, and a moment later he and +his warriors passed from sight in the forest. + +"That cousin of yours, Molly, deserves his rank of chief," said +Colonel Johnson. "The task that he is to do I consider as good as done +already. Tandakora was too daring, when he ventured into the lands of +the Ganeagaono. Now, if you gentlemen will be so good as to be our +guests we'll pass the night here, and tomorrow we'll go to Mount +Johnson." + +It was agreeable to Robert, Willet and Tayoga, and they spent the +remainder of the day most pleasantly at the bower. Colonel Johnson, +feeling that they were three whom he could trust, talked freely and +unveiled a mind fitted for great affairs. + +"I tell you three," he said, "that this will be one of the most +important wars the world has known. To London and Paris we seem lost +in the woods out here, and perhaps at the courts they think little of +us or they do not think at all, but the time must come when the New +World will react upon the Old. Consider what a country it is, with its +lakes, its forests, its rivers, and its fertile lands, which extend +beyond the reckoning of man. The day will arrive when there will be a +power here greater than either England or France. Such a land cannot +help but nourish it." + +He seemed to be much moved, and spoke a long time in the same vein, +but his Indian wife never said a word. She moved about now and then, +and, as before, her footsteps making no noise, being as light as those +of any animal of the forest. + +The dusk came up to the door. They heard the ripple of the creek, but +could not see its waters. Madam Johnson lighted a wax candle, and +Colonel Johnson stopped suddenly. + +"I have talked too much. I weary you," he said. + +"Oh, no, sir!" protested Robert eagerly. "Go on! We would gladly +listen to you all night." + +"That I think would be too great a weight upon us all," laughed +Colonel Johnson. "You are weary. You must be so from your long +marching and my heavy disquisitions. We'll have beds made for you +three and Joseph here. Molly and I sleep in the next room." + +Robert was glad to have soft furs and a floor beneath him, and when he +lay down it was with a feeling of intense satisfaction. He liked +Colonel William Johnson, and knew that he had a friend in him. He was +anxious for advancement in the great world, and he understood what it +was to have powerful support. Already he stood high with the +Hodenosaunee, and now he had found favor with the famous Waraiyageh. + +They left in the morning for Mount Johnson, and there were horses for +all except the Indians, although one was offered to Tayoga. But he +declined to ride--the nations of the Hodenosaunee were not horsemen, +and kept pace with them at the long easy gait used by the Indian +runner. Robert himself was not used to the saddle, but he was glad +enough to accept it, after their great march through the wilderness. + +The weather continued fine for winter, crisp, clear, sparkling with +life and the spirits of all were high. Colonel Johnson beckoned to +Robert to ride by the side of him and the two led the way. Kegneghtada, +despite his extreme youth, had refused a horse also, and was swinging +along by the side of Tayoga, stride for stride. A perfect understanding +and friendship had already been established between the Onondaga and +the Mohawk, and as they walked they talked together earnestly, young +Brant bearing himself as if he were on an equal footing with his +brother warrior, Tayoga. Colonel Johnson looked at them, smiled +approval and said to Robert: + +"I have called my young brother-in-law an eagle, and an eagle he truly +is. We're apt to think, Mr. Lennox, that we white people alone gather +our forces and prepare for some aim distant but great. But the Indian +intellect is often keen and powerful, as I have had good cause to +know. Many of their chiefs have an acuteness and penetration not +surpassed in the councils of white men. The great Mohawk whom we call +King Hendrick probably has more intellect than most of the sovereigns +on their thrones in Europe. And as for Joseph, the lad there who so +gallantly keeps step with the Onondaga, where will you find a white +boy who can excel him? He absorbs the learning of our schools as fast +as any boy of our race whom I have ever known, and, at the same time, +he retains and improves all the lore and craft of the red people." + +"You have found the Mohawks a brave and loyal race," said Robert, +knowing the colonel was upon a favorite theme of his. + +"That I have, Mr. Lennox. I came among them a boy. I was a trader +then, and I settled first only a few miles from their largest town, +Dyiondarogon. I tried to keep faith with them and as a result I found +them always keeping faith with me. Then, when I went to Oghkwaga, I +had the same experience. The Indians were defrauded in the fur trade +by white swindlers, but dishonesty, besides being bad in itself, does +not pay, Mr. Lennox. Bear that in mind. You may cheat for a while with +success, but in time nobody will do business with you. Though you, I +take it, will never be a merchant." + +"It is not because I frown upon the merchant's calling, sir. I esteem +it a high and noble one. But my mind does not turn to it." + +"So I gather from what I have seen of you, and from what Mr. Willet +tells me. I've been hearing of your gift of oratory. You need not +blush, my lad. If we have a gift we should accept it thankfully, and +make the best use of it we can. You, I take it, will be a lawyer, then +a public man, and you will sway the public mind. There should be grand +occasions for such as you in a country like this, with its unlimited +future." + +They came presently into a region of cultivation, fields which would +be green with grain in the spring, showing here and there, and the +smoke from the chimney of a stout log house rising now and then. +Where a creek broke into a swift white fall stood a grist mill, and +from a wood the sound of axes was heard. + +Robert's vivid imagination, which responded to all changes, kindled at +once. He liked the wilderness, and it always made a great impression +upon him, and he also took the keenest interest and delight in +everything that civilization could offer. Now his spirit leaped up to +meet what lay before him. + +He found at Mount Johnson comfort and luxury that he had not expected, +an abundance of all that the wilderness furnished, mingled with +importations from Europe. He slept in a fine bed, he looked into more +books, he saw on the walls reproductions of Titian and Watteau, and +also pictures of race horses that had made themselves famous at +Newmarket, he wrote letters to Albany on good paper, he could seal +them with either black or red wax, and there were musical instruments +upon one or two of which he could play. + +Robert found all these things congenial. The luxury or what might have +seemed luxury on the border, had in it nothing of decadence. There was +an air of vigor, and Colonel Johnson, although he did not neglect his +guests, plunged at once and deeply into business. A little village, +dependent upon him and his affairs had grown up about him, and there +were white men more or less in his service, some of whom he sent at +once on missions for the war. Through it all his Indian wife glided +quietly, but Robert saw that she was a wonderful help, managing with +ease, and smoothing away many a difficulty. + +Despite the restraint of manner, the people at Mount Johnson were full +of excitement. The news from Canada and also from the west became +steadily more ominous. The French power was growing fast and the +warriors of the wild tribes were crowding in thousands to the Bourbon +banner. Robert heard again of St. Luc and of some daring achievement +of his, and despite himself he felt as always a thrill at the name, +and a runner also brought the news that more French troops had gone +into the Ohio country. + +The fourth night of their stay at Mount Johnson Robert remained awake +late. He and young Brant, the great Thayendanegea that was to be, had +already formed a great friendship, the beginning of which was made +easier by Robert's knowledge of Indian nature and sympathy with +it. The two wrapped in fur cloaks had gone a little distance from the +house, because Brant said that a bear driven by hunger had come to the +edge of the village, and they were looking for its tracks. But Robert +was more interested in observing the Indian boy than in finding the +foot prints of the bear. + +"Joseph," he said, "you expect, of course, to be a great warrior and +chief some day." + +The boy's eyes glittered. + +"There is nothing else for which I would care," he replied. "Hark, +Dagaeoga, did you hear the cry of a night bird?" + +"I did, Joseph, but like you I don't think it's the voice of a real +bird. It's a signal." + +"So it is, and unless I reckon ill it's the signal of my cousin +Daganoweda, returning from the great war trail that he has trod +against the wild Ojibway, Tandakora." + +The song of a bird trilled from his own throat in reply, and then from +the forest came Daganoweda and his warriors in a dusky file. Robert +and young Brant fell in with them and walked toward the house. Not a +word was spoken, but the eyes of the Mohawk chieftain were gleaming, +and his bearing expressed the very concentrated essence of haughty +pride. At the house they stopped, and, young Brant going in, brought +forth Colonel Johnson. + +"Well, Daganoweda," said the white man. + +"I met Tandakora two days' journey north of Mount Johnson," replied +the Mohawk. "His numbers were equal to our own, but his warriors were +not the warriors of the Hodenosaunee. Six of the Ganeagaono are gone, +Waraiyageh, and sixteen more have wounds, from which they will +recover, but when Tandakora began his flight toward Canada eighteen of +his men lay dead, eight more fell in the pursuit, which was so fast +that we bring back with us forty muskets and rifles." + +"Well done, Daganoweda," said Colonel Johnson. "You have proved +yourself anew a great warrior and chief, but you did not have to prove +it to me. I knew it long ago. Fine new rifles, and blankets of blue or +red or green have just come from Albany, half of which shall be +distributed among your men in the morning." + +"Waraiyageh never forgets his friends," said the appreciative Mohawk. + +He withdrew with his warriors, knowing that the promise would be kept. + +"Why was I not allowed to go with them?" mourned young Brant. + +Colonel Johnson laughed and patted his shiny black head. + +"Never mind, young fire-eater," he said. "We'll all of us soon have +our fill of war--and more." + +Robert was present at the distribution of rifles and blankets the next +morning, and he knew that Colonel Johnson had bound the Mohawks to him +and the English and American cause with another tie. Daganoweda and +his warriors, gratified beyond expression, took the war path again. + +"They'll remain a barrier between us and the French and their allies," +said Colonel Johnson, "and faith we'll need 'em. The other nations of +the Hodenosaunee wish to keep out of the war, but the Mohawks will be +with us to the last. Their great chief, King Hendrick, is our devoted +friend, and so is his brother, Abraham. This, too, in spite of the bad +treatment of the Ganeagaono by the Dutch at Albany. O, I have nothing +to say against the Dutch, a brave and tenacious people, but they have +their faults, like other races, and sometimes they let avarice +overcome them! I wish they could understand the nations of the +Hodenosaunee better. Do what you can at Albany, Mr. Lennox, with that +facile tongue of yours, to persuade the Dutch--and the others +too--that the danger from the French and Indians is great, and that we +must keep the friendship of the Six Nations." + +"I will do my best, sir," promised Robert modestly. "I at least ought +to know the power and loyalty of the Hodenosaunee, since I have been +adopted into the great League and Tayoga, an Onondaga, is my brother, +in all but blood." + +"And I stand in the same position," said Willet firmly. "We +understand, sir, your great attachment for the Six Nations, and the +vast service you have done for the English among them. If we can +supplement it even in some small degree we shall spare no effort to do +so." + +"I know it, Mr. Willet, and yet my heart is heavy to see the land I +love devastated by fire and sword." + +Colonel Johnson loaned them horses, and an escort of two of his own +soldiers who would bring back the horses, and they started for Albany +amid many hospitable farewells. + +"You and I shall meet again," said young Brant to Robert. + +"I hope so," said Robert. + +"It will be as allies and comrades on the battle field." + +"But you are too young, Joseph, yet to take part in war." + +"I shall not be next year, and the war will not be over then, so my +brother, Colonel William Johnson says, and he knows." + +Robert looked at the sturdy young figure and the eager eyes, and he +knew that the Indian lad would not be denied. + +Then the little party rode into the woods, and proceeded without event +to Albany. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE WATCHER + + +It was with emotion that Robert came to Albany, an emotion that was +shared by his Onondaga comrade, Tayoga, who had spent a long time in a +white school there. The staid Dutch town was the great outpost of the +Province of New York in the wilderness, and although his temperament +was unlike that of the Dutch burghers he had innumerable pleasant +memories of it, and many friends there. It was, in his esteem, too, a +fine town, on its hills over-looking that noble river, the Hudson, and +as the little group rode on he noted that despite the war its +appearance was still peaceful and safe. + +Their way led along the main street which was broad and with grass on +either side. The solid Dutch houses, with their gable ends to the +street, stood every one on its own lawn, with a garden behind +it. Every house also had a portico in front of it, on which the people +sat in summer evenings, or where they visited with one another. Except +that it was hills where the old country was flat, it was much like +Holland, and the people, keen and thrifty, had preserved their +national customs even unto the third and fourth generations. Robert +understood them as he understood the Hodenosaunce, and, with his +adaptable temperament, and with his mind that could understand so +readily the minds of others, he was able to meet them on common +ground. As they rode into the city he looked questioningly at Willet, +and the hunter, understanding the voiceless query, smiled. + +"We couldn't think of going to any other place," he said. "If we did +we could never secure his forgiveness." + +"I shall be more than glad to see him. A right good friend of ours, +isn't he, Tayoga?" + +"Though his tongue lashes us his heart is with us," replied the +Onondaga. "He is a great white chief, three hundred pounds of +greatness." + +They stopped before one of the largest of the brick houses, standing +on one of the widest and neatest of the lawns, and Robert and Tayoga, +entering the portico, knocked upon the door with a heavy brass +knocker. They heard presently the rattle of chains inside, and the +rumble of a deep, grumbling voice. Then the two lads looked at each +other and laughed, laughed in the careless, joyous way in which youth +alone can laugh. + +"It is he, Mynheer Jacobus himself, come to let us in," said Robert. + +"And he has not changed at all," said Tayoga. "We can tell that by +the character of his voice on the other side of the door." + +"And I would not have him changed." + +"Nor would I." + +The door was thrown open, but as all the windows were closed there was +yet gloom inside. Presently something large, red and shining emerged +from the dusk and two beams of light in the center of the redness +played upon them. Then the outlines of a gigantic human figure, a man +tall and immensely stout, were disclosed. He wore a black suit with +knee breeches, thick stockings and buckled shoes, and his powdered +hair was tied in a queue. His eyes, dazzled at first by the light from +without, began to twinkle as he looked. Then a great blaze of joy +swept over his face, and he held out two fat hands, one to the white +youth and one to the red. + +"Ah, it iss you, Robert, you scapegrace, and it iss you, Tayoga, you +wild Onondaga! It iss a glad day for me that you haf come, but I +thought you both dead, und well you might be, reckless, thoughtless +lads who haf not the thought uf the future in your minds." + +Robert shook the fat hand in both of his and laughed. + +"You are the same as of old, Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "and before +Tayoga and I saw you, but while we heard you, we agreed that there had +been no change, and that we did not want any." + +"And why should I change, you two young rascals? Am I not goot enough +as I am? Haf I not in the past given the punishment to both uf you und +am I not able to do it again, tall and strong as the two uf you haf +grown? Ah, such foolish lads! Perhaps you haf been spared because pity +wass taken on your foolishness. But iss it Mynheer Willet beyond you? +That iss a man of sense." + +"It's none other than Dave, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. + +"Then why doesn't he come in?" exclaimed Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. "He +iss welcome here, doubly, triply welcome, und he knows it." + +"Dave! Dave! Hurry!" called Robert, "or Mynheer Jacobus will chastise +you. He's so anxious to fall on your neck and welcome you that he +can't wait!" + +Willet came swiftly up the brick walk, and the hands of the two big +men met in a warm clasp. + +"You see I've brought the boys back to you again, Jacob," said the +hunter. + +"But what reckless lads they've become," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. "I +can see the mischief in their eyes now. They wass bad enough when they +went to school here und lived with me, but since they've run wild in +the forests this house iss not able to hold them." + +"Don't you worry, Jacob, old friend. These arms and shoulders of mine +are still strong, and if they make you trouble I will deal with +them. But we just stopped a minute to inquire into the state of your +health. Can you tell us which is now the best inn in Albany?" + +The face of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman flamed, and his eyes blazed in the +center of it, two great red lights. + +"Inn! Inn!" he roared in his queer mixture of English, Dutch and +German accent "Iss it that your head hass been struck by lightning und +you haf gone crazy? If there wass a thousand inns at Albany you und +Robert und Tayoga could not stop at one uf them. Iss not the house uf +Jacobus Huysman good enough for you?" + +Robert, Tayoga and the hunter laughed aloud. + +"He did but make game of you, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "We will +alter your statement and say if there were a thousand inns in Albany +you could not make us stay at any one of them. Despite your commands +we would come directly to your house." + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman permitted himself to smile. But his voice +renewed its grumbling tone. + +"Ever the same," he said. "You must stay here, although only the good +Lord himself knows in what condition my house will be when you +leave. You are two wild lads. It iss not so strange uf you, Robert +Lennox, who are white, but I would expect better uf Tayoga, who is to +be a great Onondaga chief some day." + +"You make a great mistake, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "Tayoga is +far worse than I am. All the mischief that I have ever done was due to +his example and persuasion. It is my misfortune that I have a weak +nature, and I am easily led into evil by my associates." + +"It iss not so. You are equally bad. Bring in your baggage und I will +see if Caterina, der cook, cannot find enough for you three, who +always eat like raging lions." + +The soldiers, who were to return immediately to Colonel William +Johnson, rode away with their horses, and Robert, Tayoga and Willet +took their packs into the house of Mynheer Huysman, who grumbled +incessantly while he and a manservant and a maidservant made them as +comfortable as possible. + +"Would you und Tayoga like to haf your old room on the second floor?" +he said to Robert. + +"Nothing would please us better," replied the lad. + +"Then you shall haf it," said Mynheer, as he led the way up the stair +and into the room. "Do you remember, Tayoga, how wild you wass when +you came here to learn the good ways und bad ways uf the white +people?" + +"I do," replied Tayoga, "and the walls and the roof felt oppressive to +me, although we have stout log houses of our own in our villages. But +they were not our own walls and our own roof, and there was the great +young warrior, Lennox, whom we now call Dagaeoga, who was to stay in +the same room and even in the same bed with me. Do you wonder that I +felt like climbing out of a window at night, and escaping into the +woods?" + +"You were eleven then," said Robert, "and I was just a shade +younger. You were as strange to me as I was to you, and I thought, in +truth, that you were going to run away into the wilderness. But you +didn't, and you began to learn from books faster than I thought was +possible for one whose mind before then had been turned in another +direction." + +"But you helped me, Dagaeoga. After our first and only battle in the +garden, which I think was a draw, we became allies." + +"Und you united against me," said Mynheer Huysman. + +"And you helped me with the books," continued Tayoga. "Ah, those first +months were hard, very hard!" + +"And you taught me the use of the bow and arrow," continued Robert, +"and new skill in both fishing and hunting." + +"Und the two uf you together learned new tricks und new ways uf making +my life miserable," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. + +"But you must admit, Jacob," said Willet, "that they were not the +worst boys in the world." + +"Well, not the worst, perhaps, David, because I don't know all the +boys uf all the countries in the world, but when you put an Onondaga +lad und an American lad together in alliance it iss hard to find any +one who can excel them, because they haf the mischief uf two nations." + +"But you are tremendously glad to see them again, Jacob. Don't deny +it. I read it over and over again in your eyes." + +Willet's own eyes twinkled as he spoke, and he saw also that there was +a light in those of the big Dutchman. But Huysman would admit +nothing. + +"Here iss your room," he said to Robert and Tayoga. + +Robert saw that it was not changed. All the old, familiar objects were +there, and they brought to him a rush of emotion, as inanimate things +often do. On a heavy mahogany dresser lay two worn volumes that he +touched affectionately. One was his Caesar and the other his +algebra. Once he had hated both, but now he thought of them tenderly +as links with, the peaceful boyhood that was slipping away. Hanging +from a hook on the wall was an unstrung bow, the first weapon of the +kind with which he had practiced under the teaching of Tayoga. He +passed his hand over it gently and felt a thrill at the touch of the +wood. + +Tayoga, also was moving about the room. On a small shelf lay an +English dictionary and several readers. They too were worn. He had +spent many a grieving hour over them when he had come from the +Iroquois forests to learn the white man's lore. He recalled how he had +hated them for a time, and how he had looked out of his school windows +at the freedom for which he had longed. But he was made of wrought +steel, both mind and body, and always the white youth, Lennox, his +comrade, was at his elbow in those days of his scholastic infancy to +help him. It had been a great episode in the life of Tayoga, who had +the intellect of a mighty chief, the mind of Pontiac or Thayendanegea, +or Tecumseh, or Sequoia. He had forced himself to learn and in +learning his books he had learned also to like the people of another +race around him who were good to him and who helped him in the first +hard days on the new road. So the young Onondaga felt an emotion much +like that of Robert as he walked about the room and touched the old +familiar things. Then he turned to Huysman. + +"Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "you have a mighty body, and you have in +it a great heart. If all the men at Albany were like you there would +never be any trouble between them and the Hodenosaunee." + +"Tayoga," said Huysman, "you haf borrowed Robert's tongue to cozen und +flatter. I haf not a great heart at all. I haf a very bad heart. I +could not get on in this world if I didn't." + +Tayoga laughed musically, and Mynheer Jacobus gruffly bidding them not +to destroy anything, while he was gone, departed to see that Caterina, +the Dutch cook, fat like her master, should have ready a dinner, +drawing upon every resource of his ample larder. It is but truth to +say that the heart of Mynheer Jacobus was very full. A fat old +bachelor, with no near kin, his heart yearned over the two lads who +had spent so long a period in his home, and he knew them, too, for +what they were, each a fine flower of his own racial stock. + +They were to remain several days in Albany, and after dinner they +visited Alexander McLean, the crusty teacher who had given them such a +severe drilling in their books. Master McLean allowed himself a few +brief expressions of pleasure when they came into his house, and then +questioned them sharply: + +"Do you remember any of your ancient history, Tayoga?" he asked. "Are +the great deeds of the Greeks and Romans still in your mind?" + +"At times they are, sir," replied the young Onondaga. + +"Um-m. Is that so? What was the date of the battle of Zama?" + +"It was fought 202 B.C., sir." + +"You're correct, but it must have been only a lucky guess. I'll try +you again. What was the date of the battle of Hastings?" + +"It was fought 1066 A.D., sir." + +"Very good. Since you have answered correctly twice it must be +knowledge and not mere surmise on your part. Robert, whom do you +esteem the greatest of the Greek dramatic poets?" + +"Sophocles, sir." + +"Why?" + +"Because he combined the vigor and power of Aeschylus with the polish +and refinement of Euripides." + +"Correct. I see that you remember what I told you, as you have quoted +almost my exact words. And now, lads, be seated, while I order +refreshments for you." + +"We thank you, sir," said Robert, "but 'tis less than an hour since we +almost ate ourselves to death at the house of Mynheer Jacobus +Huysman." + +"A good man, Jacob, but too fat, and far too brusque in speech, +especially to the young. I'll warrant me he has been addressing +upbraiding words to you, finding fault, perhaps, with your manners and +your parts of speech." + +The two youths hid their smiles. + +"Mynheer Jacobus was very good to us," said Robert. "Just as you are, +Master McLean." + +"I am not good to you, if you mean by it weakness and softness of +heart. Never spoil the young. Speak sternly to them all the time. Use +the strap and the rod freely upon them and you may make men of them." + +Again Robert and Tayoga hid their smiles, but each knew that he had a +soft place in the heart of the crusty teacher, and they spent a +pleasant hour with him. That night they slept in their old room at +Mynheer Huysman's and two days later they and Willet went on board a +sloop for New York, where they intended to see Governor de +Lancey. Before they left many more alarming reports about the French +and Indians had come to Albany. They had made new ravages in the north +and west, and their power was spreading continually. France was +already helping her colonists. When would England help hers? + +But Robert forgot all alarm in the pleasure of the voyage. It was a +good sloop, it had a stout Dutch captain, and with a favoring wind +they sped fast southward. Pride in the splendid river swelled in +Robert's soul and he and Tayoga, despite the cold, sat together on the +deck, watching the lofty shores and the distant mountains. + +But Willet, anxious of mind, paced back and forth. He had seen much +at Albany that did not please him. The Indian Commissioners were +doing little to cement the alliance with the Hodenosaunee. The +Mohawks, alone of the great League, were giving aid against the +French. The others remained in their villages, keeping a strict +neutrality. That was well as far as it went, but the hunter had hoped +that all the members of the Hodenosaunee would take the field for the +English. He believed that Father Drouillard would soon be back among +the Onondagas, seeking to sway his converts to France, and he dreaded, +too, the activity and persistency of St. Luc. + +But he kept his anxieties from Robert, knowing how eagerly the lad +anticipated his arrival in New York, and not blaming him at all for +it, since New York, although inferior in wealth, size and power to +Philadelphia, and in leadership to Boston, was already, in the eye of +the prophets, because of its situation, destined to become the first +city of America. And Willet felt his own pulses beat a little faster +at the thought of New York, a town that he knew well, and already a +port famous throughout the world. + +Tayoga, although he wore his Indian dress, attracted no particular +attention from Captain Van Zouten and his crew. Indians could be seen +daily at Albany, and along the river, and they had been for +generations a part of American life. Captain Van Zouten, in truth, +noticed the height and fine bearing of the Onondaga, but he was a +close mouthed Dutchman, and if he felt like asking questions he put +due Dutch restraint upon himself. + +The wind held good all day long, and the sloop flew southward, leaving +a long white trail in the blue water, but toward night it rose to a +gale, with heavy clouds that promised snow. Captain Hendrick Van +Zouten looked up with some anxiety at his sails, through which the +wind was now whistling, and, after a consultation with his mate, +decided to draw into a convenient cove and anchor for the night. + +"I'm sorry," he said to Willet, "that our voyage to New York will be +delayed, but there'll be nasty weather on the river, and I don't like +to risk the sloop in it. But I didn't promise you that I'd get you to +the city at any particular time." + +"We don't blame wind, weather and water upon you, Captain Van Zouten," +laughed Willet, "and although I'm no seaman if you'd have consulted me +I too would have suggested shelter for the night." + +Captain Van Zouten breathed his relief. + +"If my passengers are satisfied," he said, "then so am I." + +All the sails were furled, the sloop was anchored securely in a cove +where she could not injure herself, no matter how fiercely the wind +might beat, and Robert and Tayoga, wrapped in their fur cloaks, stood +on her deck, watching the advance of the fierce winter storm, and +remembering those other storms they had passed through on Lake +Champlain, although there was no danger of Indians here. + +It began to snow heavily, and a fierce wind whistled among the +mountains behind them, lashing the river also into high waves, but the +sloop was a tight, strong craft, and it rocked but little in its snug +cove. Despite snow, wind and darkness Robert, Tayoga and the hunter +remained a long, time on deck. The Onondaga's feather headdress had +been replaced by a fur cap, similar to those now worn by Robert and +Willet, and all three were wrapped in heavy cloaks of furs. + +Robert was still thinking of New York, a town that he knew to some +extent, and yet he was traveling toward it with a feeling akin to that +with which he had approached Quebec. It was in a way and for its time +a great port, in which many languages were spoken and to which many +ships came. Despite its inferiority in size it was already the chief +window through which the New World looked upon the Old. He expected +to see life in the seething little city at the mouth of the Hudson and +he expected also that a crisis in his fortunes would come there. + +"Dave," he said to the hunter, "have you any plans for us in New +York?" + +"They've not taken very definite shape," replied Willet, "but you know +you want to serve in the war, and so do I. A great expedition is +coming out from England, and in conjunction with a Colonial force it +will march against Fort Duquesne. The point to which that force +advances is bound to be the chief scene of action." + +"And that, Dave, is where we want to go." + +"With proper commissions in the army. We must maintain our dignity and +station, Robert." + +"Of course, Dave. And you, Tayoga, are you willing to go with us?" + +"It is far from the vale of Onondaga," replied the young Indian, "but +I have already made the great journey to Quebec with my comrades, +Dagaeoga and the Great Bear. I am willing to see more of the world of +which I read in the books at Albany. If the fortunes of Dagaeoga take +him on another long circle I am ready to go with him." + +"Spoken like a warrior, Tayoga," said the hunter. "I have some +influence, and if we join the army that is to march against Fort +Duquesne I'll see that you receive a place befitting your Onondaga +rank and your quality as a man." + +"And so that is settled," said Robert. "We three stand together no +matter what may come." + +"Stand together it is, no matter what may come," said Willet. + +"We are, perhaps, as well in one place as in another," said Tayoga +philosophically, "because wherever we may be Manitou holds us in the +hollow of his hand." + +A great gust of wind came with a shriek down one of the gorges, and +the snow was whipped into their faces, blinding them for a moment. + +"It is good to be aboard a stout sloop in such a storm," said Robert, +as he wiped his eyes clear. "It would be hard to live up there on +those cliffs in all this driving white winter." + +A deep rumbling sound came back from the mountains, and he felt a +chill that was not of the cold creep into his bones. + +"It is the wind in the deep gorges," said Tayoga, "but the winds +themselves are spirits and the mountains too are spirits. On such a +wild night as this they play together and the rumbling you hear is +their voices joined in laughter." + +Robert's vivid mind as usual responded at once to Tayoga's imagery, +and his fancy went as far as that of the Onondaga, and perhaps +farther. He filled the air with spirits. They lined the edge of the +driving white storm. They flitted through every cleft and gorge, and +above every ridge and peak. They were on the river, and they rode upon +the waves that were pursuing one another over its surface. Then he +laughed a little at himself. + +"My fancy is seeing innumerable figures for me," he said, "where my +eyes really see none. No human being is likely to be abroad on the +river on such a night as this." + +"And yet my own eyes tell me that I do see a human being," said +Tayoga, "one that is living and breathing, with warm blood running in +his veins." + +"A living, breathing man! where, Tayoga?" + +"Look at the sloping cliff above us, there where the trees grow close +together. Notice the one with the boughs hanging low, and by the dark +trunk you will see the figure. It is a tall man with his hat drawn low +over his eyes, and a heavy cloak wrapped closely around his body." + +"I see him now, Tayoga! What could a man want at such a place on such +a night? It must be a farmer out late, or perhaps a wandering hunter!" + +"Nay, Dagaeoga, it is not a farmer, nor yet a wandering hunter. The +shoulders are set too squarely. The figure is too upright. And even +without these differences we would be sure that it is not the farmer, +nor yet the wandering hunter, because it is some one else whom we +know." + +"What do you mean, Tayoga?" + +"Look! Look closely, Dagaeoga!" + +"Now the wind drives aside the white veil of snow and I see him +better. His figure is surely familiar!" + +"Aye, Dagaeoga, it is! And do you not know him?" + +"St. Luc! As sure as we live, Tayoga, it's St. Luc." + +"Yes," said the hunter, who had not spoken hitherto. "It's St. Luc, +and I could reach him from here with a rifle shot." + +"But you must not! You must not fire upon him!" exclaimed Robert. + +Willet laughed. + +"I wasn't thinking of doing so," he said. "And now it's too +late. St. Luc has gone." + +The dark figure vanished from beside the trunk, and Robert saw only +the lofty slope, and the whirling snow. He passed his hands before his +eyes. + +"Did we really see him?" he said. + +"We beheld him alive and in the flesh," replied the hunter, "deep down +in His Britannic Majesty's province of New York." + +"What could have brought him here at such a time?" + +"The cause of France, no doubt. He speaks English as well as you and +I, and he is probably in civilian clothing, seeking information for +his country. I know something of St. Luc. He has in him a spice of the +daring and romantic. Luck and adventure would appeal to him. He +probably knows already what forces we have at Albany and Kingston and +what is their state of preparation. Valuable knowledge for Quebec, +too." + +"Do you think St. Luc will venture to New York?" + +"Scarce likely, lad. He can obtain about all he wishes to know without +going so far south." + +"I'm glad of that, Dave. I shouldn't want him to be captured and +hanged as a spy." + +"Nor I, Robert. St. Luc is the kind of man who, if he falls at all in +this war, should fall sword in hand on the battle field. He must know +this region or he would not dare to come here, on such a terrible +night. He has probably gone now to shelter. And, since there is +nothing more to be seen we might do the same." + +But Robert and Tayoga were not willing to withdraw yet. Well wrapped +and warm, they found a pleasure in the fierce storm that raged among +the mountains and over the river, and their own security on the deck +of the stout sloop, fastened so safely in the little cove. They +listened to the wind rumbling anew like thunder through the deep +gorges and clefts, and they saw the snow swept in vast curtains of +white over the wild river. + +"I wonder what we shall find in New York, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"We shall find many people, of many kinds, Dagaeoga, but what will +happen to us there Manitou alone knows. But he has us in his +keeping. Look how he watched over us in Quebec, and look how the sword +of the Great Bear was stretched before you when your enemies planned +to slay you." + +"That's true, Tayoga. I don't look forward to New York with any +apprehension, but I do wonder what fate has prepared for us there." + +"We must await it with calm," said Tayoga philosophically. + +The Onondaga himself was not a stranger to New York. He had gone there +once with the chiefs of the Hodenosaunee for a grand council with the +British and provincial authorities, and he had gone twice with Robert +when they were schoolboys together in Albany. His enlightened mind, +without losing any of its dignity and calm, took a deep interest in +everything he saw at the port, through which the tide of nations +already flowed. He had much of the quality shown later by the fiery +Thayendanegea, who bore himself with the best in London and who was +their equal in manners, though the Onondaga, while as brave and daring +as the Mohawk, was gentler and more spiritual, being, in truth, what +his mind and circumstances had made him, a singular blend of red and +white culture. + +Willet, also wrapped in a long fur cloak, came from the cabin of the +sloop and looked at the two youths, each of whom had such a great +place in his heart. Both were white with snow as they stood on the +deck, but they did not seem to notice it. + +"Come now," said the hunter with assumed brusqueness. "You needn't +stand here all night, looking at the river, the cliffs and the +storm. Off to your berths, both of you." + +"Good advice, or rather command, Dave," said Robert, "and we'll obey +it." + +Their quarters were narrow, because sloops plying on the river in +those days were not large, but the three who slept so often in the +forest were not seekers after luxury. Robert undressed, crept into his +bunk, which was not over two feet wide, and slept soundly until +morning. After midnight the violence of the storm abated. It was still +snowing, but Captain Van Zouten unfurled his sails, made for the +middle of the river, and, when the sun came up over the eastern hills, +the sloop was tearing along at a great rate for New York. + +So when Robert awoke and heard the groaning of timbers and the creak +of cordage he knew at once that they were under way and he was +glad. The events of the night before passed rapidly through his mind, +but they seemed vague and indistinct. At first he thought the vision +of St. Luc on the cliff in the storm was but a dream, and he had to +make an effort of the will to convince himself that it was +reality. But everything came back presently, as vivid as it had been +when it occurred, and rising he dressed and went on deck. Tayoga and +Willet were already there. + +"Sluggard," said the Onondaga. "The French warships would capture you +while you are still in the land of dreams." + +"We'll find no French warships in the Hudson," retorted Robert, "and +as for sluggards, how long have you been on deck yourself, Tayoga?" + +"Two minutes, but much may happen in two minutes. Look, Dagaeoga, we +come now into a land of plenty. See, how many smokes rise on either +shore, and the smoke is not of camps, but of houses." + +"It comes from strong Dutch farmhouses, and from English manor houses, +Tayoga. They nestle in the warm shelter of the hills or at the mouths +of the creeks. Surely, the world cannot furnish a nobler scene." + +All the earth was pure white from the fallen snow, but the river +itself was a deep blue, reflected from the dazzling blue of the sky +overhead. The air, thin and cold, was exhilarating, and as the sloop +fled southward a panorama, increasing continually in magnificence, +unfolded before them. Other vessels appeared upon the river, and +Captain Van Zouten gave them friendly signals. Tiny villages showed +and the shores were an obvious manifestation of comfort and opulence. + +"I have heard that the French, if their success continues, mean to +attack Albany," said Robert, "but we must stop them there, Dave. We +can never let them invade such a region as this." + +"They'll invade it, nevertheless," said the hunter, "unless stout arms +and brave hearts stop them. We can drive both French and Indians back, +if we ever unite. There lies the trouble. We must get some sort of +concentrated action." + +"And New York is the best place to see whether it will be done or +not." + +"So it is." + +The wind remained favorable all that day, the next night there was a +calm, but the following day they drew near to New York, Captain Van +Zouten assuring them he would make a landing before sunset. + +He was well ahead of his promise, because the sun was high in the +heavens when the sloop began to pass the high, wooded hills that lie +at the upper end of Manhattan Island, and they drew in to their +anchorage near the Battery. They did not see the stone government +buildings that had marked Quebec, nor the numerous signs of a fortress +city, but they beheld more ships and more indications of a great +industrial life. + +"Every time I come here," said Willet, "it seems to me that the masts +increase in number. Truly it is a good town, and an abundant life +flows through it." + +"Where shall we stop, Dave?" asked Robert. "Do you have a tavern in +mind?" + +"Not a tavern," replied the hunter. "My mind's on a private house, +belonging to a friend of mine. You have not met him because he is at +sea or in foreign parts most of the time. Yet we are assured of a +welcome." + +An hour later they said farewell to Captain Van Zouten, carried their +own light baggage, and entered the streets of the port. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PORT + + +The three walked toward the Battery, and, while Tayoga attracted more +attention in New York than in Quebec, it was not undue. The city was +used to Indians, especially the Iroquois, and although comments were +made upon Tayoga's height and noble appearance there was nothing +annoying. + +Meanwhile the two youths were using their excellent eyes to the +full. Although the vivid imagination of Robert had foreseen a great +future for New York he did not dream how vast it would be. Yet all +things are relative, and the city even then looked large to him and +full of life, both size and activity having increased visibly since +his last visit. Some of the streets were paved, or at least in part, +and the houses, usually of red brick, often several stories in height, +were comfortable and strong. Many of them had lawns and gardens as at +Albany, and the best were planted with rows of trees which would +afford a fine shade in warm weather. Above the mercantile houses and +dwellings rose the lofty spire of St. George's Chapel in Nassau +Street, which had been completed less than three years before, and +which secured Robert's admiration for its height and impressiveness. + +The aspect of the whole town was a mixture of English and Dutch, but +they saw many sailors who were of neither race. Some were brown men +with rings in their ears, and they spoke languages that Robert did not +understand. But he knew that they came from far southern seas and that +they sailed among the tropic isles, looming large then in the world's +fancy, bringing with them a whiff of romance and mystery. + +The sidewalks in many places were covered with boxes and bales brought +from all parts of the earth, and stalwart men were at work among +them. The pulsing life and the air of prosperity pleased Robert. His +nature responded to the town, as it had responded to the woods, and +his imagination, leaping ahead, saw a city many times greater than the +one before his eyes, though it still stopped far short of the gigantic +reality that was to come to pass. + +"It's not far now to Master Hardy's," said Willet cheerfully. "It's +many a day since I've seen trusty old Ben, and right glad I'll be to +feel the clasp of his hand again." + +On his way Willet bought from a small boy in the street a copy each of +the _Weekly Post-Boy_ and of the _Weekly Gazette_ and _Mercury_, +folding them carefully and putting them in an inside pocket of his +coat. + +"I am one to value the news sheets," he said. "They don't tell +everything, but they tell something and 'tis better to know something +than nothing. Just a bit farther, my lads, and we'll be at the steps +of honest Master Hardy. There, you can see where fortunes are made and +lost, though we're a bit too late to see the dealers!" + +He pointed to the Royal Exchange, a building used by the merchants at +the foot of Broad Street, a structure very unique in its plan. It +consisted of an upper story resting upon arches, the lower part, +therefore, being entirely open. Beneath these arches the merchants met +and transacted business, and also in a room on the upper floor, where +there were, too, a coffee house and a great room used for banquets, +and the meetings of societies, the Royal Exchange being in truth the +beginning of many exchanges that now mark the financial center of the +New World. + +"Perhaps we'll see the merchants there tomorrow," said Willet. "You'll +note the difference between New York and Quebec. The French capital +was all military. You saw soldiers everywhere, but this is a town of +merchants. Now which, think you, will prevail, the soldiers or the +merchants?" + +"I think that in the end the merchants will win," replied Robert. + +"And so do I. Now we have come to the home of Master Hardy. See you +the big brick house with high stone steps? Well, that is his, and I +repeat that he is a good friend of mine, a good friend of old and of +today. I heard that in Albany, which tells me we will find him here +in his own place." + +But the big brick house looked to Robert and Tayoga like a fortress, +with its massive door and iron-barred windows, although friendly smoke +rose from a high chimney and made a warm line against the frosty blue +air. + +Willet walked briskly up the high stone steps and thundered on the +door with a heavy brass knocker. The summons was quickly answered and +the door swung back, revealing a tall, thin, elderly man, neatly +dressed in the fashion of the time. He had the manner of one who +served, although he did not seem to be a servant. Robert judged at +once that he was an upper clerk who lived in the house, after the +custom of the day. + +"Is Master Benjamin within, Jonathan?" asked Willet. + +The tall man blinked and then stared at the hunter in astonishment. + +"Is it in very truth you, Master Willet?" he exclaimed. + +"None other. Come, Jonathan, you know my voice and my face and my +figure very well. You could not fail to recognize me anywhere. So +cease your doubting. My young friends here are Robert Lennox, of whom +you know, and Tayoga, a coming chief of the Clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, known to you +as the Six Nations. He's impatient of disposition and unless you +answer my question speedily I'll have him tomahawk you. Come now, is +Master Benjamin within?" + +"He is, Mr. Willet. I had no intent to delay my answer, but you must +allow something to surprise." + +"I grant you pardon," said the hunter whimsically. "Robert and +Tayoga, this is Master Jonathan Pillsbury, chief clerk and man of +affairs for Master Benjamin Hardy. They are two old bachelors who live +in the same house, and who get along well together, because they're so +unlike. As for Master Jonathan, his heart is not as sour as his face, +and you could come to a worse place than the shop of Benjamin and +Jonathan. Master Jonathan, you will take particular notice of +Mr. Lennox. He is well grown and he appears intelligent, does he not?" + +The old clerk blinked again, and then his appraising eyes swept over +Robert. + +"'Twould be hard to find a nobler youth," he said. + +"I thought you would say so, and now lead us, without further delay, +to Master Hardy." + +"Who is it who demands to be led to me?" thundered a voice from the +rear of the house. "I seem to know that voice! Ah, it's Willet! Good +old Willet! Honest Dave, who wields the sharpest sword in North +America!" + +A tall, heavy man lunged forward. "Lunged" was the word that described +it to Robert, and his impetuous motion was due to the sight of Willet, +whom he grasped by both hands, shaking them with a vigor that would +have caused pain in one less powerful than the hunter, and as he shook +them he uttered exclamations, many of them bordering upon oaths and +all of them pertaining to the sea. + +Robert's eyes had grown used to the half light of the hall, and he +took particular notice of Master Benjamin Hardy who was destined to +become an important figure in his life, although he did not then dream +of it. He saw a tall man of middle age, built very powerfully, his +face burnt almost the color of an Indian's by the winds and suns of +many seas. But his hair was thick and long and the eyes shining in the +face, made dark by the weather, were an intensely bright blue. Robert, +upon whom impressions were so swift and vivid, reckoned that here was +one capable of great and fierce actions, and also with a heart that +contained a large measure of kindness and generosity. + +"Dave," said the tall man, who carried with him the atmosphere of the +sea, "I feared that you might be dead in those forests you love so +well, killed and perhaps scalped by the Hurons or some other savage +tribe. You've abundant hair, Dave, and you'd furnish an uncommonly +fine scalp." + +"And I feared, Benjamin, that you'd been caught in some smuggling +cruise near the Spanish Main, and had been put out of the way by the +Dons. You love gain too much, Ben, old friend, and you court risks too +great for its sake." + +Master Benjamin Hardy threw back his head and laughed deeply and +heartily. The laugh seemed to Robert to roll up spontaneously from his +throat. He felt anew that here was a man whom he liked. + +"Perchance 'tis the danger that draws me on," said Master Hardy. "You +and I are much alike, Dave. In the woods, if all that I hear be true, +you dwell continually in the very shadow of danger, while I incur it +only at times. Moreover, I am come to the age of fifty years, the head +is still on my shoulders, the breath is still in my body, and Master +Jonathan, to whom figures are Biblical, says the balance on my books +is excellent." + +"You talk o'er much, Ben, old friend, but since it's the way of +seafaring men and 'tis cheerful it does not vex my ears. You behold +with me, Tayoga, a youth of the best blood of the Onondaga nation, one +to whom you will be polite if you wish to please me, Benjamin, and +Master Robert Lennox, grown perhaps beyond your expectations." + +Master Benjamin turned to Robert, and, as Master Jonathan had done, +measured him from head to foot with those intensely bright blue eyes +of his that missed nothing. + +"Grown greatly and grown well," he said, "but not beyond my +expectations. In truth, one could predict a noble bough upon such a +stem. But you and I, Dave, having many years, grow garrulous and +forget the impatience of youth. Come, lads, we'll go into the +drawing-room and, as supper was to have been served in half an hour, +I'll have the portions doubled." + +Robert smiled. + +"In Albany and New York alike," he said, "they welcome us to the +table." + +"Which is the utmost test of hospitality," said Master Benjamin. + +They went into a great drawing-room, the barred windows of which +looked out upon a busy street, warehouses and counting houses and +passing sailors. Robert was conscious all the while that the brilliant +blue eyes were examining him minutely. His old wonder about his +parentage, lost for a while in the press of war and exciting events, +returned. He felt intuitively that Master Hardy, like Willet, knew who +and what he was, and he also felt with the same force that neither +would reply to any question of his on the subject. So he kept his +peace and by and by his curiosity, as it always did, disappeared +before immediate affairs. + +The drawing-room was a noble apartment, with dark oaken beams, a +polished oaken floor, upon which eastern rugs were spread, and heavy +tables of foreign woods. A small model of a sloop rested upon one +table and a model of a schooner on another. Here and there were great +curving shells with interiors of pink and white, and upon the walls +were curious long, crooked knives of the Malay Islands. Everything +savored of the sea. Again Robert's imagination leaped up. The blazing +hues of distant tropic lands were in his eyes, and the odors of +strange fruits and flowers were in his nostrils. + +"Sit down, Dave," said Master Benjamin, "and you, too, Robert and +Tayoga. I suppose you did not come to New Amsterdam--how the name +clings!--merely to see me." + +"That was one purpose, Benjamin," replied Willet, "but we had others +in mind too." + +"To join the war, I surmise, and to get yourselves killed?" + +"The first part of your reckoning is true, Benjamin, but not the +second. We would go to the war, in which we have had some part +already, but not in order that we may be killed." + +"You suffer from the common weakness. One entering war always thinks +that it's the other man and not he who will be killed. You're too old +for that, David." + +Willet laughed. + +"No, Benjamin," he said, "I'm not too old for it, and I never will +be. It's the belief that carries us all through danger." + +"Which way did you think of going in these warlike operations?" + +"We shall join the force that comes out from England." + +"The one that will march against Fort Duquesne?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"I hear that it's to be commanded by a general named Braddock, Edward +Braddock. What do you know of him?" + +"Nothing." + +"But you do know, David, that regular army officers fare ill in the +woods as a rule. You've told me often that the savages are a tricky +lot, and, fighting in the forest in their own way, are hard to beat." + +"You speak truth, Benjamin, and I'll not deny it, but there are many +of our men in the woods who know the ways of the Indians and of the +French foresters. They should be the eyes and ears of General +Braddock's army." + +"Well, maybe! maybe! David, but enough of war for the present. One +cannot talk about it forever. There are other things under the +sun. You will let these lads see New Amsterdam, will you not? Even +Tayoga can find something worth his notice in the greatest port of the +New World." + +"Is any play being given here?" asked Robert. + +"Aye, we're having plays almost nightly," replied Master Hardy, "and +they're being presented by some very good actors, too. Lewis Hallam, +who came several years ago from Goodman's Fields Theater in England, +and his wife, known on the stage as Mrs. Douglas, are offering the +best English plays in New York. Hallam is said to be extremely fine +in Richard III, in which tragedy he first appeared here, and he gives +it tomorrow night." + +"Then we're going," said Robert eagerly. "I would not miss it for +anything." + +"I had some thought of going myself, and if Dave hasn't changed, he +has a fine taste for the stage. I'll send for seats and we'll go +together." + +Willet's eyes sparkled. + +"In truth I'll go, too, and right gladly," he said. "You and I, +Benjamin, have seen the plays of Master Shakespeare together in +London, and 'twill please me mightily to see one of them again with +you in New York. Jonathan, here, will be of our company, too, will he +not?" + +Master Pillsbury pursed his lips and his expression became severe. + +"'Tis a frivolous way of passing the time," he said, "but it would be +well for one of serious mind to be present in order that he might +impose a proper dignity upon those who lack it." + +Benjamin Hardy burst into a roar of laughter. Robert had never known +any one else to laugh so deeply and with such obvious spontaneity and +enjoyment. His lips curled up at each end, his eyes rolled back and +then fairly danced with mirth, and his cheeks shook. It was +contagious. Not only did Master Benjamin laugh, but the others had to +laugh, not excluding Master Jonathan, who emitted a dry cackle as +became one of his habit and appearance. + +"Do you know, Dave, old friend," said Hardy, "that our good Jonathan +is really the most wicked of us all? I go upon the sea on these +cruises, which you call smuggling, and what not, and of which he +speaks censoriously, but if they do not show a large enough profit on +his books he rates me most severely, and charges me with a lack of +enterprise. And now he would fain go to the play to see that we +observe the proper decorum there. My lads, you couldn't keep the +sour-visaged old hypocrite from it." + +Master Jonathan permitted himself a vinegary smile, but made no other +reply, and, a Dutch serving girl announcing that supper was ready, +Master Hardy led them into the dining-room, where a generous repast +was spread. But the room itself continued and accentuated the likeness +of a ship. The windows were great portholes, and two large swinging +lamps furnished the light. Pictures of naval worthies and of sea +actions lined the walls. Two or three of the battle scenes were quite +spirited, and Robert regarded them with interest. + +"Have you fought in any of those encounters, Mr. Hardy?" he asked. + +Willet laid a reproving hand upon his shoulder. + +"'Twas a natural question of yours, Robert," he said, "but 'tis the +fashion here and 'tis courtesy, too, never to ask Benjamin about his +past life. Then he has no embarrassing questions to answer." + +Robert reddened and Hardy broke again into that deep, spontaneous +laughter which, in time, compelled all the others to laugh too and +with genuine enjoyment. + + +"Don't believe all that David tells you, Robert, my brave macaroni," +he said. "I may not answer your questions, but faith they'll never +prove embarrassing. Bear in mind, lad, that our trade being +restricted by the mother country and English subjects in this land not +having the same freedom as English subjects in England, we must resort +to secrecy and stratagem to obtain what our fellow subjects on the +other side of the ocean may obtain openly. And when you grow older, +Master Robert, you will find that it's ever so in the world. Those to +whom force bars the way will resort to wiles and stratagems to achieve +their ends. The fox has the cunning that the bear lacks, because he +hasn't the bear's strength. Lads, you two will sit together on this +side of the table, Jonathan, you take the side next to the portholes, +and David, you and I will preside at the ends. Benjamin, David and +Jonathan, it has quite a Biblical sound, and at least the friendship +among the three of us, despite the sourness of Master Pillsbury, with +which I bear as best I can, is equal to that of David and +Jonathan. Now, lads, fall on and see which of you can keep pace with +me, for I am a mighty trencherman." + +"Meanwhile tell us what is passing here," said Willet. + +In the course of the supper Hardy talked freely of events in New York, +where a great division of councils still prevailed. Shirley, the +warlike and energetic governor of Massachusetts, had urged De Lancy, +the governor of New York, to join in an expedition against the French +in Canada, but there had been no agreement. Later, a number of the +royal governors expected to meet at Williamsburg in Virginia with +Dinwiddie, the governor of that province. + +"At present there are plans for four enterprises, every one of an +aspiring nature," he said. "One expedition is to reduce Nova Scotia +entirely, another, under Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, is to +attack the French at Fort Niagara, Sir William Johnson with militia +and Mohawks is to head a third against Crown Point. The fourth, which +I take to be the most important, is to be led by General Braddock +against Fort Duquesne, its object being the recovery of the Ohio +country. I cannot vouch for it, but such plans, I hear, will be +presented at the conference of the governors at Williamsburg." + +"As we mean to go to Williamsburg ourselves," said Willet, "we'll see +what fortune General Braddock may have. But now, for the sake of the +good lads, we'll speak of lighter subjects. Where is the play of +Richard III to be given, Benjamin?" + +"Mr. Hallam has obtained a great room in a house that is the property +of Rip Van Dam in Nassau Street. He has fitted it up in the fashion +of a stage, and his plays are always attended by a great concourse of +ladies and gentlemen. Boston and Philadelphia say New York is light +and frivolous, but I suspect that something of jealousy lies at the +core of the charge. We of New Amsterdam--again the name leaps to my +lips--have a certain freedom in our outlook upon life, a freedom which +I think produces strength and not weakness. Manners are not morals, +but I grow heavy and it does not become a seafaring man to be +didactic. What is it, Piet?" + +The door of the dining-room opened, admitting a serving man who +produced a letter. + +"It comes by the Boston post," he said, handing it to Master Hardy. + +"Then it must have an importance which will not admit delay in the +reading," said Master Hardy. "Your pardon, friends, while I peruse +it." + +He read it carefully, read it again with the same care, and then his +resonant laughter boomed forth with such volume and in such continuity +that he was compelled to take a huge red handkerchief and wipe the +tears from his eyes. + +"What is it, Benjamin, that amuses you so vastly?" asked Willet. + +"A brave epistle from one of my captains, James Dunbar, a valiant man +and a great mariner. In command of the schooner, _Good Hope_, he was +sailing from the Barbados with a cargo of rum and sugar for Boston, +which furnishes a most excellent market for both, when he was +overhauled by the French privateer, _Rocroi_." + +"What do you find to laugh at in the loss of a good ship and a fine +cargo?" + +"Did I say they were lost? Nay, David, I said nothing of the kind. You +don't know Dunbar, and you don't know the _Good Hope_, which carries a +brass twelve-pounder and fifteen men as valiant as Dunbar himself. He +returned the attack of the _Rocroi_ with such amazing skill and +fierceness that he was able to board her and take her, with only three +of his men wounded and they not badly. Moreover, they found on board +the privateer a large store of gold, which becomes our prize of +war. And Dunbar and his men shall have a fair share of it, too. How +surprised the Frenchies must have been when Dunbar and his sailors +swarmed aboard." + +"'Tis almost our only victory," said Willet, "and I'm right glad, +Benjamin, it has fallen to the lot of one of your ships to win it." + +The long supper which was in truth a dinner was finished at +last. Hardy made good his boast, proving that he was a mighty +trencherman. Pillsbury pressed him closest, and the others, although +they did well, lingered at some distance in the rear. Afterward they +walked in the town, observing its varied life, and at a late hour +returned to Hardy's house which he called a mansion. + +Robert and Tayoga were assigned to a room on the second floor, and +young Lennox again noted the numerous evidences of opulence. The +furniture was mostly of carved mahogany, and every room contained +articles of value from distant lands. + +"Tayoga," said Robert, "what do you think of it all?" + +"I think that the man Hardy is shrewd, Dagaeoga, shrewd like one of +our sachems, and that he has an interest in you, greater than he would +let you see. Do you remember him, Lennox?" + +"No, I can't recall him, Tayoga. I've heard Dave speak of him many +times, but whenever we were in New York before he was away, and we did +not even come to his house. But he and Dave are friends of many +years. I think that long ago they must have been much together." + +"Truly there is some mystery here, but it can wait. In its proper +time the unknown becomes the known." + +"So it does, Tayoga, and I shall not vex my mind about the +matter. Just now, what I wish most of all is sleep." + +"I wish it too, Lennox." + +But Robert did not sleep well, his nerves being attuned more highly +than he had realized. Some of the talk that had passed between Willet +and Hardy related obviously to himself, and in the quiet of the room +it came back to him. He had not slept more than an hour when he awoke, +and, being unable to go to sleep again, sat up in bed. Tayoga was deep +in slumber, and Robert finally left the bed and went to the window, +the shutter of which was not closed. It was a curious, round window, +like a huge porthole, but the glass was clear and he had a good view +of the street. He saw one or two sailors swaying rather more than the +customary motion of a ship, pass by, and then a watchman carrying a +club in one hand and a lantern in the other, and blowing his frosty +breath upon his thick brown beard, indicating that the night although +bright was very cold. + +He looked through the glass at least a half hour, and then turned back +to the bed, but found himself less inclined than ever to +sleep. Throwing his coat over his shoulders, he opened the unlocked +door and went into the hall, intending to walk back and forth a +little, believing that the easy exercise would induce desire for +sleep. + +He was surprised to find a thread of light in the dusk of the hall, at +a time when he was quite sure everybody in the house except himself +was buried in slumber, and when he traced it he found it came from +another room farther down. It was, upon the instant, his belief that +robbers had entered. In a port like New York, where all nations come, +there must be reckless and desperate men who would hesitate at no risk +or crime. + +He moved cautiously along the hall, until he reached the door from +which the light shone. It was open about six inches, not allowing a +look into the room except at the imminent risk of discovery, but by +placing his ear at the sill he would be able to hear the footsteps of +men if they were moving within. The sound of voices instead came to +him, and as he listened he was able to note that it was two men +talking in low tones. Undoubtedly they were robbers, who were common +in all great towns in those days, and this must be a chamber in which +Master Hardy kept many valuables. Doubtless they were assured that +everybody was deep in slumber, or they would be more cautious. + +Driven by an intense curiosity, Robert edged his head a little farther +forward, and was able to look into the room, where, to his intense +amazement, he saw no robbers at all, but Willet and Master Hardy +seated at a small table opposite each other, with a candle, account +books and papers between. Hardy had been reading a paper, and stopping +at intervals to talk about it with the hunter. + +"As you see, David," he said, "the list of the ships is three larger +than it was five years ago. One was lost to the Barbary corsairs, +another was wrecked on the coast of the Brazils, but we have five new +ones." + +"You have done well, Benjamin, but I knew you would," said the hunter. + +"With the help of Jonathan. Don't forget him, David. In name he is my +head clerk, and he pretends to serve me, but at times I think he is my +master. A shrewd Massachusetts man, David, uncommonly shrewd, and +loyal too." + +"And the lands, Benjamin?" + +"They're in abeyance, and are likely to be for some years, their title +depending upon the course of events which are now in train." + +"And they're uncertain, Benjamin, as uncertain as the winds. But give +me your honest opinion of the lad, Benjamin. Have I done well with +him?" + +"None could have done better. He's an eagle, David. I marked him +well. Spirit, imagination, force; youth and honesty looking out of his +eyes. But have you no fears, David, that you will get him killed in +the wars?" + +"I could not keep him from going to them if I would, Benjamin. There +my power stops. You old sailors have superstitions or beliefs, and I, +a landsman, have a conviction, too. The invisible prophets tell me +that he will not be killed." + +"I don't laugh at such things, David. The greatness and loneliness of +the sea does breed superstition in mariners. I know there is no such +thing as the supernatural, and yet I am swayed at times by the +unknown." + +"At least I will watch over him as best I can, and he has uncommon +skill in taking care of himself." + +Robert's will triumphed over a curiosity that was intense and burning, +and he turned away. He knew they were speaking of him, and he seemed +to be connected with great affairs. It was enough to stir the most +apathetic youth, and he was just the opposite. It required the utmost +exertion of a very strong mind to pull himself from the door and then +to drag his unwilling feet along the hall. Matter was in complete +rebellion and mind was compelled to win its triumph, unaided, but win +it did and kept the victory. + +He reached his own room and softly closed the door behind him. Tayoga +was still sleeping soundly. Robert went again to the window. His eyes +were turned toward the street, but he did not see anything there, +because he was looking inward. The talk of Willet and Hardy came back +to him. He could say it over, every word, and none could deny that it +was charged with significance. But he knew intuitively that neither of +them would answer a single one of his questions, and he must wait for +time and circumstance to disclose the truth. Nor could he bear to tell +them that he had been listening at the door, despite the fact that it +had been brought about by accident, and that he had come away, when he +might have heard more. + +Having resigned himself to necessity, he went back to bed and now, +youth triumphing over excitement, he soon slept. The next morning, +directly after breakfast, the three elders and the two lads went to +the Royal Exchange, where there was soon a great concourse of +merchants, clerks and seafaring men. Master Hardy was received with +great respect, and many congratulations were given to him, when he +told the story of the _Good Hope_ and Captain Dunbar. In one of the +rooms above the pillars he met another captain of his who had arrived +the day before at New York itself. + +This captain, a New England man, Eliphalet Simmons, had brought his +schooner from the Mediterranean, and he told in a manner as brief and +dry as his own log how he had outsailed one Barbary corsair by day, +and by changing his course had tricked another in the night. But the +voyage had been most profitable, and Master Jonathan duly entered the +amount of gain in an account book, with a reward of ten pounds to +Captain Simmons, five pounds to the first mate, three pounds to the +second mate, and one pound to every member of the crew for their +bravery and seamanship. + +Captain Simmons' thanks were as brief and dry as his report, but +Robert saw his eyes glisten, and knew that he was not lacking in +gratitude. After the business was settled and the rewards adjusted +they adjourned to a coffee house near Hanover Square where very good +Madeira was brought and served to the men, Robert and Tayoga +declining. Then Benjamin, David and Jonathan drank to the health of +Eliphalet, while the two lads, the white and the red, devoted their +attention to the others in the coffee house, of whom there were at +least a dozen. + +One who sat at a table very near was already examining Tayoga with the +greatest curiosity. He wore the uniform of an English second +lieutenant, very trim, and very red, he had an exceeding ruddiness of +countenance, he was tall and well built, and he was only a year or two +older than Robert. His curiosity obviously had been aroused by the +appearance of Tayoga in the full costume of an Iroquois. It was +equally evident to Robert that he was an Englishman, a member of the +royal forces then in New York. Americans still called themselves +Englishmen and Robert instantly had a feeling of kinship for the young +officer who had a frank and good face. + +The English youth's hat was lying upon the table beside him, and a +gust of wind blowing it upon the floor, rolled it toward Robert, who +picked it up and tendered it to its owner. + +"Thanks," said the officer. "'Twas careless of me." + +"By no means," said Robert. "The wind blows when it pleases, and you +were taken by surprise." + +The Englishman smiled, showing very white and even teeth. + +"I haven't been very long in New York," he said, "but I find it a +polite and vastly interesting town. My name is Grosvenor, Alfred +Grosvenor, and I'm a second lieutenant in the regiment of Colonel +Brandon, that arrived but recently from England." + +Master Hardy looked up and passed an investigating eye over the young +Englishman. + +"You're related to one of the ducal families of England," he said, +"but your own immediate branch of it has no overplus of wealth. Still, +your blood is reckoned highly noble in England, and you have an +excellent standing in your regiment, both as an officer and a man." + +Young Grosvenor's ruddy face became ruddier. + +"How do you happen to know so much about me?" he asked. But there was +no offense in his tone. + +Hardy smiled, and Pillsbury, pursing his thin lips, measured Grosvenor +with his eyes. + +"I make it my business," replied Hardy, "to discover who the people +are who come to New York. I'm a seafaring man and a merchant and I +find profit in it. It's true, in especial, since the war has begun, +and New York begins to fill with the military. Many of these sprightly +young officers will be wishing to borrow money from me before long, +and it will be well for me to know their prospects of repayment." + +The twinkle in his eye belied the irony of his words, and the +lieutenant laughed. + +"And since you're alone," continued the merchant, "we ask you to join +us, and will be happy if you accept. This is Mr. Robert Lennox, of +very good blood too, and this is Tayoga, of the Clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who, +among his own people has a rank corresponding to a prince of the blood +among yours, and who, if you value such things, is entitled therefore +to precedence over all of us, including yourself. Mr. David Willet, +Mr. Jonathan Pillsbury and Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who is myself, +complete the catalogue." + +He spoke in a tone half whimsical, half earnest, but the young +Englishman, who evidently had a friendly and inquiring mind, received +it in the best spirit and gladly joined them. He was soon deep in the +conversation, but his greatest interest was for Tayoga, from whom he +could seldom take his eyes. It was evident to Robert that he had +expected to find only a savage in an Indian, and the delicate manners +and perfect English of the Onondaga filled him with surprise. + +"I would fain confess," he said at length, "that America is not what I +expected to find. I did not know that it contained princes who could +put some of our own to shame." + +He bowed to Tayoga, who smiled and replied: + +"What small merit I may possess is due to the training of my people." + +"Do you expect early service, Lieutenant Grosvenor?" Mr. Hardy asked. + +"Not immediate--I think I may say so much," replied the Englishman, +"but I understand that our regiment will be with the first force that +takes the field, that of General Braddock. 'Tis well known that we +intend to march against Fort Duquesne, an expedition that should be +easy. A powerful army like General Braddock's can brush aside any +number of forest rovers." + +Robert and Willet exchanged glances, but the face of Tayoga remained a +mask. + +"It's not well to take the French and Indians too lightly," said +Mr. Hardy with gravity. + +"But wandering bands can't face cannon and the bayonet." + +"They don't have to face 'em. They lie hid on your flank and cut you +down, while your fire and steel waste themselves on the uncomplaining +forest." + +They were words which were destined to come back to Robert some day +with extraordinary force, but for the present they were a mere +generalization that did not stay long in his mind. + +"Our leaders will take all the needful precautions," said young +Grosvenor with confidence. + +Mr. Hardy did not insist, but spoke of the play they expected to +witness that evening, suggesting to Lieutenant Grosvenor if he had +leave, that he go with them, an invitation that was accepted promptly +and with warmth. The liking between him and Robert, while of sudden +birth, was destined to be strong and permanent. There was much +similarity of temperament. Grosvenor also was imaginative and +curious. His mind invariably projected itself into the future, and he +was eager to know. He had come to America, inquiring, without +prejudices, wishing to find the good rather than the bad, and he +esteemed it a great stroke of fortune that he should make so early the +acquaintance of two such remarkable youths as Robert and Tayoga. The +three men with them were scarcely less interesting, and he knew that +in their company at the play they would talk to him of strange new +things. He would be exploring a world hidden from him hitherto, and +nothing could have appealed to him more. + +"You landed a week ago," said Hardy. + +"Truly, sir," laughed Grosvenor, "you seem to know not only who I am, +but what I do." + +"And then, as you've had a certain amount of military duty, although +'tis not excessive, you've had little chance to see this most +important town of ours. Can you not join this company of mine at my +house for supper, and then we'll all go together to the play? I'll +obtain your seat for you." + +"With great pleasure, sir," replied Grosvenor. "'Twill be easy for me +to secure the needed leave, and I'll be at your house with +promptness." + +He departed presently for his quarters, and the three men also went +away together on an errand of business, leaving Robert and Tayoga to +go whithersoever they pleased and it pleased them to wander along the +shores of the port. Young Lennox was impressed more than ever by the +great quantity of shipping, and the extreme activity of the town. The +war with France, so far from interfering with this activity, had but +increased it. + +Privateering was a great pursuit of the day, all nations deeming it +legal and worthy in war, and bold and enterprising merchants like +Mr. Hardy never failed to take advantage of it. The weekly news sheets +that Willet had bought contained lists of vessels captured already, +and Robert's hasty glances showed him that at least sixty or seventy +had been taken by the privateers out of New York. Most of the prizes +had been in the West India trade, although some had been captured far +away near the coast of Africa, and nearly all had been loaded richly. + +They saw several of the privateers in port, armed powerfully, and as +they were usually built for speed, Robert admired their graceful +lines. He felt anew the difference between military Quebec and +commercial New York. Quebec was prepared to send forth forces for +destruction, but, here, life-giving commerce flowed in and flowed out +again through arteries continually increasing in number and +power. Once again came to him the thought that the merchant more than +the soldier was the builder of a great nation. The impression made +upon him was all the more vivid because New York, even in the middle +of the eighteenth century, when it was in its infancy, surprised even +travelers from Europe with its manifold activities and intense energy. + +After a day, long but of extraordinary interest, they returned to the +house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor joined them in half an hour, and +then, after another abundant supper, they all went to the play. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PLAY + + +They were all arrayed in their very best clothes, even Master Jonathan +having powdered his hair, and tied it in an uncommonly neat queue, +while his buckled shoes, stockings and small clothes, though of +somewhat ancient fashion, were of fine quality. Mr. Hardy gazed at him +admiringly. + +"Jonathan," he said, "you are usually somewhat sour of visage, but +upon occasion you can ruffle it with the best macaroni of them all." + +Master Jonathan pursed his lips, and smiled with satisfaction. All of +them, in truth, presented a most gallant appearance, but by far the +most noticeable figure was that of Tayoga. Indians often appeared in +New York, but such Indians as the young Onondaga were rare +anywhere. He rose half a head above the ordinary man, and he wore the +costume of a chief of the mighty League of the Hondenosaunee, the +feathers in his lofty headdress blowing back defiantly with the +wind. He attracted universal, and at the same time respectful, +attention. + +They were preceded by a stout link boy who bore aloft a blazing torch, +and as they walked toward the building in Nassau Street, owned by Rip +Van Dam, in which the play was to be given, they overtook others who +were upon the same errand. A carriage drawn by two large white horses +conveyed Governor de Lancey and his wife, and another very much like +it bore his brother-in-law, the conspicuous John Watts, and +Mrs. Watts. All of them saw Mr. Hardy and his party and bowed to them +with great politeness. Robert already understood enough of the world +to know that it denoted much importance on the part of the merchant. + +"A man of influence in our community," said Master Benjamin, speaking +of Mr. Watts. "An uncommonly clear mind and much firmness and +decision. He will leave a great name in New York." + +As he spoke they overtook a tall youth about twenty-three years old, +walking alone, and dressed in the very latest fashion out of +England. Mr. Hardy hailed him with great satisfaction and asked him to +join them. + +"Master Edward Charteris,[A] who is soon to become a member of the +Royal Americans," he said to the others. "He is a native of this town +and belongs to one of our best families here. When he does become a +Royal American he will probably have the finest uniform in his +regiment, because Edward sets the styles in raiment for young men of +his age here." + +[Footnote A: The story of Edward Charteris, and his adventures at +Ticonderoga and Quebec are told in the author's novel, "A Soldier of +Manhattan."] + +Charteris smiled. It was evident that he and the older man were on the +most friendly footing. But he held himself with dignity and had pride, +qualities which Robert liked in him. His manner was most excellent +too, when Mr. Hardy introduced all of his party in turn, and he +readily joined them, speaking of his pleasure in doing so. + +"I shall be able to exchange my seat and obtain one with you," he +said. "We shall be early, but I am glad of it. Mr. Hallam and his fine +company have been performing in Philadelphia, and as we now welcome +them back to New York, nearly all the notable people of our city will +be present. Unless Mr. Hardy wishes to do so, it will give me pleasure +to point them out to you." + +"No, no!" exclaimed Master Benjamin. "The task is yours, Edward, my +lad. You can put more savor and unction into it than I can." + +"Then let it be understood that I'm the guide and expounder," laughed +Charteris. + +"He has a great pride in his city, and it won't suffer from his +telling," said Master Benjamin. + +They were now in Nassau Street near the improvised theater, and many +other link boys, holding aloft their torches, were preceding their +masters and mistresses. Heavy coaches were rolling up, and men and +women in gorgeous costumes were emerging from them. The display of +wealth was amazing for a town in the New World, but Mr. Hardy and his +company quickly went inside and obtained their seats, from which they +watched the fashion of New York enter. Charteris knew them all, and +to many of them he was related. + +The number of De Lanceys was surprising and there was also a profusion +of Livingstons, the two families between them seeming to dominate the +city, although they lived in bitter rivalry, as Charteris whispered to +Robert. There were also Wattses and Morrises and Crugers and Waltons +and Van Rensselaers, Van Cortlandts and Kennedys and Barclays and +Nicolls and Alexanders, and numerous others that endured for +generations in New York. The diverse origin of these names, English, +Scotch, Dutch and Huguenot French, showed even at such an early date +the cosmopolitan nature of New York that it was destined to maintain. + +Robert was intensely interested. Charteris' fund of information was +wonderful, and he flavored it with a salt of his own. He not only knew +the people, but he knew all about them, their personal idiosyncrasies, +their rivalries and jealousies. Robert soon gathered that New York was +not only a seething city commercially, but socially as well. Family +was of extreme importance, and the great landed proprietors who had +received extensive grants along the Hudson in the earlier days from +the Dutch Government, still had and exercised feudal rights, and were +as full of pride and haughtiness as ducal families in Europe. Class +distinctions were preserved to the utmost possible extent, and, while +the original basis of the town had been Dutch, the fashion was now +distinctly English. London set the style for everything. + +When they were all seated, the display of fine dress and jewels was +extraordinary, just as the wealth and splendor shown in some of the +New York houses had already attracted the astonished attention of many +of the British officers, to whom the finest places in their own +country were familiar. + +And while Robert was looking so eagerly, the party to which he +belonged did not pass unnoticed by any means. Master Benjamin Hardy +was well known. He was bold and successful and he was a man of great +substance. He had qualities that commanded respect in colonial New +York, and people were not averse to being seen receiving his friendly +nod. And those who surrounded him and who were evidently his guests +were worthy of notice too. There was Edward Charteris, as well born as +any in the hall, and a pattern in manners and dress for the young men +of New York, and there was the tall youth with the tanned face, and +the wonderful, vivid eyes, who must surely, by his appearance, be the +representative of some noble family, there was the young Indian chief, +uncommon in height and with the dignity and majesty of the forest, an +Indian whose like had never been seen in New York before, and there +was the gigantic Willet, whose massive head and calm face were so +redolent of strength. Beyond all question it was a most unusual and +striking company that Master Benjamin Hardy had brought with him, and +old and young whispered together as they looked at them, especially at +Robert and Tayoga. + +Mr. Hardy was conscious of the stir he had made, and he liked it, not +for himself alone, but also for another. He glanced at Robert and saw +how finely and clearly his features were cut, how clear was the blue +of his eyes and the great width between them, and he drew a long +breath of satisfaction. + +"'Tis a good youth. Nature, lineage and Willet have done well," he +said to himself. + +More of the fashion of New York came in and then a group of British +officers, several of whom nodded to Grosvenor. + +"The tall man with the gray hair at the temples is my colonel, +Brandon," he said. "Very strict, but just to his men, and we like +him. He spent some years in the service of the East India Company, in +one of the hottest parts of the peninsula. That's why he's so brown, +and it made his blood thin, too. He can't endure cold. The officer +with him is one of our majors, Apthorpe. He has had less experience +than the colonel, but thinks he knows more. His opinion of the French +is very poor. Believes we ought to brush 'em aside with ease." + +"I hope you don't think that way, Grosvenor," said Robert. "We in this +country know that the French is one of the most valiant races the +world has produced." + +"And so do most thinking Englishmen. The only victories we boast much +about are those we have won over the French, which shows that we +consider them foes worthy of anybody's steel. But the play is going to +begin, I believe. The hall is well filled now, and I'm not trying to +make an appeal to your local pride, Lennox, when I tell you 'tis an +audience that will compare well with one at Drury Lane or Covent +Garden for splendor, and for variety 'twill excel it." + +Robert was pleased secretly. Although more identified with Albany than +New York, he considered himself nevertheless one of the people who +belonged to the city at the mouth of the Hudson, and he felt already +its coming greatness. + +"We call ourselves Englishmen," he said modestly, "and we hope to +achieve as much as the older Englishmen, our brethren across the +seas." + +"Have you seen many plays, Lennox?" + +"But few, and none by great actors like Mr. Hallam and Mrs. Douglas. I +suppose, Grosvenor, you've seen so many that they're no novelty to +you." + +"I can scarcely lay claim to being such a man about town as that. I +have seen plays, of course, and some by the great Master Will, and I +do confess that the mock life I behold beyond the footlights often +thrills me more than the real life I see this side of them. Once, I +witnessed this play 'Richard III,' which we are now about to see, and +it stirred me so I could scarce contain myself, though some do say +that our Shakespeare has made the hunchback king blacker than he +really was." + +Presently a little bell rang, the curtain rolled up, and Robert passed +into an enchanted land. To vivid and imaginative youth the great style +and action of Shakespeare make an irresistible appeal. Robert had +never seen one of the mighty bard's plays before, and now he was in +another world of romance and tragedy, suffused with poetry and he was +held completely by the spell. Shakespeare may have blackened the +character of the hunchback, but Robert believed him absolutely. To +him Richard was exactly what the play made him. + +Although the stage was but a temporary one, built in the hall of Rip +Van Dam, it was large, the seating capacity was great and Hallam and +his wife were among the best actors of their day, destined to a long +career as stars in the colonies, and also afterward, when they ceased +to be colonies. They and an able support soon took the whole audience +captive, and all, fashionable and unfashionable alike, hung with +breathless attention upon the play. Robert forgot absolutely +everything around him, Willet was carried back to days of his youth, +and Master Benjamin Hardy, who at heart was a lover of adventure and +romance, responded to the great speeches the author has written for +his characters. Tayoga did not stir, his face of bronze was unmoved, +but now and then his dark eyes gleamed. + +In reality the influence of the tragedy upon Tayoga was as great as it +was upon Robert. The Onondaga had an unusual mind and being sent at an +early age to school at Albany he had learned that the difference +between white man and red was due chiefly to environment. Their hopes +and fears, their rivalries and ambitions were, in truth, about the +same. He had seen in some chief a soul much like that of humpbacked +Richard, but, as he looked and listened, he also had a certain feeling +of superiority. As he saw it, the great League, the Hodenosaunee, was +governed better than England when York and Lancaster were tearing it +to pieces. The fifty old sachems in the vale of Onondaga would decide +more wisely and more justly than the English nobles. Tayoga, in that +moment, was prouder than ever that he was born a member of the Clan of +the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, and doubtless his patron saint, +Tododaho, in his home on the great, shining star, agreed with him. + +The first act closed amid great applause, several recalls of smiling +and bowing actors followed, and then, during the wait, came a great +buzz of talk. Robert shook himself and returned to the world. + +"What do you like best about it, Lennox?" asked Grosvenor. + +"The poetry. The things the people say. Things I've thought often +myself, but which I haven't been able to put in a way that makes them +strike upon you like a lightning flash." + +"I think that describes Master Will. In truth, you've given me a +description for my own feelings. Once more I repeat to you, Lennox, +that 'tis a fine audience. I see here much British and Dutch wealth, +and people whose lives have been a continuous drama." + +"Truly it's so," said Robert, and, as his examining eye swept the +crowd, he almost rose in his seat with astonishment, with difficulty +suppressing a cry. Then he charged himself with being a fool. It could +not be so! The thing was incredible! The man might look like him, but +surely he would not be so reckless as to come to such a place. + +Then he looked again, and he could no longer doubt. The stranger sat +near the door and his dress was much like that of a prosperous +seafaring man of the Dutch race. But Robert knew the blue eyes, lofty +and questing like those of the eagle, and he was sure that the reddish +beard had grown on a face other than the one it now adorned. It was +St. Luc, whom he knew to be romantic, adventurous, and ready for any +risk. + +Robert moved his body forward a little, in order that it might be +directly between Tayoga and the Frenchman, it being his first impulse +to shelter St. Luc from the next person who was likely to recognize +him. But the Onondaga was not looking in that direction. The young +English officer, moved by his intense interest, had engaged him in +conversation continually, surprised that Tayoga should know so much +about the white race and history. + +Robert looked so long at St. Luc, and with such a fixed and powerful +gaze, that at last the chevalier turned and their eyes met. Robert's +said: + +"Why are you here? Your life is in danger every moment. If caught you +will be executed as a spy." + +"I'm not afraid," replied the eyes of St. Luc. "You alone have seen me +as I am." + +"But others will see you." + +"I think not." + +"How do you know that I will not proclaim at once who you are?" + +"You will not because you do not wish to see me hanged or shot." + +Then the eyes of St. Luc left Robert and wandered ever the audience, +which was now deeply engrossed in talk, although the Livingstons and +the De Lanceys kept zealously away from one another, and the families +who were closely allied with them by blood, politics or business also, +stayed near their chiefs. Robert began to fancy that he might have +been mistaken, it was not really St. Luc, he had allowed an imaginary +resemblance to impose upon him, but reflection told him that it was no +error. He would have known the intense gaze of those burning blue eyes +anywhere. He was still careful to keep his own body between Tayoga and +the Frenchman. + +The curtain rose and once more Robert fell under the great writer's +spell. Vivid action and poetic speech claimed him anew, and for the +moment he forgot St. Luc. When the second act was finished, and while +the applause was still filling the hall, he cast a fearful glance +toward the place where he had seen the chevalier. Then, in truth, he +rubbed his eyes. No St. Luc was there. The chair in which he had sat +was not empty, but was occupied by a stolid, stout Dutchman, who +seemed not to have moved for hours. + +It had been a vision, a figment of the fancy, after all! But it was +merely an attempt of the will to persuade himself that it was so. He +could not doubt that he had seen St. Luc, who, probably listening to +some counsel of providence, had left the hall. Robert felt an immense +relief, and now he was able to assume his best manner when Mr. Hardy +began to present him and Tayoga to many of the notables. He met the +governor, Mr. Watts, and more De Lanceys, Wilsons and Crugers than he +could remember, and he received invitations to great houses, and made +engagements which he intended to keep, if it were humanly +possible. Willet and Hardy exchanged glances when they noticed how +easily he adapted himself to the great world of his day. He responded +here as he had responded in Quebec, although Quebec and New York, each +a center in its own way, were totally unlike. + +The play went on, and Robert was still absorbed in the majestic +lines. At the next intermission there was much movement in the +audience. People walked about, old acquaintances spoke and strangers +were introduced to one another. Robert looked sharply for St. Luc, but +there was no trace of him. Presently Mr. Hardy was introducing him to +a heavy man, dressed very richly, and obviously full of pride. + +"Mynheer Van Zoon," he said, "this is young Robert Lennox. He has been +for years in the care of David Willet, whom you have met in other and +different times. Robert, Mynheer Van Zoon is one of our greatest +merchants, and one of my most active rivals." + +Robert was about to extend his hand, but noticing that Mynheer Van +Zoon did not offer his he withheld his own. The merchant's face, in +truth, had turned to deeper red than usual, and his eyes lowered. He +was a few years older than Hardy, somewhat stouter, and his heavy +strong features showed a tinge of cruelty. The impression that he made +upon Robert was distinctly unfavorable. + +"Yes, I have met Mr. Willet before," said Van Zoon, "but so many years +have passed that I did not know whether he was still living. I can say +the same about young Mr. Lennox." + +"Oh, they live hazardous lives, but when one is skilled in meeting +peril life is not snuffed out so easily," rejoined Mr. Hardy who +seemed to be speaking from some hidden motive. "They've returned to +civilization, and I think and trust, Adrian, that we'll hear more of +them than for some years past. They're especial friends of mine, and I +shall do the best I can for them, even though my mercantile rivalry +with you absorbs, of necessity, so much of my energy." + +Van Zoon smiled sourly, and then Robert liked him less than ever. + +"The times are full of danger," he said, "and one must watch to keep +his own." + +He bowed, and turned to other acquaintances, evidently relieved at +parting with them. + +"He does not improve with age," said Willet thoughtfully. + +Robert was about to ask questions concerning this Adrian Van Zoon, who +seemed uneasy in their presence, but once more he restrained himself, +his intuition telling him as before that neither Willet nor Master +Hardy would answer them. + +The play moved on towards its dramatic close and Robert was back in +the world of passion and tragedy, of fancy and poetry. Van Zoon was +forgotten, St. Luc faded quite away, and he was not conscious of the +presence of Tayoga, or of Grosvenor, or of any of his friends. +Shakespeare's _Richard_ was wholly the humpbacked villain to him, and +when he met his fate on Bosworth Field he rejoiced greatly. As the +curtain went down for the last time he saw that Tayoga, too, was +moved. + +"The English king was a wicked man," he said, "but he died like a +great chief." + +They all passed out now, the street was filled with carriages and the +torches of the link boys and there was a great hum of conversation. +St. Luc returned to Robert's mind, but he kept to himself the fact +that he had been in the theater. It might be his duty to state to the +military that he had seen in the city an important Frenchman who must +have come as a spy, but he could not do so. Nor did he feel any +pricklings of the conscience about it, because he believed, even if he +gave warning of St. Luc's presence, the wary chevalier would escape. + +They stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching the carriages, great +high-bodied vehicles, roll away. Mr. Hardy had a carriage of his own, +but the distance between his house and the theater was so short that +he had not thought it necessary to use it. The night was clear, very +cold and the illusion of the play was still upon the younger members +of his group. + +"You liked it?" said Mr. Hardy, looking keenly at Robert. + +"It was another and wonderful world to me," replied the youth. + +"I thought it would make a great appeal to you," said Master Benjamin. +"Your type of mind always responds quickly to the poetic drama. Ah, +there goes Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon. He has entered his carriage +without looking once in our direction." + +He and Willet and Master Jonathan laughed together, softly but with +evident zest. Whatever the feeling between them and whatever the cause +might be, Robert felt that they had the advantage of Mynheer Van Zoon +that night and were pushing it. They watched the crowd leave and the +lights fade in the darkness, and then they walked back together to the +solid red brick house of Mr. Hardy, where Grosvenor took leave of +them, all promising that the acquaintance should be continued. + +"A fine young man," said Mr. Hardy, thoughtfully. "I wish that more +of his kind would come over. We can find great use for them in this +country." + +Charteris also said farewell to them, telling them that his own house +was not far away, and offering them his services in any way they +wished as long as they remained in the city. + +"Another fine young man," said Master Benjamin, as the tall figure of +Charteris melted away in the darkness. "A good representative of our +city's best blood and manners, and yes, of morals, too." + +Robert went alone the next morning to the new public library, founded +the year before and known as the New York Society Library, a novelty +then and a great evidence of municipal progress. The most eminent men +of the city, appointed by Governor de Lancey, were its trustees, and, +the collection already being large, Robert spent a happy hour or two +glancing through the books. History and fiction appealed most to him, +but he merely looked a little here and there, opening many volumes. He +was proud that the intelligence and enterprise of New York had founded +so noble an institution and he promised himself that if, in the time +to come, he should be a permanent resident of the city, his visits +there would be frequent. + +When he left the library it was about noon, the day being cloudy and +dark with flurries of snow, those who were in the streets shivering +with the raw cold. Robert drew his own heavy cloak closely about him, +and, bending his head a little, strolled toward the Battery, in order +to look again at the ships that came from so many parts of the +earth. A stranger, walking in slouching fashion, and with the collar +of his coat pulled well up about his face, shambled directly in his +way. When Robert turned the man turned also and said in a low tone: + +"Mr. Lennox!" + +"St. Luc!" exclaimed Robert. "Are you quite mad? Don't you know that +your life is in danger every instant?" + +"I am not mad, nor is the risk as great as you think. Walk on by my +side, as if you knew me." + +"I did not think, chevalier, that your favorite role was that of a +spy." + +"Nor is it. This New York of yours is a busy city, and a man, even a +Frenchman, may come here for other reasons than to learn military +secrets." + +Robert stared at him, but St. Luc admonished him again to look in +front of him, and walk on as if they were old acquaintances on some +business errand. + +"I don't think you want to betray me to the English," he said. + +"No, I don't," said Robert, "though my duty, perhaps, should make me +do so." + +"But you won't. I felt assured of it, else I should not have spoken to +you." + +"What duty, other than that of a spy, can have brought you to New +York?" + +"Why make it a duty? It is true the times are troubled, and full of +wars, but one, on occasion, may seek his pleasure, nevertheless. Let +us say that I came to New York to see the play which both of us +witnessed last night. 'Twas excellently done. I have seen plays +presented in worse style at much more pretentious theaters in +Paris. Moreover I, a Frenchman, love Shakespeare. I consider him the +equal of our magnificent Moliere." + +"Which means that if you were not a Frenchman you would think him +better." + +"A pleasant wit, Mr. Lennox. I am glad to see it in you. But you will +admit that I have come a long distance and incurred a great risk to +attend a play by a British author given in a British town, though it +must be admitted that the British town has strong Dutch +lineaments. Furthermore, I do bear witness that I enjoyed the play +greatly. 'Twas worth the trouble and the danger." + +"Since you insist, chevalier, that you came so great a distance and +incurred so great a risk merely to worship at the shrine of our +Shakespeare, as one gentleman to another I cannot say that I doubt +your word. But when we sailed down the Hudson on a sloop, and were +compelled to tie up in a cove to escape the wrath of a storm, I saw +you on the slope above me." + +"I saw you, too, then, Mr. Lennox, and I envied you your snug place on +the sloop. That storm was one of the most unpleasant incidents in my +long journey to New York to see Shakespeare's 'Richard III.' Still, +when one wishes a thing very badly one must be willing to pay a high +price for it. It was a good play by a good writer, the actors were +most excellent, and I have had sufficient reward for my trouble and +danger." + +The collar of his cloak was drawn so high now that it formed almost a +hood around his head and face, but he turned a little, and Robert saw +the blue eyes, as blue as his own, twinkling with a humorous light. It +was borne upon him with renewed force that here was a champion of +romance and high adventure. St. Luc was a survival. He was one of +those knights of the Middle Ages who rode forth with lance and sword +to do battle, perhaps for a lady's favor, and perhaps to crush the +infidel. His own spirit, which had in it a lightness, a gayety and a +humor akin to St. Luc's, responded at once. + +"Since you found the play most excellent, and I had the same delight, +I presume that you will stay for all the others. Mr. Hallam and his +fine company are in New York for two weeks, if not longer. Having come +so far and at such uncommon risks, you will not content yourself with +a single performance?" + +"Alas! that is the poison in my cup. The leave of absence given me by +the Governor General of Canada is but brief, and I can remain in this +city and stronghold of my enemy but a single night." + +They passed several men, but none took any notice of them. The day had +increased in gloominess. Heavy clouds were coming up from the sea, +enveloping the solid town in a thick and somber atmosphere. Snow +began to fall and a sharp wind drove the flakes before it. Pedestrians +bent forward, and drew their cloaks or coats about their faces to +protect themselves from the storm. + +"The weather favors us," said St. Luc. "The people of New York +defending themselves from the wind and the flakes will have no time to +be looking for an enemy among them." + +"Where are we going, chevalier?" + +"That I know not, but being young, healthy and strong, perhaps we walk +in a circle for the sake of exercise." + +"For which also you have come to New York--in order that you may walk +about our Battery and Bowling Green." + +"True! Quite true! You have a most penetrating mind, Mr. Lennox, and +since we speak of the objects of my errand here I recall a third, but +of course, a minor motive." + +"I am interested in that third and minor motive, Chevalier de +St. Luc." + +"I noticed last night at the play that you were speaking to a +merchant, one Adrian Van Zoon." + +"'Tis true, but how do you know Van Zoon?" + +"Let it suffice, lad, that I know him and know him well. I wish you to +beware of him." + +He spoke with a sudden softness of tone that touched Robert, and there +could be no doubt that his meaning was good. They were still walking +in the most casual manner, their faces bent to the driving snow, and +almost hidden by the collars of their cloaks. + +"What can Adrian Van Zoon and I have in common?" asked Robert. + +"Lad, I bid thee again to beware of him! Look to it that you do not +fall into his treacherous hands!" + +His sudden use of the pronoun "thee," and his intense earnestness, +stirred Robert deeply. + +"Friends seem to rise around me, due to no merit of mine," he +said. "Willet has always watched over me. Tayoga is my brother. +Jacobus Huysman has treated me almost as his own son, and +Master Benjamin Hardy has received me with great warmth of heart. And +now you deliver to me a warning that I cannot but believe is given +with the best intent. But again I ask you, why should I fear Adrian +Van Zoon?" + +"That, lad, I will not tell you, but once more I bid you beware of +him. Think you, I'd have taken such a risk to prepare you for a +danger, if it were not real?" + +"I do not. I feel, Chevalier de St. Luc, that you are a friend in +truth. Shall I speak of this to Mr. Willet? He will not blame me for +hiding the knowledge of your presence here." + +"No. Keep it to yourself, but once more I tell you beware of Adrian +Van Zoon. Now you will not see me again for a long time, and perhaps +it will be on the field of battle. Have no fears for my safety. I can +leave this solid town of yours as easily as I entered it. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" said Robert, with a real wrench at the heart. St. Luc left +him and walked swiftly in the direction of St. George's Chapel. The +snow increased so much and was driving so hard that in forty or fifty +paces he disappeared entirely and Robert, wishing shelter, went back +to the house of Benjamin Hardy, moved by many and varied emotions. + +He could not doubt that St. Luc's warning was earnest and important, +but why should he have incurred such great risks to give it? What was +he to Adrian Van Zoon? and what was Adrian Van Zoon to him? And what +did the talk at night between Willet and Hardy mean? He, seemed to be +the center of a singular circle of complications, of which other +people might know much, but of which he knew nothing. + +Mr. Hardy's house was very solid, very warm and very comfortable. He +was still at the Royal Exchange, but Mr. Pillsbury had come home, and +was standing with his back to a great fire, his coattails drawn under +either arm in front of him. A gleam of warmth appeared in his solemn +eyes at the sight of Robert. + +"A fierce day, Master Robert," he said. "'Tis good at such a time to +stand before a red fire like this, and have stout walls between one +and the storm." + +"Spoken truly, Master Jonathan," said Robert, as he joined him before +the fire, and imitated his position. + +"You have been to our new city library? We are quite proud of it." + +"Yes, I was there, but I have also been thinking a little." + +"Thought never hurts one. We should all be better if we took more +thought upon ourselves." + +"I was thinking of a man whom we saw at the play last night, the +merchant, Adrian Van Zoon." + +Master Jonathan let his coattails fall from under his arms, and then +he deliberately gathered them up again. + +"A wealthy and powerful merchant. He has ships on many seas." + +"I have inferred that Mr. Hardy does not like him." + +"Considering my words carefully, I should say that Mr. Hardy does not +like Mr. Van Zoon and that Mr. Van Zoon does not like Mr. Hardy." + +"I'm not seeking to be intrusive, but is it just business rivalry?" + +"You are not intrusive, Master Robert. But my knowledge seldom extends +beyond matters of business." + +"Which means that you might be able to tell me, but you deem it wiser +not to do so." + +"The storm increases, Master Robert. The snow is almost blinding. I +repeat that it is a most excellent fire before which we are +standing. Mr. Hardy and your friends will be here presently and we +shall have food." + +"It seems to me, Master Jonathan, that the people of New York eat much +and often." + +"It sustains life and confers a harmless pleasure." + +"To return a moment to Adrian Van Zoon. You say that his ships are +upon every sea. In what trade are they engaged, mostly?" + +"In almost everything, Master Robert. They say he does much +smuggling--but I don't object to a decent bit of smuggling--and I fear +that certain very fast vessels of his know more than a little about +the slave trade." + +"I trust that Mr. Hardy has never engaged in such a traffic." + +"You may put your mind at rest upon that point, Master Robert. No +amount of profit could induce Mr. Hardy to engage in such commerce." + +Mr. Hardy, Tayoga and Willet came in presently, and the merchant +remained a while after his dinner. The older men smoked pipes and +talked together and Robert and Tayoga looked out at the driving snow. +Tayoga had received a letter from Colonel William Johnson that +morning, informing him that all was well at the vale of Onondaga, and +the young Onondaga was pleased. They were speaking of their expected +departure to join Braddock's army, but they had heard from Willet that +they were to remain longer than they had intended in New York, as the +call to march demanded no hurry. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SLAVER + + +Robert spent more days in New York, and they were all pleasant. His +own handsome face and winning manner would have made his way anywhere, +but it became known universally that a great interest was taken in him +by Mr. Benjamin Hardy, who was a great figure in the city, a man not +to be turned lightly into an enemy. It also seemed that some mystery +enveloped him--mystery always attracts--and the lofty and noble figure +of the young Onondaga, who was nearly always by his side, heightened +the romantic charm he had for all those with whom he came in +contact. Both Hardy and Willet urged him to go wherever he was asked +by the great, and clothes fitted to such occasions were provided +promptly. + +"I am not able to pay for these," said Robert to Willet when he was +being measured for the first of his fine raiment. + +"Don't trouble yourself about it," said the hunter, smiling, "I have +sufficient to meet the bills, and I shall see that all your tailors +are reimbursed duly. Some one must always look after a man of +fashion." + +"I wish I knew more than I do," said Robert in troubled tones, +"because I've a notion that the money with which you will pay my +tailor comes from the till of Master Benjamin Hardy. It's uncommon +strange that he does so much for me. I'm very grateful, but surely +there must be some motive behind it." + +He glanced at Willet to see how he took his words, but the hunter +merely smiled, and Robert knew that the smile was a mask through which +he could not penetrate. + +"Take the goods the gods provide thee," said the hunter. + +"I will," said Robert, cheerfully, "since it seems I can't do anything +else." + +And he did. His response to New York continued to be as vigorous as it +had been to Quebec, and while New York lacked some of the brilliancy, +some of the ultimate finish that, to his mind, had distinguished +Quebec, it was more solid, there was more of an atmosphere of +resource, and it was all vastly interesting. Charteris proved himself +a right true friend, and he opened for him whatever doors he cared to +enter that Mr. Hardy may have left unlocked. He was also thrown much +with Grosvenor, and the instinctive friendship between the two ripened +fast. + +On the fifth day of his stay in New York a letter came out of the +wilderness from Wilton at Fort Refuge. It had been brought by an +Oneida runner to Albany, and was sent thence by post to New York. + +Wilton wrote that time would pass rather heavily with them in the +little fortress, if the hostile Indians allowed it. Small bands now +infested that region, and the soldiers were continually making marches +against them. The strange man, whom they called Black Rifle, was of +vast help, guiding them and saving them from ambush. + +Wilton wrote that he missed Philadelphia, which was certainly the +finest city outside of Europe, but he hoped to go back to it, seasoned +and improved by life in the woods. New York, where he supposed Robert +now to be, was an attractive town, in truth, a great port, but it had +not the wealth and cultivation of Philadelphia, as he hoped to show +Robert some day. Meanwhile he wished him well. + +Robert smiled. He had pleasant memories of Wilton, Colden, Carson and +the others, and while he was making new friends he did not commit the +crime of forgetting old ones. It was his hope that he should meet them +all again, not merely after the war, but long before. + +In his comings and goings among the great of their day Robert kept a +keen eye for the vision of St. Luc. He half hoped, half feared that +some time in the twilight or the full dusk of the night he would see +in some narrow street the tall figure wrapped in its great cloak. But +the chevalier did not appear, and Robert felt that he had not really +come as a spy upon the English army and its preparations. He must have +gone, days since. + +He met Adrian Van Zoon three times, that is, he was in the same room +with him, although they spoke together only once. The merchant had in +his presence an air of detachment. He seemed to be one who continually +carried a burden, and a stripling just from the woods could not long +have a place, either favorable or unfavorable, in his memory. Robert +began to wonder if St. Luc had net been mistaken. What could a man +born and bred in France, and only in recent years an inhabitant of +Canada, know of Adrian Van Zoon of New York? What, above all, could he +know that would cause him to warn Robert against him? But this, like +all his other questions, disappeared in the enjoyments of the +moment. Nature, which had been so kind in giving to him a vivid +imagination, had also given with it an intense appreciation. He liked +nearly everything, and nearly everybody, he could see a rosy mist +where the ordinary man saw only a cloud, and just now New York was so +kind to him that he loved it all. + +A week in the city and he attended a brilliant ball given by William +Walton in the Walton mansion, in Franklin Square, then the most +elaborate and costly home in North America. It was like a great +English country house, with massive brick walls and woodwork, all +imported and beautifully carved. The staircase in particular made of +dark ebony was the wonder of its day, and, in truth, the whole +interior was like that of a palace, instead of a private residence, at +that time, in America. + +Robert enjoyed himself hugely. He realized anew how close was the +blood relationship among all those important families, and he was +already familiar with their names. The powerful sponsorship of Mr. +Hardy had caused them to take him in as one of their number, and for +that reason he liked them all the more. He was worldly wise enough +already to know that we are more apt to call a social circle snobbish +when we do not belong to it. Now, he was a welcome visitor at the best +houses in New York, and all was rose to him. + +Adrian Van Zoon, who had not only wealth but strong connections, was +there, but, as on recent occasions he took no notice of Robert, until +late in the evening when the guests were dancing the latest Paris and +London dances in the great drawing-room. Robert was resting for a +little space and as he leaned against the wall the merchant drew near +him and addressed him with much courtesy. + +"I fear, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I have spoken to you rather +brusquely, for which I offer many apologies. It was due, perhaps, to +the commercial rivalries of myself and Mr. Hardy, in whose house you +are staying. It was but natural for me to associate you with him." + +"I wish to be linked with him," said Robert, coldly. "I have a great +liking and respect for Mr. Hardy." + +Mynheer Van Zoon laughed and seemed not at all offended. + +"The answer of a lad, and a proper one for a lad," he said. "'Tis well +to be loyal to one's friends, and I must admit, too, that Mr. Hardy is +a man of many high qualities, a fact that a rivalry in business +extending over many years, has proved to me. He and I cannot become +friends, but I do respect him." + +He had imparted some warmth to his tone, and his manner bore the +appearance of geniality. Robert, so susceptible to courtesy in others, +began to find him less repellent. He rejoined in the same polite +manner, and Mynheer Van Zoon talked to him a little while as a busy +man of middle age would speak to a youth. He asked him of his +experiences at Quebec, of which he had heard some rumor, and Robert, +out of the fullness of his mind, spoke freely on that subject. + +"Is it true," asked Mynheer Van Zoon, "that David Willet in a duel +with swords slew a famous bravo?" + +"It's quite true," replied Robert. "I was there, and saw it with my +own eyes. Pierre Boucher was the man's name, and never was a death +more deserved." + +"Willet is a marvel with the sword." + +"You knew him in his youth, Mynheer Van Zoon?" + +"I did not say that. It is possible that I was thinking of some one +who had talked to me about him. But, whatever thought may have been in +my mind, David Willet and I are not likely to tread the same path. I +repeat, Master Lennox, that although my manner may have seemed to you +somewhat brusque in the past, I wish you well. Do you remain much +longer in New York?" + +"Only a few days, I think." + +"And you still find much of interest to see?" + +"Enough to occupy the remainder of my time. I wish to see a bit of +Long Island, but tomorrow I go to Paulus Hook to find one Nicholas +Suydam and to carry him a message from Colonel William Johnson, which +has but lately come to me in the post. I suppose it will be easy to +get passage across the Hudson." + +"Plenty of watermen will take you for a fare, but if you are familiar +with the oars yourself it would be fine exercise for a strong youth +like you to row over and then back again." + +"It's a good suggestion, as I do row, and I think I'll adopt it." + +Mynheer Van Zoon passed on a moment or two later, and Robert, with his +extraordinary susceptibility to a friendly manner, felt a pleasant +impression. Surely St. Luc, who at least was an official enemy, did +not know the truth about Van Zoon! And if the Frenchman did happen to +be right, what did he have to fear in New York, surrounded by friends? + +The evening progressed, but Mynheer Van Zoon left early, and then in +the pleasures of the hour, surrounded by youth and brightness, Robert +forgot him, too. A banquet was served late, and there was such a +display of silver and gold plate that the British officers themselves +opened their eyes and later wrote letters to England, telling of the +amazing prosperity and wealth of New York, as proven by what they had +seen in the Walton and other houses. + +Robert did not go back to the home of Mr. Hardy, until a very late +hour, and he slept late the next day. When he rose he found that all +except himself had gone forth for one purpose or another, but it +suited his own plan well, as he could now take the letter of Colonel +William Johnson to his friend, Master Nicholas Suydam, in Paulus +Hook. It was another dark, gloomy day, but clouds and cold had little +effect on his spirits, and when he walked along the shore of the North +River, looking for a boat, he met the chaff of the watermen with +humorous remarks of his own. They discouraged his plan to row himself +across, but being proud of his skill he clung to it, and, having +deposited two golden guineas as security for its return, he selected a +small but strong boat and rowed into the stream. + +A sharp wind was blowing in from the sea, but he was able to manage +his little craft with ease, and, being used to rough water, he enjoyed +the rise and dip of the waves. A third of the way out and he paused +and looked back at New York, the steeple of St. George's showing +above the line of houses. He could distinguish from the mass other +buildings that he knew, and his heart suddenly swelled with affection +for this town, in which he had received such a warm welcome. He would +certainly live here, when the wars were over, and he could settle down +to his career. + +Then he turned his eyes to the inner bay, where he saw the usual +amount of shipping, sloops, schooners, brigs and every other kind of +vessel known to the times. Behind them rose the high wooded shores of +Staten Island, and through the channel between it and Long Island +Robert saw other ships coming in. Truly, it was a noble bay, +apparently made for the creation of a great port, and already busy man +was putting it to its appointed use. Then he looked up the Hudson at +the lofty Palisades, the precipitous shores facing them, and his eyes +came back to the stream. Several vessels under full sail were steering +for the mouth of the Hudson, but he looked longest at a schooner, +painted a dark color, and very trim in her lines. He saw two men +standing on her decks, and two or three others visible in her rigging. + +Evidently she was a neat and speedy craft, but he was not there to +waste his time looking at schooners. The letter of Colonel William +Johnson to Master Nicholas Suydam in Paulus Hook must be delivered, +and, taking up his oars, he rowed vigorously toward the hamlet on the +Jersey shore. + +When he was about two-thirds of the way across he paused to look back +again, but the air was so heavy with wintry mists that New York did +not show at all. He was about to resume the oars once more when the +sound of creaking cordage caused him to look northward. Then he +shouted in alarm. The dark schooner was bearing down directly upon +him, and was coming very swiftly. A man on the deck whom he took to be +the captain shouted at him, but when Robert, pulling hard, shot his +boat ahead, it seemed to him that the schooner changed her course +also. + +It was the last impression he had of the incident, as the prow of the +schooner struck his boat and clove it in twain. He jumped +instinctively, but his head received a glancing blow, and he did not +remember anything more until he awoke in a very dark and close +place. His head ached abominably, and when he strove to raise a hand +to it he found that he could not do so. He thought at first that it +was due to weakness, a sort of temporary paralysis, coming from the +blow that he dimly remembered, but he realized presently that his +hands were bound, tied tightly to his sides. + +He moved his body a little, and it struck against wood on either +side. His feet also were bound, and he became conscious of a swaying +motion. He was in a ship's bunk and he was a prisoner of somebody. He +was filled with a fierce and consuming rage. He had no doubt that he +was on the schooner that had run him down, nor did he doubt either +that he had been run down purposely. Then he lay still and by long +staring was able to make out a low swaying roof above him and very +narrow walls. It was a strait, confined place, and it was certainly +deep down in the schooner's hold. A feeling of horrible despair seized +him. The darkness, his aching head, and his bound hands and feet +filled him with the worst forebodings. Nor did he have any way of +estimating time. He might have been lying in the bunk at least a week, +and he might now be far out at sea. + +In misfortune, the intelligent and imaginative suffer most because +they see and feel everything, and also foresee further misfortunes to +come. Robert's present position brought to him in a glittering train +all that he had lost. Having a keen social sense his life in New York +had been one of continuing charm. Now the balls and receptions that +he had attended at great houses came back to him, even more brilliant +and vivid than their original colors had been. He remembered the many +beautiful women he had seen, in their dresses of silk or satin, with +their rosy faces and powdered hair, and the great merchants and feudal +landowners, and the British and American officers in their bright new +uniforms, talking proudly of the honors they expected to win. + +Then that splendid dream was gone, vanishing like a mist before a +wind, and he was back in the swaying darkness of the bunk, hands and +feet bound, and head aching. All things are relative. He felt now if +only the cruel cords were taken off his wrists and ankles he could be +happy. Then he would be able to sit up, move his limbs, and his head +would stop aching. He called all the powers of his will to his +aid. Since he could not move he would not cause himself any increase +of pain by striving to do so. He commanded his body to lie still and +compose itself and it obeyed. In a little while his head ceased to +ache so fiercely, and the cords did not bite so deep. + +Then he took thought. He was still sure that he was on board the +schooner that had run him down. He remembered the warning of St. Luc +against Adrian Van Zoon, and Adrian Van Zoon's suggestion that he row +his own boat across to Paulus Hook. But it seemed incredible. A +merchant, a rich man of high standing in New York, could not plan his +murder. Where was the motive? And, if such a motive did exist, a man +of Van Zoon's standing could not afford to take so great a risk. In +spite of St. Luc and his faith in him he dismissed it as an +impossibility. If Van Zoon had wished his death he would not have +been taken out of the river. He must seek elsewhere the reason of his +present state. + +He listened attentively, and it seemed to him that the creaking and +groaning of the cordage increased. Once or twice he thought he heard +footsteps over his head, but he concluded that it was merely the +imagination. Then, after an interminable period of waiting, the door +to the room opened and a man carrying a ship's lantern entered, +followed closely by another. Robert was able to turn on his side and +stare at them. + +The one who carried the lantern was short, very dark, and had gold +rings in his ears. Robert judged him to be a Portuguese. But his +attention quickly passed to the man behind him, who was much taller, +rather spare, his face clean shaven, his hard blue eyes set close +together. Robert knew instinctively that he was master of the ship. + +"Hold up the lantern, Miguel," the tall man said, "and let's have a +look at him." + +The Portuguese obeyed. + +Then Robert felt the hard blue eyes fastened upon him, but he raised +himself as much as he could and gave back the gaze fearlessly. + +"Well, how's our sailorman?" said the captain, laughing, and his +laughter was hideous to the prisoner. + +"I don't understand you," said Robert. + +"My meaning is plain enough, I take it." + +"I demand that you set me free at once and restore me to my friends in +New York." + +The tall man laughed until he held his sides, and the short man +laughed with him, laugh for laugh. Their laughter so filled Robert +with loathing and hate that he would have attacked them both had he +been unbound. + +"Come now, Peter," said the captain at last. "Enough of your grand +manner. You carry it well for a common sailor, and old Nick himself +knows where you got your fine clothes, but here you are back among +your old comrades, and you ought to be glad to see 'em." + +"What do you mean?" asked the astonished Robert. + +"Now, don't look so surprised. You can keep up a play too long. You +know as well as we do that you're plain Peter Smith, an able young +sailorman, when you're willing, who deserted us in Baltimore three +months ago, and you with a year yet to serve. And here's your +particular comrade, Miguel, so glad to see you. When we ran your boat +down, all your own fault, too, Miguel jumped overboard, and he didn't +dream that the lad he was risking his life to save was his old +chum. Oh, 'twas a pretty reunion! And now, Peter, thank Miguel for +bringing you back to life and to us." + +A singular spirit seized Robert. He saw that he was at the mercy of +these men, who utterly without scruple wished for some reason to hold +him. He could be a player too, and perhaps more was to be won by being +a player. + +"I'm sorry," he said, "but I was tempted by the follies of the land, +and I've had enough of 'em. If you'll overlook it and let the past be +buried, captain, you'll have no better seaman than Peter Smith. +You've always been a just but kind man, and so I throw myself on your +mercy." + +The captain and Miguel exchanged astonished glances. + +"I know you'll do it, captain," Robert went on in his most winning +tones, "because, as I've just said, you've always been a kind man, +especially kind to me. I suppose when I first signed with you that I +was as ignorant and awkward a land lubber as you ever saw. But your +patient teaching has made me a real sailor. Release me now, and I +think that in a few hours I will be fit to go to work again." + +"Cut the lashings, Miguel," said the captain. + +Miguel's sharp knife quickly severed them, and Robert sat up in the +bunk. When the blood began to flow freely in the veins, cut off +hitherto, he felt stinging pains at first, but presently heavenly +relief came. The captain and Miguel stood looking at him. + +"Peter," said the captain, "you were always a lad of spirit, and I'm +glad to get you back, particularly as we have such a long voyage ahead +of us. One doesn't go to the coast of Africa, gather a cargo of slaves +and get back in a day." + +In spite of himself Robert could not repress a shudder of horror. A +slaver and he a prisoner on board her! He might be gone a year or +more. Never was a lad in worse case, but somewhere in him was a spark +of hope that refused to be extinguished. He gave a more imperious +summons than ever to his will, and it returned to his aid. + +"You've been kind to Peter Smith. Few captains would forgive what I've +done, but I'll try to make it up to you. How long are we out from New +York?" he said. + +"It might be an hour or it might be a day or what's more likely it +might be two days. You see, Peter, a lad who gets a crack on the head +like yours lies still and asleep for a long time. Besides, it don't +make any difference to you how long we've been out. So, just you stay +in your bunk a little while longer, and Miguel will bring you +something to eat and drink." + +"Thank you, captain. You're almost a father to me." + +"That's a good lad, Peter. I am your father, I'm the father of all my +crew, and don't forget that a father sometimes has to punish his +children, so just you stay in your bunk till you're bid to come out of +it." + +"Thank you, captain. I wouldn't think of disobeying you. Besides, I'm +too weak to move yet." + +The captain and Miguel went out, and Robert heard them fastening the +door on the outside. Then the darkness shut him in again, and he lay +back in his bunk. The spark of hope somewhere in his mind had grown a +little larger. His head had ceased to ache and his limbs were +free. The physical difference made a mental difference yet +greater. Although there seemed to be absolutely no way out, he would +find one. + +The door was opened again, and Miguel, bearing the ship's lantern in +one hand and a plate of food in the other, came in. It was rough food +such as was served on rough ships, but Robert sat up and looked at it +hungrily. Miguel grinned, and laughed until the gold hoops in his ears +shook. + +"You, Peter Smith," he said. "Me terrible glad to see you again. Miss +my old comrade. Mourn for him, and then when find him jump into the +cold river to save him." + +"It's true," said Robert, "it was a long and painful parting, but here +we are, shipmates again. It was good of you, Miguel, to risk your life +to save me, and now that we've had so many polite interchanges, +suppose you save me from starving to death and pass that plate of +food." + +"With ver' good will, Peter. Eat, eat with the great heartiness, +because we have ver', ver' hard work before us and for a long +time. The captain will want you to do as much work in t'ree mont' as +t'ree men do, so you can make up the t'ree mont' you have lost." + +"Tell him I'm ready. I've already confessed all my sins to him." + +"He won't let you work as sailor at first. He make you help me in the +cook's galley." + +"I'm willing to do that too. You know I can cook. You'll remember, +Miguel, how I helped you in the Mediterranean, and how I did almost +all your work that time you were sick, when we were cruising down to +the Brazils?" + +Miguel grinned. + +"You have the great courage, you Peter," he said. "You always +have. Feel better now?" + +"A lot, Miguel. The bread was hard, I suppose, and better potatoes +have been grown, but I didn't notice the difference. That was good +water, too. I've always thought that water was a fine drink. And now, +Miguel, hunger and thirst being satisfied, I'll get up and stretch my +limbs a while. Then I'll be ready to go to work." + +"I tell you when the captain wants you. Maybe an hour from now, maybe +two hours." + +He took his lantern and the empty plate and withdrew, but Robert heard +him fastening the door on the outside again. Evidently they did not +yet wholly trust the good intentions of Peter Smith, the deserter, +whom they had recaptured in the Hudson. But the spark of hope lodged +somewhere in the mind of Peter Smith was still growing and +glowing. The removal of the bonds from his wrist and ankles had +brought back a full and free circulation, and the food and water had +already restored strength to one so young and strong. He stood up, +flexed his muscles and took deep breaths. + +He had no familiarity with the sea, but he was used to navigation in +canoes and boats on large and small lakes in the roughest kind of +weather, and the rocking of the schooner, which continued, did not +make him seasick, despite the close foul air of the little room in +which he was locked. He still heard the creaking of cordage and now he +heard the tumbling of waves too, indicating that the weather was +rough. He tried to judge by these sounds how fast the schooner was +moving, but he could make nothing of it. Then he strained his memory +to see if he could discover in any manner how long he had been on the +vessel, but the period of his unconsciousness remained a mystery, +which he could not unveil by a single second. + +Long stay in the room enabled him to penetrate its dusk a little, and +he saw that its light and air came in normal times from a single small +porthole, closed now. Nevertheless a few wisps of mist entered the +tiny crevices, and he inferred the vessel was in a heavy fog. He was +glad of it, because he believed the schooner would move slowly at such +a time, and anything that impeded the long African journey was to his +advantage. + +A period which seemed to be six hours but which he afterward knew to +be only one, passed, and his door swung back for the third time. The +face of Miguel appeared in the opening and again he grinned, until his +mouth formed a mighty slash across his face. + +"You come on deck now, you Peter," he said, "captain wants you." + +Robert's heart gave a mighty beat. Only those who have been shut up in +the dark know what it is to come out into the light. That alone was +sufficient to give him a fresh store of courage and hope. So he +followed Miguel up a narrow ladder and emerged upon the deck. As he +had inferred, the schooner was in a heavy fog, with scarcely any wind +and the sails hanging dead. + +The captain stood near the mast, gazing into the fog. He looked +taller and more evil than ever, and Robert saw the outline of a pistol +beneath his heavy pea jacket. Several other men of various +nationalities stood about the deck, and they gave Robert malicious +smiles. Forward he saw a twelve pound brass cannon, a deadly and +dangerous looking piece. It was extremely cold on deck, too, the raw +fog seeming to be so much liquid ice, but, though Robert shivered, he +liked it. Any kind of fresh air was heaven after that stuffy little +cabin. + +"How are you feeling, Peter?" asked the captain, although there was no +note of sympathy in his voice. + +"Very well, sir, thank you," replied Robert, "and again I wish to make +my apologies for deserting, but the temptations of New York are very +strong, sir. The city went to my head." + +"So it seems. We missed you on the voyage to Boston and back, but we +have you now. Doubtless Miguel has told you that you are to help him a +couple of days in his galley, and you'll stay there close. If you come +out before I give the word it's a belaying pin for you. But when I do +give the word you'll go back to your work as one of the cleverest +sailormen I ever had. You'll remember how you used to go out on the +spars in the iciest and slipperiest weather. None so clever at it as +you, Peter, and I'll soon see that you have the chance to show again +to all the men that you're the best sailor aboard ship." + +Robert shivered mentally. He divined the plan of this villain, who +would send him in the icy rigging to sure death. He, an untrained +sailor, could not keep his footing there in a storm, and it could be +said that it was an accident, as it would be in the fulfilment though +not in the intent. But he divined something else that stopped the +mental shudder and that gave him renewed hope. Why should the captain +threaten him with a belaying pin if he did not stay in the cook's +galley for two days? To Robert's mind but one reason appeared, and it +was the fear that he should be seen on deck. And that fear existed +because they were yet close to land. It was all so clear to him that +he never doubted and again his heart leaped. He was bareheaded, but he +touched the place where his cap brim should have been and replied: + +"I'll remember, captain." + +"See that you do," said the man in level tones, instinct nevertheless +with hardness and cruelty. + +Robert touched his forehead again and turned away with Miguel, +descending to the cook's galley, resolved upon some daring trial, he +did not yet know what. Here the Portuguese set him to work at once, +scouring pots and kettles and pans, and he toiled without complaint +until his arms ached. Miguel at last began to talk. He seemed to +suffer from the lack of companionship, and Robert divined that he was +the only Portuguese on board. + +"Good helper, you Peter," he said. "It no light job to cook for twenty +men, and all of them hungry all the time." + +"Have we our full crew on board, Miguel?" + +"Yes, twenty men and four more, and plenty guns, plenty powder and +ball. Fine cannon, too." + +Robert judged that the slaver would be well armed and well manned, but +he decided to ask no more questions at present, fearing to arouse the +suspicions of Miguel, and he worked on with shut lips. The Portuguese +himself talked--it seemed that he had to do so, as the longing for +companionship overcame him--but he did not tell the name of the +schooner or its captain. He merely chattered of former voyages and of +the ports he had been in, invariably addressing his helper as Peter, +and speaking of him as if he had been his comrade. + +Robert, while apparently absorbed in his tasks, listened attentively +to all that he might hear from above He knew that the fog was as thick +as ever, and that the ship was merely moving up and down with the +swells. She might be anchored in comparatively shallow water. Now he +was absolutely sure that they were somewhere near the coast, and the +coast meant hope and a chance. + +Dinner, rude but plentiful, was served for the sailors and food +somewhat more delicate for the captain in his cabin. + +Robert himself attended to the captain, and he could see enough now to +know that the dark had come. He inferred there would be no objection +to his going upon deck in the night, but he made no such suggestion. +Instead he waited upon the tall man with a care and deftness that made +that somber master grin. + +"I believe absence has really improved you, Peter," he said. "I +haven't been waited on so well in a long time." + +"Thank you, sir," said Robert. + +Secretly he was burning with humiliation. It hurt his pride terribly +to serve a rough sea captain in such a manner, but he had no choice +and he resolved that if the chance came he would pay the debt. When +the dinner or supper, whichever it might be called, was over, he went +back to the galley and cheerfully began to clear away, and to wash and +wipe dishes. Miguel gave him a compliment, saying that he had improved +since their latest voyage and Robert thanked him duly. + +When all the work was done he crawled into a bunk just over the cook's +and in any other situation would have fallen asleep at once. But his +nerves were on edge, and he was not sleepy in the least. Miguel, +without taking off his clothes, lay down in the bunk beneath him, and +Robert soon heard him snoring. He also heard new sounds from above, a +whistle and a shriek and a roar combined that he did not recognize at +first, but which a little thought told him to be a growing wind and +the crash of the waves. The schooner began to dip and rise +violently. He was dizzy for a little while, but he soon recovered. A +storm! The knowledge gave him pleasure. He did not know why, but he +felt that it, too, contributed hope and a chance. + +The roar of the storm increased, but Miguel, who had probably spent +nearly all his life at sea, continued to sleep soundly. Robert was +never in his life more thoroughly awake. + +He sat up in his bunk, and now and then he heard the sound of voices +and of footsteps overhead, but soon they were lost entirely in the +incessant shrieking of the wind and the continuous thunder of the +great waves against the side of the schooner. In truth, it was a +storm, one of great fury. He knew that the ship although stripped to +the utmost, must be driving fast, but in what direction he had no +idea. He would have given much to know. + +The tumult grew and by and by he heard orders shouted through a +trumpet. He could stand it no longer, and, leaping down, he seized the +Portuguese by the shoulder and shook him. + +"Up, Miguel," he cried. "A great storm is upon us!" + +The cook opened his eyes sleepily, and then sprang up, a look of alarm +on his face. While the eyes of the Portuguese were filled with fear, +he also seemed to be in a daze. It was apparent to Robert that he was +a heavy sleeper, and his long black hair falling about his forehead he +stared wildly. His aspect made an appeal to Robert's sense of humor, +even in those tense moments. + +"My judgment tells me, Miguel," he shouted--he was compelled to raise +his voice to a high pitch owing to the tremendous clatter +overhead--"that there is a great storm, and the schooner is in danger! +And you know, too, that your old comrade, Peter Smith, who has sailed +the seas with you so long, is likely to be right in his opinions!" + +The gaze of Miguel became less wild, but he looked at Robert with awe +and then with superstition. + +"You have brought us bad luck," he exclaimed. "An evil day for us +when you came aboard." + +Robert laughed. A fanciful humor seized him. + +"But this is my place," he said. "I, Peter Smith, belong on board this +schooner and you know, Miguel, that you and the captain insisted on my +coming back." + +"We go on deck!" cried the cook, now thoroughly alarmed by the uproar, +which always increased. He rushed up the ladder and Robert followed +him, to be blown completely off his feet when he reached the deck. But +he snatched at the woodwork, held fast, and regained an upright +position. The captain stood not far away, holding to a rope, but he +was so deeply engrossed in directing his men that he paid no attention +to Robert. + +The youth cleared the mist and spray from his eyes and took a +comprehensive look. The aspect of sea and sky was enough to strike +almost any one with terror, but upon this occasion he was an +exception. He had never looked upon a wilder world, but in its very +wildness lay his hope. The icy spars from which he would slip to +plunge to his death in the chilling sea were gone, and so was far +Africa, and the slaver's hunt. He was not a seaman, his experience had +been with lakes, but one could reason from lakes to the universal +ocean, and he knew that the schooner was in a fight for life. And +involved in it was his fight for freedom. + +The wind, cold as death, and sharp as a sword, blew out of the +northeast, and the schooner, heeled far over, was driving fast before +it, in spite of every effort of a capable captain and crew. The ship +rose and fell violently with the huge swells, and water that stung +like an icy sleet swept over her continually. Looking to the westward +Robert saw something that caused his heart to throb violently. It was +a dim low line, but he knew it to be land. + +What land it was he had no idea, nor did he at the moment care, but +there lay freedom. Rows of breakers opening their strong teeth for the +ship might stretch between, but better the breakers than the slaver's +deck and the man hunt in the slimy African lagoons. For him the icy +wind was the breath of life, and he soon ceased to shiver. But he +became conscious of chattering teeth near him and he saw Miguel, his +face a reproduction of terror in all its aspects. + +"We go!" shouted the Portuguese. "The storm drive the ship on the +breakers and she break to pieces, and all of us lost!" + +Robert's fantastic spirit was again strong upon him. + +"Then let us go!" he shouted back. "Better this clean, cold coast than +the fever swamps of Africa! Hold fast, Miguel, and we'll ride in +together!" + +The superstitious awe of the Portuguese deepened, and he drew away +from Robert. In the moment of terrible storm and approaching death +this could be no mortal youth who showed not fear, but instead a joy +that was near to exaltation. Then and there he was convinced that when +they had seized him and brought him aboard they had made their own +doom certain. + +"In twenty minutes, we strike!" cried Miguel. "Ah, how the wind rise! +Many a year since I see such a storm!" + +Spars snapped and were carried away in the foaming sea. Then the mast +went, and the crew began to launch the boats. Robert rushed to the +captain's cabin. When he served the man there he had not failed to +observe what the room contained, and now he snatched from the wall a +huge greatcoat, a belt containing a brace of pistols in a holster with +ammunition, and a small sword. He did not know why he took the sword, +but it was probably some trick of the fancy and he buckled it on with +the rest. Then he returned to the deck, where he could barely hold his +footing, the schooner had heeled so far over, and so powerful was the +wind and the driving of the spray. One of the boats had been launched +under the command of the second mate, but she was overturned almost +instantly, and all on board her were lost. Robert was just in time to +see a head bob once or twice on the surface of the sea, and then +disappear. + +A second boat commanded by the first mate was lowered and seven or +eight men managed to get into it, rowing with all their might toward +an opening that appeared in the white line of foam. A third which +could take the remainder of the crew was made ready and the captain +himself would be in charge of it. + +It was launched successfully and the men dropped into it, one by one, +but very fast. Miguel swung down and into a place. Robert advanced for +the same purpose, but the captain, who was still poised on the rail of +the ship, took notice of him for the first time. + +"No! No, Peter!" he shouted, and even in the roar of the wind Robert +observed the grim humor in his voice. "You've been a good and faithful +sailorman, and we leave you in charge of the ship! It's a great +promotion and honor for you, Peter, but you deserve it! Handle her +well because she's a good schooner and answers kindly to a kind hand! +Now, farewell, Peter, and a long and happy voyage to you!" + +A leveled pistol enforced his command to stop, and the next moment he +slid down a rope and into the boat. A sailor cut the rope and they +pulled quickly away, leaving Robert alone on the schooner. His +exultation turned to despair for a moment, and then his courage came +back. Tayoga in his place would not give up. He would pray to his +Manitou, who was Robert's God, and put complete faith in His wisdom +and mercy. Moreover, he was quit of all that hateful crew. The ship +of the slavers was beneath his feet, but the slavers themselves were +gone. + +As he looked, he saw the second boat overturn, and he thought he heard +the wild cry of those about to be lost, but he felt neither pity nor +sympathy. A stern God, stern to such as they, had called them to +account. The captain's boat had disappeared in the mist and spray. + +Robert, with the huge greatcoat wrapped about him clung to the stump +of the mast, which long since had been blown overboard, and watched +the white line of the breakers rapidly coming nearer, as they reached +out their teeth for the schooner. He knew that he could do nothing +more for himself until the ship struck. Then, with some happy chance +aiding him, he would drop into the sea and make a desperate try for +the land. He would throw off the greatcoat when he leaped, but +meanwhile he kept it on, because one would freeze without it in the +icy wind. + +He heard presently the roaring of the breakers mingled with the +roaring of the wind, and, shutting his eyes, he prayed for a miracle. + +He felt the foam beating upon his face, and believing it must come +from the rocks, he clung with all his might to the stump of the mast, +because the shock must occur within a few moments. He felt the +schooner shivering under him, and rising and falling heavily, and then +he opened his eyes to see where best to leap when the shock did come. + +He beheld the thick white foam to right and left, but he had not +prayed in vain. The miracle had happened. Here was a narrow opening +in the breakers, and, with but one chance in a hundred to guide it, +the schooner had driven directly through, ceasing almost at once to +rock so violently. But there was enough power left in the waves even +behind the rocks to send the schooner upon a sandy beach, where she +must soon break up. + +But Robert was saved. He knew it and he murmured devout thanks. When +the schooner struck in the sand he was thrown roughly forward, but he +managed to regain his feet for an instant, and he leaped outward as +far as he could, forgetting to take off his greatcoat. A returning +wave threw him down and passed over his head, but exerting all his +will, and all his strength he rose when it had passed, and ran for the +land as hard as he could. The wave returned, picked him up, and +hurried him on his way. When it started back again its force was too +much spent and the water was too shallow to have much effect on +Robert. He continued running through the yielding sand, and, when the +wave came in again and snatched at him, it was not able to touch his +feet. + +He reached weeds, then bushes, and clutched them with both hands, lest +some wave higher and more daring than all the rest should yet come for +him and seize him. But, in a moment, he let them go, knowing that he +was safe, and laughing rather giddily, sank down in a faint. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MEETING + + +When Robert revived the wind was still blowing hard, although there +had been some decrease in its violence, and it was yet night. He was +wet and very cold, and, as he arose, he shivered in a chill. The +greatcoat was still wrapped about his body, and although it was soaked +he always believed, nevertheless, that in some measure it had +protected him while he slept. The pistols, the ammunition and the +sword were in his belt, and he believed that the ammunition, fastened +securely in a pouch, was dry, though he would look into that later. + +He was quite sure that he had not been unconscious long, as the +appearance of the sky was unchanged. The bushes among which he had +lain were short but tough, and had run their roots down deeply into +the sand. They were friendly bushes. He remembered how glad he had +been to grasp them when he made that run from the surf, and to some +extent they had protected him from the cold wind when he lay among +them like one dead. + +The big rollers, white at the top, were still thundering on the beach, +and directly in front of him he saw a lowering hulk, that of the +schooner. The slaver's wicked days were done, as every wave drove it +deeper into the sand, and before long it must break up. Robert felt +that it had been overtaken by retributive justice, and, despite the +chill that was shaking him, he was shaken also by a great thrill of +joy. Wet and cold and on a desolate shore, he was, nevertheless, free. + +He began to run back and forth with great vigor, until he felt the +blood flowing in a warm, strong current through his veins again, and +he believed that in time his clothes would dry upon him. He took off +the greatcoat, and hung it upon the bushes where the wind would have a +fair chance at it, and he believed that in the morning it would be +dry, too. Then, finding his powder untouched by the water, he withdrew +the wet charges from the pistols and reloaded them. + +If he had not been seasoned by a life in the wilderness and countless +hardships he probably would have perished from exhaustion and cold, +but his strong, enduring frame threw off the chill, and he did not +pause for three full hours until he had made a successful fight for +his life. Then very tired but fairly warm he stopped for a while, and +became conscious that the wind had died to a great extent. The rollers +were not half so high and the hulk of the ship showed larger and +clearer than ever. He believed that when the storm ceased he could +board her and find food, if he did not find it elsewhere. Meanwhile he +would explore. + +Buckling on his pistols and sword, but leaving the greatcoat to +continue its process of drying, he walked inland, finding only a +desolate region of sand, bushes and salt marshes, without any sign of +human habitation. He believed it was the Jersey coast, and that he +could not be any vast distance from New York. But it seemed hopeless +to continue in that direction and being worn to the bone he returned +to his greatcoat, which had become almost dry in the wind. + +Now he felt that he must address himself to the need of the moment, +which was sleep, and he hunted a long time for a suitable lair. A high +bank of sand was covered with bushes larger and thicker than the +others, and at the back of the bank grew a tree of considerable size +with two spreading roots partly above ground. The sand was quite dry, +and he heaped it much higher along the roots. Then he lay down between +them, being amply protected on three sides, while the bushes waved +over his head. He was not only sheltered, he was hidden also, and +feeling safe, with the greatcoat, now wholly dry, wrapped around him, +and the pistols and sword beside him, he closed his eyes and fell +asleep. + +The kindly fortune that had taken the lad out of such desperate +circumstances remained benevolent. The wind ceased entirely and the +air turned much warmer. Day soon came, and with it a bright cheerful +sun, that gilded the great expanse of low and desolate shore. The boy +slept peacefully while the morning passed and the high sun marked the +coming of the afternoon. + +He had been asleep about ten hours when he awoke, turned once or twice +in his lair and then stood up. It was a beautiful day, in striking +contrast with the black night of storm, and he knew by the position of +the sun that it was within about three hours of its setting. He +tested his body, but there was no soreness. He was not conscious of +anything but a ravening hunger, and he believed that he knew where he +could satisfy it. + +There was no wind and the sea was calm, save for a slight swell. The +schooner, its prow out of the water, was in plain view. It was so +deeply imbedded in the sand that Robert considered it a firm house of +shelter, until it should be broken to pieces by successive storms. But +at present he looked upon it as a storehouse of provisions, and he +hurried down the beach. + +His foot struck against something, and he stopped, shuddering. It was +the body of one of the slavers and presently he passed another. The +sea was giving up its dead. He reached the schooner, glad to leave +these ghastly objects behind him, and, with some difficulty, climbed +aboard. The vessel had shipped much water, but she was not as great a +wreck as he had expected, and he instantly descended to the cook's +galley, where he had given his brief service. In the lockers he found +an abundance of food of all kinds, as the ship had been equipped for a +long voyage, and he ate hungrily, though sparingly at first. Then he +went into the captain's cabin, lay down on a couch, and took a long +and luxurious rest. + +Robert was happy. He felt that he had won, or rather that Providence +had won for him, a most wonderful victory over adverse fate. His +brilliant imagination at once leaped up and painted all things in +vivid colors. Tayoga, Willet and the others must be terribly alarmed +about him as they had full right to be, but he would soon be back in +New York, telling them of his marvelous risk and adventure. + +Then he deliberated about taking a supply of provisions to his den in +the bushes, but when he went on deck the sun was already setting, and +it was becoming so cold again that he decided to remain on the +schooner. Why not? It seemed strange to him that he had not thought of +it at first. The skies were perfectly clear, and he did not think +there was any danger of a storm. + +He rummaged about, discovered plenty of blankets and made a bed for +himself in the captain's cabin, finding a grim humor in the fact that +he should take that sinister man's place. But as it was only three or +four hours since he had awakened he was not at all sleepy and he +returned to the deck, where he wrapped his treasure, the huge +greatcoat, about his body and sat and watched. He saw the big red sun +set and the darkness come down again, the air still and very cold. + +But he was snug and warm, and bethought himself of what he must +undertake on the morrow. If he continued inland long enough he would +surely come to somebody, and at dawn, taking an ample supply of +provisions, he would start. That purpose settled, he let his mind +rest, and remained in a luxurious position on the deck. The rebound +from the hopeless case in which he had seemed to be was so great that +he was not lonely. He had instead a wholly pervading sense of ease and +security. His imagination was able to find beauty in the sand and the +bushes and the salt marshes, and he did not need imagination at all to +discover it in the great, mysterious ocean, which the moon was now +tinting with silver. It was a fine full moon, shedding its largest +supply of beams, and swarms of bright stars sparkled in the cold, blue +skies. A fine night, thought Robert, suited to his fine future. + +It was very late, when he went down to the captain's cabin, ate a +little more food and turned in. He soon slept, but not needing sleep +much now, he awoke at dawn. His awakening may have been hastened by +the footsteps and voices he heard, but in any event he rose softly and +buckled on his sword and pistols. One of the voices, high and sharp, +he recognized, and he believed that once more he was the child of good +fortune, because he had been awakened in time. + +He sat on the couch, facing the door, put the sword by his side and +held one of the pistols, cocked and resting on his knee. The footsteps +and voices came nearer, and then the keen, cruel face appeared at the +door. + +"Good morning, captain," said Robert, equably. "You left me in +command of the ship and I did my best with her. I couldn't keep her +afloat, and so I ran her up here on the beach, where, as you see, she +is still habitable." + +"You're a good seaman, Peter," said the captain, hiding any surprise +that he may have felt, "but you haven't obeyed my orders in full. I +expected you to keep the ship afloat, and you haven't done so." + +"That was too much to expect. I see that you have two men with +you. Tell them to step forward where I can cover them as well as you +with the muzzle of this pistol. That's right. Now, I'm going to +confide in you." + +"Go ahead, Peter." + +"I haven't liked your manner for a long time, captain. I'm only Peter +Smith, a humble seaman, but since you left me in command of the ship +last night I mean to keep the place, with all the responsibilities, +duties and honors appertaining to it. Take your hands away from your +belt. This is a lone coast, and I'm the law, the judge and the +executioner. Now, you and the two men back away from the door, and as +sure as there's a God in Heaven, if any one of you tries to draw a +weapon I'll shoot him. You'll observe that I've two pistols and also a +sword. A sailor engaged in a hazardous trade like ours, catching and +selling slaves, usually learns how to use firearms, but I'm pretty +good with the sword, too, captain, though I've hid the knowledge from +you before. Now, just kindly back into the cook's galley there, and +you and your comrades make up a good big bag of food for me. I'll tell +you what to choose. I warn you a second time to keep your hands away +from your belt. I'll really have to shoot off a finger or two as a +warning, if you don't restrain your murderous instincts. Murder is +always a bad trade, captain. Put in some of those hard biscuits, and +some of the cured meats. No, none of the liquors, I have no use for +them. By the way, what became of Miguel, with whom I worked so often?" + +"He's drowned," replied the captain. + +"I'm sorry," said Robert, and he meant it. Miguel was the only one on +board the slaver who had shown a ray of human sympathy. + +"What do you mean to do?" asked the captain, his face contorted with +rage and chagrin. + +"First, I'll see that you finish filling that bag as I direct. Put in +the packages yourself. I like to watch you work, captain, it's good +for you, and after you fill the bag and pass it to me I'm going to +hand the ship back to you. I've never really liked her, and I mean to +resign the command. I think Peter Smith is fit for better things." + +"So, you intend to leave the schooner?" + +"Yes, but you won't see me do it. Pass me the bag now. Be careful with +your hands. In truth, I think you'd better raise them above your head, +and your comrades can do the same. Quick, up with them, or I shoot! +That's right. Now, I'll back away. I'm going up the ladder backward, +and when I go out I intend to shove in place the grating that covers +the entrance to the deck there. You can escape in five minutes, of +course, but by that time I'll be off the ship and among the bushes out +of your reach. Oh, I know it's humiliating, captain, but you've had +your way a long time, and the slaver's trade is not a nice one. The +ghosts of the blacks whom you have caused to die must haunt you some +time, captain, and since your schooner is lost you'll now have a +chance to turn to a better business. For the last time I tell you to +be careful with your hands. A sailor man would miss his fingers." + +He backed cautiously until his heels touched the ladder, meanwhile +watching the eyes of the man. He knew that the captain was consumed +with rage, but angry and reckless as he was he would not dare to reach +for a weapon of his own, while the pistol confronting him was held +with such a steady hand. He also listened for sounds made by other men +on the ship, but heard none. Then he began to back slowly up the +stairway, continuing his running address. + +"I know that your arms must be growing weary, captain," he said, and +he enjoyed it as he said it, "but you won't have to keep 'em up much +longer. Two more steps will take me out upon the deck, and then you'll +be free to do as you please." + +It was the last two steps that troubled him most. In order to keep +the men covered with the pistol he had to bend far down, and he knew +that when he could no longer bend far enough the danger would come. +But he solved it by straightening up suddenly and taking two steps at +a leap. He heard shouts and oaths, and the report of a pistol, but the +bullet was as futile as the cries. He slammed down the grating, +fastened it in an instant, ran to the low rail and swiftly lowered +himself and his pack over it and into the sand. Then he ran for the +bushes. + +Robert did not waste his breath. Having managed the affair of the +grating, he knew that he was safe for the present. So, when he reached +the higher bushes, he stopped, well hidden by them, and looked +back. In two or three minutes the captain and the two men appeared on +the deck, and he laughed quietly to himself. He could see that their +faces were contorted by rage. They could follow his trail some +distance at least in the sand, but he knew that they would be +cautious. He had shown them his quality and they would fear an +ambush. + +He was justified in his opinion, as they remained on the deck, +evidently searching for a glimpse of him among the bushes, and, after +watching them a little while, he set out inland, bearing his burden of +weapons and food, and laughing to himself at the manner in which he +had made the captain serve him. He felt now that the score between +them was even, and he was willing to part company forever. + +Youth and success had an enormous effect upon him. When one triumph +was achieved his vivid temperament always foresaw others. Willet had +often called him the child of hope, and hope is a powerful factor in +victory. Now it seemed to him for a little while that his own rescue, +achieved by himself, was complete. He had nothing to do but to return +to New York and his friends, and that was just detail. + +He swung along through the bushes, forgetting the burden of his +weapons and his pack of food. In truth, he swaggered a bit, but it was +a gay and gallant swagger, and it became him. He walked for some +distance, feeling that he had been changed from a seaman into a +warrior, and then from a warrior into an explorer, which was his +present character. But he did not see at present the variety and +majesty that all explorers wish to find. The country continued low, +the same alternation of sand and salt marsh, although the bushes were +increasing in size, and they were interspersed here and there with +trees of some height. + +Reaching the crest of a low hill he took his last look backward, and +was barely able to see the upper works of the stranded schooner. Then +he thought of the captain and his exuberant spirits compelled him to +laugh aloud. With the chances a hundred to one against him he had +evened the score. While he had been compelled to serve the captain, +the captain in turn had been forced to serve him. It was enough to +make a sick man well, and to turn despair into confidence. He was in +very truth and essence the child of hope. + +Another low hill and from its summit he saw nothing but the bushy +wilderness, with a strip of forest appearing on the sunken horizon. He +searched the sky for a wisp of smoke that might tell of a human +habitation, below, but saw none. Yet people might live beyond the +strip of forest, where the land would be less sandy and more fertile, +and, after a brief rest, he pushed on with the same vigor of the body +and elation of the spirit, coming soon to firmer ground, of which he +was glad, as he now left no trail, at least none that an ordinary +white man could follow. + +He trudged bravely on for hours through a wilderness that seemed to be +complete so far as man was concerned, although its character steadily +changed, merging into a region of forest and good soil. When he came +into a real wood, of trees large and many, it was about noon, and +finding a comfortable place with his back to a tree he ate from the +precious pack. + +The day was still brilliant but cold and he wisely kept himself +thoroughly wrapped in the greatcoat. As he ate he saw a large black +bear walk leisurely through the forest, look at him a moment or two, +and then waddle on in the same grave, unalarmed manner. The incident +troubled Robert, and his high spirits came down a notch or two. + +If a black bear cared so little for the presence of an armed human +being then he could not be as near to New York as he had +thought. Perhaps he had been unconscious on the schooner a long +time. He felt of the lump which was not yet wholly gone from his head, +and tried his best to tell how old it was, but he could not do it. + +The little cloud in his golden sky disappeared when he rose and +started again through a fine forest. His spirits became as high as +ever. Looking westward he saw the dim blue line of distant hills, and +he turned northward, inferring that New York must lie in that +direction. In two hours his progress was barred by a river running +swiftly between high banks, and with ice at the edges. He could have +waded it as the water would not rise past his waist, but he did not +like the look of the chill current, and he did not want another +wetting on a winter day. + +He followed the stream a long distance, until he came to shallows, +where he was able to cross it on stones. His search for a dry ford had +caused much delay, but he drew comfort from his observation that the +stones making his pathway through the water were large and almost +round. He had seen many such about New York, and he had often marveled +at their smoothness and roundness, although he did not yet know the +geological reason. But the stones in the river seemed to him to be +close kin to the stones about New York, and he inferred, or at least +he hoped, that it indicated the proximity of the city. + +But he believed that he would have to spend another night in the +wilderness. Search the sky as he would, and he often did, there was no +trace of smoke, and, as the sun went down the zenith and the cold +began to increase, his spirits fell a little. But he reasoned with +himself. Why should one inured as he was to the forest and winter, +armed, provisioned and equipped with the greatcoat, be troubled? The +answer to his question was a return of confidence in full tide, and +resolving to be leisurely he looked about in the woods for his new +camp. What he wanted was an abundance of dead leaves out of which to +make a nest. Dead leaves were cold to the touch, but they would serve +as a couch and a wall, shutting out further cold from the earth and +from the outside air, and with the greatcoat between, he would be warm +enough. He would have nothing to fear except snow, and the skies gave +no promise of that danger. + +He found the leaves in a suitable hollow, and disposed them according +to his plan, the whole making a comfortable place for a seasoned +forester, and, while he ate his supper, he watched the sun set over +the wilderness. Long after it was gone he saw the stars come out and +then he looked at the particular one on which Tododaho, Tayoga's +patron saint, had been living more than four hundred years. It was +glittering in uncommon splendor, save for a slight mist across its +face, which must be the snakes in the hair of the great Onondaga +chieftain who he felt was watching over him, because he was the friend +of Tayoga. + +Then he fell asleep, sleeping soundly, all through the night, and +although he was a little stiff in the morning a few minutes of +exercise relieved him of it and he ate his breakfast. His journey +toward the north was resumed, and in an hour he emerged into a little +valley, to come almost face to face with the captain and the two +sailors. They were sitting on a log, apparently weary and at a loss, +but they rose quickly at his coming and the captain's hand slid down +to his pistol. Robert's slid to his, making about the same +speed. Although his heart pounded a moment or two at first he was +surprised to find how soon he became calm. It was perhaps because he +had been through so many dangers that one more did not count for much. + +"You see, captain," he said, "that neither has the advantage of the +other. I did not expect to meet you here, or in truth, anywhere +else. I left you in command of the schooner, and you have deserted +your post. When I held that position I remained true to my duty." + +The captain, who was heavily armed, carrying a cutlass as well as +pistols, smiled sourly. + +"You're a lad of spirit, Peter," he said. "I've always given you +credit for that. In my way I like you, and I think I'll have you to go +along with us again." + +"I couldn't think of it. We must part company forever. We did it once, +but perhaps the second time will count." + +"No, my crew is now reduced to two--the ocean has all the others--and +I need your help. It would be better anyway for you to come along with +us. This Acadia is a desolate coast." + +There was a log opposite the one upon which they had been sitting and +Robert took his place upon it easily, not to say confidently. He felt +sure that they would not fire upon him now, having perhaps nothing to +gain by it, but he kept a calculating eye upon them nevertheless. + +"And so this is Acadia," he said. "I've been wondering what land it +might be. I did not know that we had come so far. Acadia is a long way +from New York." + +"A long, long way, Peter." + +"But you know the coast well, of course, captain?" + +"Of course. I've made several voyages in the neighboring +waters. There's only one settlement within fifty miles of us, and +you'd never find it, it's so small and the wilderness is such a maze." + +"The country does look like much of a puzzle, but I've concluded, +captain, that I won't go with you." + +"Why not?" + +"I'm persuaded that you're the very prince of liars, and in your +company my morals might be contaminated." + +The man's face was too tanned to flush, but his eyes sparkled. + +"You're over loose with words, lad," he said, "and it's an expensive +habit." + +"I can afford it. I know as surely as we're sitting here facing each +other that this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Then what coast is it?" + +"That I know not, but taking the time, I mean to have, I shall find +out. Then I'll tell you if you wish to know. Where shall I deliver my +message?" + +"I think you're insolent. I say again that it's the coast of Acadia, +and you're going with us. We're three to your one, and you'll have to +do as I say." + +Robert turned his gaze from the captain to his two men. While their +faces were far from good they showed no decision of character. He knew +at once that they belonged to the large class of men who are always +led. Both carried pistols, but he did not think it likely that they +would attempt to use them, unless the captain did so first. His gaze +came back to the tall man, and, observing again the heavy cutlass he +carried, a thought leaped up in his mind. + +"You wish me to go with you," he said, "and I don't wish to go, which +leaves it an open question. It's best to decide it in clean and +decisive fashion, and I suggest that we leave it to your cutlass and +my sword." + +The close-set eyes of the captain gleamed. + +"I don't want to kill you, but to take you back alive," he said. "You +were always a strong and handy lad, Peter, and I need your help." + +"You won't kill me. That I promise you." + +"You haven't a chance on earth." + +"You pledge your word that your men will not interfere while the +combat is in progress, nor will they do so afterward, if I win." + +"They will not stir. Remain where you are, lads." + +The two sailors settled themselves back comfortably, clasping their +knees with their hands, and Robert knew that he had nothing to fear +from them. Their confidence in the captain's prowess and easy victory +was sufficient assurance. They were not to be blamed for the belief, +as their leader's cutlass was heavy and his opponent was only a +youth. The captain was of the same opinion and his mood became light +and gay. + +"I don't intend to kill you, Peter," he said, "but a goodly cut or two +will let out some of your impertinent blood." + +"Thanks, captain, for so much saving grace, because I like to live. I +make you the same promise. I don't want your death on my hands, but +there is poison in the veins of a man who is willing to be a slaver. I +will let it out, in order that its place may be taken by pure and +wholesome blood." + +The captain frowned, and made a few swings with his cutlass. Then he +ran a finger along its keen edge, and he felt satisfied with +himself. A vast amount of rage and mortification was confined in his +system, and not charging any of it to the storm, the full volume of +his anger was directed against his cook's former assistant, Peter +Smith, who was entirely too jaunty and independent in his manner. He +could not understand Robert's presumption in challenging him to a +combat with swords, but he would punish him cruelly, while the two +sailors looked on and saw it well done. + +Robert put his pack, his greatcoat, his coat, and his belt with the +pistols and ammunition in a heap, and looked carefully to the sword +that he had taken from the captain's cabin. It was a fine weapon, +though much lighter than the cutlass. He bent the blade a little, and +then made it whistle in curves about his head. He had a purpose in +doing so, and it was attained at once. The captain looked at him with +rising curiosity. + +"Peter," he said, "you don't seem to be wholly unfamiliar with the +sword, and you nothing but a cook's helper." + +"It's true, captain. The hilt fits lovingly into my hand. In my spare +moments and when nobody was looking I've often stolen this sword of +yours from the cabin and practiced with it. I mean now to make you +feel the result of that practice." + +The captain gazed at him doubtfully, but in a moment or two the +confident smile returned to his eyes. It was not possible that a mere +stripling could stand before him and his cutlass. But he took off his +own coat which he had believed hitherto was a useless precaution. + +There was a level space about thirty feet across, and Robert, sword in +hand, advanced toward the center of it. He had already chosen his +course, which would be psychological as well as physical. He intended +that the battle should play upon the slaver's mind as well as upon his +body. + +"I'm ready, captain," he said. "Don't keep us waiting. It's winter as +you well know, and we'll both grow cold standing here. In weather like +this we need work quick and warm." + +The angry blood surged into the captain's face, although it did not +show through his tan. But he made an impatient movement, and stepped +forward hastily. + +"It can't be told of me that I kept a lad waiting," he said. "I'll +warrant you you'll soon be warm enough." + +"Then we're both well suited, captain, and it should be a fine passage +at arms." + +The two sailors, sitting on the log, looked at each other and +chuckled. It was evident to Robert that they had supreme confidence in +the captain and expected to see Peter Smith receive a lesson that +would put him permanently in his place. The mutual look and the mutual +chuckle aroused some anger in Robert, but did not impair his certainty +of victory. Nevertheless he neglected no precaution. + +The captain advanced, holding the heavy cutlass with ease and +lightness. He was a tall and very strong man, and Robert noted the +look of cruelty in the close-set eyes. He knew what he must expect in +case of defeat, and again telling himself to be careful he recalled +all the cunning that Willet had taught him. + +"Are you ready?" he asked quietly. + +"Aye, Peter, and your bad quarter of an hour is upon you." + +Again the two sailors on the log looked at each other and chuckled. + +"I don't think so, captain," said Robert. "Perhaps the bad quarter of +an hour is yours." + +He stared straight into the close-set cruel eyes so fixedly and so +long that the captain lowered his gaze, proving that the superior +strength of will lay with his younger opponent. Then he shook himself +angrily, his temper stirred, because his eyes had given way. + +"Begin!" said Robert. + +The captain slashed with the heavy cutlass, and Robert easily turned +aside the blow with his lighter weapon. He saw then that the captain +was no swordsman in the true sense, and he believed he had nothing to +fear. He waited until the man attacked again, and again he deftly +turned aside the blow. + +The two sailors sitting on the log looked at each other once more, but +they did not chuckle. + +Robert, still watching the close-set cruel eyes, saw a look of doubt +appear there. + +"My bad quarter of an hour seems to be delayed, captain," he said with +irony. + +The man, stung beyond endurance, attacked with fury, the heavy cutlass +singing and whistling as he slashed and thrust. Robert contented +himself with the defense, giving ground slowly and moving about in a +circle. The captain's eye at first glittered with a triumphant light +as he saw his foe retreat, and the two sailors sitting on the log and +exchanging looks found cause to chuckle once more. + +But the light sank as they completed the circle, leaving Robert +untouched, and breathing as easily as ever, while the captain was +panting. Now he decided that his own time had come and knowing that +the combat was mental as well as physical he taunted his opponent. + +"In truth, captain," he said, "my bad quarter of an hour did not +arrive, but yours, I think, is coming. Look! Look! See the red spot +on your waistcoat!" + +Despite himself the captain looked down. The sword flickered in like +lightning, and then flashed away again, but when it was gone the red +spot on the waistcoat was there. His flesh stung with a slight wound, +but the wound to his spirit was deeper. He rushed in and slashed +recklessly. + +"Have a care, captain!" cried Robert. "You are fencing very wildly! I +tell you again that your play with the cutlass is bad. You can't see +it, but there is now a red spot on your cheek to match the one on your +waistcoat." + +His sword darted by the other's guard, and when it came away it's +point was red with blood. A deep and dripping gash in the captain's +left cheek showed where it had passed. The two sailors sitting on the +log exchanged looks once more, but there was no sign of a chuckle. + +"That's for being a slaver, captain," said Robert. "It's a bad +occupation, and you ought to quit it. But your wound will leave a +scar, and you will not like to say that it was made by one whom you +kidnapped, and undertook to carry away to his death." + +The captain in a long career of crime and cruelty had met with but few +checks, and to experience one now from the hands of a lad was bitter +beyond endurance. The sting was all the greater because of his +knowledge that the two sailors who still exchanged looks but no +chuckles, were witnesses of it. The blood falling from his left cheek +stained his left shoulder and he was a gruesome sight. He rushed in +again, mad with anger. + +"Worse and worse, captain," said his young opponent. "You're not +showing a single quality of a swordsman. You've nothing but +strength. I bade you have a care! Now your right cheek is a match for +your left!" + +The captain uttered a cry, drawn as much by anger as by pain. The deep +point of his opponent's sword had passed across his right cheek and +the red drops fell on both shoulders. The two sailors looked at each +other in dismay. The man paused for breath and he was a ghastly sight. + +"I told you more than once to beware, captain," said Robert, "but you +would not heed me. Your temper has been spoiled by success, but in +time nearly every slaver meets his punishment. I'm grateful that it's +been permitted to me to inflict upon you a little of all that's owing +to you. Wounds in the face are very painful and they leave scars, as +you'll learn." + +He had already decided upon his finishing stroke, and his taunts were +meant to push the captain into further reckless action. They were +wholly successful as the man sprang forward, and slashed almost at +random. Now, Robert, light of foot and agile, danced before him like +a fencing master. The captain cut and thrust at the flitting form but +always it danced away, and the heavy slashes of his cutlass cut the +empty air, his dripping wounds and his vain anger making him weaker +and weaker. But he would not stop. Losing all control of his temper he +rushed continually at his opponent. + +The two sailors looked once more at each other, half rose to their +feet, but sat down again, and were silent. + +Now the captain saw a flash of light before him, and he felt a darting +pain across his brow, as the keen point of the sword passed there. The +blood ran down into his eyes, blinding him for the time. He could not +see the figure before him, but he knew that it was tense and +waiting. He groped with his cutlass, but touching only thin air he +threw it away, and clapped his hands to his eyes to keep away the +trickling blood. + +"You'll have three scars, captain," came the maddening voice, "one on +each cheek and one on the forehead. It's not enough punishment for a +slaver, but, in truth, it's something. And now I'm going. You can't +see to follow me, or even to take care of yourself but I leave you in +the hands of your two sailors." + +Robert put on his coat and greatcoat, resumed all his weapons and his +pack and turned away. The sailors were still sitting on the log, +gazing at each other in amazement and awe. Neither had spoken +throughout the duel, nor did they speak now. The victor did not look +back, but walked swiftly toward the north, glad that he had been the +instrument in the hands of fate to give to the slaver at least a part +of the punishment due him. + +He kept steadily on several hours, until he saw a smoke on the western +sky, when he changed his course and came in another half hour to a +small log house, from which the smoke arose. A man standing on the +wooden step looked at him with all the curiosity to which he had a +right. + +"Friend," said Robert, "how far is it to New York?" + +"About ten miles." + +"And this is not the coast of Acadia." + +"Acadia! What country is that? I never heard of it." + +"It exists, but never mind. And New York is so near? Tell me that +distance again. I like to hear it." + +"Ten miles, stranger. When you reach the top of the hill there you can +see the houses of Paulus Hook." + +Robert felt a great sense of elation, and then of thankfulness. While +fortune had been cruel in putting him into the hands of the slaver, it +had relented and had taken him out of them, when the chance of escape +seemed none. + +"Stranger," said the man, "you look grateful about something." + +"I am. I have cause to be grateful. I'm grateful that I have my life, +I'm grateful that I have no wounds and I'm grateful that from the top +of the hill there I shall be able to see the houses of Paulus +Hook. And I say also that yours is the kindliest and most welcome face +I've looked upon in many a day. Farewell." + +"Farewell," said the man, staring after him. + +Two hours later Robert was being rowed across the Hudson by a stalwart +waterman. As he passed by the spot where his boat had been cut down by +the schooner he took off his hat. + +"Why do you do that?" asked the waterman. + +"Because at this spot my life was in great peril a few days ago, or +rather, here started the peril from which I have been delivered most +mercifully." + +An hour later he stood on the solid stone doorstep of Master Benjamin +Hardy, important ship owner, merchant and financier. The whimsical +fancy that so often turned his troubles and hardships into little +things seized Robert again. He adjusted carefully his somewhat +bedraggled clothing, set the sword and pistols in his belt at a rakish +slant, put the pack on the step beside him, and, lifting the heavy +brass knocker, struck loudly. He heard presently the sound of +footsteps inside, and Master Jonathan Pillsbury, looking thinner and +sadder than ever, threw open the door. When he saw who was standing +before him he stared and stared. + +"Body o' me!" he cried at last, throwing up his hands. "Is it +Mr. Lennox or his ghost?" + +"It's Mr. Lennox and no ghost," said Robert briskly. "Let me in, +Mr. Pillsbury. I've grown cold standing here on the steps." + +"Are you sure you're no ghost?" + +"Quite sure. Here pinch me on the arm and see that I'm substantial +flesh. Not quite so hard! You needn't take out a piece. Are you +satisfied now?" + +"More than satisfied, Mr. Lennox! I'm delighted, Overjoyed! We feared +that you were dead! Where have you been?" + +"I've been serving on board a slaver on the Guinea coast. That's a +long distance from here, and it was an exciting life, but I'm back +again safe and sound, Master Jonathan." + +"I don't understand you. You jest, Mr. Lennox." + +"And so I do, but I tell you, Master Jonathan, I'm glad to be back +again, you don't know how glad. Do you hear me, Master Jonathan? The +sight of you is as welcome as that of an angel!" + +The air grew black before him, and he reeled and would have fallen, +but the strong arm of Jonathan Pillsbury caught him. In a moment or +two his eyes cleared and he became steady. + +"It was not altogether a pleasure voyage of yours," said Master +Jonathan, dryly. + +"No, Mr. Pillsbury, it wasn't. But I came near fainting then, because +I was so glad to see you. Is Mr. Hardy here?" + +"No, he has gone to the Royal Exchange. He has been nigh prostrated +with grief, but I persuaded him that business might lighten it a +little, and he went out today for the first time. Oh, young sir, he +will be truly delighted to find that you have come back safely, +because, although you may know it not, he has a strong affection for +you!" + +"And I have a high regard for him, Master Jonathan. He has been most +kind to me." + +"Come in, Mr. Lennox. Sit down in the drawingroom and rest yourself, +while I hurry forth with the welcome news." + +Robert saw that his prim and elderly heart was in truth rejoiced, and +his own heart warmed in turn. Obscure and of unknown origin though he +might be, friends were continually appearing for him everywhere. A +servant took his weapons and what was left of his pack, Master +Jonathan insisted upon his drinking a small glass of wine to refresh +himself, and then he was left alone in the imposing drawing-room of +Mr. Hardy. + +He sank back in a deep chair of Spanish leather, and shutting his eyes +took several long breaths of relief. He had come back safely and his +escape seemed marvelous even to himself. As he opened his eyes a mild +voice said: + +"And so Dagaeoga who went, no one knows where, has returned no one +knows how." + +Tayoga, smiling but grave, and looking taller and more majestic than +ever, stood before him. + +"Aye, I'm back, and right glad I am to be here!" exclaimed Robert, +springing to his feet and seizing Tayoga's hand. "Oh, I've been on a +long voyage, Tayoga! I've been to the coast of Africa on a slaver, +though we caught no slaves, and I was wrecked on the coast of Acadia, +and I fought and walked my way back to New York! But it's a long tale, +and I'll not tell it till all of you are together. I hope you were not +too much alarmed about me, Tayoga." + +"I know that Dagaeoga is in the keeping of Manitou. I have seen too +many proofs of it to doubt. I was sure that at the right time he would +return." + +Mr. Hardy came presently and then Willet. They made no display of +emotion, but their joy was deep. Then Robert told his story to them +all. + +"Did you see any name on the wrecked schooner?" asked Mr. Hardy. + +"None at all," replied Robert. "If she had borne a name at any time +I'm sure it was painted out." + +"Nor did you hear the captain called by name, either?" + +"No, sir. It was always just 'captain' when the men addressed him." + +"That complicates our problem. There's no doubt in my mind that you +were the intended victim of a conspiracy, from which you were saved by +the storm. I can send a trusty man down the North Jersey coast to +examine the wreck of the schooner, but I doubt whether he could learn +anything from it." + +He drew Willet aside and the two talked together a while in a low +voice, but with great earnestness. + +"We have our beliefs," said Willet at length, "but we shall not be +able to prove anything, no, not a thing, and, having nothing upon +which to base an accusation against anybody, we shall accuse nobody." + +"'Tis the prudent way," Hardy concurred, "though there is no doubt in +my mind about the identity of the man who set this most wicked pot to +brewing." + +Robert had his own beliefs, too, but he remained silent. + +"We'll keep the story of your absence to ourselves," said +Mr. Hardy. "We did not raise any alarm, believing that you would +return, a belief due in large measure to the faith of Tayoga, and +we'll explain that you were called away suddenly on a mission of a +somewhat secret nature to the numerous friends who have been asking +about you." + +Willet concurred, and he also said it was desirable that they should +depart at once for Virginia, where the provincial governors were to +meet in council, and from which province Braddock's force, or a +considerable portion of it, would march. Then Robert, after a +substantial supper, went to his room and slept. The next morning, both +Charteris and Grosvenor came to see him and expressed their delight at +his return. A few days later they were at sea with Grosvenor and other +young English officers, bound for the mouth of the James and the great +expedition against Fort Duquesne. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL + + +They were on a large schooner, and while Robert looked forward with +eagerness to the campaign, he also looked back with regret at the +roofs of New York, as they sank behind the sea. The city suited +him. It had seemed to him while he was there that he belonged in it, +and now that he was going away the feeling was stronger upon him than +ever. He resolved once more that it should be his home when the war +was over. + +Their voyage down the coast was stormy and long. Baffling winds +continually beat them back, and, then they lay for long periods in +dead calms, but at last they reached the mouth of the James, going +presently the short distance overland to Williamsburg, the town that +had succeeded Jamestown as the capital of the great province of +Virginia. + +Spring was already coming here in the south and in the lowlands by the +sea, and the tinge of green in the foliage and the warm winds were +grateful after the winter of the cold north. Robert, eager as always +for new scenes, and fresh knowledge, anticipated with curiosity his +first sight of Williamsburg, one of the oldest British towns in North +America. He knew that it was not large, but he found it even smaller +than he had expected. + +He and his comrades reached it on horseback, and they found that it +contained only a thousand inhabitants, and one street, straight and +very wide. On this street stood the brick buildings of William and +Mary, the oldest college in the country, a new capitol erected in the +place of one burned, not long before, and a large building called the +Governor's Palace. It looked very small, very quiet, and very content. + +Robert was conscious of a change in atmosphere that was not a mere +matter of temperature. Keen, commercial New York was gone. Here, +people talked of politics and the land. The men who came into +Williamsburg on horseback or in their high coaches were owners of +great plantations, where they lived as patriarchs, and feudal +lords. The human stock was purely British and the personal customs and +modes of thought of the British gentry had been transplanted. + +"I like it," said Grosvenor. "I feel that I've found England again." + +"There appears to be very little town life," said Robert. "It seems +strange that Williamsburg is so small, when Virginia has many more +people than New York or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts." + +"They're spread upon the land," said Willet. "I've been in Virginia +before. They don't care much about commerce, but you'll find that a +lot of the men who own the great plantations are hard and good +thinkers." + +Robert soon discovered that in Virginia a town was rather a meeting +place for the landed aristocracy than a commercial center. The arrival +of the British troops and of Americans from other colonies brought +much life into the little capital. The people began to pour in from +the country houses, and the single street was thronged with the best +horses and the best carriages Virginia could show, their owners, +attended by swarms of black men and black women whose mouths were +invariably stretched in happy grins, their splendid white teeth +glittering. + +There was much splendor, a great mingling of the fine and the tawdry, +as was inevitable in a society that maintained slavery on a large +scale. Nearly all the carriages had been brought from London, and they +were of the best. When their owners drove forth in the streets or the +country roundabout they were escorted by black coachmen and footmen in +livery. The younger men were invariably on horseback, dressed like +English country gentlemen, and they rode with a skill and grace that +Robert had never before seen equaled. The parsons, as in England, rode +with the best, and often drank with them too. + +It was a proud little society, exclusive perhaps, and a little bit +provincial too, possibly, but it was soon to show to the world a group +of men whose abilities and reputation and service to the state have +been unequaled, perhaps, since ancient Athens. One warm afternoon as +Robert walked down the single street with Tayoga and Grosvenor, he saw +a very young man, only three or four years older than himself, riding +a large, white horse. + +The rider's lofty stature, apparent even on horseback, attracted +Robert's notice. He was large of bone, too, with hands and feet of +great size, and a very powerful figure. His color was ruddy and high, +showing one who lived out of doors almost all the time. + +The man, Robert soon learned, was the young officer, George +Washington, who had commanded the Virginians in the first skirmish +with the French and Indians in the Ohio country. + +"One of most grave and sober mien," said Grosvenor. "I take him to be +of fine quality." + +"There can scarce be a doubt of it," said Robert. + +But he did not dream then that succeeding generations would reckon the +horseman the first man of all time. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga saw the governor, Dinwiddie, a thrifty +Scotchman, and offered to him their services, saying that they wished +to go with the Braddock expedition as scouts. + +"But I should think, young sir," said Dinwiddie to Robert, "that you, +at least, would want a commission. 'Twill be easy to obtain it in the +Virginia troops." + +"I thank you, sir, for the offer, which is very kind," said Robert, +"but I have spent a large part of my life in the woods with +Mr. Willet, and I feel that I can be of more use as a scout and +skirmisher. You know that they will be needed badly in the forest. +Moreover, Mr. Willet would not be separated from Tayoga, who in the +land of the Six Nations, known to themselves as the Hodenosaunee, is a +great figure." + +Governor Dinwiddie regarded the Onondaga, who gave back his gaze +steadily. The shrewd Scotchman knew that here stood a man, and he +treated him as one. + +"Have your way," he said. "Perhaps you are right. Many think that +General Braddock has little to fear from ambush, they say that his +powerful army of regulars and colonials can brush aside any force the +French and Indians may gather, but I've been long enough in this +country to know that the wilderness always has its dangers. Such eyes +as the eyes of you three will have their value. You shall have the +commissions you wish." + +Willet was highly pleased. He had been even more insistent than Robert +on the point, saying they must not sacrifice their freedom and +independence of movement, but Grosvenor was much surprised. + +"An army rank will help you," he said. + +"It's help that we don't need," said Robert smiling. + +The governor showed them great courtesy. He liked them and his +penetrating Scotch mind told him that they had quality. Despite his +hunter's dress, which he had resumed, Willet's manners were those of +the great world, and Dinwiddie often looked at him with +curiosity. Robert seemed to him to be wrapped in the same veil of +mystery, and he judged that the lad, whose manners were not inferior +to those of Willet, had in him the making of a personage. As for +Tayoga, Dinwiddie had been too long in America and he knew too much of +the Hodenosaunee not to appreciate his great position. An insult or a +slight in Virginia to the coming young chief of the Clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga would soon be known in the far land of the Six +Nations, and its cost would be so great that none might count it. Just +as tall oaks from little acorns grow, so a personal affront may sow +the seed of a great war or break a great alliance, and Dinwiddie knew +it. + +The governor, assisted by his wife and two daughters, entertained at +his house, and Robert, Tayoga, Willet, and Grosvenor, arrayed in their +best, attended, forming conspicuous figures in a great crowd, as the +Virginia gentry, also clad in their finest, attended. Robert, with +his adaptable and imaginative mind, was at home at once among them. He +liked the soft southern speech, the grace of manner and the good +feeling that obtained. They were even more closely related than the +great families of New York, and it was obvious that they formed a +cultivated society, in close touch with the mother country, intensely +British in manner and mode of thought, and devoted in both theory and +practice to personal independence. + +As the spring was now well advanced the night was warm and the windows +and doors of the Governor's Palace were left open. Negroes in livery +played violins and harps while all the guests who wished +danced. Others played cards in smaller rooms, but there was no such +betting as Robert had seen at Bigot's ball in Quebec. There was some +drinking of claret and punch, but no intoxication. The general note +was of great gayety, but with proper restraints. + +Robert noticed that the men, spending their lives in the open air and +having abundant and wholesome food, were invariably tall and big of +bone. The women looked strong and their complexions were rosy. The +same facility of mind that had made him like New York and Quebec, such +contrasting places, made him like Williamsburg too, which was +different from either. + +Quickly at home, in this society as elsewhere, the hours were all too +short for him. Both he and Grosvenor, who was also adaptable, seeing +good in everything, plunged deep into the festivities. He danced with +young women and with old, and Willet more than once gave him an +approving glance. It seemed that the hunter always wished him to fit +himself into any group with which he might be cast, and to make +himself popular, and to do so Robert's temperament needed little +encouragement. + +The music and the dancing never ceased. When the black musicians grew +tired their places were taken by others as black and as zealous, and +on they went in a ceaseless alternation. Robert learned that the +guests would dance all night and far into the next day, and that +frequently at the great houses a ball continued two days and two +nights. + +About three o'clock in the morning, after a long dance that left him +somewhat weary, he went upon one of the wide piazzas to rest and take +the fresh air. There, his attention was specially attracted by two +young men who were waging a controversy with energy, but without +acrimony. + +"I tell you, James," said one, who was noticeable for his great shock +of fair hair and his blazing red face, "that at two miles Blenheim is +unbeatable." + +"Unbeatable he may be, Walter," said the other, "but there is no horse +so good that there isn't a better. Blenheim, I grant you, is a +splendid three year old, but my Cressy is just about twenty yards +swifter in two miles. There is not another such colt in all Virginia, +and it gives me great pride to be his owner." + +The other laughed, a soft drawling laugh, but it was touched with +incredulity. + +"You're a vain man, James," he said, "not vain for yourself, but vain +for your sorrel colt." + +"I admit my vanity, Walter, but it rests upon a just basis. Cressy, I +repeat, is the best three year old in Virginia, which of course means +the best in all the colonies, and I have a thousand weight of prime +tobacco to prove it." + +"My plantation grows good tobacco too, James, and I also have a +thousand weight of prime leaf which talks back to your thousand +weight, and tells it that Cressy is the second best three year old in +Virginia, not the best." + +"Done. Nothing is left but to arrange the time." + +Both at this moment noticed Robert, who was sitting not far away, and +they hailed him with glad voices. He remembered meeting them earlier +in the evening. They were young men, Walter Stuart and James Cabell, +who had inherited great estates on the James and they shipped their +tobacco in their own vessels to London, and detecting in Robert a +somewhat kindred spirit they had received him with great friendliness. +Already they were old acquaintances in feeling, if not in time. + +"Lennox, listen to this vain boaster!" exclaimed Cabell. "He has a +good horse, I admit, but his spirit has become unduly inflated about +it. You know, don't you, Lennox, that my colt, Cressy, has all +Virginia beaten in speed?" + +"You know nothing of the kind, Lennox!" exclaimed Stuart, "but you do +know that my three year old Blenheim is the swiftest horse ever bred +in the colony. Now, don't you?" + +"I can't give an affirmative to either of you," laughed Robert, "as +I've never seen your horses, but this I do say, I shall be very glad +to see the test and let the colts decide it for themselves." + +"A just decision, O Judge!" said Stuart. "You shall have an honored +place as a guest when the match is run. What say you to tomorrow +morning at ten, James?" + +"A fit hour, Walter. You ride Blenheim yourself, of course?" + +"Truly, and you take the mount on Cressy?" + +"None other shall ride him. I've black boys cunning with horses, but +since it's horse against horse it should also be master against +master." + +"A match well made, and 'twill be a glorious contest. Come, Lennox, +you shall be a judge, and so shall be your friend Willet, and so shall +that splendid Indian, Tayoga." + +Robert was delighted. He had thrown himself with his whole soul into +the Virginia life, and he was eager to see the race run. So were all +the others, and even the grave eyes of Tayoga sparkled when he heard +of it. + +It was broad daylight when he went to bed, but he was up at noon, and +in the afternoon he went to the House of Burgesses to hear the +governor make a speech to the members on the war and its emergencies. +Dinwiddie, like Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, appreciated +the extreme gravity of the crisis, and his address was solemn and +weighty. + +He told them that the shadow in the north was black and menacing. The +French were an ambitious people, brave, tenacious and skillful. They +had won the friendship of the savages and now they dominated the +wilderness. They would strike heavy blows, but their movements were +enveloped in mystery, and none knew where or when the sword would +fall. The spirit animating them flowed from the haughty and powerful +court at Versailles that aimed at universal dominion. It became the +Virginians, as it became the people of all the colonies, to gather +their full force against them. + +The members listened with serious faces, and Robert knew that the +governor was right. He had been to Quebec, and he had already met +Frenchmen in battle. None understood better than he their skill, +courage and perseverance, and the shadow in the north was very heavy +and menacing to him too. + +But his depression quickly disappeared when he returned to the bright +sunshine, and met his young friends again. The Virginians were a +singular compound of gayety and gravity. Away from the House of +Burgesses the coming horse race displaced the war for a brief +space. It was the great topic in Williamsburg and the historic names, +Blenheim and Cressy, were in the mouths of everybody. + +Robert soon discovered that the horses were well known, and each had +its numerous group of partisans. Their qualities were discussed by +the women and girls as well as the men and with intelligence. Robert, +filled with the spirit of it, laid a small wager on Blenheim, and +then, in order to show no partiality, laid another in another quarter, +but of exactly the same amount on Cressy. + +The evening witnessed more arrivals in Williamsburg, drawn by the news +of the race, and young men galloped up and down the wide street in the +moonlight, testing their own horses, and riding improvised +matches. The rivalry was always friendly, the gentlemen's code that +there should be no ill feeling prevailed, and more than ever the +entire gathering seemed to Robert one vast family. Grosvenor was +intensely interested in the race, and also in the new sights he was +seeing. + +"Still," he said, "if it were not for the colored people I could +imagine with ease that I was back at a country meeting at home. Do you +know anything, Lennox, about these horses, Blenheim and +Cressy--patriotic fellows their owners must be--and could you give a +chap advice about laying a small wager?" + +"I know nothing about them except what Stuart and Cabell say." + +"What do they say?" + +"Stuart knows that Blenheim is the fastest horse in Virginia, and +Cabell knows that Cressy is, and so there the matter stands until the +race is run." + +"I think I'll put a pound on Blenheim, nevertheless. Blenheim has a +much more modern sound than Cressy, and I'm all for modernity." + +There was an excellent race track, the sport already being highly +developed in Virginia, and, the next day being beautiful, the seats +were filled very early in the morning. The governor with his wife and +daughters was present, and so were many other notables. Robert, +Tayoga and Grosvenor were in a group of nearly fifty young +Virginians. All about were women and girls in their best spring +dresses, many imported from London, and there were several men whom +Robert knew by their garb to be clergymen. Colored women, their heads +wrapped in great bandanna handkerchiefs, were selling fruits or +refreshing liquids. + +The whole was exhilarating to the last degree, and all the youth and +imagination in Robert responded. Dangers befell him, but delights +offered themselves also, and he took both as they came. Several +preliminary races, improvised the day before, were run, and they +served to keep the crowd amused, while they waited for the great +match. + +Robert and Tayoga then moved to advanced seats near the Governor, +where Willet was already placed, in order that they might fulfill +their honorable functions as judges, and the people began to stir with +a great breath of expectation. They were packed in a close group for a +long distance, and Robert's eye roved over them, noting that their +faces, ruddy or brown, were those of an open air race, like the +English. Almost unconsciously his mind traveled back to a night in +New York, when he had seen another crowd gather in a theater, and then +with a thrill he recalled the face that he had beheld there. He could +never account for it, although some connection of circumstances was +back of it, but he had a sudden instinctive belief that in this new +crowd he would see the same face once more. + +It obsessed him like a superstition, and, for the moment, he forgot +the horses, the race, and all that had brought him there. His eye +roved on, and then, down, near the front of the seats he found him, +shaved cleanly and dressed neatly, like a gentleman, but like one in +poor circumstances. Robert saw at first only the side of his face, the +massive jaw, the strong, curving chin, and the fair hair crisping +slightly at the temples, but he would have known him anywhere and in +any company. + +St. Luc sat very still, apparently absorbed in the great race which +would soon be run. In an ordinary time any stranger in Williamsburg +would have been noticed, but this was far from being an ordinary time. +The little town overflowed with British troops, and American visitors +known and unknown. Tayoga or Willet, if they saw him, might recognize +him, although Robert was not sure, but they, too, might keep silent. + +For a little while, he wondered why St. Luc had come to the Virginia +capital, a journey so full of danger for him. Was he following him? +Was it because of some tie between them? Or was it because St. Luc was +now spying upon the Anglo-American preparations? He understood to the +full the romantic and adventurous nature of the Frenchman, and knew +that he would dare anything. Then he had a consuming desire for the +eyes of St. Luc to meet his, and he bent upon him a gaze so long, and +of such concentration, that at last the chevalier looked up. + +St. Luc showed recognition, but in a moment or two he looked +away. Robert also turned his eyes in another direction, lest Tayoga or +Willet should follow his gaze, and when he glanced back again in a +minute or two St. Luc was gone. His roving eyes, traveling over the +crowd once more, could not find him, and he was glad. He believed now +that St. Luc had come to Williamsburg to discover the size and +preparations of the American force and its plan, and Robert felt that +he must have him seized if he could. He would be wanting in his +patriotism and duty if he failed to do so. He must sink all his liking +for St. Luc, and make every effort to secure his capture. + +But there was a sudden murmur that grew into a deep hum of +expectation, punctuated now and then by shouts: "Blenheim!" "Cressy!" +"Cabell!" "Stuart!" Horses and horsemen alike seemed to have their +partisans in about equal numbers. Ladies rose to their feet, and waved +bright fans, and men gave suggestions to those on whom they had laid +their money. + +The race, for a space, crowded St. Luc wholly out of Robert's +mind. Stuart and Cabell, each dressed very neatly in jockey attire, +came out and mounted their horses, which the grooms had been leading +back and forth. The three year olds, excited by the noise and +multitude of faces, leaped and strained at their bits. Robert did not +know much of races, but it seemed to him that there was little to +choose between either horses or riders. + +The circular track was a mile in length, and they would round it +twice, start and finish alike being made directly in front of the +judges' stand. The starter, a tall Virginian, finally brought the +horses to the line, neck and neck, and they were away. The whole crowd +rose to its feet and shouted approval as they flashed past. Blenheim +was a bay and Cressy was a sorrel, and when they began to turn the +curve in the distance Robert saw that bay and sorrel were still neck +and neck. Then he saw them far across the field, and neither yet had +the advantage. + +Now, Robert understood why the Virginians loved the sport. The test of +a horse's strength and endurance and of a horseman's skill and +judgment was thrilling. Presently he found that he was shouting with +the shouting multitude, and sometimes he shouted Cressy and sometimes +he shouted Blenheim. + +They came around the curve, the finish of the first mile being near, +and Robert saw the nose of the sorrel creeping past the nose of the +bay. A shout of triumph came from the followers of Cressy and Cabell, +but the partisans of Blenheim and Stuart replied that the race was not +yet half run. Cressy, though it was only in inches, was still +gaining. The sorrel nose crept forward farther and yet a little +farther. When they passed the judges' stand Cressy led by a head and a +neck. + +Robert, having no favorite before, now felt a sudden sympathy for +Blenheim and Stuart, because they were behind, and he began to shout +for them continuously, until sorrel and bay were well around the curve +on the second mile, when the entire crowd became silent. Then a sharp +shout came from the believers in Blenheim and Stuart. The bay was +beginning to win back his loss. The Cressy men were silent and gloomy, +as Blenheim, drawing upon the stores of strength that had been +conserved, continued to gain, until now the bay nose was creeping past +the sorrel. Then the bay was a full length ahead and that sharp shout +of triumph burst now from the Blenheim people. Robert found his +feelings changing suddenly, and he was all for Cressy and Cabell. + +The joy of the Blenheim people did not last long. The sorrel came +back to the side of the bay, the second mile was half done, and a +blanket would have covered the two. It was yet impossible to detect +any sign indicating the winner. The eyes of Tayoga, sitting beside +Robert, sparkled. The Indians from time unknown had loved ball games +and had played them with extraordinary zest and fire. As soon as they +came to know the horse of the white man they loved racing in the same +way. Their sporting instincts were as genuine as those of any country +gentleman. + +"It is a great race," said Tayoga. "The horses run well and the men +ride well. Tododaho himself, sitting on his great and shining star, +does not know which will win." + +"The kind of race I like to see," said Robert. "Stuart and Cabell +were justified in their faith in their horses. A magnificent pair, +Blenheim and Cressy!" + +"It has been said, Dagaeoga, that there is always one horse that can +run faster than another, but it seems that neither of these two can +run faster than the other. Now, Blenheim thrusts his nose ahead, and +now Cressy regains the lead by a few inches. Now they are so nearly +even that they seem to be but one horse and one rider." + +"A truly great race, Tayoga, and a prettily matched pair! Ah, the bay +leads! No, 'tis the sorrel! Now, they are even again, and the finish +is not far away!" + +The great crowd, which had been shouting, each side for its favorite, +became silent as Blenheim and Cressy swept into the stretch. Stuart +and Cabell, leaning far over the straining necks, begged and prayed +their brave horses to go a little faster, and Blenheim and Cressy, +hearing the voices that they knew so well, responded but in the same +measure. The heads were even, as if they had been locked fast, and +there was still no sign to indicate the winner. Faster and faster +they came, their riders leaning yet farther forward, continually +urging them, and they thundered past the stand, matched so evenly that +not a hair's breadth seemed to separate the noses of the sorrel and +the bay. + +"It's a dead heat!" exclaimed Robert, as the people, unable to +restrain their enthusiasm, swarmed over the track, and such was the +unanimous opinion of the judges. Yet it was the belief of all that a +finer race was never run in Virginia, and while the horses, covered +with blankets, were walked back and forth to cool, men followed them +and uttered their admiration. + +Stuart and Cabell were eager to run the heat over, after the horses +had rested, but the judges would not allow it. + +"No! No, lads!" said the Governor. "Be content! You have two splendid +horses, the best in Virginia, and matched evenly. Moreover, you rode +them superbly. Now, let them rest with the ample share of honor that +belongs to each." + +Stuart and Cabell, after the heat of rivalry was over, thought it a +good plan, shook hands with great warmth three or four times, each +swearing that the other was the best fellow in the world, and then +with a great group of friends they adjourned to the tavern where huge +beakers of punch were drunk. + +"And mighty Todadaho himself, although he looks into the future, does +not yet know which is the better horse," said Tayoga. "It is +well. Some things should remain to be discovered, else the salt would +go out of life." + +"That's sound philosophy," said Willet. "It's the mystery of things +that attracts us, and that race ended in the happiest manner +possible. Neither owner can be jealous or envious of the other; +instead they are feeling like brothers." + +Then Robert's mind with a sudden rush, went back to St. Luc, and his +sense of duty tempted him to speak of his presence to Willet, but he +concluded to wait a little. He looked around for him again, but he did +not see him, and he thought it possible that he had now left the +dangerous neighborhood of Williamsburg. + +As they walked back to their quarters at a tavern Willet informed them +that there was to be, two days later, a grand council of provincial +governors and high officers at Alexandria on the Potomac, where +General Braddock with his army already lay in camp, and he suggested +that they go too. As they were free lances with their authority +issuing from Governor Dinwiddie alone, they could do practically as +they pleased. Both Robert and Tayoga were all for it, but in the +afternoon they, as well as Willet, were invited to a race dinner to be +given at the tavern that evening by Stuart and Cabell in honor of the +great contest, in which neither had lost, but in which both had won. + +"I suppose," said Willet, "that while here we might take our full +share of Virginia hospitality, which is equal to any on earth, +because, as I see it, before very long we will be in the woods where +so much to eat and drink will not be offered to us. March and battle +will train us down." + +The dinner to thirty guests was spread in the great room of the tavern +and the black servants of Stuart and Cabell, well trained, dextrous +and clad in livery, helped those of the landlord to serve. The +abundance and quality of the food were amazing. Besides the resources +of civilization, air, wood and water were drawn upon for +game. Virginia, already renowned for hospitality, was resolved that +through her young sons, Stuart and Cabell, she should do her best that +night. + +A dozen young British officers were present, and there was much +toasting and conviviality. The tie of kinship between the old country +and the new seemed stronger here than in New England, where the +England of Cromwell still prevailed, or in New York, where the Dutch +and other influences not English were so powerful. They had begun with +the best of feeling, and it was heightened by the warmth that food and +drink bring. They talked with animation of the great adventure, on +which they would soon start, as Stuart and Cabell and most of the +Virginians were going with Braddock. They drank a speedy capture of +Fort Duquesne, and confusion to the French and their red allies. + +Robert, imitating the example of Tayoga, ate sparingly and scarcely +tasted the punch. About eleven o'clock, the night being warm, +unusually warm for that early period of spring, and nearly all the +guests having joined in the singing, more or less well, of patriotic +songs, Robert, thinking that his absence would not be noticed, walked +outside in search of coolness and air. + +It was but a step from the lights and brilliancy of the tavern to the +darkness of Williamsburg's single avenue. There were no street +lanterns, and only a moon by which to see. He could discern the dim +bulk of William and Mary College and of the Governor's Palace, but +except near at hand the smaller buildings were lost in the dusk. A +breeze touched with salt, as if from the sea, was blowing, and its +touch was so grateful on Robert's face that he walked on, hat in hand, +while the wind played on his cheeks and forehead and lifted his +hair. Then a darker shadow appeared in the darkness, and St. Luc stood +before him. + +"Why do you come here! Why do you incur such danger? Don't you know +that I must give warning of your presence?" exclaimed Robert +passionately. + +The Frenchman laughed lightly. He seemed very well pleased with +himself, and then he hummed: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +"Your danger is great!" repeated Robert. + +"Not as great as you think," said St. Luc. "You will not protect +me. You will warn the British officers that a French spy is here. I +read it in your face at the race today, and moreover, I know you +better than you know yourself. I know, too, more about you than you +know about yourself. Did I not warn you in New York to beware of +Mynheer Adrian Van Zoon?" + +"You did, and I know that you meant me well." + +"And what happened?" + +"I was kidnapped by a slaver, and I was to have been taken to the +coast of Africa, but a storm intervened and saved me. Perhaps the +slaver was acting for Mynheer Van Zoon, but I talked it over with Mr. +Hardy and we haven't a shred of proof." + +"Perhaps a storm will not intervene next time. You must look to +yourself, Robert Lennox." + +"And you to yourself, Chevalier de St. Luc. I'm grateful to you for +the warning you gave me, and other acts of friendship, but whatever +your mission may have been in New York I'm sure that one of your +errands, perhaps the main one, in Williamsburg, is to gather +information for France, and, sir, I should be little of a patriot did +I not give the alarm, much as it hurts me to do so." + +Robert saw very clearly by the moonlight that the blue eyes of St. Luc +were twinkling. His situation might be dangerous, but obviously he +took no alarm from it. + +"You'll bear in mind, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I'm not asking you +to shield me. Consider me a French spy, if you wish--and you'll not be +wholly wrong--and then act as you think becomes a man with a +commission as army scout from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia." + +There was a little touch of irony in his voice. His adventures and +romantic spirit was in the ascendant, and it seemed to Robert that he +was giving him a dare. That he would have endured because of his +admiration for St. Luc, and also because of his gratitude, but the +allusion to his commission from the governor of Virginia recalled him +to his sense of duty. + +"I can do nothing else!" he exclaimed. "'Tis a poor return for the +services you have done me, and I tender my apologies for the action +I'm about to take. But guard yourself, St. Luc!" + +"And you, Lennox, look well to yourself when Braddock marches! Every +twig and leaf will spout danger!" + +His light manner was wholly gone for the moment, and his words were +full of menace. Up the street, a sentinel walked back and forth, and +Robert could hear the faint fall of his feet on the sand. + +"Once more I bid you beware, St. Luc!" he exclaimed, and raising his +voice he shouted: "A spy! A spy!" + +He heard the sentinel drop the butt of his musket heavily against the +earth, utter an exclamation and then run toward them. His shout had +also been heard at the tavern, and the guests, bareheaded, began to +pour out, and look about confusedly to see whence the alarm had come. + +Robert looked at the sentinel who was approaching rapidly, and then he +turned to see what St Luc would do. But the Frenchman was gone. Near +them was a mass of shrubbery and he believed that he had flitted into +it, as silently as the passing of a shadow. But the sentinel had +caught a glimpse of the dusky figure, and he cried: + +"Who was he? What is it?" + +"A spy!" replied Robert hastily. "A Frenchman whom I have seen in +Canada! I think he sprang into those bushes and flowers!" + +The sentinel and Robert rushed into the shrubbery but nothing was +there. As they looked about in the dusk, Robert heard a refrain, +distant, faint and taunting: + + "Hier sur le pont d'Avignon + J'ai oui chanter la belle + Lon, la." + +It was only for an instant, then it died like a summer echo, and he +knew that St. Luc was gone. An immense weight rolled from him. He had +done what he should have done, but the result that he feared had not +followed. + +"I can find nothing, sir," said the sentinel, who recognized in Robert +one of superior rank. + +"Nor I, but you saw the figure, did you not?" + +"I did, sir. 'Twas more like a shadow, but 'twas a man, I'll swear." + +Robert was glad to have the sentinel's testimony, because in another +moment the revelers were upon him, making sport of him for his false +alarm, and asserting that not his eyes but the punch he had drunk had +seen a French spy. + +"I scarce tasted the punch," said Robert, "and the soldier here is +witness that I spoke true." + +A farther and longer search was organized, but the Frenchman had +vanished into the thinnest of thin air. As Robert walked with Willet +and Tayoga back to the tavern, the hunter said: + +"I suppose it was St. Luc?" + +"Yes, but why did you think it was he?" + +"Because it was just the sort of deed he would do. Did you speak with +him?" + +"Yes, and I told him I must give the alarm. He disappeared with +amazing speed and silence." + +Robert made a brief report the next day to Governor Dinwiddie, not +telling that St. Luc and he had spoken together, stating merely that +he had seen him, giving his name, and describing him as one of the +most formidable of the French forest leaders. + +"I thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the Governor. "Your information shall +be conveyed to General Braddock. Yet I think our force will be too +great for the wilderness bands." + +On the following day they were at Alexandria on the Potomac, where the +great council was to be held. Here Braddock's camp was spread, and in +a large tent he met Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, Governor de Lancey +of New York, Governor Sharpe of Maryland, Governor Dobbs of North +Carolina and Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, an elderly lawyer, but +the ablest and most energetic of all the governors. + +It was the most momentous council yet held in North America, and all +the young officers waited with the most intense eagerness the news +from the tent. Robert saw Braddock as he went in, a middle-aged man of +high color and an obstinate chin. Grosvenor gave him some of the +gossip about the general. + +"London has many stories of him," he said. "He has spent most of his +life in the army. He is a gambler, but brave, rough but generous, +irritable, but often very kind. Opposition inflames him, but he likes +zeal and good service. He is very fond of your young Mr. Washington, +who, I hear is much of a man." + +The council in the great tent was long and weighty, and well it might +have been, even far beyond the wildest thoughts of any of the +participants. These were the beginnings of events that shook not only +America but Europe for sixty years. In the tent they agreed upon a +great and comprehensive scheme of campaign that had been proposed some +time before. Braddock would proceed with his attack upon Fort +Duquesne, Shirley would see that the forces of New England seized +Beausejour and De Lancey would have Colonel William Johnson to move +upon Crown Point and then Niagara. Acadia also would be +taken. Dinwiddie after Shirley was the most vigorous of the governors, +and he promised that the full force of Virginia should be behind +Braddock. But to Shirley was given the great vision. He foresaw the +complete disappearance of French power from North America, and, to +achieve a result that he desired so much, it was only necessary for +the colonists to act together and with vigor. While he recognized in +Braddock infirmities of temper and insufficient knowledge of his +battlefield, he knew him to be energetic and courageous and he +believed that the first blow, the one that he was to strike at Fort +Duquesne, would inflict a mortal blow upon France in the New World. In +every vigorous measure that he proposed Dinwiddie backed him, and the +other governors, overborne by their will, gave their consent. + +While Robert sat with his friends in the shade of a grove, awaiting +the result of the deliberations in the tent, his attention was +attracted by a strong, thick-set figure in a British uniform. + +"Colonel Johnson!" he cried, and running forward he shook hands +eagerly with Colonel William Johnson. + +"Why, Colonel!" he exclaimed, "I didn't dream that you were here, but +I'm most happy to see you." + +"And I to see you, Mr. Lennox, or Robert, as I shall call you," said +Colonel Johnson. "Alexandria is a long journey from Mount Johnson, but +you see I'm here, awaiting the results of this council, which I tell +you may have vast significance for North America." + +"But why are you not in the tent with the others, you who know so much +more about conditions on the border than any man who is in there?" + +"I am not one of the governors, Robert, my lad, nor am I General +Braddock. Hence I'm not eligible, but I'm not to be neglected. I may +as well tell you that we are planning several expeditions, and that +I'm to lead one in the north." + +"And Madam Johnson, and everybody at your home? Are they well?" + +"As well of body as human beings can be when I left. Molly told me +that if I saw you to give you her special love. Ah, you young blade, +if you were older I should be jealous, and then, again, perhaps I +shouldn't!" + +"And Joseph?" + +"Young Thayendanegea? Fierce and warlike as becomes his lineage. He +demands if I lead an army to the war that he go with me, and he scarce +twelve. What is more, he will demand and insist, until I have to take +him. 'Tis a true eagle that young Joseph. But here is Willet! It +soothes my eyes to see you again, brave hunter, and Tayoga, too, who +is fully as welcome." + +He shook hands with them both and the Onondaga gravely asked: + +"What news of my people, Waraiyageh?" + +Colonel Johnson's face clouded. + +"Things do not go well between us and the vale of Onondaga," he +replied. "The Hodenosaunee complain of the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and with justice. Moreover, the French advance and the +superior French vigor create a fear that the British and Americans may +lose. Then the Hodenosaunee will be left alone to fight the French and +all the hostile tribes. Father Drouillard has come back and is working +with his converts." + +"The nations of the Hodenosaunee will never go with the French," +declared Tayoga with emphasis. "Although the times seem dark, and +men's minds may waver for a while, they will remain loyal to their +ancient allies. Their doubts will cease, Waraiyageh, when the king +across the sea takes away the power of dealing with us from the Dutch +commissioners at Albany, and gives it to you, you who know us so well +and who have always been our friend." + +Colonel Johnson's face flushed with pleasure. + +"Your opinion of me is too high, Tayoga," he said, "but I'll not deny +that it gratifies me to hear it." + +"Have you heard anything from Fort Refuge, and Colden and Wilton and +the others?" asked Robert. + +"An Oneida runner brought a letter just before I left Mount +Johnson. The brave Philadelphia lads still hold the little fortress, +and have occasional skirmishes with wandering bands. Theirs has been a +good work, well done." + +But while Colonel Johnson was not a member of the council and could +not sit with it, he had a great reputation with all the governors, and +the next day he was asked to appear before them and General Braddock, +where he was treated with the consideration due to a man of his +achievements, and where the council, without waiting for the authority +of the English king, gave him full and complete powers to treat with +the Hodenosaunee, and to heal the wounds inflicted upon the pride of +the nations by the commissioners at Albany. He was thus made +superintendent of Indian affairs in North America, and he was also as +he had said to lead the expedition against Crown Point. He came forth +from the council exultant, his eyes glowing. + +"'Tis even more than I had hoped," he said to Willet, "and now I must +say farewell to you and the brave lads with you. We have come to the +edge of great things, and there is no time to waste." + +He hastened northward, the council broke up the next day, and the +visiting governors hurried back to their respective provinces to +prepare for the campaigns, leaving Braddock to strike the first blow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE FOREST FIGHT + + +Robert thought they would march at once, but annoying delays +occurred. He had noticed that Hamilton, the governor of the great +neighboring province of Pennsylvania, was not present at the council, +but he did not know the cause of it until Stuart, the young Virginian, +told him. + +"Pennsylvania is in a huff," he said, "because General Braddock's army +has been landed at Alexandria instead of Philadelphia. Truth to tell, +for an expedition against Fort Duquesne, Philadelphia would have been +a nearer and better place, but I hear that one John Hanbury, a +powerful merchant who trades much in Virginia, wanted the troops to +come this way that he might sell them supplies, and he persuaded the +Duke of Newcastle to choose Alexandria. 'Tis a bad state of affairs, +Lennox, but you and I can't remedy it. The chief trouble is between +the general and the Pennsylvanians, many of whom are Quakers and +Germans, as obstinate people as this world has ever produced." + +The differences and difficulties were soon patent to all. A month of +spring was passing, and the army was far from having the necessary +supplies. Neither Virginia nor Pennsylvania responded properly. In +Pennsylvania there was a bitter quarrel between the people and the +proprietary government that hampered action. Many of the contractors +who were to furnish equipment thought much more of profit than of +patriotism. Braddock, brave and honest, but tactless and wholly +ignorant of the conditions predominant in any new country, raged and +stormed. He denounced the Virginia troops that came to his standard, +calling shameful their lack of uniforms and what he considered their +lack of discipline. + +Robert heard that in these turbulent days young Washington, whom +Braddock had taken on his staff as a colonel and for whom he had a +warm personal regard, was the best mediator between the testy general +and the stubborn population. In his difficult position, and while yet +scarcely more than a boy, he was showing all the great qualities of +character that he was to display so grandly in the long war twenty +years later. + +"Tis related," said Willet, "that General Braddock will listen to +anything from him, that he has the most absolute confidence in his +honesty and good judgment, and, judging from what I hear, General +Braddock is right." + +But to Robert, despite the anxieties, the days were happy. As he had +affiliated readily with the young Virginians he was also quickly a +friend of the young British officers, who were anxious to learn about +the new conditions into which they had been cast with so little +preparation. There was Captain Robert Orme, Braddock's aide-de-camp, a +fine manly fellow, for whom he soon formed a reciprocal liking, and +the son of Sir Peter Halket, a lieutenant, and Morris, an American, +another aide-de-camp, and young William Shirley, the son of the +governor of Massachusetts, who had become Braddock's secretary. He +also became well acquainted with older officers, Gladwin who was to +defend Detroit so gallantly against Pontiac and his allied tribes, +Gates, Gage, Barton and others, many of whom were destined to serve +again on one side or other in the great Revolution. + +Grosvenor knew all the Englishmen, and often in the evenings, since +May had now come they sat about the camp fires, and Robert listened +with eagerness as they told stories of gay life in London, tales of +the theater, of the heavy betting at the clubs and the races, and now +and then in low tones some gossip of royalty. Tayoga was more than +welcome in this group, as the great Thayendanegea was destined to be +years later. His height, his splendid appearance, his dignity and his +manners were respected and admired. Willet sometimes sat with them, +but said little. Robert knew that he approved of his new friendships. + +Willet was undoubtedly anxious. The delays which were still numerous +weighed heavily upon him, and he confided to Robert that every day +lost would increase the danger of the march. + +"The French and Indians of course know our troubles," he +said. "St. Luc has gone like an arrow into the wilderness with all the +news about us, and he's not the only one. If we could adjust this +trouble with the Pennsylvanians we might start at once." + +An hour or two after he uttered his complaint, Robert saw a middle +aged man, not remarkable of appearance, talking with Braddock. His +dress was homespun and careless, but his large head was beautifully +shaped, and his features, though they might have been called homely, +shone with the light of an extraordinary intelligence. His manner as +he talked to Braddock, without showing any tinge of deference, was +soothing. Robert saw at once, despite his homespun dress, that here +was a man of the great world and of great affairs. + +"Who is he?" he said to Willet. + +"It's Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania," replied the hunter. "I hear +he's one of the shrewdest men in all the colonies, and I don't doubt +the report." + +It was Robert's first sight of Franklin, certainly not the least in +that amazing group of men who founded the American Union. + +"They say," continued Willet, "that he's already achieved the +impossible, that he's drawing General Braddock and the Pennsylvanians +together, and that we'll soon get weapons, horses and all the other +supplies we need." + +It was no false news. Franklin had done what he alone could do. One of +the greatest masters of diplomacy the world has ever known, he brought +Braddock and Pennsylvania together, and smoothed out the +difficulties. All the needed supplies began to flow in, and on the +tenth of an eventful May the whole army started from Wills Creek to +which point it had advanced, while Franklin was removing the +difficulties. A new fort named Cumberland had been established there, +and stalwart Virginians had been cutting a road ahead through the +wilderness. + +The place was on the edge of the unending forest. The narrow fringe +of settlements on the Atlantic coast was left behind, and henceforth +they must march through regions known only to the Indians and the +woods rangers. But it was a fine army, two British regiments under +Halket and Dunbar, their numbers reinforced by Virginia volunteers, +and five hundred other Virginians, divided into nine companies. There +was a company of British sailors, too, and artillery, and hundreds of +wagons and baggage horses. Among the teamsters was a strong lad named +Daniel Boone destined to immortality as the most famous of all +pioneers. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga could have had horses to ride, but against +the protests of Grosvenor and their other new English friends they +declined them. They knew that they could scout along the flanks of an +army far better on foot. + +"In one way," said Willet, to Grosvenor, "we three, Robert, Tayoga and +I, are going back home. The lads, at least have spent the greater +part of their lives in the forest, and to me it has given a kindly +welcome for these many years. It may look inhospitable to you who come +from a country of roads and open fields, but it's not so to us. We +know its ways. We can find shelter where you would see none, and it +offers food to us, where you would starve, and you're a young man of +intelligence too." + +"At least I can see its beauty," laughed Grosvenor, as he looked upon +the great green wilderness, stretching away and away to the far blue +hills. "In truth 'tis a great and romantic adventure to go with a +force like ours into an unknown country of such majestic quality." + +He looked with a kindling eye from the wilderness back to the army, +the greatest that had yet been gathered in the forest, the red coats +of the soldiers gleaming now in the spring sunshine, and the air +resounding with whips as the teamsters started their trains. + +"A great force! A grand force!" said Robert, catching his +enthusiasm. "The French and Indians can't stand before it!" + +"How far is Fort Duquesne?" asked Grosvenor. + +"In the extreme western part of the province of Pennsylvania, many +days' march from here. At least, we claim that it's in Pennsylvania +province, although the French assert it's on their soil, and they have +possession. But it's in the Ohio country, because the waters there +flow westward, the Alleghany and Monongahela joining at the fort and +forming the great Ohio." + +"And so we shall see much of the wilderness. Well, I'm not sorry, +Lennox. 'Twill be something to talk about in England. I don't think +they realize there the vastness and magnificence of the colonies." + +That day a trader named Croghan brought about fifty Indian warriors to +the camp, among them a few belonging to the Hodenosaunee, and offered +their services as scouts and skirmishers. Braddock, who loved +regularity and outward discipline, gazed at them in astonishment. + +"Savages!" he said. "We will have none of them!" + +The Indians, uttering no complaint, disappeared in the green forest, +with Willet and Tayoga gazing somberly after them. + +"'Twas a mistake," said the hunter. "They would have been our eyes and +ears, where we needed eyes and ears most." + +"A warrior of my kin was among them," said Tayoga. "Word will fly +north that an insult has been offered to the Hodenosaunee." + +"But," said Willet, "Colonel William Johnson will take a word of +another kind. As you know, Tayoga, as I know, and, as all the nations +of the Hodenosaunee know, Waraiyageh is their friend. He will speak to +them no word that is not true. He will brush away all that web of +craft, and cunning and cheating, spun by the Indian commissioners at +Albany, and he will see that there is no infringement upon the rights +of the great League." + +"Waraiyageh will do all that, if he can reach Mount Johnson in time," +said Tayoga, "but Onontio rises before the dawn, and he does not sleep +until after midnight. He sings beautiful songs in the ears of the +warriors, and the songs he sings seem to be true. Already the French +and their allies have been victorious everywhere save at Fort Refuge, +and they carry the trophies of triumph into Canada." + +"But the time for us to strike a great blow is at hand, Tayoga," said +Robert, who, with Grosvenor had been listening. "Behold this splendid +army! No such force was ever before sent into the American +wilderness. When we take Fort Duquesne we shall hold the key to the +whole Ohio country, and we shall turn it in the lock and fasten it +against the Governor General of Canada and all his allies." + +"But the wilderness is mighty," said Tayoga. "Even the army of the +great English king is small when it enters its depths." + +"On the other hand so is that of the enemy, much smaller than ours," +said Grosvenor. + +Soon after Croghan and his Indians left the camp a figure tall, dark +and somber, followed by a dozen men wild of appearance and clad in +hunter's garb, emerged from the forest and walked in silence toward +General Braddock's tent. The regular soldiers stared at them in +astonishment, but their dark leader took no notice. Robert uttered an +exclamation of surprise and pleasure. + +"Black Rifle!" he said. + +"And who is Black Rifle?" asked Grosvenor. + +"A great hunter and scout and a friend of mine. I'm glad he's +here. The general can find many uses for Black Rifle and his men." + +He ran forward and greeted Black Rifle, who smiled one of his rare +smiles at sight of the youth. Willet and Tayoga gave him the same warm +welcome. + +"What news, Black Rifle?" asked Robert. + +"The French and Indians gather at Fort Duquesne to meet you. They are +not in great force, but the wilderness will help them and the best of +the French leaders are there." + +"Have you heard anything of St. Luc?" asked Robert. + +"We met a Seneca runner who had seen him. The Senecas are not at war +with the French, and the man talked with him a little, but the +Frenchman didn't tell him anything. We think he was on the way to Fort +Duquesne to join the other French leaders there." + +"Have you heard the names of any of these Frenchmen?" + +"Besides St. Luc there's Beaujeu, Dumas, Ligneris and Contrecoeur who +commands. French regulars and Canadian troops are in the fort, and the +heathen are pouring in from the west and north." + +"Those are brave and skillful men," said Willet, as he listened to the +names of the French leaders who would oppose them. "But 'twas good of +you, Black Rifle, to come with these lads of yours to help us." + +After the men had enjoyed food and a little rest, they were taken into +the great tent, where the general sat, Willet having procured the +interview, and accompanying them. Robert waited near with Grosvenor +and Tayoga, knowing how useful Black Rifle and his men could be to a +wilderness expedition, and hoping that they would be thrown together +in future service. + +A quarter of an hour passed, and then Black Rifle strode from the +tent, his face dark as night. His men followed him, and, almost +without a word, they left the camp, plunged into the forest and +disappeared. Willet also came from the tent, crestfallen. + +"What has happened, Dave?" asked Robert in astonishment. + +"The worst. I suppose that when unlike meets unlike only trouble can +come. I introduced Black Rifle and his men to General Braddock. They +did not salute. They did not take off their caps in his presence,--not +knowing, of course, that such things were done in armies. General +Braddock rebuked them. I smoothed it all over as much as I could. Then +he demanded what they wanted there, as a haughty giver of gifts would +speak to a suppliant. Black Rifle said he and his men came to watch on +the front and flanks of the army against Indian ambush, knowing how +much it was needed. Braddock laughed and sneered. He said that an +army such as his did not need to fear a few wandering Indians, and, in +any event, it had eyes of its own to watch for itself. Black Rifle +said he doubted it, that soldiers in the woods could seldom see +anything but themselves. There was blame on both sides, but men like +General Braddock and Black Rifle can't understand each other, they'll +never understand each other, and, hot with wrath Black Rifle has taken +his band and gone into the woods. Nor will he come back, and we need +him! I tell you, Robert, we need him! We need him!" + +"It is bad," said Tayoga. "An army can never have too many eyes." + +Robert was deeply disappointed. He regretted not only the loss of +Black Rifle and his men, but the further evidence of an unyielding +temperament on the part of their commander. His own mind however so +ready to comprehend the mind of others, could understand Braddock's +point of view. To the general Black Rifle and his men were mere woods +rovers, savages themselves in everything except race, and the army +that he led was invincible. + +"We'll have to make the best of it," he said. + +"They've gone and they're a great loss, but the rest of us will try to +do the work they would have done." + +"That is so," said Tayoga, gravely. + +At last the army moved proudly away into the wilderness. Hundreds of +axmen, going ahead, cut a road twelve feet wide, along which cavalry, +infantry, artillery and wagons and pack horses stretched for +miles. The weather was beautiful, the forest was both beautiful and +grand, and to most of the Englishmen and Virginians the march appealed +as a great and romantic adventure. The trees were in the tender green +leafage of early May, and their solid expanse stretched away hundreds +and thousands of miles into the unknown west. Early wild flowers, a +shy pink or a modest blue, bloomed in the grass. Deer started from +their coverts, crashed through the thickets, and the sky darkened with +the swarms of wild fowl flying north. Birds of brilliant plumage +flashed among the leaves and often chattered overhead, heedless of the +passing army. Now and then the soldiers sang, and the song passed from +the head of the column along its rippling red, yellow and brown length +of four miles. + +It was a cheerful army, more it was a gay army, enjoying the +wilderness which it was seeing at one of the finest periods of the +year, wondering at the magnificence of the forest, and the great +number of streams that came rushing down from the mountains. + +"It's a noble country," said Grosvenor to Robert. "I'll admit all +that you claim for it." + +"And there's so much of it, Grosvenor, even allowing for the portion, +the very big portion, the French claim." + +"But from which we are going to drive them very soon, Robert, my lad." + +"I think so, too, Grosvenor." + +Often Robert, Willet and Tayoga went far ahead on swift foot, +searching the forest for ambush, and finding none, they would come +back and watch the axmen, three hundred in number, who were cutting +the road for the army. They were stalwart fellows, skilled in their +business, and their axes rang through the woods. Robert felt regret +when he saw the splendid trees fall and be dragged to one side, there +to rot, despite the fact that the unbroken forest covered millions of +square miles. + +The camps at night were scenes of good humor. Scouts and flankers +were thrown out in the forest, and huge fires were built of the fallen +wood which was abundant everywhere. The flames, roaring and leaping, +threw a ruddy light over the soldiers, and gave them pleasant warmth, +as often in the hills the dusk came on heavy with chill. + +Despite the favorable nature of the season some of the soldiers unused +to hardships fell ill, and, more than a week later, when they reached +a place known as the Little Meadows, Braddock left there the sick and +the heavy baggage with a rear guard under Colonel Dunbar. A scout had +brought word that a formidable force of French regulars was expected +to reinforce the garrison at Fort Duquesne, and the general was +anxious to forestall them. Young Washington, in whom he had great +confidence, also advised him to push on, and now the army of chosen +troops increased its speed. + +Robert came into contact with Braddock only once or twice, and then he +was noticed with a nod, but on the whole he was glad to escape so +easily. The general brave and honest, but irritable, had a closed +mind. He thought all things should be done in the way to which he was +used, and he had little use for the Americans, save for young +Washington, and young Morris, who were on his staff, and young Shirley +who was his secretary. To them he was invariably kind and considerate. + +The regular officers made no attempt to interfere with Robert, Tayoga +and Willet, who, having their commissions as scouts, roamed as they +pleased, and, even on foot, their pace being so much greater than that +of the army, they often went far ahead in the night seeking traces of +the enemy. Now, although the march was not resisted, they saw +unmistakable signs that it was watched. They found trails of small +Indian bands and several soldiers who straggled into the forest were +killed and scalped. Braddock was enraged but not alarmed. The army +would brush away these flies and proceed to the achievement of its +object, the capture of Fort Duquesne. The soldiers from England +shuddered at the sight of their scalped comrades. It was a new form +of war to them, and very ghastly. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were the best scouts and the regular +officers soon learned to rely on them. Grosvenor often begged to go +with them, but they laughingly refused. + +"We don't claim to be of special excellence ourselves, Grosvenor," +said Robert, "but such work needs a very long training. One, so to +speak, must be born to it, and to be born to it you have to be born in +this country, and not in England." + +It was about the close of June and they had been nearly three weeks on +the way when the three, scouting on a moonlight night, struck a trail +larger than usual. Tayoga reckoned that it had been made by at least a +dozen warriors, and Willet agreed with him. + +"And behold the trace of the big moccasin, Great Bear," said the +Onondaga, pointing to a faint impression among the leaves. "It is very +large, and it turns in much. We do not see it for the first time." + +"Tandakora," said Willet. + +"It can be none other." + +"We shouldn't be surprised at seeing it. The Ojibway, like a wolf, +will rush to the place of killing." + +"I am not surprised, Great Bear. It is strange, perhaps, that we have +not seen his footsteps before. No doubt he has looked many times upon +the marching army." + +"Since Tandakora is here, probably leading the Indian scouts, we'll +have to take every precaution ourselves. I like my scalp, and I like +for it to remain where it has grown, on the top of my head." + +They moved now with the most extreme care, always keeping under cover +of bushes, and never making any sound as they walked, but the army +kept on steadily in the road cut for it by the axmen. Encounters +between the flankers and small bands still occurred, but there was yet +no sign of serious resistance, and the fort was drawing nearer and +nearer. + +"I've no doubt the French commander will abandon it," said Grosvenor +to Robert. "He'll conclude that our army is too powerful for him." + +"I scarce think so," replied Robert doubtfully. "'Tis not the French +way, at least, not on this continent. Like as not they will depend on +the savages, whom they have with them." + +They had been on the march nearly a month when they came to Turtle +Creek, which flows into the Monongahela only eight miles from Fort +Duquesne a strong fortress of logs with bastions, ravelins, ditch, +glacis and covered ways, standing at the junction of the twin streams, +the Monongahela and the Alleghany, that form the great Ohio. Here they +made a little halt and the scouts who had been sent into the woods +reported silence and desolation. + +The army rejoiced. It had been a long march, and the wilderness is +hard for those not used to it, even in the best of times. Victory was +now almost in sight. The next day, perhaps, they would march into +Fort Duquesne and take possession, and doubtless a strong detachment +would be sent in pursuit of the flying French and Indians. + +Full warrant had they for their expectations, as nothing seemed more +peaceful than the wilderness. The flames from the cooking fires threw +their ruddy light over bough and bush, and disclosed no enemy, and, as +the glow of the coals died down, the peaceful tails of the night birds +showed that the forest was undisturbed. + +Far in the night, Robert, Tayoga and Willet crept through the woods to +Fort Duquesne. They found many small trails of both white men and red +men, but none indicating a large force. At last they saw a light under +the western horizon, which they believed to come from Duquesne itself. + +"Perhaps they've burned the fort and are abandoning it," said Robert. + +Willet shook his head. + +"Not likely," he said. "It's more probable that the light comes from +great fires, around which the savages are dancing the war dance." + +"What do you think, Tayoga?" + +"That the Great Bear is right." + +"But surely," said Robert, "they can't hope to withstand an army like +ours." + +"Robert," said Willet, "you've lived long enough in it to know that +anything is possible in the wilderness. Contrecoeur, the French +commander at Duquesne, is a brave and capable man. Beaujeu, who stands +next to him, has, they say, a soul of fire. You know what St. Luc is, +the bravest of the brave, and as wise as a fox, and Dumas and Ligneris +are great partisan leaders. Do you think these men will run away +without a fight?" + +"But they must depend chiefly on the Indians!" + +"Even so. They won't let the Indians run away either. We're bound to +have some kind of a battle somewhere, though we ought to win." + +"Do you know the general's plans for tomorrow?" + +"We're to start at dawn. We'll cross the Monongahela for the second +time about noon, or a little later, and then, if the French and +Indians have run away, as you seemed a little while ago to believe +they would, we'll proceed, colors flying into the fort." + +"If the enemy makes a stand I should think it would be at the ford." + +"Seems likely." + +"Come! Come, Dave! Be cheerful. If they meet us at the ford or +anywhere else we'll brush 'em aside. That big body of French regulars +from Canada hasn't come--we know that--and there isn't force enough in +Duquesne to withstand us." + +Willet did not say anything more, but his steps were not at all +buoyant as they walked back toward the camp. Robert, lying on a +blanket, slept soundly before one of the fires, but awoke at dawn, and +took breakfast with Willet, Tayoga, Grosvenor and the two young +Virginians, Stuart and Cabell. + +"We'll be in Duquesne tonight," said the sanguine Stuart. + +"In very truth we will," said the equally confident Grosvenor. + +The dawn came clear and brilliant, and the army advanced, to the music +of a fine band. The light cavalry led the way, then came a detachment +of sailors who had been loaned by Admiral Keppel, followed by the +English regulars in red and the Virginians in blue. Behind them came +the cannon, the packhorses, and all the elements that make up the +train of an army. + +It was a gay and inspiriting sight, especially so to youth, and +Robert's heart thrilled as he looked. The hour of triumph had come at +last. Away with the forebodings of Willet! Here was the might of +England and the colonies, and, brave and cunning as St. Luc and +Beaujeu and the other Frenchmen might be their bravery and cunning +would avail them nothing. + +They marched on all the morning, a long and brilliant line of red and +blue and brown, and nothing happened. The forest on either side of +them was still silent and tenantless, and they expected in a few more +hours to see the fort they had come so far to take. The heavens +themselves were propitious. Only little white clouds were to be seen +in the sky of dazzling blue, and the green forest, stirred by a gentle +wind, waved its boughs at them in friendly fashion. + +About noon they approached the river, and Gage leading a strong +advance guard across it, found no enemy on the other side, puzzling +and also pleasing news. The foe, whom they had expected to find in +this formidable position, seemed to have melted away. No trace of him +could be found in the forest, and to many it appeared that the road to +Fort Duquesne lay open. + +"They've concluded our force is too great and have abandoned the +fort," said Robert. "I can't make anything else of it, Dave." + +"It does look like it," said the hunter doubtfully. "I certainly +thought they would meet us here. The ford is the place of places for a +defensive battle." + +Gage made his report to Braddock, confirming the general in his belief +that the French and Indians would not dare to meet him, and that the +dangers of the wilderness had been overrated. The order to resume the +march was given and the trumpets in the advance sang merrily, the +silent woods giving back their echoes in faint musical notes. The +afternoon that had now come was as brilliant as the morning. A great +sun blazed down from a sky of cloudless blue, deepening and +intensifying the green of the forest, the red uniforms of the British +and the blue uniforms of the Virginians. Robert again admired the +sight. The army marched as if on parade, and it presented a splendid +spectacle. + +The head of the column entered the shallows, and soon the long line +was passing the river. Robert had a lingering belief that the bullets +would rain upon them in the water, but nothing stirred in the forest +beyond. The head of the column emerged upon the opposite bank, and +then its long red and blue length trailed slowly after. Robert and his +comrades crossed in a wagon. They had wanted to go into the woods, +seeking for the enemy, but the orders of Braddock, who wished to keep +all his force together, held them. + +The entire army was now across, and, within the shade of the forest, +the general ordered a short period for rest and food, before they +completed the few miles that yet separated them from Fort +Duquesne. The troops were in great spirits. They might have been held +at the dangerous ford, they thought, but now that it had been passed +without resistance the woods could offer nothing able to stop them. + +"What has become of your warlike Frenchmen, Mr. Willet?" asked +Grosvenor. "So far as this campaign is concerned they seem to excel as +runners rather than warriors." + +"I confess that I'm surprised, Mr. Grosvenor," replied the +hunter. "Beaujeu, St. Luc and Dumas are not the men to make a carpet +of roses for us to march on. There is something here that does not +meet the eye. What say you, Tayoga?" + +"I like it not," replied the Onondaga. "In war I fear the forest when +it is silent." + +Near them a small circle of land had been cleared and in it stood a +house, lone and deserted. It had been built by a trader named Fraser +and in it Washington, who had visited it once before on a former +mission, and one or two others sat, during the period of rest and +refreshment. The young Virginian, despite his great frame and gigantic +strength, was so much wasted by fever that, when he came forth to +remount, he was barely able to keep his place in his saddle. + +Now the merry trumpets sang again and the red and blue column, lifting +itself up, resumed its march along the trail through the forest toward +Duquesne. The river was on one side and a line of high hills on the +other, but the forest everywhere was dense and in its heaviest +foliage. Braddock, despite the safe passage of the ford, was not +reckless. A troop of guides and Virginia light horsemen led the way. A +hundred yards behind them came the vanguard, then Gage with a picked +body of British troops, after them the axmen, who had done such great +work, behind them the main body of the artillery, the wagons and the +packhorses, while a strong force of regulars and Virginians closed up +the rear. Scouts and skirmishers ranged the flanks, though they were +ordered to go not more than a few hundred yards away. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were with the guides at the very apex of the +column, and they continually searched the forests and the thickets +with keen eyes for a possible enemy. But all was quiet there. The +game, frightened by the advancing army, had gone away. Not a leaf, not +a bough stirred. The blazing sun, now near the zenith, poured down +fiery rays and it was hot in the shade of the great trees that grew so +closely together. + +Robert and the other scouts and guides in the apex marched on +soundless feet, but he heard close behind him the tread of the +Virginia light horsemen, behind them the steady march of the regulars +under Gage, and behind them the deep hum and murmur of the army, the +creaking of wheels and the clank of the great guns. Despite the +following sounds he was conscious all the time of the deep, intense +silence in the forest on either side of him. The birds, like the game, +had gone away, and there was no flash of blue or of flame among the +green leaves. + +"There's a dip just ahead," said Willet, pointing to a wide ravine +filled with bushes that ran directly across the trail. + +They continued their steady advance, and Robert's heart fluttered, but +when they came to the ravine they found it empty of everything save +the bushes, and the scouts and guides, plunging into it, crossed to +the other side. The light horsemen of Virginia followed, after them +Gage's regulars and then the main army drew on its red and blue +length, expecting to cross in the same way. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet, leading, entered the deep forest +again. Some chance had put young Lennox slightly in advance of his +comrades, but suddenly he stopped. A short distance ahead a figure +bounded across the trail and disappeared in the thicket. It was only a +flitting glimpse, but he recognized St. Luc, the athletic figure, the +fair hair and the strong face. + +"St. Luc!" he exclaimed. "Did you see, Dave? Did you see?" + +"Aye, I saw," said the hunter, "and the enemy is here!" + +He whirled about, threw up his arms and shouted to the column to +stop. At the same moment, a terrible cry, the long fierce war whoop of +the savages, burst from the forest, filled the air and came back in +ferocious echoes. Then a deadly fire of rifles and muskets was poured +from both right and left upon the marching column. Men and horses went +down, and cries of pain and surprise blended with the war whoop of the +savages which swelled and fell again. + +Robert and his comrades had thrown themselves flat upon the ground at +the first fire, and escaped the bullets. Now they rose to their +knees, and began to send their own bullets at the flitting forms among +the trees and bushes. Robert caught glimpses of the savages, naked to +the waist, coated thickly with war paint, their fierce eyes gleaming, +and now and then he saw a man in French uniform passing among them and +encouraging them. He saw one gigantic figure which he knew to be that +of Tandakora, and he raised his reloaded rifle to fire at him, but the +Ojibway was gone. + +Surprised in the ominous forest, the British and the Virginians +nevertheless showed a courage worthy of all praise. Gage formed his +regulars on the trail, and they sent volley after volley into the +dense shades on either side, the big muskets thundering together like +cannon. Leaves and twigs and little boughs fell in showers before +their bullets, but whether they struck any of the foe they did not +know. The smoke soon rose in clouds and added to the dimness and +obscurity of the forest. + +"A great noise," shouted Tayoga in Robert's ear, "but it does not hurt +the enemy, who sees his target and sends his bullets against it!" + +The soldiers were dropping fast and the bullets of the French and the +savages were coming from their coverts in a deadly rain. Robert, +Willet and Tayoga, with the wisdom of the wilderness, remained +crouched at the edge of the trail, but in shelter, and did not fire +until they saw an enemy upon whom to draw the trigger. Then a deeper +roar was added to the thundering of the big muskets, as Braddock +brought up the cannon, and they began to sweep the forest. The English +troops, eager to get at the foe, crowded forward, shouting "God save +the King!" and the cheers of the Virginians joined with them. + +"We'll win! We'll win!" cried Robert. "They can't stop such brave men +as ours!" + +But the fire of the French and the savages was increasing in volume +and accuracy. The bullets and cannon balls of the English and +Americans fired almost at random were passing over their heads, but +the great column of scarlet and blue on the trail formed a target +which the leaden missiles could not miss. Continually shouting the war +whoop, exultant now with the joy of expected triumph, the savages +hovered on either flank of Braddock's army like a swarm of bees, but +with a sting far more deadly. The brave and wily Beaujeu had been +killed in the first minute of the battle, but St. Luc, Dumas and +Ligneris, equally brave and wily, directed the onset, and the huge +Tandakora raged before his warriors. + +The head of the British column was destroyed, and the three crept back +toward Gage's regulars, but the fire of the enemy was now spreading +along both flanks of the column to its full length. Robert remembered +the warning words of St. Luc. Every twig and leaf in the forest was +spouting death. Gage's regulars, raked by a terrible fire, and in +danger of complete destruction, were compelled to retreat upon the +main body, and, to their infinite mortification, abandon two cannon, +which the savages seized with fierce shouts of joy and dragged into +the woods. + +"It goes ill," said Willet, as the terrible forest, raining death from +every side, seemed to close in on them like the shadow of +doom. Braddock, hearing the tremendous fire ahead, rushed forward his +own immediate troops as fast as possible, and meeting Gage's +retreating men, the two bodies became a great mass of scarlet in the +forest, upon which French and Indian bullets, that could not miss, +beat like a storm of hail. The shouts and cheers of the regulars +ceased. In an appalling situation, the like of which they had never +known before, hemmed in on every side by an unseen death, they fell +into confusion, but they did not lose courage. The savage ring now +enclosed the whole army, and to stand and to retreat alike meant +death. + +The British charged with the bayonet into the thickets. The Indians +melted away before them, and, when the exhausted regulars came back +into the trail, the Indians rushed after them, still pouring in a +murderous fire, and making the forest ring with the ferocious war +whoop. The Virginians, knowing the warfare of the wilderness, began to +take to the shelter of the trees, from which they could fire at the +enemy. The brave though mistaken Braddock fiercely ordered them out +again. A score lying behind a fallen trunk and, matching the savages +at their own game, were mistaken by the regulars for the foe, and were +fired upon with deadly effect. Other regulars who tried to imitate the +hostile tactics were set upon by Braddock himself who beat them with +the flat of his sword and drove them back into the open trail, where +the rain of bullets fell directly upon them. + +Robert looked upon the scene and he found it awful to the last +degree. The bodies of the dead in red or blue lay everywhere. +Officers, English and Virginian, ran here and there begging +and praying their troops to stand and form in order. "Fire +upon the enemy!" they shouted. "Show us somebody to fire at and we'll +fire," the men shouted back. The confusion was deepening, and the +signs of a panic were appearing. In the forest the circle of Indians, +mad with battle and the greatest taking of scalps they had ever known, +pressed closer and closer, and sent sheets of bullets into the huddled +mass. Many of them leaped in and scalped the fallen before the eyes of +the horrified soldiers. The yelling never ceased, and it was so +terrific that the few British officers who survived declared that they +would never forget it to their dying day. + +Among the officers the mortality was now frightful. The brave Sir +Peter Halket was shot dead, and his young son, the lieutenant, rushing +to raise up his body, was killed and fell by his side. The youthful +Shirley, Braddock's secretary, received a bullet in his brain and died +instantly. Out of eighty-six officers sixty-three were down. +Washington alone seemed to bear a charmed life. Two horses were +killed under him and four bullets pierced his clothing. Braddock +galloped back and forth, cursing and shouting to his men, and showing +undaunted courage. Robert believed that he never really understood +what was happening, that the deadly nature of the surprise and its +appalling completeness left him dazed. + +How long Robert stood at the edge of the circle of death and fired +into the bushes he never knew, but it seemed to him that almost an +eternity had passed, when Tayoga seized him by the arm and shouted in +his ear. + +"It is finished! Our army has perished! Come, Lennox!" + +He wiped the smoke from his eyes, and saw that the mass in red and +blue was much smaller. Braddock was still on his horse, and, at the +insistence of his officers, he was at last giving the command to +retreat. Just as the trumpet sounded that note of defeat he was shot +through the body and fell to the ground where, in his rage and +despair, he begged the men to leave him to die alone. But two of the +Virginia officers lifted him up and bore him toward the rear. Then the +army that had fought so long against an invisible foe broke into a +panic, that is what was left of it, as two thirds of its numbers had +already been killed or wounded. Shouting with horror and ignoring +their officers, they rushed for the river. + +Everything was lost, cannon and baggage were abandoned, and often +rifles and muskets were thrown away. Into the water they rushed, and +the Indians, who had followed howling like wolves, stopped, though +they fired at the fleeing men in the stream. + +As the retreat began, Robert, Tayoga and Willet, whom some miracle +seemed to preserve from harm, joined the Virginians who covered the +rear, and, as fast as they could reload their rifles, they fired at +the demon horde that pressed closer and closer, and that never ceased +to cut down the fleeing army. It was much like a ghastly dream to +Robert. Nothing was real, except his overwhelming sense of horror. Men +fell around him, and he wondered why he did not fall too, but he was +untouched, and Willet and Tayoga also were unwounded. He saw near him +young Stuart who had lost his horse long since, but who had snatched a +rifle from a fallen soldier, and who was fighting gallantly on foot. + +"Who would have thought it?" exclaimed the Virginian. "An army such +as ours, to be beaten, nay, to be destroyed, by a swarm of savages!" + +"But don't forget the Frenchmen!" shouted Robert in reply. "They're +directing!" + +"Which is no consolation to us," cried Stuart. He said something else, +but it was lost in the tremendous firing and yelling of the Indians, +who were now only a score of yards away from the devoted rear guard +that was doing its best to protect the flying and confused mass of +soldiers. + +Robert discharged his bullet at a brown face and then, as he walked +backward, he tripped and fell over a root. He sprang up at once, but +in an instant a gigantic figure bounded out of the fire and smoke, and +Tandakora, uttering a fierce shout of triumph, circled his tomahawk +swiftly above his head, preparatory to the mortal blow. But Tayoga, +quick as lightning, hurled his pistol with all his might. It struck +the huge Ojibway on the head with such force that the tomahawk fell +from his hand, and he staggered back into the smoke. + +"Tayoga, again I thank you!" cried Robert. + +"You will do the same for me," said the Onondaga, and then they too +were lost in the smoke, as with the rear guard of Virginians they +followed the retreating army. + +Robert and his comrades, swept on in the press, crossed the river with +the others and gained the farther shore unhurt. Willet looked back at +the woods, which still flamed with the hostile rifles, and shuddered. + +"It's worse than anything of which I ever dreamed," he said. "Now the +tomahawk and the scalping knife will sweep the border from Canada to +Carolina." + +The panic was stopped at last and the broken remnants of the army, +covered by the Virginians who understood the forest, began their +retreat. Braddock died the next day, his last words being, "We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Washington, Orme, +Morris and the others carried the news of the great defeat to Virginia +and Pennsylvania, whence it was sent to England, to be received there +at first with incredulity, men saying that such a thing was +impossible. But England too was soon to be in mourning, because so +many of her bravest had fallen at the hands of an invisible foe in the +far American wilderness. + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga followed the retreating army only a short +distance beyond the Monongahela. They saw that Grosvenor, Stuart and +Cabell had escaped with slight wounds, and, slipping quietly into the +forest, they circled about Fort Duquesne, seeing the lights where the +Indians were burning their wretched prisoners alive, and then plunging +again into the woods. + +Late at night they lay down in a dense covert, and exhausted, +slept. They rose at dawn, and tried to shake off the horror. + +"Be of good courage, Robert," said Willet. "It's a terrible blow, but +England and the colonies have not yet gathered their full strength." + +"That is so," said Tayoga. "Our sachems tell us that he who wins the +first victory does not always win the last." + +A bird on a bough over their heads began to sing a song of greeting to +the new day, and Robert hoped and believed. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Shadow of the North, by Joseph A. 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