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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/18774-8.txt b/18774-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6d89a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/18774-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11367 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sun Of Quebec, 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 Sun Of Quebec + A Story of a Great Crisis + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18774] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUN OF QUEBEC *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Nash, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE SUN OF QUEBEC + + A STORY OF A GREAT CRISIS + + + BY + + JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + AUTHOR OF + "LORDS OF THE WILD," "THE GREAT SIOUX TRAIL," ETC. + + + APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC. + NEW YORK + + + COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + + + _All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not + be reproduced in any form without permission of the + publishers._ + + + Copyright, 1947, by Sallie B. Altsheler + + Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Sun of Quebec" is the sixth and closing volume of the French and +Indian War Series of which the predecessors have been "The Hunters of +the Hills," "The Shadow of the North," "The Rulers of the Lakes," "The +Masters of the Peaks," and "The Lords of the Wild." The important +characters in the earlier books reappear, and the mystery in the life of +Robert Lennox, the central figure in all the romances, is solved. + + + + +CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + + +ROBERT LENNOX A lad of unknown origin + +TAYOGA A young Onondaga warrior + +DAVID WILLET A hunter + +RAYMOND LOUIS DE ST. LUC A brilliant French officer + +AGUSTE DE COURCELLES A French officer + +FRANÇOIS DE JUMONVILLE A French officer + +LOUIS DE GALISONNIÈRE A young French officer + +JEAN DE MÉZY A corrupt Frenchman + +ARMAND GLANDELET A young Frenchman + +PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo + +PHILIBERT DROUILLARD A French priest + +THE MARQUIS DUQUESNE Governor-General of Canada + +MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL Governor-General of Canada + +FRANÇOIS BIGOT Intendant of Canada + +MARQUIS DE MONTCALM French commander-in-chief + +DE LEVIS A French general + +BOURLAMAQUE A French general + +BOUGAINVILLE A French general + +ARMAND DUBOIS A follower of St. Luc + +M. DE CHATILLARD An old French Seigneur + +CHARLES LANGLADE A French partisan + +THE DOVE The Indian wife of Langlade + +TANDAKORA An Ojibway chief + +DAGANOWEDA A young Mohawk chief + +HENDRICK An old Mohawk chief + +BRADDOCK A British general + +ABERCROMBIE A British general + +WOLFE A British general + +COL. WILLIAM JOHNSON Anglo-American leader + +MOLLY BRANT Col. Wm. Johnson's Indian wife + +JOSEPH BRANT Young brother of Molly Brant, afterward + the great Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea + +ROBERT DINWIDDIE Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia + +WILLIAM SHIRLEY Governor of Massachusetts + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Famous American patriot + +JAMES COLDEN A young Philadelphia captain + +WILLIAM WILTON A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +HUGH CARSON A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +JACOBUS HUYSMAN An Albany burgher + +CATERINA Jacobus Huysman's cook + +ALEXANDER MCLEAN An Albany schoolmaster + +BENJAMIN HARDY A New York merchant + +JOHNATHAN PILLSBURY Clerk to Benjamin Hardy + +ADRIAN VAN ZOON A New York merchant + +THE SLAVER A nameless rover + +ACHILLE GARAY A French spy + +ALFRED GROSVENOR A young English officer + +JAMES CABELL A young Virginian + +WALTER STUART A young Virginian + +BLACK RIFLE A famous "Indian fighter" + +ELIHU STRONG A Massachusetts colonel + +ALAN HERVEY A New York financier + +STUART WHITE Captain of the British sloop, _Hawk_ + +JOHN LATHAM Lieutenant of the British sloop, _Hawk_ + +EDWARD CHARTERIS A young officer of the Royal Americans + +ZEBEDEE CRANE A young scout and forest runner + +ROBERT ROGERS Famous Captain of American Rangers + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I OLD FRIENDS 1 + + II THE CHEST OF DRAWERS 22 + + III THE PURSUIT OF GARAY 46 + + IV OUT TO SEA 66 + + V MUSIC IN THE MOONLIGHT 85 + + VI THE ISLAND 104 + + VII THE PIRATE'S WARNING 123 + +VIII MAKING THE BEST OF IT 142 + + IX THE VOICE IN THE AIR 158 + + X THE SLOOP OF WAR 176 + + XI BACK TO THE WORLD 193 + + XII THE WILDERNESS AGAIN 217 + +XIII THE REUNION 238 + + XIV BEFORE QUEBEC 263 + + XV THE LONE CHÂTEAU 284 + + XVI THE RECKONING 303 + + + + +THE SUN OF QUEBEC + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OLD FRIENDS + + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman walked to the window and looked out at the neat +red brick houses, the grass, now turning yellow, and the leaves, more +brown than green. He was troubled, in truth his heart lay very heavy +within him. He was thinking over the terrible news that had come so +swiftly, as evil report has a way of doing. But he had cause for +satisfaction, too, and recalling it, he turned to gaze once more upon +the two lads who, escaping so many perils, had arrived at the shelter of +his home. + +Robert and Tayoga were thin and worn, their clothing was soiled and +torn, but youth was youth and they were forgetting dangers past in a +splendid dinner that the fat Caterina was serving for them while Mynheer +Jacobus, her master, stood by and saw the good deed well done. + +The dining room, large and furnished solidly, was wonderful in its +neatness and comfort. The heavy mahogany of table, sideboard and chairs +was polished and gleaming. No trace of dirt was allowed to linger +anywhere. When the door to the adjoining kitchen opened, as Caterina +passed through, pleasant odors floated in, inciting the two to fresh +efforts at the trencher. It was all as it had been when they were young +boys living there, attending the school of Alexander McLean and +traveling by painful steps along the road to knowledge. In its snugness, +its security and the luxury it offered it was a wonderful contrast to +the dark forest, where death lurked in every bush. Robert drew a long +sigh of content and poured himself another cup of coffee. + +"And you escaped from the French after the great battle?" said Mynheer +Jacobus, asking the same question over and over again. + +"Yes, sir," replied Robert, "and it was not a difficult thing to do at +all. The victory of the French was so remarkable, and I think so +unexpected, that they were paying little attention to me. I just walked +out of their camp, and the only man I met was the Chevalier de St. Luc, +who did not seem at all interested in stopping me--a curious fact, but a +fact all the same." + +"A great leader and a fine man iss the Chevalier de St. Luc," said Mr. +Huysman. + +"He's both, as I've had many chances to learn, and I intend to know more +about him some day." + +"It may be that you will know even more than you think." + +Robert looked sharply at the burgher, and he was about to ask questions, +but he reflected that Mynheer Jacobus, if he were able to answer, would +be evasive like all the others and so he checked the words at his lips. + +"I suppose that time will disclose everything," he contented himself +with saying. "Meanwhile, I want to tell you, sir, that Tayoga and I +appreciate to the full your hospitality. It is noble, it always was +noble, as we've had ample occasion to discover." + +The full red face of Mynheer Jacobus bloomed into a smile. The corners +of his mouth turned up, and his eyes twinkled. + +"I must have had a premonition that you two were coming," he said, "and +so I stocked the larder. I remembered of old your appetites, a hunger +that could be satisfied only with great effort, and then could come back +again an hour later, as fresh and keen as ever. You are strong and +healthy boys, for which you should be grateful." + +"We are," said Robert, with great emphasis. + +"And you do not know whether Montcalm iss advancing with his army?" + +"We don't, sir, but is Albany alarmed?" + +"It iss! It iss alarmed very greatly. It wass not dreamed by any of us +that our army could be defeated, that magnificent army which I saw go +away to what I thought was certain victory. Ah, how could it have +happened? How could it have happened, Robert?" + +"We simply threw away our chances, sir. I saw it all. We underrated the +French. If we had brought up our big guns it would have been easy. There +was no lack of courage on the part of our men. I don't believe that +people of British blood ever showed greater bravery, and that means +bravery equal to anybody's." + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman sighed heavily. + +"What a waste! What a waste!" he said. "Now the army hass retreated and +the whole border iss uncovered. The tomahawk and scalping knife are at +work. Tales of slaughter come in efery day, and it iss said that +Montcalm iss advancing on Albany itself." + +"I don't believe, sir, that he will come," said Robert. "The French +numbers are much fewer than is generally supposed, and I can't think he +will dare to attack Albany." + +"It does not seem reasonable, but there iss great alarm. Many people are +leaving on the packets for New York. Who would have thought it? Who +could have thought it! But I mean to stay, and if Montcalm comes I will +help fight in the defense." + +"I knew you wouldn't leave, sir. But despite our defeat we've a powerful +army yet, and England and the Colonies will not sit down and just weep." + +"What you say iss so, Robert, my boy. I am not of English blood, but +when things look worst iss the time when England shows best, and the +people here are of the same breed. I do not despair. What did you say +had become of Willet?" + +"Shortly before we reached Albany he turned aside to see Sir William +Johnson. We had, too, with us, a young Englishman named Grosvenor, a +fine fellow, but he went at once to the English camp here to report for +duty. He was in the battle at Ticonderoga and he also will testify that +our army, although beaten, could have brought up its artillery and have +fought again in a day or two. It would have gained the victory, too." + +"I suppose so! I suppose so! But it did not fight again, and what might +have been did not happen. It means a longer war in this country and a +longer war all over the world. It spreads! It iss a great war, extending +to most of the civilized lands, the greatest war of modern times and +many think it will be the last war, but I know not. The character of +mankind does not change. What do you two boys mean to do?" + +"We have not decided yet," replied Robert, speaking for both. "We'll go +back to the war, of course, which means that we'll travel once more +toward the north, but we'll have to rest a few days." + +"And this house iss for you to rest in--a few days or many days, as you +please, though I hope it will be many. Caterina shall cook for you four, +five meals a day, if you wish, and much at every meal. I do not forget +how when you were little you raided the fruit trees, and the berry +bushes and the vines. Well, the fruit will soon be ripe again und I will +turn my back the other way. I will make that fat Caterina do the same, +and you and Tayoga can imagine that you are little boys once more." + +"I know you mean that, Mynheer Jacobus, and we thank you from the bottom +of our hearts," said Robert, as the moisture came into his eyes. + +"Here comes Master Alexander McLean," said Mr. Huysman, who had turned +back to the window. "He must have heard of your arrival and he wishes to +see if your perils in the woods have made you forget your ancient +history." + +In a minute or two Master McLean, tall, thin, reddish of hair, and +severe of gaze entered, his frosty blue eyes lighting up as he shook +hands with the boys, though his manner remained austere. + +"I heard that you had arrived after the great defeat at Ticonderoga," he +said, "and you are fortunate to have escaped with your lives. I rejoice +at it, but those who go into the woods in such times must expect great +perils. It is of course well for all our young men to offer their lives +now for their country, but I thought I saw in you at least, Robert +Lennox, the germ of a great scholar, and it would be a pity for you to +lose your life in some forest skirmish." + +"I thank you for the compliment," said Robert, "but as I was telling +Mynheer Jacobus I mean to go back into the woods." + +"I doubt it not. The young of this generation are wise in their own +conceit. It was hard enough to control Tayoga and you several years ago, +and I cannot expect to do it now. Doubtless all the knowledge that I +have been at such pains to instill into you will be lost in the +excitement of trail and camp." + +"I hope not, sir, though it's true that we've had some very stirring +times. When one is in imminent danger of his life he cannot think much +of his Latin, his Greek and his ancient history." + +The severe features of Master Alexander McLean wrinkled into a frown. + +"I do not know about that," he said. "Alexander the Great slept with his +Homer under his pillow, and doubtless he also carried the book with him +on his Asiatic campaigns, refreshing and strengthening his mind from +time to time with dips into its inspiring pages. There is no crisis in +which it is pardonable for you to forget your learning, though I fear me +much that you have done so. What was the date, Robert, of the fall of +Constantinople?" + +"Mahomet the Second entered it, sir, in the year 1453 A. D." + +"Very good. I begin to have more confidence in you. And why is Homer +considered a much greater poet than Virgil?" + +"More masculine, more powerful, sir, and far more original. In fact the +Romans in their literature, as in nearly all other arts, were merely +imitators of the Greeks." + +The face of Master McLean relaxed into a smile. + +"Excellent! Excellent!" he exclaimed. "You have done better than you +claimed for yourself, but modesty is an attribute that becomes the +young, and now I tell you again, Robert, that I am most glad you and +Tayoga have come safely out of the forest. I wish to inform you also +that Master Benjamin Hardy and his chief clerk, Jonathan Pillsbury, have +arrived from New York on the fast packet, _River Queen_, and even now +they are depositing their baggage at the George Inn, where they are +expecting to stay." + +Master Jacobus who had been silent while the schoolmaster talked, awoke +suddenly to life. + +"At the George Inn!" he exclaimed. "It iss a good inn, good enough for +anybody, but when friends of mine come to Albany they stay with me or I +take offense. Bide here, my friends, and I will go for them. Alexander, +sit with the lads and partake of refreshment while I am gone." + +He hastened from the room and Master McLean, upon being urged, joined +Robert and Tayoga at the table, where he showed that he too was a good +man at the board, thinness being no bar to appetite and capacity. As he +ate he asked the boys many questions, and they, knowing well his kindly +heart under his crusty manner, answered them all readily and freely. +Elderly and bookish though he was, his heart throbbed at the tale of the +great perils through which they had gone, and his face darkened when +Robert told anew the story of Ticonderoga. + +"It is our greatest defeat so far," he said, "and I hope our misfortunes +came to a climax there. We must have repayment for it. We must aim at +the heart of the French power, and that is Quebec. Instead of fighting +on the defense, Britain and her colonies must strike down Canada." + +"So it seems to me too, sir," said Robert. "We're permitting the Marquis +de Montcalm to make the fighting, to choose the fields of battle, and as +long as we do that we have to dance to his music. But, sir, that's only +my opinion. I would not presume to give it in the presence of my +superiors." + +"You've had much experience despite your youth and you're entitled to +your thoughts. But I hear heavy steps. 'Tis odds that it's Jacobus with +his friends." + +The door was opened and Mr. Huysman with many words of welcome ushered +in his guests, who being simple and strong men brought their own baggage +from the inn. Robert rose at once and faced Benjamin Hardy in whose eyes +shone an undoubted gladness. The merchant did not look a day older than +when Robert had last seen him in New York, and he was as robust and +hearty as ever. Jonathan Pillsbury, tall, thin and dressed with +meticulous care, also permitted himself a smile. + +"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Benjamin Hardy, dropping his baggage and +holding out two sinewy hands. "'Tis a delight to find you and Tayoga +here. I knew not what had become of you two, and I feared the worst, the +times being so perilous. Upon my word, we've quite a reunion!" + +Robert returned his powerful and friendly grasp. He was more than glad +to see him for several reasons; for his own sake, because he liked him +exceedingly, and because he was sure Master Benjamin held in his keeping +those secrets of his own life which he was yet to learn. + +"Sir," he said, "'tis not my house, though I've lived in it, and I know +that Mr. Huysman has already given you a most thorough welcome, so I add +that it's a delight to me to see you again. 'Twas a pleasant and most +memorable visit that Tayoga and I had at your home in New York." + +"And eventful enough, too. You came very near going to the Guineas on a +slave trip. That was the kind of hospitality I offered you." + +"No fault of yours, sir. I shall never forget the welcome you gave us in +New York. It warms my heart now to think of it." + +"I see you've not lost your gift of speech. Words continue to well from +your lips, and they're good words, too. But I talk overmuch myself. Here +is Jonathan waiting to speak to you. I told him I was coming to Albany. +'Upon what affair?' he asked. ''Tis secret,' I replied. 'Meaning you do +not want to tell me of its nature,' he said. 'Yes,' I replied. Then he +said, 'Whatever its gist, you'll need my presence and advice. I'm going +with you.' And here he is. Doubtless he is right." + +Jonathan Pillsbury clasped Robert's hand as warmly as he ever clasped +anybody's and permitted himself a second smile, which was his limit, and +only extraordinary occasions could elicit two. + +"Our conversation has been repeated with accuracy," he said. "I do not +yet know why I have come to Albany, but I feel sure it is well that I +have come." + +Mr. Huysman hustled about, his great red face glowing while fat Caterina +brought in more to eat. He insisted that the new guests sit at the table +and eat tremendously. It was a time when hospitality meant repeated +offerings of food, which in America was the most abundant of all things, +and Mr. Hardy and Mr. Pillsbury easily allowed themselves to be +persuaded. + +"And now, Robert, you must tell me something more about Dave," said the +merchant as they rose from the table. + +Young Lennox promptly narrated their adventures among the peaks and +about the lakes while the older men listened with breathless attention. +Nor did the story of the great hunter suffer in Robert's telling. He had +an immense admiration for Willet and he spoke of his deeds with such +vivid words and with so much imagery and embroidery that they seemed to +be enacted again there in that quiet room before the men who listened. + +"Ah, that is Dave! True as steel. As honest and brave as they ever make +'em," said Master Benjamin Hardy, when he had finished. "A man! a real +man if ever one walked this earth!" + +"And don't forget Tayoga here," said Robert. "The greatest trailer ever +born. He saved us more than once by his ability to read the faintest +sign the earth might yield." + +"When Dagaeoga begins to talk he never knows how to stop," said Tayoga; +"I but did the things all the warriors of my nation are taught to do. I +would be unworthy to call myself a member of the clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, if I could +not follow a trail. Peace, Dagaeoga!" + +Robert joined in the laugh, and then the men began to talk about the +prospects of an attack upon Albany by the French and Indians, though all +of them inclined to Robert's view that Montcalm would not try it. + +"As you were a prisoner among them you ought to know something about +their force, Robert," said Mr. Hardy. + +"I had opportunities to observe," replied the lad, "and from what I saw, +and from what I have since heard concerning our numbers I judge that we +were at least four to one, perhaps more. But we threw away all our +advantage when we came with bare breasts against their wooden wall and +sharpened boughs." + +"It is a painful thing to talk about and to think about, but Britain +never gives up. She marches over her mistakes and failures to triumph, +and we are bone of her bone. And you saw St. Luc!" + +"Often, sir. In the battle and in the preparations for it he was the +right arm of the Marquis de Montcalm. He is a master of forest war." + +"He is all that, Robert, my lad. A strange, a most brilliant man, he is +one of our most formidable enemies." + +"But a gallant one, sir. He did nothing to prevent my escape. I feel +that at Ticonderoga as well as elsewhere I am greatly in his debt." + +"Undoubtedly he favors you. It does not surprise me." + +Intense curiosity leaped up in Robert's heart once more. What was he to +St. Luc! What was St. Luc to him! All these elderly men seemed to hold a +secret that was hidden from him, and yet it concerned him most. His lips +twitched and he was about to ask a question, but he reflected that, as +always before, it would not be answered, it would be evaded, and he +restrained his eager spirit. He knew that all the men liked him, that +they had his good at heart, and that when the time came to speak they +would speak. The words that had risen to his lips were unspoken. + +Robert felt that his elders wanted to talk, that something they would +rather not tell to the lads was in their minds, and meanwhile the +brilliant sunshine and free air outside were calling to him and the +Onondaga. + +"I think," he said, addressing them all collectively, "that Tayoga and I +should go to see Lieutenant Grosvenor. He was our comrade in the +forest, and he has been somewhat overcome by his great hardships." + +"The idea would not be bad," said Master Benjamin Hardy. "Youth to +youth, and, while you are gone, we old fellows will talk of days long +ago as old fellows are wont to do." + +And so they did want him and Tayoga to go! He had divined their wishes +aright. He was quite sure, too, that when he and the Onondaga were away +the past would be very little in their minds. These active men in the +very prime of their powers were concerned most about the present and the +future. Well, whatever it was he was sure they would discuss it with +wisdom and foresight. + +"Come, Tayoga," he said. "Outdoors is calling to us." + +"And be sure that you return in time for supper," said Master Jacobus. +"This house is to be your home as long as you are in Albany. I should be +offended mortally if you went elsewhere." + +"No danger of that," said Robert. "Tayoga and I know a good home when we +find it. And we know friends, too, when we see them." + +It was a bit of sentiment, but he felt it very deeply and he saw that +all of the men looked pleased. As he and Tayoga went out he noticed that +they drew their chairs about the dining-room table that Caterina had +cleared, and before the door closed upon the two lads they were already +talking in low and earnest tones. + +"They have affairs of importance which are not for us," he said, when he +and the Onondaga were outside. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "The white people have their chiefs and sachems +like the nations of the Hodenosaunee, and their ranks are filled by age. +The young warriors are for the trail, the hunt, and the war path, and +not for the council. It is right that it should be thus. I do not wish +to be a chief or a sachem before my time. I am glad, Dagaeoga, to enjoy +youth, and let our elders do the hard thinking for us." + +"So am I," said Robert joyfully as he filled his lungs with draught +after draught of the fresh air. "No seat at the council for me! Not for +twenty years yet! Give me freedom and action! Let others do the planning +and take the responsibility!" + +He felt a great elation. His sanguine temperament had made a complete +rebound from the depression following Ticonderoga. Although he did not +know it the result was partly physical--good food and abundant rest, but +he did not seek to analyze the cause, the condition was sufficient. The +color in his cheeks deepened and his eyes glowed. + +"Dagaeoga is feeling very, very good," said Tayoga. + +"I am," replied Robert with emphasis. "I never felt better. I'm +forgetting Ticonderoga; instead, I'm beholding our army at Quebec, and +I'm seeing our flag wave over all Canada." + +"Dagaeoga sees what he wants to see." + +"It's not a bad plan. Then the lions die in your path." + +"It is so. Dagaeoga speaks a great truth. We will now see how Red Coat +feels." + +A portion of the army that had retreated from Ticonderoga was camped on +the flats near the town, and Robert and Tayoga walked swiftly toward the +tents. It was a much more silent force, British and American, than that +which had gone forth not so very long ago to what seemed certain +victory. Officers and men were angry. They felt that they had been +beaten when there was no reason why they should have been defeated. +Obeying orders, they had retreated in sullen silence, when they had felt +sure they could have gone on, fought a new battle, and have crushed +Montcalm. Now they waited impatiently for another call to advance on +Canada, and win back their lost laurels. Both lads felt the tension. + +"They are like the wounded bear," said Tayoga. "They feel very sore, and +they wish for revenge." + +They learned that Grosvenor was in his tent and soon found him there +lying upon his blankets. Some of the ruddy color was gone from his +cheeks, and he looked worn and thin. But he sat up, and welcomed Robert +and Tayoga joyously. + +"It's foolish of me to break down like this," he said, "but after we got +back to civilization something seemed to cave in. I hope you chaps won't +overlook the fact that I'm not as much used to the forest as you are, +and bear in mind that I did my best." + +"Red Coat's best was very good," said Tayoga in his grave, precise +manner. "Few who have been in the forest as little as he could have done +as much and have borne as much." + +"Do you really think so, Tayoga? You're not merely flattering me?" + +"Our wisest sachem would tell you so, Red Coat." + +"Thanks, my friend. You make me feel better. I was lucky enough to go +through the great battle with little hurt. It was a most ghastly +slaughter, and I still dream of it. I stood up all right until we got +back to Albany, and then I collapsed. But to-morrow I'll be on my feet +again. Your friends, Colden, Wilton and Carson are all here. They showed +great courage and they have some slight wounds, but not enough to +trouble 'em." + +Robert found the Philadelphians a little later, and they all went back +to Grosvenor's tent, where they were joined in a half hour by the +Virginians, Walter Stuart and James Cabell, who had been with them in +Braddock's defeat and whom Robert had known at Williamsburg. It was a +tight squeeze for them all in the tent, but there was another and joyous +reunion. Youth responded to youth and hope was high. + +"Stuart and I did not arrive in time for Ticonderoga," said Cabell, "but +we mean to be in the next great battle." + +"So we do!" exclaimed Cabell. "The Old Dominion had a taste of defeat at +Fort Duquesne and you've had the like here. Now we'll all wait and see +how victory agrees with us." + +"Some of us have been in at both defeats," said Grosvenor rather sadly. + +But the presence of so many friends and the cheerful talk made him feel +so much better that he averred his ability to go anywhere and do +anything at once. + +"You've leave of absence if you wish it?" asked Cabell. + +"For several days more," replied Grosvenor. + +"Then let's all go into the town. I haven't had a good look at Albany +yet. I want to see if it's as fine a place as Williamsburg." + +"It's larger," said Robert. + +"But size is not everything. That's where you northern people make your +mistake." + +"But you'll admit that Philadelphia's a fine city, won't you?" said +Colden, "and you know it's the largest in the colonies." + +"But it's comparatively near to Virginia," said Cabell briskly, "and our +influence works wonders." + +"We've our own conceit in Philadelphia," said Wilton, "but conceit and +Virginia are just the same words, though they may have a different +sound." + +"Come on to the George Inn," said Grosvenor, "and you can argue it out +there. Old England likes to see this healthy rivalry among her children. +She doesn't mind your being bumptious." + +"We're bumptious, because we're like our parent," said Cabell. "It's a +matter of inheritance." + +"Let the George Inn settle it. Come on, lads." + +Grosvenor was feeling better and better. He was adaptable and this was a +sprightly group, full of kindred spirits. The Virginians were as English +as he was, and the others nearly as much so. He had acquitted himself +well in the New World, in fields with which he was unfamiliar, and these +lads were friends. Danger and hardships faded quite away into a +forgotten past. He was strong and well once more. + +"You shall all be my guests at the George Inn!" he exclaimed. "We shall +have refreshment and talk, plenty of both." + +"As we Virginians are the oldest people in the colonies, it's the right +of Stuart and myself to be the hosts," said Cabell. + +"Aye, so 'tis," said Stuart. + +"As we're from Philadelphia, the greatest and finest city in the +country, it's the right of Wilton, Carson and myself," said Colden. + +But Grosvenor was firm. He had given the invitation first, he said, and +nobody could take the privilege from him. So the others yielded +gracefully, and in high good humor the eight, saying much and humming +little songs, walked across the fields from the camp and into the town. +Robert noticed the bustling life of Albany with approval. The forest +made its appeal to him, and the city made another and different but +quite as strong appeal. The old Fort Orange of the Dutch was crowded +now, not only with troops but with all the forms of industry that +follow in the train of an army. The thrifty Dutch, despite their +apprehension over the coming of the French, were busy buying, selling, +and between battles much money was made. + +The George Inn, a low building but long and substantial was down by the +river. The great doors stood wide open and much life flowed in and out, +showing that it too profited by war. The eight found seats at a table on +a sanded floor, and contented themselves with lemonade, which they drank +slowly, while they talked and looked. + +It was a motley and strange throng; American, English, Dutch, German, +Indian, Swedish. A half dozen languages were heard in the great room, +forerunner of the many elements that were to enter in the composition of +the American nation. And the crowd was already cosmopolitan. Difference +of race attracted no attention. Men took no notice of Tayoga because he +was an Indian, unless to admire his tall, straight figure and proud +carriage. Albany had known the Iroquois a century and a half. + +Robert's spirits, like Grovenor's, mounted. Here he was with many +friends of his own age and kindred mind. Everything took on the color of +rose. All of them were talking, but his own gift of speech was the +finest. He clothed narrative with metaphor and illustration until it +became so vivid that the others were glad to fall silent and listen to +him, though Robert himself was unconscious of the fact. They made him +relate once more his story of the battle as he saw it from inside the +French lines at Ticonderoga, and, just as he came to the end of the +tale, he caught a glimpse of a tall man entering the tavern. + +"Tell us what you saw from the other side," he said to Grosvenor, and +they compelled the reluctant Englishman to talk. Then Robert turned his +eyes toward the tall man who was now sitting at a small table in the +corner and drinking from a long glass. Something familiar in his walk +had caught his attention as he came in, and, under cover of Grosvenor's +talk, he wished to observe him again without being noticed even by his +own comrades. + +The stranger was sitting with the side of his face to Robert, and his +features were not well disclosed. His dress was that of a seafaring man, +rough but rather good in texture, and a belt held a long dirk in a +scabbard which was usual at that time. The hand that raised the long +glass to his lips was large, red and powerful. Robert felt that his +first belief was correct. He had seen him before somewhere, though he +could not yet recall where, but when he turned his head presently he +knew. They had met under such circumstances that neither was ever likely +to forget time or place. + +He was amazed that the stranger had come so boldly into Albany, but +second thought told him that there was no proof against him, it was +merely Robert's word against his. Among people absorbed in a great war +his own story would seem wildly improbable and the stranger's would have +all the savor of truth. But he knew that he could not be mistaken. He +saw now the spare face, clean shaven, and the hard eyes, set close +together, that he remembered so well. + +Robert did not know what to do. He listened for a little while to +Grosvenor's narrative but his attention wandered back to the seafaring +man. Then he decided. + +"Will you fellows talk on and excuse me for a few minutes?" he said. + +"What is it, Lennox?" asked Colden. + +"I see an acquaintance on the other side of the room. I wish to speak to +him." + +"That being the case, we'll let you go, but we'll miss you. Hurry back." + +"I'll stay only a few minutes. It's an old friend and I must have a +little talk with him." + +He walked with light steps across the room which was crowded, humming +with many voices, the air heavy with smoke. The man was still at the +small table, and, opposite him, was an empty chair in which Robert sat +deliberately, putting his elbows on the table, and staring into the hard +blue eyes. + +"I'm Peter Smith," he said. "You remember me?" + +There was a flicker of surprise in the Captain's face, but nothing more. + +"Oh, yes, Peter," he said. "I know you, but I was not looking for you +just at this moment." + +"But I'm here." + +"Perhaps you're coming back to your duty, is that it? Well, I'm glad. +I've another ship now, and though you're a runaway seaman I can afford +to let bygones be bygones." + +"I hope your vessel has changed her trade. I don't think I'd care to +sail again on a slaver." + +"Always a particular sort of chap you were, Peter. It's asking a lot for +me to change the business of my ship to suit you." + +"But not too much." + +The conversation was carried on in an ordinary tone. Neither raised his +voice a particle. Nobody took any notice. His own comrades, engrossed in +lively talk, seemed to have forgotten Robert for the moment, and he felt +that he was master of the situation. Certainly the slaver would be more +uncomfortable than he. + +"I was wondering," he said, "how long you mean to stay in Albany." + +"It's a pleasant town," said the man, "as I have cause to know since +I've been here before. I may remain quite a while. Still, I shall decide +wholly according to my taste." + +"But there is a certain element of danger." + +"Oh, the war! I don't think the French even if they come to Albany will +have a chance to take me." + +"I didn't have the war in mind. There are other risks of which I think +that I, Peter Smith, who sailed with you once before ought to warn you." + +"It's good of you, Peter, to think so much of my safety, but I don't +believe I've any cause for fear. I've always been able to take care of +myself." + +The last words were said with a little snap, and Robert knew they were +meant as a defiance, but he appeared not to notice. + +"Ah, well you've shown that you know how to look out for number one," he +said. "I'm only Peter Smith, a humble seaman, but I've the same faculty. +I bid you good-day." + +"Good-day, Peter. I hope there's no ill feeling between us, and that +each will have whatever he deserves!" + +Cool! wonderfully cool, Robert thought, but he replied merely: "I trust +so, too, and in that case it is easy to surmise what one of us would +get." + +He sauntered back to his comrades, and, lest he attract their attention, +he did not look toward the slaver again for a minute or two. When he +glanced in that direction he saw the man walking toward the door, not in +any hurried manner, but as if he had all the time in the world, and need +fear nobody. Cool! wonderfully cool, Robert thought a second time. + +The slaver went out, and Robert thought he caught a glimpse of a man +meeting him, a second man in whose figure also there was something +familiar. They were gone in an instant, and he was tempted to spring up +and follow them, because the figure of which he had seen but a little at +the door reminded him nevertheless of Achille Garay, the spy. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CHEST OF DRAWERS + + +It was but a fleeting glimpse that Robert had of the second man, but he +believed that it was Garay. He not only looked like the spy, but he was +convinced that it was really he. After the first moment or two he did +not doubt his identity, and making an excuse that he wanted a little +fresh air and would return in an instant he walked quickly to the door. +He caught another and fugitive glimpse of two men, one tall and the +other short, walking away together, and he could not doubt that they +were the slaver and the spy. + +Had he been alone Robert would have followed them, though he was quite +certain that Garay must have had some place of sure refuge, else he +would not have ventured into Albany. Even with that recourse his act was +uncommonly bold. If the slaver was daring, the spy was yet more so. +There was nothing against the slaver that they could prove, but the spy +put his neck in the noose. + +Robert whistled softly to himself, and he was very thoughtful. Willet, +Tayoga and he had been so completely victorious over Garay in the forest +that perhaps he had underrated him. Maybe he was a man to be feared. His +daring appearance in Albany must be fortified by supreme cunning, and +his alliance with the slaver implied a plan. Robert believed that the +plan, or a part of it at least, was directed against himself. Well, what +if it was? He could meet it, and he was not afraid. He had overcome +other perils, and he had friends, as true and steadfast as were ever +held to any man by hooks of steel. His heart beat high, he was in a +glow, his whole soul leaped forward to meet prospective danger. + +He went back into the inn and took his seat with the others. Now it was +Stuart who was talking, telling them of life in the great Southern +colony and of its delights, of the big houses, of the fields of tobacco, +of the horse races, of the long visits to neighbors, and how all who +were anybody were related, making Virginia one huge family. + +"Now Cabell and I," he said, "belong to the same clan. My mother and his +father are third cousins, which makes us fourth cousins, or fifth is it? +But whether fourth or fifth, we're cousins just the same. All the people +of our blood are supposed to stand together, and do stand together. Oh, +it has its delights! It makes us sufficient unto ourselves! The old +Dominion is a world in itself, complete in all its parts." + +"But you have to come to Philadelphia to see a great city and get a +taste of metropolitan life," said Colden. + +Then a discussion, friendly but warm arose as to the respective merits +of the Virginia and Pennsylvania provinces, and when it was at its +height and the attention of all the others was absorbed in it, Tayoga +leaned over and whispered to Robert: + +"What did you see at the door, Dagaeoga?" + +Robert was startled. So, the Onondago was watching, after all. He might +have known that nothing would escape his attention. + +"I saw Garay, the spy," he replied in the same tone. + +"And the man at the little table was the captain of the slave ship on +which you were taken?" + +"The same." + +"It bodes ill, Dagaeoga. You must watch." + +"I will, Tayoga." + +The crowd in the great room of the George Inn increased and the young +group remained, eager to watch it. It was a reflex of the life in the +colonies, at the seat of conflict, and throbbing with all the emotions +of a great war that enveloped nearly the whole civilized world. A burly +fellow, dressed as a teamster, finally made his voice heard above the +others. + +"I tell you men," he said, "that we must give up Albany! Our army has +been cut to pieces! Montcalm is advancing with twenty thousand French +regulars, and swarms of Indians! They control all of Lake George as well +as Champlain! Hundreds of settlers have already fallen before the +tomahawk, and houses are burning along the whole border! I have it from +them that have seen the fires." + +There was a sudden hush in the crowd, followed by an alarmed murmur. The +man's emphasis and his startling statements made an impression. + +"Go on, Dobbs! Tell us about it!" said one. + +"What do you know?" asked another. + +He stood up, a great tall man with a red face. + +"My cousin has been in the north," he said, "and he's seen rangers, some +that have just escaped from the Indians, barely saving their hair. He +heard from them that the King of France has sent a big army to Canada, +and that another just as big is on the way. It won't be a week before +you see the French flag from the hills of Albany, and wise men are +already packing ready to go to New York." + +There was another alarmed hush. + +"This fellow must be stopped," said Colden. "He'll start a panic." + +"Dagaeoga has the gift of words," whispered a voice in Robert's ear, +"and now is the time to use it." + +Nothing more was needed. Robert was on fire in an instant, and, standing +upon his chair, asked for attention. + +"Your pardon a moment, Mr. Dobbs," he said, "if I interrupt you." + +"Why it's only a boy!" a man exclaimed. + +"A boy, it's true," said Robert, who now felt himself the center of all +eyes, and who, as usual, responded with all his faculties to such an +opportunity, "but I was present at the Battle of Ticonderoga, and +perhaps I've a chance to correct a few errors into which our friend, Mr. +Dobbs, has fallen." + +"What are those errors?" asked the man in a surly tone, not relishing +his loss of the stage. + +"I'll come to them promptly," said Robert in his mellowest tones. +"They're just trifles, Mr. Dobbs, but still trifles should be corrected. +I stood with the French army in the battle, and I know something about +its numbers, which are about one-sixth of what Mr. Dobbs claims them to +be." + +"What were you doing with the French?" + +"I happened to be a prisoner, Mr. Dobbs. I escaped a day or two later. +But here are with me young officers of ours who were in the attack. +Several of them felt the sting of French bullets on that day, so when +they tell you what happened they know what they're talking about. Their +reports don't come from their cousins, but are the product of their own +eyes and ears. Peace, Mr. Dobbs! I've the floor, or rather the chair, +and I must tell the facts. We were defeated at Ticonderoga, it's true, +but we were not cut to pieces. Our generals failed to bring up our +artillery. They underrated the French. They went with rifles, muskets +and bayonets alone against breastworks, defended by a valiant foe, for +the French are valiant, and they paid the price. But our army is in +existence and it's as brave as ever. Albany is in no danger. Don't be +alarmed." + +"You're but a boy. You don't know," growled Dobbs. + +"Peace, Mr. Dobbs! Give us peace. A boy who has seen may know better +than a man who has not seen. I tell you once again, friends, that the +Marquis de Montcalm will not appear before Albany. It's a long way from +Ticonderoga to this city, too long a road for the French army to travel. +Wise men are not packing for flight to New York. Wise men are staying +right here." + +"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed the Virginians and Philadelphians and Grosvenor, +and "Hear! Hear!" was repeated from the crowd. Dobbs' red face grew +redder, but now he was silent. + +"My friends," continued Robert in his golden persuasive tones, "you're +not afraid, you're all brave men, but you must guard against panic. +Experience tells you that rumor is irresponsible, that, as it spreads, +it grows. We're going to learn from our defeat. The French are as near +to Albany as they'll ever come. The war is not going to move southward. +Its progress instead will be toward Quebec. Remember that panic is +always a bad counselor; but that courage is ever a good one. Things are +never as bad as they look." + +"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed his young comrades again, and the echoes from +the crowd were more numerous than before. The teamster began to draw +back and presently slipped out of the door. Then Robert sat down amid +great applause, blushing somewhat because he had been carried away by +his feelings and apologizing to the others for making himself +conspicuous. + +"Nothing to apologize for," exclaimed Cabell. "'Twas well done, a good +speech at the right time. You've the gift of oratory, Lennox. You should +come to Virginia to live, after we've defeated the French. Our province +is devoted to oratory. You've the gift of golden speech, and the people +will follow you." + +"I'm afraid I've made an enemy of that man, Dobbs," said Robert, "and I +had enemies enough already." + +His mind went back to the slaver and Garay, and he was troubled. + +"We've had our little triumph here, thanks to Lennox," said Colden, "and +it seems to me now that we've about exhausted the possibilities of the +George. Besides, the air is getting thick. Let's go outside." + +Grosvenor paid the score and they departed, a cheer following them. Here +were young officers who had fought well, and the men in the George were +willing to show respect. + +"I think I'd better return to camp now," said Grosvenor. + +"We'll go with you," said Colden, speaking for the Pennsylvanians. + +"Stuart and I are detached for the present," said Cabell. "We secured a +transfer from our command in Virginia, and we're hoping for commissions +in the Royal Americans, and more active service, since the whole tide of +war seems to have shifted to the north rather than the west." + +"The Royal Americans are fine men," said Robert. "Though raised in the +colonies, they rank with the British regulars. I had a good friend in +one of the regiments, Edward Charteris, of New York, but he was taken at +Ticonderoga. I saw the French bring him in a prisoner. I suppose they're +holding him in Quebec now." + +"Then we'll rescue him when we take Quebec," said Stuart valiantly. + +The friends separated with promises to meet again soon and to see much +of one another while they were in Albany, Grosvenor and the +Pennsylvanians continuing to the camp, Cabell and Stuart turning back to +the George for quarters, and Robert and Tayoga going toward the house of +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. But before they reached it young Lennox +suggested that they turn toward the river. + +"It is well to do so," said the Onondaga. "I think that Dagaeoga wishes +to look there for a ship." + +"That's in my mind, Tayoga, and yet I wouldn't know the vessel I'm +looking for if I saw her." + +"She will be commanded by the man whom we saw in the inn, the one with +whom Dagaeoga talked." + +"I've no doubt of it, Tayoga. Nothing escapes your notice." + +"What are eyes for if not to see! And it is a time for all to watch; +especially, it is a time for Dagaeoga to watch with his eyes, his ears +and all his senses." + +"I've that feeling myself." + +"Something is plotting against you. The slaver did not meet the spy for +nothing." + +"Why should men bother about one as insignificant as I am, when the +world is plunged into a great war?" + +"It is because Dagaeoga is in the way of somebody. He is very much in +the way or so much trouble and risk would not be taken to remove him." + +"I wonder what it is Tayoga. I know that Mr. Hardy and Mr. Huysman and +doubtless others hold the key to this lock, but I feel quite sure they +are not going to put it in my hand just at present." + +"No, they will not, but it must be for very good reasons. No one ever +had better friends than Dagaeoga has in them. If they do not choose to +tell him anything it will be wise for him not to ask questions." + +"That's just the way I feel about it, and so I'm going to ask no +questions." + +A hulking figure barred their way, a red face glowed at them, and a +rough voice demanded satisfaction. + +"You fellow with the slick tongue, you had 'em laughing at me in the +tavern," said Dobbs, the teamster. "You just the same as told 'em I was +a liar when I said the French were coming." + +The man was full of unreasoning anger, and he handled the butt end of a +heavy whip. Yet Robert felt quite cool. His pistol was in his belt, and +Tayoga was at his elbow. + +"You are mistaken, my good Mr. Dobbs," he said gaily. "I would never +tell a man he was a liar, particularly one to whom I had not been +introduced. I try to be choice in my language. I was trained to be so by +Mr. Alexander McLean, a most competent schoolmaster of this city, and I +merely tried to disseminate a thought in the minds of the numerous +audience gathered in the George Inn. My thought was unlike your thought, +and so I was compelled to use words that did not resemble the words used +by you. I was not responsible for the results flowing from them." + +"I don't know what you mean," growled Dobbs. "You string a lot of big +words together, and I think you're laughing at me again." + +"Impossible, Mr. Dobbs. I could not be so impolite. My risibilities may +be agitated to a certain extent, but laugh in the face of a stranger, +never! Now will you kindly let us pass? The street here is narrow and we +do not wish to crowd." + +Dobbs did not move and his manner became more threatening than ever, the +loaded whip swaying in his hand. Robert's light and frolicsome humor did +not depart. He felt himself wholly master of the situation. + +"Now, good Mr. Dobbs, kind Mr. Dobbs, I ask you once more to move," he +said in his most wheedling manner. "The day is too bright and pleasant +to be disturbed by angry feelings. My own temper is always even. Nothing +disturbs me. I was never known to give way to wrath, but my friend whom +you see by my side is a great Onondaga chieftain. His disposition is +haughty and fierce. He belongs to a race that can never bear the +slightest suspicion of an insult. It is almost certain death to speak to +him in an angry or threatening manner. Friends as we have been for +years, I am always very careful how I address him." + +The teamster's face fell and he stepped back. The heavy whip ceased to +move in a menacing manner in his hand. + +"Prudence is always a good thing," continued Robert. "When a great +Indian chieftain is a friend to a man, any insult to that man is a +double insult to the chieftain. It is usually avenged with the utmost +promptitude, and place is no bar. An angry glance even may invite a +fatal blow." + +Dobbs stepped to one side, and Robert and Tayoga walked haughtily on. +The Onondaga laughed low, but with intense amusement. + +"Verily it is well to have the gift of words," he said, "when with their +use one, leaving weapons undrawn, can turn an enemy aside." + +"I could not enter into a street fight with such a man, Tayoga, and +diplomacy was needed. You'll pardon my use of you as a menace?" + +"I'm at Dagaeoga's service." + +"That being the case we'll now continue the search for our slaver." + +They hunted carefully along the shores of the Hudson. Albany was a busy +river port at all times, but it was now busier than ever, the pressure +of war driving new traffic upon it from every side. Many boats were +bringing supplies from further south, and others were being loaded with +the goods of timid people, ready to flee from Montcalm and the French. +Albany caught new trade both coming and going. The thrifty burghers +profited by it and rejoiced. + +"We've nothing to go on," said Robert, "and perhaps we couldn't tell the +slaver's ship if we were looking squarely at it. Still, it seems to me +it ought to be a small craft, slim and low, built for speed and with a +sneaky look." + +"Then we will seek such a vessel," said Tayoga. + +Nothing answered the description. The river people were quite willing to +talk and, the two falling into conversation with them, as if by chance, +were able to account for every craft of any size. There was no strange +ship that could be on any mysterious errand. + +"It is in my mind, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, "that this lies deeper than +we had thought. The slaver would not have shown himself and he would not +have talked with you so freely if he had not known that he would leave a +hidden trail." + +"It looks that way to me, Tayoga," said Robert, "and I think Garay must +be in some kind of disguise. He would not venture so boldly among us if +he did not have a way of concealing himself." + +"It is in my mind, too, that we have underestimated the spy. He has +perhaps more courage and resolution than we thought, or these qualities +may have come to him recently. The trade of a spy is very useful to +Montcalm just now. After his victory at Ticonderoga he will be anxious +to know what we are doing here at Albany, and it will be the duty of +Garay to learn. Besides, we put a great humiliation upon him that time +we took his letter from him in the forest, and he is burning for +vengeance upon us. It is not in the nature of Dagaeoga to wish revenge, +but he must not blind himself on that account to the fact that others +cherish it." + +"It was the fortune of war. We have our disasters and our enemies have +theirs." + +"Yet we must beware of Garay. I know it, Dagaeoga." + +"At any rate we can't find out anything about him and the slaver along +the river, and that being the case I suggest that we go on to the house +of Mynheer Jacobus, where we're pretty sure of a welcome." + +Their greetings at the burgher's home were as warm as anybody could +wish. Master McLean had left, and the rest were talking casually in the +large front room, but the keen eyes of the Onondaga read the signs +infallibly. This was a trail that could not be hidden from him. + +"Other men have been here," he said a little later to Robert, when they +were alone in the room. "There has been a council." + +"How do you know, Tayoga?" + +"How do I know, Dagaeoga? Because I have eyes and I use them. It is +printed all over the room in letters of the largest type and in words of +one syllable. The floor is of polished wood, Dagaeoga, and there is a +great table in the center of the chamber. The chairs have been moved +back, but eight men sat around it. I can count the faint traces made by +the chairs in the polish of the floor. They were heavy men--most of the +men of Albany are heavy, and now and then they moved restlessly, as they +talked. That was why they ground the chair legs against the polish, +leaving there little traces which will be gone in another hour, but +which are enough while they last to tell their tale. + +"They moved so, now and then because their talk was of great importance. +They smoked also that they might think better over what they were +saying. A child could tell that, because smoke yet lingers in the room, +although Caterina has opened the windows to let it out. Some of it is +left low down in the corners, and under the chairs now against the wall. +A little of the ash from their pipes has fallen on the table, showing +that although Caterina has opened the windows she has not yet had time +to clean the room. You and I know, Dagaeoga, that she would never miss +any ash on the table. Master McLean smoked much, perhaps more than any +of the others. He uses the strongest Virginia tobacco that he can +obtain, and I know its odor of old. I smell it everywhere in the room. I +also know the odor of the tobacco that Mynheer Jacobus uses, and it is +strongest here by the mantel, showing that in the course of the council +he frequently got up and stood here. Ah, there is ash on the mantel +itself! He tapped it now and then with his pipe to enforce what he was +saying. Mynheer Jacobus was much stirred, or he would not have risen to +his feet to make speeches to the others." + +"Can you locate Master Hardy also?" + +"I think I can, Dagaeoga." + +He ran around the room like a hound on the scent, and, at last, he +stopped before a large massive locked chest of drawers that stood in the +corner, a heavy mahogany piece that looked as if it had been imported +from France or Italy. + +"Master Jacobus came here," said the Onondaga. "I smell his tobacco. Ah, +and Master Hardy came, too! I now smell his tobacco also. I remember +that when we were in New York he smoked a peculiar, bitter West India +compound which doubtless is brought to him regularly in his ships--men +nearly always have a favorite tobacco and will take every trouble to get +it. I recognize the odor perfectly. There are traces of the ash of both +tobaccos on the chest of drawers, and Master Huysman and Master Hardy +came here, because there are papers in this piece of furniture which +Master Huysman wished to show to Master Hardy. They are in the third +drawer from the top, because there is a little dust on the others, but +none on the third. It fell off when it was opened, and was then shut +again strongly after they were through." + +Robert gazed with intense curiosity at the third drawer. The papers in +it might concern himself--he believed Tayoga implicitly--but it was not +for him to pry into the affairs of two such good friends. If they wished +to keep their secret a while longer, then they had good reasons for +doing so. + +"Did the others come to the chest of drawers also, and look at the +papers?" he asked. + +The Onondaga knelt down and examined the polished floor. + +"I do not think so," he replied at length. "It is wholly likely that +Master Jacobus and Master Hardy came to the chest of drawers after the +others had gone, and that the papers had no bearing on the matters they +talked over in the council. Yes, it is so! It is bound to be so! The +odor of their two tobaccos is stronger than any of the other odors in +the room, showing that they were in here much longer than the others. It +may be that the papers in the third drawer relate to Dagaeoga." + +"I had that thought myself, Tayoga." + +"Does Dagaeoga wish me to go further with it?" + +"No, Tayoga. What those men desire to hide from us must remain hidden." + +"I am glad Dagaeoga has answered that way, because if he had not I +should have refused to go on, and yet I knew that was the way in which +he would answer." + +They went to another room in which they found Mr. Huysman, Mr. Hardy and +the clerk, and Robert told of his meeting with the slaver. The face of +Benjamin Hardy darkened. + +"Tayoga is right," he said. "That man's presence here bodes ill for you, +Robert." + +"I'm not afraid. Besides I've too many friends," said Robert quietly. + +"Both your statements are true, but you must be careful just the same," +interjected Master Jacobus. "Nevertheless, we'll not be apprehensive. +Master McLean iss coming back for supper, and we're going to make it a +great affair, a real reunion for all of us. Caterina, helped by two +stout colored women, has been cooking all the afternoon, and I hope that +you two boys have had enough exercise and excitement to whet your +appetites. How iss it?" + +"We have, sir!" they replied together, and with emphasis. + +"And now to your old room. You'll find there in a closet clothes for +both of you, Tayoga's of his own kind, that Caterina has preserved +carefully, and at six o'clock come in to supper, which to-day iss to be +our chief meal. I would not have Benjamin Hardy to come all the way from +New York and say that I failed to set for him as good a meal as he would +set for me if I were his guest in his city. Not only my hospitality but +the hospitality of Albany iss at stake." + +"I know, sir, that your reputation will not suffer," said Robert with +great confidence. + +He and Tayoga in their room found their clothes preserved in camphor and +quickly made the change. Then they stood by the window, looking out on +the pleasant domain, in which they had spent so many happy hours. Both +felt a glow. + +"Master Jacobus Huysman is a good man," said Robert. + +"A wise, fat chief," said the Onondaga. "A kind heart and a strong head. +He is worthy to rule. If he belonged to the league of the Hodenosaunee +we would put him in a high place." + +"Though he holds no office, I think he sits in a high place here. It is +likely that the men who were around the table to-day came to him for +counsel." + +"It seems a good guess to me, Dagaeoga. Perhaps they take measures to +meet the threat of Montcalm." + +"They're our elders, and we'll let them do the thinking on that point +just now. Somehow, I feel light of heart, Tayoga, and I want to enjoy +myself." + +"Even though the slaver and the spy are here, and we all believe that +they threaten you?" + +"Even so. My heart is light, nevertheless. My mind tells me that I ought +to be apprehensive and sad, but my heart has taken control and I am +hopeful and gay?" + +"It is the nature of Dagaeoga, and he should give thanks to Manitou that +he has been made that way. It is worth much more to him than the white +man's gold." + +"I _am_ thankful, Tayoga. I'm thankful for a lot of things. How does +this coat look on me?" + +"It is small. You have grown much in the last year or two. Your frame is +filling out and you are bigger every way. Still, it is a fine coat, and +the knee breeches, stockings and buckled shoes are very splendid. If +Dagaeoga does not look like a chief it is only because he is not old +enough, and he at least looks like the son of a chief." + +Robert contemplated himself in a small mirror with much satisfaction. + +"I'm frightfully tanned," he said. "Perhaps they wouldn't take me for a +model of fashion in Paris or London, but here nearly everybody else is +tanned also, and, after all, it's healthy." + +The Onondaga regarded him with an amused smile. + +"If Dagaeoga had the time and money he would spend much of both on +dress," he said. "He loves to make a fine appearance." + +"You say nothing but the truth," said Robert frankly. "I hope some day +to have the very best clothes that are made. A man who respects his +clothes respects himself. I know no sin in trying to please the eyes of +others and incidentally myself. I note, Tayoga, that on occasion you +array yourself with great splendor, and that, at all times, you're very +particular about your attire." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. I spoke in terms of approval, not of criticism. Are +you satisfied with yourself?" + +"As much as possible under the circumstances. If I could achieve the +change merely by making a wish I'd have the coat and breeches of a +somewhat richer hue, and the buckles on the shoes considerably larger, +but they'll do. Shall we sit here and rest until Caterina calls us for +supper?" + +"I think so, Dagaeoga." + +But it was not long until the summons came, and they went into the great +dining-room, where the elder company was already gathered. Besides Mr. +Huysman, Benjamin Hardy, Jonathan Pillsbury, and Alexander McLean, there +were Nicholas Ten Broeck and Oliver Suydam, two of Albany's most solid +burghers, and Alan Hervey, another visitor from New York, a thin man of +middle years and shrewd looks, whom Robert took to be a figure in +finance and trade. All the elders seemed to know one another well, and +to be on the best of terms. + +Robert and Tayoga were presented duly, and made their modest +acknowledgments, sitting together near the end of the table. + +"These lads, young as they are," said Master Jacobus Huysman, "have had +much experience of the present war. One of them was a prisoner of the +French at Ticonderoga and saw the whole battle, while the other fought +in it. Before that they were in innumerable encounters and other perils, +usually with the great hunter, David Willet, of whom you all know, and +who, I regret, is not here." + +"It is no more than thousands of others have done," said Robert, +blushing under his tan. + +Hervey regarded him and Tayoga with interest. The Onondaga was in full +Indian dress, but Albany was used to the Iroquois, and that fact was not +at all exceptional. + +"War is a terrible thing," he said, "and whether a nation is or is not +to endure depends very much upon its youth." + +"We always think that present youth is inferior to what our own youth +was," said Mr. Hardy. "That, I believe, is a common human failing. But +Master McLean ought to know. Forty years of youth, year after year have +passed through his hands. What say you, Alexander?" + +"Youth is youth," replied the schoolmaster, weighing his sentences, "and +by those words I mean exactly what I say. I think it changes but little +through all the ages, and it is probably the same to-day that it was in +old Babylon. I find in my schoolroom that the youth of this year is just +like the youth of ten years ago, just as the youth of ten years ago was +exactly like the youth of twenty, thirty and forty years ago." + +"And what are the cardinal points of this formative age, Alexander?" +asked Master Jacobus. + +"Speaking mildly, I would call it concentration upon self. The horizon +of youth is bounded by its own eye. It looks no farther. As it sees and +feels it, the world exists for youth. We elders, parents, uncles, +guardians and such, live for its benefit. We are merely accessories to +the great and main fact, which is youth." + +"Do you believe that to be true, Robert?" asked Master Benjamin Hardy, a +twinkle in his eye. + +"I hope it's not, sir," replied Robert, reddening again under his tan. + +"But it's true and it will remain true," continued the schoolmaster +judicially. "It was equally true of all of us who passed our youth long +ago. I do not quarrel with it. I merely state a fact of life. Perhaps if +I could I would not strip youth of this unconscious absorption in self, +because in doing so we might deprive it of the simplicity and +directness, the artless beliefs that make youth so attractive." + +"I hold," said Mr. Hervey, "that age is really a state of mind. We +believe certain things at twenty, others at thirty, others at forty, and +so on. The beliefs of twenty are true at twenty, we must not try them by +the tests of thirty, nor must we try those of thirty by the tests of +forty or fifty. So how are we to say which age is the wiser, when every +age accepts as true what it believes, and, so makes it true? I agree, +too, with Mr. McLean, that I would not change the character of youth if +I could. Looking back upon my own youth I find much in it to laugh at, +but I did not laugh at it at the time. It was very real to me then, and +so must its feelings be to the youth of to-day." + +"We wade into deep waters," said Mynheer Jacobus, "and we may go over +our heads. Ah, here are the oysters! I hope that all of you will find +them to your liking." + +A dozen were served for every guest--it was the day of plenty, the +fields and woods and waters of America furnishing more food than its +people could consume--and they approached them with the keen appetites +of strong and healthy men. + +"Perhaps we do not have the sea food here that you have in New York, +Alan," said Master Jacobus with mock humility, "but we give you of our +best." + +"We've the finest oysters in the world, unless those of Baltimore be +excepted," said Hervey, "but yours are, in truth, most excellent. +Perhaps you can't expect to equal us in a specialty of ours. You'll +recall old Tom Cotton's inn, out by the East River, and how +unapproachably he serves oyster, crab, lobster and every kind of fish." + +"I recall it full well, Alan. I rode out the Bowery road when I was last +in New York, but I did not get a chance to go to old Tom's. You and I +and Benjamin have seen some lively times there, when we were a bit +younger, eh, Alan?" + +"Aye, Jacobus, you speak truly. We were just as much concentrated upon +self as the youth of to-day. And in our elderly hearts we're proud of +the little frivolities and dissipations that were committed then. Else +we would never talk of 'em and chuckle over 'em to one another." + +"And what is more, we're not too old yet for a little taste of pleasure, +now and then, eh, Alexander?" + +The schoolmaster, appealed to so directly, pursed his thin lips, lowered +his lids to hide the faint twinkle in his eyes, and replied in measured +tones: + +"I cannot speak for you, Jacobus. I've known you a long time and your +example is corrupting, but I trust that I shall prove firm against +temptation." + +The oysters were finished. No man left a single one untouched on his +plate, and then a thick chicken soup was served by two very black women +in gay cotton prints with red bandanna handkerchiefs tied like turbans +around their heads. Robert could see no diminution in the appetite of +the guests, nor did he feel any decrease in his own. Mr. Hervey turned +to him. + +"I hear you saw the Marquis de Montcalm himself," he said. + +"Yes, sir," replied Robert. "I saw him several times, at Ticonderoga, +and before that in the Oswego campaign. I've been twice a prisoner of +the French." + +"How does he look?" + +"Of middle age, sir, short, dark and very polite in speech." + +"And evidently a good soldier. He has proved that and to our misfortune. +Yet, I cannot but think that we will produce his master. Now, I wonder +who it is going to be. Under the English system the best general does +not always come forward first, and perhaps we've not yet so much as +heard the name of the man who is going to beat Montcalm. That he will be +beaten I've no doubt. We'll conquer Canada and settle North American +affairs for all time. Perhaps it will be the last great war." + +Robert was listening with the closest attention, and it seemed to him +that the New Yorker was right. With Canada conquered and the French +power expelled it would be the last great war so far as North America +was concerned? How fallible men are! How prone they are to think when +they have settled things for themselves they have settled them also for +all future generations! + +"And then," continued Mr. Hervey, "New York will become a yet greater +port than it now is. It may even hope to rival Philadelphia in size and +wealth. It will be London's greatest feeder." + +The soup, not neglected in the least, gave way to fish, and then to many +kinds of meat, in which game, bear, deer and wild fowl were conspicuous. +Robert took a little of everything, but he was absorbed in the talk. He +felt that these men were in touch with great affairs, and, however much +they diverged from such subjects they had them most at heart. It was a +thrilling thought that the future of North America, in some degree at +least, might be determined around that very table at which he was +sitting as a guest. He had knowledge and imagination enough to +understand that it was not the armies that determined the fate of +nations, but the men directing them who stood behind them farther back, +in the dark perhaps, obscure, maybe never to become fully known, but +clairvoyant and powerful just the same. He was resolved not to lose a +word. So he leaned forward just a little in his seat, and his blue eyes +sparkled. + +"Dagaeoga is glad to be here," said Tayoga in an undertone. + +"So I am, Tayoga. They talk of things of which I wish to hear." + +"As I told you, these be sachems with whom we sit. They be not chiefs +who lead in battle, but, like the sachems, they plan, and, like the +medicine men, they make charms and incantations that influence the souls +of the warriors and also the souls of those who lead them to battle." + +"The same thought was in my own mind." + +Wine smuggled from France or Spain was served to the men, though young +Lennox and the Onondaga touched none. In truth, it was not offered to +them, Master Jacobus saying, with a glance at Robert: + +"I have never allowed you and Tayoga to have anything stronger than +coffee in my house, and although you are no longer under my charge I +intend to keep to the rule." + +"We wish nothing more, sir," said Robert. + +"As for me," said the Onondaga, "I shall never touch any kind of liquor. +I know that it goes ill with my race." + +"Yours, I understand, is the Onondaga nation," said Mr. Hervey, looking +at him attentively. + +"The Onondaga, and I belong to the clan of the Bear," replied Tayoga +proudly. "The Hodenosaunee have held the balance in this war." + +"That I know full well. I gladly give the great League ample credit. It +has been a wise policy of the English to deal honestly and fairly with +your people. In general the French surpass us in winning and holding the +affections of the native races, but some good angel has directed us in +our dealings with the Six Nations. Without their Indians the French +could have done little against us. I hear of one of their leaders who +has endeared himself to them in the most remarkable manner. There has +been much talk in New York of the Chevalier de St. Luc, and being nearer +the seat of action you've perhaps heard some of it here in Albany, +Jacobus!" + +Robert leaned a little farther forward and concentrated every faculty on +the talk, but he said nothing. + +"Yes, we've heard much of him, Alan," replied Master Jacobus. "I think +he's the most dangerous foe that we have among Montcalm's lieutenants. +He passes like a flame along the border, and yet report speaks well of +him, too. All our men who have come in contact with him say he is a +gallant and chivalrous foe." + +Robert glanced at Master Benjamin Hardy, but the great merchant's face +was blank. + +"Robert saw him, too, when he was a prisoner among the French," said Mr. +Huysman. + +Mr. Hervey looked at Robert, who said: + +"I saw him several times at Ticonderoga, where he was the chief adviser +of Montcalm during the battle, and I've seen him often elsewhere. All +that they say about him is true. He's a master of forest warfare, and +his following is devoted." + +He glanced again at Benjamin Hardy, but the New Yorker was helping +himself to an especially tender bit of venison and his face expressed +nothing but appreciation of his food. Robert sighed under his breath. +They would never do more than generalize about St. Luc. Tayoga and he +asked presently to be excused. The men would sit much longer over their +nuts and wine, and doubtless when the lads were gone they would enter +more deeply into those plans and ventures that lay so near their hearts. + +"I think I shall wander among the trees behind the house," said Tayoga, +when they were out of the dining-room. "I want fresh air, and I wish to +hear the wind blowing among the leaves. Then I can fancy that I am back +in the great forest, and my soul will be in peace." + +"And commune, perhaps, with Tododaho on his star," said Robert, not +lightly but in all seriousness. + +"Even so, Dagaeoga. He may have something to tell me, but if he does not +it is well to be alone for a while." + +"I won't let you be alone just yet, because I'm going out with you, but +I don't mean to stay long, and then you can commune with your own soul." + +It was a beautiful night, cooled by a breeze which came crisp and strong +from the hills, rustling through the foliage, already beginning to take +on the tints of early autumn. After the warm room and many courses of +food it was very grateful to the two lads who stood under the trees +listening to the pleasant song of the breeze. But in five minutes Robert +said: + +"I'm going back into the house now, Tayoga. I can see your star in the +clear heavens, and perhaps Tododaho will speak to you." + +"I shall see. Farewell for an hour, Dagaeoga." + +Robert went in. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PURSUIT OF GARAY + + +Robert paused a few moments in the hall. Sounds of voices came from the +dining room, showing that the supper was still in progress. He thought +of going back there to listen to the talk, but he reflected that the +time for youth at the table had passed. They were in their secrets now, +and he strolled toward the large room that contained the chest of +drawers. + +A dim light from an unshuttered window shone into the apartment and it +was in his mind to wait there for Tayoga, but he stopped suddenly at the +door and stared in astonishment. A shadow was moving in the room, thin, +impalpable and noiseless, but it had all the seeming of a man. Moreover, +it had a height and shape that were familiar, and it reminded him of the +spy, Garay. + +He was too much surprised to move, and so he merely stared. Garay knelt +before the chest of drawers and began to work at it with a small sharp +tool that he drew from his coat. Robert saw, too, that his attention was +centered on the third drawer from the top. Then he came out of his +catalepsy and started forward, but in doing so his foot made a slight +noise on the floor. + +Garay leaped to his feet, gave Robert one glance and then disappeared +through the open window, with incredible dexterity and speed. Robert +stared again. The man was there and then he was not. It could not be +Garay, but his ghost, some illusion, a trick of the eye or mind. Then he +knew it was no fancy. With extraordinary assurance the man had come +there to rifle the drawer--for what purpose Robert knew not. + +He ran to the window, but saw nothing save the peaceful night, the +waving trees and the quiet lawn lying beyond. Then he walked to the +chest and examined the third drawer, noticing new scratches around the +lock. There was not the slightest doubt that Garay had been trying to +open it. + +He went to the door, resolved to tell Mr. Huysman at once of the attempt +upon the chest, but he stopped irresolute. The low sounds of talk still +came from the dining-room. He was only a boy and his was a most +improbable tale. They might think he had been dreaming, though he knew +full well that he had seen straight and true. And then Garay was gone, +leaving no trace. No, he would not interrupt Mr. Huysman now, but he +would talk it over with Tayoga. + +He found the Onondaga standing among the trees, gazing with rapt vision +at his star. + +"Did Tododaho speak to you?" asked Robert. + +"He did," replied Tayoga earnestly. + +"What did he say?" + +"That the great war will go on, and that you and I and the Great Bear, +who is away, will encounter many more perils. The rest is veiled." + +"And while we take our ease, Tayoga, our enemies are at work." + +"What does Dagaeoga mean?" + +"I went into the room containing the chest of drawers, the story of +which you read, and found there Garay, the spy, trying to open it." + +"Dagaeoga does not dream?" + +"Oh, I thought for a moment or two that I did, but it was reality. Garay +escaped through the open window, and, on the lock of the third drawer, +were scratches that he left where he had been working with a sharp tool. +Come, Tayoga, and look at them." + +The two went into the house. Robert lighted a lamp for better light, and +Tayoga knelt before the drawer, giving it a long and close examination. + +"Garay is a very clever man," he said at last, "much cleverer, perhaps, +than we gave him the credit of being." + +"I think so too," said Robert. + +"As events show, he came into this house to obtain the papers in this +drawer, and you and I feel quite certain that those papers concern you. +And as you saw him and the slaver together, it indicates that they have +some plot against you, what I know not. But the papers here have much to +do with it." + +"Do you think I should speak of it to Master Jacobus and Mr. Hardy now?" + +"I think not, Dagaeoga. Whatever is the mystery about you it is evident +that they do not wish to tell you of it yet. So, being what you are, you +will not ask them, but wait until such time as they see fit. I think +these scratches on the lock were made by the sharp point of a hunting +knife. Garay did not succeed in opening it, though it is likely that he +would have done so if you had not interrupted him." + +"When he saw me he was gone like a flash. I did not know a man could +skip through a window with so much celerity." + +"One has to be skillful at such things to carry on the trade of a spy. +That is why he could have opened this lock, large and strong as it is, +with the point of his hunting knife had he been allowed time, and that +is why he flew through the window like a bird when you came upon him." + +He examined the window, and then laughed a little. + +"But he did not go without leaving further proof of himself," he said. +"Here on the sill is the faintest trace of blood where he bruised his +hand or wrist in his rapid flight." + +"Suppose you try to trail him, Tayoga. I believe you could find out +which way he went, even here in Albany. The men will talk in there a +long time, and won't miss us. There's a fair moon." + +"I will try," said Tayoga in his precise fashion. "First we will look at +the ground under the window." + +They went outside and the Onondaga examined the grass beneath it, the +drop being five or six feet. + +"As he had to come down hard, he ought to have left traces," said +Robert. + +"So he did, Dagaeoga. I find several imprints, and there also are two or +three drops of blood, showing that he scratched his hand considerably +when he went through the window. Here go the traces, leading north. +Garay, of course, knows this immediate locality well, as he observed it +closely when he made his attempt upon you before. It is lucky that it +rained yesterday, leaving the ground soft. We may be able to follow him +quite a distance." + +"If anybody can follow him, you can." + +"It is friendship that makes Dagaeoga speak so. The trail continues in +its original course, though I think that sooner or later it will turn +toward the river." + +"Meaning that Garay will meet the slaver somewhere, and that the natural +place of the latter is on the water." + +"Dagaeoga reasons well. That, I think, is just what Garay will do. It is +likely, too, that he will curve about the town. If he went upon a hard +street we would lose him, since he would leave no trail there, but he +will keep away because he does not wish to be seen. Ah, he now turns +from the houses and into the fields! We shall be able to follow him. The +moon is our friend. It is pouring down rays enough to disclose his +trail, if trail he leaves." + +They were soon beyond the houses and climbed three fences dividing the +fields. At the third, Tayoga said: + +"Garay paused here and rested. There is a drop of blood on the top rail. +He probably sat there and looked back to see if he was followed. Ah, +here is a splinter on a lower rail freshly broken!" + +"What do you make of it, Tayoga?" + +"The spy was angry, angry that his effort, made at such great risk, +should have failed through the mere chance of your coming into the room +at that particular time. He was angry, too, that he had bruised his hand +so badly that it bled, and continued to bleed. So, his disappointment +made him grind his heel against the rail and break the splinter." + +"I'm glad he felt that way. A man in his trade ought to suffer many +disappointments." + +"When he had satisfied himself that no pursuit was in sight, he jumped +to the ground. Here are deep imprints made by his descending weight, and +now he becomes less careful. Albany is behind us, and he thinks all +danger of pursuit has passed. I see a little brook ahead, and it is safe +to say that he will kneel at it and drink." + +"And also to bathe his wounded hand." + +"Even so, Dagaeoga. Lo, it is as we said! Here are the imprints of his +knees, showing that he refreshed himself with water after his hurried +flight. The ground on the other side of the brook is soft and we shall +be able to find his imprints there, even if it were pitch dark. Now I +think they will turn very soon toward the river." + +"Yes, they're curving. Here they go, Tayoga." + +The trail led across a field, over a hill, and then through a little +wood, where Tayoga was compelled to go slowly, hunting about like a +hound, trying to trace a scent. But wherever he lost it he finally +picked it up again, and, when they emerged from the trees, they saw the +river not far ahead. + +"Our trail will end at the stream," said Tayoga confidently. + +As he had predicted, the imprints led directly to the river, and there +ended their pursuit also. The Hudson flowed on in silence. There was +nothing on its bosom. + +"The slaver in a boat was waiting for him here," said Tayoga. "I think +we can soon find proof of it." + +A brief examination of the bank showed traces where the prow had rested. + +"It was probably a boat with oars for two," he said. "The slaver sat in +it most of the time, but he grew impatient at last and leaving the boat +walked up the bank a little distance. Here go his steps, showing very +plainly in the soft earth in the moonlight, and here come those of Garay +to meet him. They stood at the top of the bank under this oak, and the +spy told how he had failed. Doubtless, the slaver was much disappointed, +but he did not venture to upbraid Garay, because the spy is as necessary +to him as he is to the spy. After they talked it over they walked down +the bank together--see their trails going side by side--entered the boat +and rowed away. I wish the water would leave a trail, too, that we might +follow them, but it does not." + +"Do you think they'll dare go back to Albany?" + +"The slaver will. What proof of any kind about anything have we? Down! +Dagaeoga, down!" + +Fitting the action to the word, the Onondaga seized Robert by the +shoulders suddenly and dragged him to the earth, falling with him. As he +did so a bullet whistled where Robert's head had been and a little puff +of smoke rose from a clump of bushes on the opposite shore. + +"They're there in their boat among the bushes that grow on the water's +edge!" exclaimed Tayoga. "I ought to have thought of it, but I did see a +movement among the bushes in time! I cannot see their faces or the boat, +either, but I know it is Garay and the slaver." + +"I have no weapon," said Robert. "It did not occur to me that I would +need one." + +"I have a pistol in my tunic. I always carry one when I am in the white +man's country. It is wise." + +"Under the circumstances, I think we'd better slip away and leave the +spy and the slaver to enjoy the river as they please, for to-night at +least." + +He was about to rise, but Tayoga pulled him down a second time and a +report heavier than the first came from the far shore. Another bullet +passed over their heads and struck with a sough in the trunk of a big +tree beyond them. + +"That was from a rifle. The other was from a pistol," said Tayoga. "It +is the slaver, of course, who has the rifle, and they mean to make it +very warm for us. Perhaps an unexpected chance gives them hope to do +here what they expected to achieve later on." + +"Meaning a final disposition of me?" + +"That was in my mind, Dagaeoga. I think it is you at whom they will +shoot and you would better creep away. Lie almost flat and edge along +until you come to the trees, which are about twenty yards behind us. +There, you will be safe." + +"And leave you alone, Tayoga! What have I ever done to make you think +I'd do such a thing?" + +"It is not Tayoga whom they want. It is Dagaeoga. I cannot go without +taking a shot at them, else my pistol would burn me inside my tunic. Be +wise as I am, Dagaeoga. Always carry a pistol when you are in the white +man's towns. Life is reasonably safe only in the red man's forest." + +"It looks as if you were right, Tayoga, but remember that I stay here +with you as long as you stay." + +"Then keep close to the earth. Roll back a bit and you will be sheltered +better by that little rise." + +Robert obeyed, and it was well that he did so, as the heavy rifle +cracked a second time, and a plowing bullet caused fine particles of +earth to fly over him. Tayoga leveled his pistol at the flash and smoke, +but did not pull the trigger. + +"Why didn't you fire, Tayoga?" asked Robert. + +"I could not see well enough. They and their boat are still hidden by +the bushes in which they remain, because from there they can command the +bank where we lie." + +"Then it looks as if each side held the other. If they come out of the +bushes you use your pistol on 'em, and if we retreat farther they use +their rifle on us. You'll notice, Tayoga, that we're in a little dip, +and if we go out of it on our far side in retreat we'll make a target of +ourselves. If they leave the bushes on their far side to climb their own +bank they come into view. It's checkmate for both." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. It is a difficult position for you, but not for me. +We of the red races learn to have patience, because we are not in such a +hurry to consume time as you white people are." + +"That is true, but it is not a moment for a discussion of the relative +merits of white and red." + +"We are likely to have plenty of leisure for it, since I think we are +doomed to a long wait." + +"I think you're happy over it, Tayoga. Your voice has a pleased ring." + +"I'm not unhappy. I see a chance to gratify a curiosity that I have long +had. I wish to see whether the white race, even in great danger, where +it is most needed, has as much patience as the red. Ah, Dagaeoga, you +were incautious! Do not raise your head again. You, at least, do not +have as much patience as the occasion requires." + +The third bullet had passed so near Robert that cold shivers raced over +his body and he resolved not to raise his head again a single inch, no +matter what the temptation. + +"Remember that it is you whom they want," said Tayoga in his precise, +book English. "Having the rifle they can afford to try shots at longer +range, but with the pistol I must wait until I can see them clearly. +Well, Dagaeoga, it is a fine evening, not too cold, we need fresh air +after a big supper, and perhaps one could not find a pleasanter place in +which to pass the night." + +"You mean that we may lie here until day?" + +"Dagaeoga speaks as if that would be remarkable. My father waited once +three days and three nights beside a run to obtain a deer. He neither +ate nor drank during that time, but he went home with the deer. If he +could wait so long for something to eat, cannot we wait as long when our +lives are at stake?" + +"According to the laws of proportion we should be willing to stay here a +week, at least. Can you see anything moving in the bushes over there, +Tayoga?" + +"Not a thing. They too are patient men, the slaver and the spy, and +having missed several times with the rifle they will bide a while, +hoping that we will expose ourselves." + +The Onondaga settled himself comfortably against the earth, his pistol +lying on the little rise in front of him, over which his eyes watched +the clump of bushes into which the boat had gone. If the slaver and the +spy made any attempt to slip forth, whether on the water or up the bank, +he would certainly see them, and he would not withhold the pressure of +his finger on the trigger. + +The full moon still shone down, clothing the world in a beautiful silver +light. The stars in myriads danced in a sky of soft, velvety blue. The +river flowed in an illuminated, molten mass. A light wind hummed a +pleasant song among the brown leaves. Robert had a curious feeling of +rest and safety. He was quite sure that neither the slaver nor the spy +could hit him while he lay in the dip, and no movement of theirs would +escape the observation of Tayoga, the incomparable sentinel. He relaxed, +and, for a few moments, his faculties seemed to fall into a dreamy +state. + +"If I should go to sleep, Tayoga," he said, "wake me up when you need +me." + +"You will not go to sleep." + +"How do you know? I feel a lot like it." + +"It is because the worry you felt a little while ago has passed. You +believe that in this duel of patience we shall conquer." + +"I know that we'll conquer, Tayoga, because you are here." + +"Dagaeoga's flattery is not subtle." + +"It's not flattery. It's my real belief." + +The night wore on. The breeze that rustled the leaves was warm and +soothing, and Robert's sleepiness increased. But he fought against it. +He used his will and brought his body roughly to task, shaking himself +violently. He also told himself over and over again that they were in a +position of great danger, that he must be on guard, that he must not +leave the duty to the Onondaga alone. Such violent efforts gradually +drove sleep away, and raising his head a few inches he looked over the +rise. + +The whole surface of the river still showed clearly in the moonlight, as +it flowed slowly and peacefully on, silver in tint most of the time, but +now and then disclosing shades of deep blue. Directly opposite was the +clump of bushes in which the slaver and the spy had pushed their boat. +An easy shot for a rifle, but a hard one for a pistol. + +Robert studied the bushes very closely, trying to discern their enemies +among them, but he saw nothing there save a slight movement of the +leaves before the wind. It was possible that his foes had slipped away, +going up the other bank in some manner unseen. Since he could discover +no trace of them he began to believe that it was true, and he raised his +head another inch for a better look. + +Crack! went the rifle, and the bullet sang so close to his face that at +first he thought he was hit. He stared for a moment at the puff of smoke +rising from the bushes, his faculties in a daze. Then he came to himself +all at once and dropped back abruptly, feeling his head gingerly to see +that it was sound everywhere. But he was certain that the slaver and the +spy were there. + +"Dagaeoga was rash," said the Onondaga. + +"I know now I was. Still, I feel much relief because I've settled a +problem that was troubling me." + +"What was it?" + +"I wasn't sure that our enemies were still there. Now I am." + +"If you feel like it yet, I think you may go to sleep. Nothing is likely +to happen for a long time, and I can awaken you at any moment." + +"Thank you, Tayoga, but I've banished the wish. I know I can't do +anything without a weapon, but I can give you moral help. They're bound +to try something sometime or other, because when the day comes other +people may arrive--we're not so far from Albany--and they're guilty, +we're not. We don't mind being seen." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. You talk almost like a man. At times you reason +well. Finding that we are as patient as they are they will make a +movement in an hour or two, though I think we are not likely to see it." + +"An hour or two? Then I think I'd better make myself comfortable again." + +He settled his body against the brown turf which was soft and soothing, +and, in spite of himself, the wish for sleep returned. It was so quiet +that one was really invited to go away to slumberland, and then he had +eaten much at the big supper. After a long time, he was sinking into a +doze when he was dragged back abruptly from it by a report almost at his +ear that sounded like the roar of a cannon. He sat up convulsively, and +saw Tayoga holding in his hand a smoking pistol. + +"Did you hit anything?" he asked. + +"I saw a stir in the bushes over there," replied the Onondaga, "and +fired into them. I do not think my bullet found its target, but we will +wait. I have ammunition in my pocket, and meanwhile I will reload." + +He put in the powder and ball, still keeping an eye on the bushes. He +waited a full half hour and then he handed the pistol to Robert. + +"Watch, and use it if need be," he said, "while I swim over and get the +boat." + +"Get the boat! What are you talking about, Tayoga? Has the moon struck +you with a madness?" + +"Not at all, Dagaeoga. The slaver and the spy are gone, leaving behind +them the boat which they could not take with them, and we might as well +have it." + +"Are you sure of what you are saying?" + +"Quite sure, Dagaeoga. But for precaution's sake you can watch well with +the pistol and cover my approach." + +He thrust the weapon into Robert's hand, quickly threw off his clothing +and sprang into the water, swimming with strong strokes toward the +dense, high bushes that lined the opposite shore. Robert watched the +lithe, brown figure cleave the water, disappear in the bushes and then +reappear a moment or two later, rowing a boat. All had fallen out as the +Onondaga had said, and he quickly came back to the western side. + +"It is a good boat," he said, "a trophy of our victory, and we will use +it. Take the oars, Dagaeoga, while I put on my clothes again. Our long +wait is over." + +Robert sprang into the boat, while Tayoga, standing upon the bank, shook +himself, making the drops fly from him in a shower. + +"Which way did they go?" asked Robert. + +"They crept down the stream among the bushes between the water and the +cliff. They could force their bodies that way but not the boat. I felt +sure they had gone after my pistol shot, because I saw some of the +bushes moving a little against the wind farther down the stream. It was +proof. Besides, they had to go, knowing that day would soon be here." + +He reclothed himself and stepped back into the boat, taking up the +second pair of oars. + +"Let us return to Albany in triumph by the river," he said. + +"You think there is no danger of our being fired upon from ambush?" + +"None at all. The slaver and spy will be anxious to get away and escape +observation. They would be glad enough to shoot at us, but they would +never dare to risk it." + +"And so ours has been the triumph. Once more we've been victorious over +our enemies, Tayoga." + +"But they will strike again, and Dagaeoga must beware." + +They rowed into the middle of the river and dropped slowly down the +stream. Robert had so much confidence in the Onondaga that he felt quite +safe for the present at least. It seemed to his sanguine temperament +that as they had escaped every danger in the past so they would escape +every one in the future. He was naturally a child of hope, in which he +was fortunate. + +The gray skies broke away in the east, and the dawn was unrolled, a +blaze of rose and gold. The surface of the river glittered in the +morning sun. The houses of Albany stood out sharp and clear in the first +light of the morning. + +"They'll be anxious about us at Mr. Huysman's," said Robert. + +"So they will," said Tayoga. "As I have said to you before, Dagaeoga, it +will be wise for us to return to the wilderness as soon as we can. The +red man's forest still seems to be safer than the white man's town." + +They reached Albany, tied up the boat, and walked in the early dawn to +the house of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, where Caterina met them at the +door with a cry of joy. Master Jacobus appeared in a few moments, his +face showing great relief. + +"Where have you lads been?" he exclaimed. + +"We have been in much danger," replied Robert soberly, "but we're out of +it now, and here we are." + +The others, all of whom had lain down fully dressed, came soon, and +Robert told the story of the night, beginning with the spy's attempt +upon the third drawer in the chest of drawers. Mr. Huysman and Mr. Hardy +exchanged glances. + +"That drawer does contain papers of value," said Mr. Huysman, "but I'll +see that they're put to-day in a place into which no thief can break." + +"And it would perhaps be well for young Mr. Lennox also to keep himself +in a safe place," said Mr. Hervey, who had spent the night too in Mr. +Huysman's house. "It seems that a most determined effort is being made +against him." + +"Thank you, sir, for your interest in me," said Robert, "and I'll do my +best to be cautious." + +He ate a hearty breakfast and then, on the insistence of Master Jacobus, +lay down. Declaring that he would not sleep, he fell asleep nevertheless +in ten minutes, and did not awake until the afternoon. He learned then +that Albany was feeling better. Many of the rumors that Montcalm was +advancing had been quieted. Scouts brought word that he was yet at Lake +Champlain, and that he had not given any sign of marching upon Albany. + +Robert learned also that the council in Mr. Huysman's house had been to +take measures of offense as well as defense. Alan Hervey spoke for the +leading men of New York and he was to tell Albany for them that they +would make a mighty effort. A campaign had been lost, but another would +be undertaken at once, and it would be won. They had no doubt that +Boston, Baltimore and Charleston were doing the same. The strong men of +the Colonies intended to assure England of their staunch support, and +the English-speaking race not dreaming perhaps even then that it was to +become such a mighty factor in the world, would fight to the bitter end +for victory. + +"I go back by sloop to New York to-morrow," said Mr. Hardy to him, "and +of course Jonathan Pillsbury goes with me. There are important affairs +of which I must speak to you some day, Robert, and believe me, my lad, I +do not speak of them to you now because the reasons are excellent. I +know you've borne yourself bravely in many dangers, and I know you will +be as strong of heart in others to come. I'm sorry I have to go away +without seeing Willet, but you could not be in safer hands than his." + +"And I know, too," said Robert earnestly, "that I could have no better +friend than you, Mr. Hardy, nor you, Mr. Pillsbury." + +He spoke with the frank sincerity that always made such an appeal to +everybody, and Mr. Hardy patted him approvingly on the shoulder. + +"And don't forget me, Mr. Lennox," said Mr. Hervey. "I want you to be my +guest in New York some day. We live in tremendous times, and so guard +yourself well." + +They left with a favoring breeze and the swift sloop that bore them was +soon out of sight. Robert, Tayoga, Mr. Huysman and Master McLean, who +had seen them off, walked slowly back up the hill to Mr. Huysman's +house. + +"I feel that they brought us new courage," said Master Jacobus. "New +York iss a great town, a full equal to Boston, though they are very +unlike, and do not forget, Robert, that the merchants and financiers +have much to say in a vast war like this which is vexing the world +to-day." + +"I do not forget it, sir," said Robert. "I have seen New York and its +wealth and power. They say that it has nearly twenty thousand +inhabitants--and some day I hope to see London too. Lieutenant Grosvenor +is coming. Can we stop and speak to him?" + +"Of course, my lad, but Master Alexander and I have pressing business +and you will pardon us if we go on. If Lieutenant Grosvenor will come to +my house as my guest bring him, and tell him to stay as long as he +will." + +"That I will, sir, and gladly," said Robert, as he and Tayoga turned +aside to meet the young Englishman. + +The meeting had all the warmth of youth and of real liking. Grosvenor +was fully restored now and his intense interest in everything that was +happening was undiminished. They strolled on together. Robert and Tayoga +did not say anything for the present about their adventure of the +preceding night with the slaver and the spy, but Robert delivered the +invitation of Master Jacobus. + +"If you can get leave come and stay a while with us in the house of Mr. +Huysman," he said. "He bids me give you a most hospitable welcome, and +when he says a thing he means not only what he says but a good deal +more, too. You'll have a fine bed and you may have to eat more than you +can well stand." + +"It appeals to me," said Grosvenor, "and I'd come, but I'm leaving +Albany in a day or two." + +"Leaving Albany! I suppose I shouldn't ask where you're going." + +"I'll tell you without the asking. I'm going with some other officers to +Boston, where we're to await orders. Between you and me, Lennox, I think +we shall take a sea voyage from Boston, maybe to Nova Scotia." + +"And that, I think, indicates a new expedition from England and a new +attack upon Canada and the French, but from another point. It's like the +shadow of great events." + +"It seems so to me, too. Come with us, Lennox. All your friends have got +into the Royal Americans, and I think they too are going east. We could +raise enough influence to secure you a lieutenant's commission." + +Robert's heart swelled, but he shook his head. + +"You tempt me, Grosvenor," he said. "I'd like to go. I think you and the +others will be in the thick of great events, but I could never desert +Tayoga and Willet. I feel that my business, whatever it is, is here. But +we may meet on the front again, though we'll come by different routes." + +"If you can't you can't, and that's an end of it, but I'm glad, Lennox, +that I've known you and Tayoga and Willet, and that we've shared perils. +I'm to meet the Philadelphians and the Virginians at the George Inn +again. Will you two come on?" + +"Gladly," said Robert. + +They found that the others had already arrived, and they were full of +jubilation. Colden, Wilton and Carson were leaving their troop with +regret, but the Royal Americans raised in the Colonies were a picked +regiment ranking with the best of the British regulars. Stuart and +Cabell, coming from the south, which was now more remote from the scene +of war, were delighted at the thought that they would be in the heart of +the conflict. They, too, were insistent that Robert come with them, but +again he refused. When he and Tayoga left them and walked back to the +house of Mr. Huysman the Onondaga said: + +"Dagaeoga was right to stay. His world is centered here." + +"That's so. I feel it in every bone of me. Besides, I'm thinking that +we'll yet have to deal with Garay and that slaver. I'll be glad though +when Willet comes. Then we can decide upon our next step." + +Robert was too active to stay quietly at the house of Mr. Huysman. Only +their host, Tayoga and he were present at their supper that evening, +and, as the man was rather silent, the lads respected his preoccupation, +believing that he was concerned with the great affairs in which he was +having a part. After supper Tayoga left for the camp on the flats to see +an Onondaga runner who had arrived that day, and Mr. Huysman, still +immersed in his thoughts, withdrew into the room containing the great +chest of drawers. + +Robert spent a little while in the chamber that he and Tayoga had used, +looking at the old, familiar things, and then he wandered restlessly +outside, where he stood, glancing down at the lights of the town. He +felt lonely for the moment. Everybody else was doing something, and he +liked to be with people. Perhaps some of his friends had come to the +George Inn. A light was burning there and he would go and see. + +There was a numerous company at the inn, but it included nobody that +Robert knew, and contenting himself with a look from the doorway, he +turned back. Then the masts and spars in the river, standing up a black +tracery against the clear, moonlit sky, interested him, and he walked +casually to the bank. Some activity was still visible on the vessels, +but tiring of them soon he turned away. + +It was dark on the shore, but Robert started violently. If fancy were +not playing tricks with him he saw the shadow of Garay once more. The +figure had appeared about twenty yards ahead of him and then it was +gone. Robert was filled with fierce anger that the man should show such +brazen effrontery, and impulsively he pursued. Profiting by his +experience with the spy, he now had a pistol in his pocket, and +clutching the butt of it he hurried after the elusive shadow. + +He caught a second glimpse. It was surely Garay, and he was running +along the shore, up the stream. + +Robert's anger rose by leaps. The spy's presumption was beyond all +endurance, but he would make him pay for it this time. He drew his +pistol that he might be ready should Garay turn and attack, though he +did not believe that he would do so, and sped after him. But always the +shadow flitted on before, and the distance between them did not seem to +diminish. + +They soon left all houses behind, although Robert, in his excitement, +did not notice it, and then he saw that at last he was gaining. + +"Stop, Garay! Stop, or I shoot!" he cried. + +The spy halted, and Robert, covering him with his pistol, was about to +approach when he heard a step behind him. He whirled, but it was too +late. A stunning weight crashed down upon his head, and he fell into +oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +OUT TO SEA + + +When Robert came back from the far country in which he had been +dwelling, for a little space, he looked into a long face, with eyes set +close and a curved nose. He was dimly conscious that it was a familiar +countenance, but he could not yet remember where he had seen it before, +because he could not concentrate his thoughts. His head was heavy and +aching. He knew that he lived, but he did not know much more. + +The staring face was distinctly unpleasant and menacing. He gazed into +it, trying to recall the owner, but the effort was still too great. Then +he became conscious that he was lying upon his back and that he was +moving. Trees on his right and trees on his left, some distance away, +were filing past. Two men on each side were pulling hard on oars, and +then it slowly entered his mind that he was in a boat. + +He made another and stronger effort to gather up his wandering faculties +and then he realized with a jerk that the face looking into his was that +of the slaver. Making a supreme effort he sat up. The slaver laughed. + +"So, Peter Smith," he said, "you've decided to come back a second time. +I knew that you couldn't stay away always from such a good, kind captain +as I am. I saw the light of welcome in your eyes when we met so +unexpectedly at the George Inn, and I decided that it was only a +question of time until you came into my service again." + +Robert stared at him. His mind, which would not work hitherto, recovered +its power with great suddenness. All his faculties were keen and alert, +and they coördinated smoothly and perfectly. He had been trapped. He had +been struck from behind, while he pursued Garay with such eagerness. He +had been careless, and once more he was in the power of the slaver. And +there was the spy, too, in the prow of the boat, with his back to him, +but that very back seemed to express insolent triumph. He felt a great +sinking of the heart, but in a few moments recalled his courage. His was +a spirit that could not be crushed. His head still ached and he was a +prisoner, but his courage was invincible, and he put on a light manner. + +"Yes, I've come back," he said. "You see, Captain, there are some things +concerning you of which I'm not sure, and I couldn't part from you +permanently until I learned them." + +"I'm glad of it, Peter. You've an inquiring mind, I know, and you'll +have plenty of opportunity to learn everything about me. We're likely to +be together for quite a while." + +Robert looked around. He was in a long boat, and there were four +oarsmen, stout fellows, rough of looks and with hangers and pistols in +their belts. Garay and the captain completed the party, and both the +slaver and the spy were armed heavily. He saw that he had no earthly +chance of escape at present, and he resigned himself for the moment. The +slaver read his look. + +"I'm glad, Peter," he said, "that you've given up the thought of leaving +us that was flitting around in your head a minute or two ago. You're in +a better state of mind now, and it was not possible anyway. Nor will +there be any storm to send you away from me again. A chance like that +wouldn't happen once in a hundred times. I suppose you understand where +you are." + +"I'm in a boat a few miles above Albany, and I think that before long +you'll turn and go back down the stream." + +"Why, Peter?" + +"Because there's nothing for you to go to up the stream. If you kept on +you'd arrive in the Indian country, and I doubt whether that's any part +of your plan." + +"Clever, Peter, clever! and well reasoned. I see that your intellect's +as good as ever. You must rise above the place of a common seaman. When +you're a little older there's a mate's berth for you." + +Garay turned for the first time, and his malignant look of triumph was +not veiled at all. + +"You and Willet and the Indian thought you were very clever there in the +forest when you compelled me to tell where the paper was hid," he said, +"but you forgot that I might make repayment. We've taken you out of +Albany from the very center of your friends, and you'll never see them +again." + +"Theatricals! theatricals!" said Robert, preserving his gay manner, +though his heart was low within him. "A cat has nine lives, but I have +ten. I've been twice a prisoner of the French, and my presence here is +proof that I escaped both times. When I tire of your society and that of +the captain I'll leave you." + +"No quarreling! no quarreling!" said the slaver. "I never allow it among +my men. And now, Peter, I must insure your silence for a little while." + +Two of the men who were rowing dropped their oars, seized him, bound and +gagged him. He struggled at first against the indignity, but, soon +realizing its futility, lay inert on the bottom of the boat. + +"Good judgment, Peter," said the slaver, looking down at him. "It's +never wise to struggle against a certainty. You've the makings of a fine +officer in you." + +The two resumed their oars, and the boat, turning abruptly, as Robert +had surmised it would, went down the stream. The men ceased to talk and +the lad on his back looked up at the sky in which but few stars +twinkled. Heavy clouds floated past the moon, and the night was +darkening rapidly. Once more his heart sank to the uttermost depths, and +it had full cause to do so. For some reason he had been pursued with +singular malice and cunning, and now it seemed that his enemies were +triumphant. Tayoga could trail him anywhere on land, but water left no +trail. He was sure that his captors would keep to the river. + +The speed of the boat increased with the efforts of the rowers and the +favor of the current. Soon it was opposite Albany and then the men rowed +directly to a small schooner that lay at anchor, having come up the +stream the day before. Robert was lifted on board and carried into the +depths of the vessel, where they took out the gag and put him on the +floor. The captain held a lantern over him and said: + +"Garay is telling you good-bye, Peter. He's sorry he can't go with us, +but he'll be having business on the Canadian frontier. He feels that the +score is about even with you for that business of the letter in the +forest, and that later on he'll attend also to the hunter and the +Onondaga." + +"And I wish you a pleasant life on the West Indian plantations," said +Garay. "They still buy white labor there in both the French and British +islands. It does not matter to me to which the captain sells you, for in +either case it means a life of hard labor in the sugar cane. Few ever +escape, and you never will." + +Robert turned quite sick. So this was the plan. To sell him into slavery +in the West Indies. Kidnapping was not at all uncommon then in both the +Old World and the New, and they seemed to have laid their plans well. As +the slaver had said, there was not one chance in a hundred of another +storm. Again the captain read his mind. + +"You don't like the prospect," he said, "and I'll admit myself that it's +not a cheerful one. I've changed my opinion of you, Peter. I thought +you'd make a fine sailor and that you might become a mate some day, but +I've seen a light. You're not a good sailor at all. The stuff's not in +you. But you're strong and hearty and you'll do well in the sugar cane. +If the sun's too hot and your back bends too much just reflect that for +a white man it's not a long life and your troubles will be over, some +day." + +Robert's old indomitable spirit flamed up. + +"I never expect to see a West Indian plantation, not on this journey, at +least," he said. "You and that miserable spy boast that you took me out +of the very center of my friends, and I tell you in reply that if I have +enemies who follow me I also have friends who are truer in their +friendship than you are in your hate, and they'll come for me." + +"That's the spirit. I never heard another lad sling words in the noble +fashion you do. You'll live a deal longer on the plantations than most +of 'em. Now, Garay, I think you can go. It will be the last farewell for +you two." + +The exulting spy left the close little place, and Robert felt that a +breath of hate went with him. His feet disappeared up a narrow little +stair, and the slaver cut the cords that bound Robert. + +"You'll be locked in here," he said, "and it's not worth while to damage +good property by keeping it tied up too long." + +"That's so," said Robert, trying to preserve a light manner. "You want +to keep me strong and active for the work on the plantations. A white +slave like a black one ought to be in good health." + +The captain laughed. He was in high humor. Robert knew that he felt +intense satisfaction because he was taking revenge for his mortification +when he was defeated in the duel with swords before his own men by a +mere boy. Evidently that would rankle long with one of the slaver's +type. + +"I'm glad to see you recognize facts so well, Peter," he said. "I see +that you've an ambition to excel on the plantations, perhaps to be the +best worker. Now, Garay, telling me of that little adventure of his in +the forest with the hunter, the Indian and you, wanted me to be very +careful about your rations, to put you on a sparing diet, so to speak. +He thought it would be best not to let you have anything to eat for two +or three days. His idea rather appealed to me, too, but, on the other +hand, I couldn't impair your value, and so I decided against him." + +"I'm not hungry," said Robert. + +"No, but you will be. You're young and strong, and that wound on your +head where I had to hit you with the butt of my pistol doesn't amount to +much." + +Robert put up his hands, felt of the back of his head, where the ache +was, and found that the hair was matted together by congealed blood. But +he could tell that the hurt was not deep. + +"I'll leave you now," said the slaver in the same satisfied tone, "and I +hope you'll enjoy the voyage down the river. There's a good wind blowing +and we start in a half hour." + +He went out, taking the lantern with him, and bolted the door heavily +behind him. Then Robert felt despair for a while. It was much worse to +be a prisoner on the ship than in the French camp or in the village of +the partisan, Langlade. There he had been treated with consideration and +the fresh winds of heaven blew about him, but here he was shut up in a +close little hole, and his captors rejoiced in his misery. + +It was quite dark in the tiny galley, and the only air that entered came +from a small porthole high over a bunk. He stood upon the bank and +brought his face level with the opening. It was not more than four +inches across, but he was able to inhale a pure and invigorating breeze +that blew from the north, and he felt better. The pain in his head was +dying down also, and his courage, according to its habit, rose fast. In +a character that nature had compounded of optimistic materials hope was +always a predominant factor. + +He could see nothing through the porthole save a dark blur, but he heard +the creaking of cordage and the slatting of sails. He did not doubt that +the slaver had told the truth when he said the schooner would soon +start, and there was no possibility of escaping before then. +Nevertheless, he tried the door, but could not shake it. Then he went +back to the porthole for the sake of the air, and, because, if he could +not have freedom for himself, he could at least see a little way into +the open world. + +The creaking of cordage and slatting of sails increased, he felt the +schooner heave and roll beneath him, and then he knew that they were +leaving Albany. It was the bitterest moment of his life. To be carried +away in that ignominious manner, from the very center of his friends, +from a town in which he had lived, and that he knew so well was a +terrible blow to his pride. For the moment apprehension about the future +was drowned in mortification. + +He heard heavy footsteps overhead, and the sound of commands, and the +schooner began to move. He continued to stand on the bunk, with his eyes +at the porthole. He was able to see a dark shore, moving past, slowly at +first and then faster. The dim outlines of houses showed and he would +have shouted for help, but he knew that it was impossible to make any +one hear, and pride restrained. + +The blurred outlines of the houses ceased and Albany was gone. Doubtless +the schooner had appeared as an innocent trader with the proper +licenses, and the slaver, having awaited its arrival, had come on ahead +to the town. He was compelled to admit the thoroughness of the plan, and +the skill with which it had been carried out, but he wondered anew why +so much trouble had been taken in regard to him, a mere lad. + +He stood at the porthole a long time, and the wind out of the north rose +steadily. He heard its whistle and he also heard the singing of men +above him. He knew that the schooner was making great speed down the +stream and that Albany and his friends were now far behind. As the wise +generally do, he resigned himself to inevitable fate, wasting no +strength in impossible struggles, but waiting patiently for a better +time. There was a single blanket on the hard bunk, and, lying down on +it, he fell asleep. + +When he awoke, day shining through the porthole threw a slender bar of +light across the floor, which heaved and slanted, telling that the wind +out of the north still blew strong and true. An hour later the door was +opened and a sailor brought a rude breakfast on a tin plate. While he +was eating it, and hunger made everything good, the slaver came in. + +"You'll see, Peter, that I did not put you on the diet suggested by +Garay," he said. "I'm at least a kind man and you ought to thank me for +all I'm doing for you." + +"For any kindness of yours to me I'm grateful," said Robert. "We're apt +to do unto people as they do unto us." + +"Quite a young philosopher, I see. You'll find such a spirit useful on +the West India plantations. My heart really warms to you, Peter. I'd let +you go on deck as we're running through good scenery now, but it's +scarcely prudent. We'll have to wait for that until we pass New York and +put out to sea. I hope you don't expect it of me, Peter?" + +"No, I don't look for it. But if you don't mind I'd like to have a +little more breakfast." + +"A fine, healthy young animal, so you are! And you shall have it, too." + +He called the sailor who brought a second helping and Robert fell to. He +was really very hungry and he was resolved also to put the best possible +face on the matter. He knew he would need every ounce of his strength, +and he meant to nurse it sedulously. + +"When do you expect to reach New York?" he asked. + +"To-morrow some time, if the wind holds fair, but we won't stay there +long. A few hours only to comply with the port regulations, and then ho! +for the West Indies! It's a grand voyage down! And splendid islands! +Green mountains that seem to rise straight up out of the sea! While +you're working in the cane fields you can enjoy the beautiful scenery, +Peter." + +Robert was silent. The man's malice filled him with disgust. Undoubtedly +the slaver had felt intense chagrin because of his former failure and +his defeat in the duel of swords before his own men, but then one should +not exult over a foe who was beaten for the time. He felt a bitter and +intense hatred of the slaver, and, his breakfast finished, he leaned +back, closing his eyes. + +"So you do not wish to talk, but would meditate," said the man. "Perhaps +you're right, but, at any rate, you'll have plenty of time for it." + +When he went out Robert heard the heavy lock of the tiny room shove into +place again, and he wasted no further effort in a new attempt upon it. +Instead, he lay down on the bunk, closed his eyes and tried to reconcile +himself, body and mind, to his present situation. He knew that it was +best to keep quiet, to restrain any mental flutterings or physical +quivers. Absolute calm, if he could command it, was good for the soul, +placed as he was, and the mere act of lying still helped toward that. It +was what Tayoga would do if he were in his place, and, spurred by a +noble emulation, he resolved that he would not be inferior to the +Onondaga. + +An hour, two hours passed and he did not stir. His stillness made his +hearing more acute. The trampling of feet over his head came to him with +great distinctness. He heard the singing of wind at the porthole, and, +now and then, the swish of waters as they swept past the schooner. He +wondered what Tayoga was doing and what would Willet think when he came +back to Albany and found him gone. It gave him a stab of agony. His +pride was hurt, too, that he had been trapped so thoroughly. Then his +resolution returned to his aid. Making a supreme effort of his will, he +dismissed the thought, concentrating his mind on hope. Would Tayoga's +Manitou help him? Would Tododaho on his remote star look down upon him +with kindness? The Onondaga in his place would put his faith in them, +and the Manitou of the Indian after all was but another name for his own +Christian God. Resolving to hope he did hope. He refused to believe that +the slaver could make him vanish from the face of the earth like a mist +before the wind. + +The air in the little cabin was dense and heavy already, but after a +while he felt it grow thicker and warmer. He was conscious, too, of a +certain sultriness in it. The tokens were for a storm. He thought with a +leap of the heart of the earlier storm that had rescued him, but that +was at sea; this, if it came, would be on a river, and so shrewd a +captain as the slaver would not let himself be wrecked in the Hudson. + +The heat and sultriness increased. Then he stood on the bunk and looked +through the porthole. He caught glimpses of lofty shores, trees at the +summit, and stretches of a dark and angry sky. Low thunder muttered, +rolling up from the west. Then came flashes of lightning, and the +thunder grew louder. By and by the wind blew heavily, making the +schooner reel before it, and when it died somewhat rain fell in sheets. + +Although he felt it rather than saw it, Robert really enjoyed the storm. +It seemed a tonic to him, and the wilder it was the steadier grew his +own spirit. The breath of the rain as it entered the porthole was +refreshing, and the air in the cabin became clear and cool again. Then +followed the dark, and his second night in the schooner. + +A sailor brought him his supper, the slaver failing to reappear, and +soon afterward he fell asleep. He made no surmise where they were the +next morning, as he had no way of gauging their speed during the night, +but he was allowed to go about under guard below decks for an hour or +two. The slaver came down the ladder and gave him the greetings of the +day. + +"You will see, Peter," he said, "that I'm a much kinder man than Garay. +He would restrict your food, but I not only give you plenty of it, I +also allow you exercise, very necessary and refreshing to youth. I'm +sorry I'll have to shut you up again soon, but in the afternoon we'll +reach New York, and I must keep you away from the temptations of the +great town." + +Robert would have given much to be allowed upon the deck and to look at +the high shores, but he could not sink his pride enough to ask for the +privilege, and, when the time came for him to return to his cell of a +cabin he made no protest. + +He felt the schooner stop late in the afternoon and he was sure that +they had reached New York. He heard the dropping of the anchor, and then +the sounds became much dimmer. The light in the cabin was suddenly shut +off, and he realized that the porthole had been closed from the outside. +They were taking no chances of a call for help, and he tried to resign +himself. + +But will could not control feelings now. To know that he was in New York +and yet was absolutely helpless was more than he could bear. He had +never really believed that the schooner could pass the port and put out +to sea with him a prisoner. It had seemed incredible, one of the things +not to be contemplated, but here was the event coming to pass. Mind lost +control of the body. He threw himself upon the door, pulled at it, and +beat it. It did not move an inch. Then he shouted again and again for +help. There was no response. + +Gradually his panic passed, and ashamed of it he threw himself once more +upon the bunk, where he tried to consider whatever facts were in his +favor. It was certain they were not trying to take his life; had they +wished they could have done that long ago, and while one lived one was +never wholly lost. It was a fact that he would remember through +everything and he would pin his faith to it. + +He slept, after a while, and he always thought afterwards that the foul, +dense air of the cabin added a kind of stupor to sleep. When he came out +of it late the next day he was conscious of an immense heaviness in the +head and of a dull, apathetic feeling. He sat up slowly and painfully as +if he were an old man. Then he noticed that the porthole was open again, +but, judging from the quality of the air in the cabin, it had not been +open long. + +So the slaver had been successful. He had stopped in the port of New +York and had then put out to sea. Doubtless he had done so without any +trouble. He was having his revenge in measure full and heaped over. +Robert was bound to admit it, but he bore in mind that his own life was +still in his body. He would never give up, he would never allow himself +to be crushed. + +He stood upon the bunk and put his eyes to the porthole, catching a view +of blue water below and blue sky above, and the sea as it raced past +showed that the vessel was moving swiftly. He heard, too, the hum of the +strong wind in the rigging and the groaning timbers. It was enough to +tell him that they were fast leaving New York behind, and that now the +chances of his rescue upon a lone ocean were, in truth, very small. But +once more he refused to despair. + +He did not believe the slaver would keep him shut up in the cabin, since +they were no longer where he could be seen by friends or those who might +suspect, and his opinion was soon justified. In a half hour the door was +opened by the man himself, who stood upon the threshold, jaunty, assured +and triumphant. + +"You can come on deck now, Peter," he said. "We've kept you below long +enough, and, as I want to deliver you to the plantations strong and +hearty, fresh air and exercise will do you good." + +"I'll come willingly enough," said Robert, resolved to be jaunty too. +"Lead the way." + +The captain went up the ladder just outside the door and Robert followed +him, standing at first in silence on the swaying deck and content to +look at sky and ocean. How beautiful they were! How beautiful the world +was to one who had been shut up for days in a close little room! How +keen and sweet was the wind! And what a pleasant song the creaking of +the ropes and the slatting of the sails made! + +It was a brilliant day. The sun shone with dazzling clearness. The sea +was the bluest of the blue. The wind blew steady and strong. Far behind +them was a low line of land, showing but dimly on the horizon, and +before them was the world of waters. Robert balanced himself on the +swaying deck, and, for a minute or two, he enjoyed too much the +sensation of at least qualified freedom to think of his own plight. +While he stood there, breathing deeply, his lungs expanding and his +heart leaping, the slaver who had gone away, reappeared, saluting him +with much politeness. + +"Look back, Peter," he said, "and you can get your last glimpse of your +native soil. The black line that just shows under the sky is Sandy Hook. +We won't see any more land for days, and you'll have a fine, +uninterrupted voyage with me and my crew." + +Robert in this desperate crisis of his life resolved at once upon a +course of action. He would not show despair, he would not sulk, he would +so bear himself and with such cheerfulness and easy good nature that the +watch upon him might be relaxed somewhat, and the conditions of his +captivity might become less hard. It was perhaps easier for him than for +another, with his highly optimistic nature and his disposition to be +friendly. He kissed his hand to the black line on the horizon and said: + +"I'm going now, but I'll come back. I always come back." + +"That's the right spirit, Peter," said the slaver. "Be pleasant. Always +be pleasant, say I, and you'll get along much better in the world. +Things will just melt away before you." + +Robert looked over the schooner. He did not know much about ships, but +she seemed to him a trim and strong craft, carrying, as he judged, about +thirty men. A long eighteen-pound cannon was mounted in her stern, but +that was to be expected in war, and was common in peace also when one +sailed into that nest of pirates, the West Indies. The slaver carried +pistol and dirk in his belt, and those of the crew whom he could see +were sturdy, hardy men. The slaver read his eyes: + +"Yes, she's a fine craft," he said. "Able to fight anything of her size +we're likely to meet, and fast enough to run away from them that's too +big for her. You can see as much of her as you want to. So long as we've +no neighbor on the ocean you've the run of the craft. But if you should +want to leave you needn't try to tempt any of my men to help you. They +wouldn't dare do it, and they wouldn't want to anyhow. All their +interests are with me. I'm something of a deity to them." + +The slaver went away and Robert walked about the narrow deck, standing +at last by the rail, where he remained a long time. No one seemed to pay +any attention to him. He was free to come and go as he pleased within +the narrow confines of the schooner. But he watched the black line of +land behind them until it was gone, and then it seemed to him that he +was cut off absolutely from all the life that he had lived. Tayoga, +Willet, Master Jacobus, all the good friends of his youth had +disappeared over the horizon with the lost land. + +It had been so sudden, so complete that it seemed to him it must have +been done with a purpose. To what end had he been wrenched away from the +war and sent upon the unknown ocean? His wilderness had been that of the +woods and not of the waters. He had imbibed much of Tayoga's philosophy +and at times, at least, he believed that everything moved forward to an +appointed end. What was it now? + +He left the low rail at last, and finding a stool sat down upon the +deck. The schooner was going almost due south, and she was making great +speed. The slaver's boast that she could run away from anything too +strong for her was probably true, and Robert judged also that she +carried plenty of arms besides the eighteen-pounder. Most of the crew +seemed to him to be foreigners, that is, they were chiefly of the races +around the Mediterranean. Dark of complexion, short and broad, some of +them wore earrings, and, without exception, they carried dirks and now +and then both pistols and dirks in their belts. He sought among them for +the face of one who might be a friend, but found none. They were all +hardened and sinister, and he believed that at the best they were +smugglers, at the worst pirates. + +A heavy dark fellow whom Robert took to be a Spaniard was mate and +directed the task of working the vessel, the captain himself taking no +part in the commands, but casting an occasional keen glance at the +sailors as he strolled about. Robert judged that he was an expert sailor +and a leader of men. In truth, he had never doubted his ability from the +first, only his scruples, or, rather, he felt sure that he had none at +all. + +The policy of ignoring the prisoner, evidently by order, was carried out +by the men. For all save the captain he did not exist, apparently, and +the slaver himself took no further notice of him for several hours. +Then, continuing his old vein, he spoke to him lightly, as if he were a +guest rather than a captive. + +"I see that you're improving in both mind and body, Peter," he said. +"You've a splendid color in your cheeks and you look fine and hearty. +The sea air is good for anybody and it's better for you to be here than +in a town like Albany." + +"Since I'm here," said Robert, "I'll enjoy myself as much as I can. I +always try to make the best of everything." + +"That's philosophical, and 'tis a surprisingly good policy for one so +young." + +Robert looked at him closely. His accent was that of an educated man, +and he did not speak ungrammatically. + +"I've never heard your name, captain," he said, "and as you know mine, I +ought to know yours." + +"We needn't mind about that now. Three-fourths of my men don't know my +name, just calling me 'Captain.' And, at any rate, if I were to give it +to you it wouldn't be the right one." + +"I suspected as much. People who change their names usually do so for +good reasons." + +Color came into the man's sun-browned cheeks. + +"You're a bold lad, Peter," he said, "but I'll admit you're telling the +truth. I rather fancy you in some ways. If I felt sure of you I might +take you with me on a voyage that will not be without profit, instead of +selling you to a plantation in the Indies. But to go with me I must have +your absolute faith, and you must agree to share in all our perils and +achievements." + +His meaning was quite plain, and might have tempted many another, +thinking, in any event, to use it as a plan for escape, but Robert never +faltered for a moment. His own instincts were always for the right, and +long comradeship with Willet and Tayoga made his will to obey those +instincts all the stronger. + +"Thank you, Captain," he replied, "but I judge that your cruises are all +outside the law, and I cannot go with you on them, at least, not +willingly." + +The slaver shrugged his shoulder. + +"'Tis just as well that you declined," he said. "'Twas but a passing +whim of mine, and ten minutes later I'd have been sorry for it had you +accepted." + +He shrugged his shoulders again, took a turn about the deck and then +went down to his cabin. Robert, notified by a sailor, the first man on +the schooner outside of the slaver to speak to him, ate supper with him +there. The food was good, but the captain was now silent, speaking only +a few times, and mostly in monosyllables. Near the end he said: + +"You're to sleep in the room you've been occupying. The door will not be +bolted on you, but I don't think you'll leave the ship. The nearest land +is sixty or seventy miles away, and that's a long swim." + +"I won't chance it," said Robert. "Just now I prefer solid timber +beneath my feet." + +"A wise decision, Peter." + +After supper the slaver went about his duties, whatever they were, and +Robert, utterly free so far as the schooner was concerned, went on deck. +It was quite dark and the wind was blowing strong, but the ship was +steady, and her swift keel cut the waters. All around him curved the +darkness, and the loneliness of the sea was immense at that moment. It +was in very truth a long swim to the land, and just then the thought of +escape was far from him. He shivered, and going down to the little cabin +that had been a prison, he soon fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MUSIC IN THE MOONLIGHT + + +Several days passed and from the standpoint of the schooner the voyage +was successful. The wind continued fresh and strong, and it came out of +the right quarter. The days were clear, the sea was a dazzling color, +shifting as the sky over it shifted. The slaver was in high good humor. +His crew seemed to be under perfect control and went about their work +mostly in silence. They rarely sang, as sailors sing, but Robert, +watching them on spar or mast, although he knew little about ships, knew +that they were good sailors. He realized, too, that the crew was very +large for a vessel of its size, and he believed that he understood the +reason. + +As for himself, he felt a vast loneliness. It was incredible, but he was +there on the schooner far from all he had known. The forest, in which he +had lived and the war that had concerned the whole world had sunk out of +sight beyond the horizon. And on the schooner he had made no +acquaintance save the slaver. He knew that the mate was called Carlos, +but he had not yet spoken to him. He tried his best to be cheerful, but +there were times when despair assailed him in spite of all his courage +and natural buoyancy. + +"Better reconsider," said the slaver one day, catching the look upon his +face. "As I've told you, Peter, the life on the plantations is hard and +they don't last long, no matter how strong they are. There's peril in +the life I lead, I'll admit, but at least there's freedom also. Sport's +to be found among the islands, and along the Spanish Main." + +"I couldn't think of it," said Robert. + +"Well, it's the second time I've made you the offer, and the last. I +perceive you're bent on a life in the sugar cane, and you'll have your +wish." + +Robert, seeing no chance of escape from the ship now, began to hope for +rescue from without. It was a time of war and all vessels were more than +commonly wary, but one might come at last, and, in some way he would +give a signal for help. How he did not know, but the character of the +schooner was more than doubtful, and he might be able, in some way, yet +unsuggested, to say so to any new ship that came. + +But the surface of the sea, so far as their own particular circle of it +was concerned, was untroubled by any keel save their own. It was as lone +and desolate as if they were the first vessel to come there. They fell +into a calm and the schooner rocked in low swells but made no progress. +The sun shone down, brassy and hot, and Robert, standing upon the deck, +looked at the sails flapping idly above. Although it carried him farther +and farther away from all for which he cared, he wished that the wind +would rise. Nothing was more tedious than to hang there upon the surface +of the languid ocean. The slaver read his face. + +"You want us to go on," he said, "and so do I. For once we are in +agreement. I'd like to make a port that I know of much sooner than I +shall. The war has brought privateersmen into these seas, and there are +other craft that any ship can give a wide berth." + +"If the privateer should be British, or out of one of our American ports +why should you fear her?" asked Robert. + +"I'm answering no such questions except to say that in some parts of the +world you're safer alone, and this is one of the parts." + +The dead calm lasted two days and two nights, and it was like forever to +Robert. When the breeze came at last, and the sails began to fill, new +life flowed into his own veins, and hope came back. Better any kind of +action than none at all, and he drew long breaths of relief when the +schooner once more left her trailing wake in the blue sea. The wind blew +straight and strong for a day and night, then shifted and a long period +of tacking followed. It was very wearisome, but Robert, clinging to his +resolution, made the best of it. He even joined in some of the labor, +helping to polish the metal work, especially the eighteen-pounder in the +stern, a fine bronze gun. The men tolerated him, but when he tried to +talk with them he found that most of them had little or no English, and +he made scant progress with them in that particular. The big first mate, +Carlos, rebuffed him repeatedly, but he persisted, and in time the +rebuffs became less brusque. He also noticed a certain softening of the +sailors toward him. His own charm of manner was so great that it was +hard to resist it when it was continuously exerted, and sailors, like +other men, appreciate help when it is given to them continuously. The +number of frowns for him decreased visibly. + +He still ate at the captain's table, why he knew not, but the man seemed +to fancy his company; perhaps there was no other on the schooner who was +on a similar intellectual level, and he made the most of the opportunity +to talk. + +"Peter," he said, "you seem to have ingratiated yourself to a certain +extent with my crew. I'm bound to admit that you're a personable young +rascal, with the best manners I've met in a long time, but I warn you +that you can't go far. You'll never win 'em over to your side, and be +able to lead a mutiny which will dethrone me, and put you in command." + +"I've no such plan in my mind," said Robert laughing. "I don't know +enough about sailing to take command of the ship, and I'd have to leave +everything to Carlos, whom I'd trust, on the whole, less than I do you." + +"You're justified in that. Carlos is a Spaniard out of Malaga, where he +was too handy with the knife, just as he has been elsewhere. Whatever I +am, you're safer with me than you would be with Carlos, although he's a +fine sailor and loyal to me." + +"How long will it be before we make any of the islands?" + +"It's all with the wind, but in any event it will be quite a while yet. +It's a long run from New York down to the West Indies. Moreover, we may +be blown out of our course at any time." + +"Are we in the stormy latitudes?" + +"We are. Hurricanes appear here with great suddenness. You noticed how +hot it was to-day. We're to have another calm, and the still, intense +heat is a great breeder of storms. I think one will come soon, but don't +put any faith in its helping you, Peter. To be saved that way once is +all the luck you can expect. If we were wrecked here you'd surely go +down; it's too far from land." + +"I'm not expecting another wreck, nor am I hoping for it," said Robert. +"I'm thinking the land will be better for me. I'll make good my escape +there. I've been uncommonly favored in that way. Once I escaped from you +and twice from the French and Indians, so I think my future will hold +good." + +"Maybe it will, Peter. As resolute an optimist as you ought to succeed. +If you escape after I deliver you to the plantation 'twill be no concern +to me at all. On the whole I'm inclined to hope you will, for I'm rather +beginning to like you, spite of all the trouble you've caused me and +that time you beat me with the swords before my own men." + +Robert's heart leaped up. Could the man be induced to relent in his +plan, whatever it was? But his hope fell the next moment, when the +slaver said: + +"Though I tell you, Peter, I'm going to stick to my task. You'll be +handed over to the plantation, whatever comes. After that, it's for +others to watch you, and I rather hope you'll get the better of 'em." + +The storm predicted by the slaver arrived within six hours, and it was a +fearful thing. It came roaring down upon them, and the wind blew with +such frightful violence that Robert did not see how they could live +through it, but live they did. Both the captain and mate revealed great +seamanship, and the schooner was handled so well and behaved so +handsomely that she drove through it without losing a stick. + +When the hurricane passed on the sea resumed its usual blue color, and, +the dead, heavy heat gone, the air was keen and fresh. Robert, although +he did not suffer from seasickness, had been made dizzy by the storm, +and he felt intense relief when it was over. + +"You'll observe, Peter," said the slaver, "that we're coming into +regions of violence both on land and sea. You've heard many a tale of +the West Indies. Well, they're all true, whatever they are, earthquakes, +hurricanes, smugglers, pirates, wild Englishmen, Frenchmen, Americans, +Spaniards, Portuguese, deeds by night that the day won't own, and the +prize for the strongest. It's a great life, Peter, for those that can +live it." + +The close-set eyes flashed, and the nostrils dilated. Despite the +apparent liking that the slaver had shown for him, Robert never doubted +his character. Here was a man to whom the violent contrasts and violent +life of the West Indian seas appealed. He wondered what was the present +mission of the schooner, and he thought of the bronze eighteen-pounder, +and of the dirks and pistols in the belts of the crew. + +"I prefer the north," he said. "It's cooler there and people are more +nearly even, in temper and life." + +"Your life there has been in peril many times from the Indians." + +"That's true, but I understand the Indians. Those who are my friends are +my friends, and those who are my enemies are my enemies. I take it that +in the West Indies you never know what change is coming." + +"Correct, Peter, but it's all a matter of temperament. You like what you +like, because you're made that way, and you can't alter it, but the West +Indies have seen rare deeds. Did you ever hear of Morgan, the great +buccaneer?" + +"Who hasn't?" + +"There was a man for you! No law but his own! Willing to sack the +biggest and strongest cities on the Spanish Main and did it, too! Ah, +Peter, 'twould have been a fine thing to have lived in his day and to +have done what he did." + +"I shouldn't care to be a pirate, no matter how powerful, and no matter +how great the reward." + +"Again it's just a matter of temperament. I'm not trying to change you, +and you couldn't change me." + +Came another calm, longer than the first. They hung about for days and +nights on a hot sea, and captain and crew alike showed anxiety and +impatience. The captain was continually watching the horizon with his +glasses, and he talked to Robert less than usual. It was obvious that he +felt anxiety. + +The calm was broken just before nightfall. Dark had come with the +suddenness of the tropic seas. There was a puff of wind, followed by a +steady breeze, and the schooner once more sped southward. Robert, +anxious to breathe the invigorating air, came upon deck, and standing +near the mainmast watched the sea rushing by. The captain paused near +him and said to Robert in a satisfied tone: + +"It won't be long now, Peter, until we're among the islands, and it may +be, too, that we'll see another ship before long. We've been on a lone +sea all the way down, but you'll find craft among the islands." + +"It might be a hostile vessel, a privateer," said Robert. + +"It's not privateers of which I'm thinking." + +The light was dim, but Robert plainly saw the questing look in his eyes, +the look of a hunter, and he drew back a pace. This man was no mere +smuggler. He would not content himself with such a trade. But he said in +his best manner: + +"I should think, captain, it was a time to avoid company, and that you +would be better pleased with a lone sea." + +"One never knows what is coming in these waters," said the slaver. "It +may be that we shall have to run away, and I must not be caught off my +guard." + +But the look in the man's eyes did not seem to Robert to be that of one +who wished to run away. It was far more the look of the hunter, and when +the hulking mate, Carlos, passed near him his face bore a kindred +expression. The sailors, too, were eager, attentive, watching the +horizon, as if they expected something to appear there. + +No attention was paid to Robert, and he remained on the deck, feeling a +strong premonition that they were at the edge of a striking event, one +that had a great bearing upon his own fate, no matter what its character +might be. + +The wind rose again, but it did not become a gale. It was merely what a +swift vessel would wish, to show her utmost grace and best speed. The +moon came out and made a silver sea. The long white wake showed clearly +across the waters. The captain never left the deck, but continued to +examine the horizon with his powerful glasses. + +Robert, quick to deduce, believed that they were in some part of the sea +frequented by ships in ordinary times and that the captain must be +reckoning on the probability of seeing a vessel in the course of the +night. His whole manner showed it, and the lad's own interest became so +great that he lost all thought of going down to his cabin. Unless force +intervened he would stay there and see what was going to happen, because +he felt in every fiber that something would surely occur. + +An hour, two hours passed. The schooner went swiftly on toward the +south, the wind singing merrily through the ropes and among the sails. +The captain walked back and forth in a narrow space, circling the entire +horizon with his glasses at intervals seldom more than five minutes +apart. It was about ten o'clock at night when he made a sharp, decisive +movement, and a look of satisfaction came over his face. He had been +gazing into the west and the lad felt sure that he had seen there that +for which he was seeking, but his own eyes, without artificial help, +were not yet able to tell him what it was. + +The captain called the mate, speaking to him briefly and rapidly, and +the sullen face of the Spaniard became alive. An order to the steersman +and the course of the schooner was shifted more toward the west. It was +evident to Robert that they were not running away from whatever it was +out there. The slaver for the first time in a long while took notice of +Robert. + +"There's another craft in the west, Peter," he said, "and we must have a +look at her. Curiosity is a good thing at sea, whatever it may be on +shore. When you know what is near you you may be able to protect +yourself from danger." + +His cynical, indifferent air had disappeared. He was gay, anticipatory, +as if he were going to something that he liked very much. The close-set +eyes were full of light, and the thin lips curved into a smile. + +"You don't seem to expect danger," said Robert. "It appears to me that +you're thinking of just the opposite." + +"It's because I've so much confidence in the schooner. If it's a wicked +ship over there we'll just show her the fastest pair of heels in the +West Indies." + +He did not speak again for a full quarter of an hour, but he used the +glasses often, always looking at the same spot on the western horizon. +Robert was at last able to see a black dot there with his unassisted +eyes, and he knew that it must be a ship. + +"She's going almost due south," said the captain, "and in two hours we +should overhaul her." + +"Why do you wish to overhaul her?" asked Robert. + +"She may be a privateer, a Frenchman, or even a pirate, and if so we +must give the alarm to other peaceful craft like ourselves in these +waters." + +He raised the glasses again and did not take them down for a full five +minutes. Meantime the strange ship came nearer. It was evident to Robert +that the two vessels were going down the sides of a triangle, and if +each continued on its course they would meet at the point. + +The night was steadily growing brighter. The moon was at its fullest, +and troops of new stars were coming out. Robert saw almost as well as by +day. He was soon able to distinguish the masts and sails of the +stranger, and to turn what had been a black blur into the shape and +parts of a ship. He was able, too, to tell that the stranger was keeping +steadily on her course, but the schooner, obeying her tiller, was +drawing toward her more and more. + +"They don't appear to be interested in us," he said to the captain. + +"No," replied the man, "but they should be. They show a lack of that +curiosity which I told you is necessary at sea, and it is my duty to +overtake them and tell them so. We must not have any incautious ships +sailing in these strange waters." + +Ten minutes later he called the mate and gave a command. Cutlasses and +muskets with powder and ball were put at convenient points. Every man +carried at least one pistol and a dirk in his belt. The captain himself +took two pistols and a cutlass. + +"Merely a wise precaution, Peter," he said, "in case our peaceful +neighbor, to whom we wish to give a useful warning, should turn out to +be a pirate." + +Robert in the moonlight saw his eyes gleam and his lips curve once more +into a smile. He had seen enough of men in crucial moments to know that +the slaver was happy, that he was rejoicing in some great triumph that +he expected to achieve. In spite of himself he shivered and looked at +the stranger. The tracery of masts and spars was growing clearer and the +dim figures of men were visible on her decks. + +"Oh, we'll meet later," said the captain exultantly. "Don't deceive +yourself about that. There is a swift wind behind us and the speed of +both ships is increasing." + +Robert looked over the side. The sea was running in white caps and above +his head the wind was whistling. The schooner rolled and his footing +grew unsteady, but it was only a fine breeze to the sailors, just what +they loved. Suddenly the captain burst into a great laugh. + +"The fools! the fools!" he exclaimed. "As I live, they're pleasuring +here in the most dangerous seas in the world! Music in the moonlight!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Robert, astonished. + +"Just what I say! A madness hath o'ercome 'em! Take a look through the +glasses, Peter, and see a noble sight, but a strange one at such a +time." + +He clapped the glasses to Robert's eyes. The other ship, suddenly came +near to them, and grew fourfold in size. Every detail of her stood out +sharp and vivid in the moonlight, a stout craft with all sails set to +catch the good wind, a fine merchantman by every token, nearing the end +of a profitable voyage. Discipline was not to say somewhat relaxed, but +at least kindly, the visible evidence of it an old sailor sitting with +his back against the mast playing vigorously upon a violin, while a +dozen other men stood around listening. + +"Look at 'em, Peter. Look at 'em," laughed the captain. "It's a most +noble sight! Watch the old fellow playing the fiddle, and I'll lay my +eyes that in a half minute or so you'll have some of the sailormen +dancing." + +Robert shuddered again. The glee in the slaver's voice was wicked. The +cynical jesting tone was gone and in its place was only unholy malice. +But Robert was held by the scene upon the deck of the stranger. + +"Yes, two of the sailors have begun to dance," he said. "They're young +men and clasping each other about the shoulders, they're doing a +hornpipe. I can see the others clapping their hands and the old fellow +plays harder than ever." + +"Ah, idyllic! Most idyllic, I vow!" exclaimed the captain. "Who would +have thought, Peter, to have beheld such a sight in these seas! 'Tis a +childhood dream come back again! 'Tis like the lads and maids sporting +on the village green! Ah, the lambs! the innocents! There is no war for +them. It does my soul good, Peter, to behold once more such innocent +trust in human nature." + +The shudder, more violent than ever, swept over Robert again. He felt +that he was in the presence of something unclean, something that exhaled +the foul odor of the pit. The man had become wholly evil, and he shrank +away. + +"Steady, Peter," said the slaver. "Why shouldn't you rejoice with the +happy lads on yon ship? Think of your pleasant fortune to witness such a +play in the West Indian seas, the merry sailormen dancing to the music +in the moonlight, the ship sailing on without care, and we in our +schooner bearing down on 'em to secure our rightful share in the +festival. Ah, Peter, we must go on board, you and I and Carlos and more +stout fellows and sing and dance with 'em!" + +Robert drew back again. It may have been partly the effect of the +moonlight, and partly the mirror of his own mind through which he +looked, but the captain's face had become wholly that of a demon. The +close-set eyes seemed to draw closer together than ever, and they were +flashing. His hand, sinewy and strong, settled upon the butt of a pistol +in his belt, but, in a moment, he raised it again and took the glasses +from Robert. After a long look he exclaimed: + +"They dream on! They fiddle and dance with their whole souls, Peter, my +lad, and such trusting natures shall be rewarded!" + +Robert could see very well now without the aid of the glasses. The +sailor who sat on a coil of rope with his back against a mast, playing +the violin, was an old man, his head bare, his long white hair flying. +It was yet too far away for his face to be disclosed, but Robert knew +that his expression must be rapt, because his attitude showed that his +soul was in his music. The two young sailors, with their arms about the +shoulders of each other, were still dancing, and two more had joined +them. + +The crowd of spectators had thickened. Evidently it was a ship with a +numerous crew, perhaps a rich merchantman out of Bristol or Boston. No +flag was flying over her. That, however, was not unusual in those seas, +and in times of war when a man waited to see the colors of his neighbor +before showing his own. But Robert was surprised at the laxity of +discipline on the stranger. They should be up and watching, inquiring +into the nature of the schooner that was drawing so near. + +"And now, Peter," said the captain, more exultant than ever, "you shall +see an unveiling! It is not often given to a lad like you, a landsman, +to behold such a dramatic act at sea, a scene so powerful and complete +that it might have been devised by one of the great Elizabethans! Ho, +Carlos, make ready!" + +He gave swift commands and the mate repeated them as swiftly to the men. +The two ships were rapidly drawing nearer, but to Robert's amazement the +festival upon the deck of the stranger did not cease. Above the creaking +of the spars the wailing strains of the violin came to him across the +waters. If they were conscious there of the presence of the schooner +they cared little about it. For the moment it occurred to Robert that it +must be the _Flying Dutchman_, or some other old phantom ship out of the +dim and legendary past. + +"And now, Carlos!" exclaimed the captain in a full, triumphant voice, +"we'll wake 'em up! Break out the flag and show 'em what we are!" + +A coiled piece of cloth, dark and menacing, ran up the mainmast of the +schooner, reached the top, and then burst out, streaming at full length +in the strong wind, dark as death and heavy with threat. Robert looked +up and shuddered violently. Over the schooner floated the black flag, +exultant and merciless. + +The tarpaulin was lifted and the long bronze gun in the stern was +uncovered. Beside her stood the gunners, ready for action. The +boatswain's whistle blew and the dark crew stood forth, armed to the +teeth, eager for action, and spoil. Carlos, a heavy cutlass in hand, +awaited his master's orders. The captain laughed aloud. + +"So you see, Peter, what we are!" he exclaimed. "And it's not too late +for you to seize a cutlass and have your share. Now, my lads, we'll +board her and take her in the good old way." + +The mate shouted to the steersman, and the schooner yawed. Robert, +filled with horror, scarcely knew what he was doing; in truth, he had no +conscious will to do anything, and so he ended by doing nothing. But he +heard the fierce low words of the pirates, and he saw them leaning +forward, as if making ready to leap on the deck of the stranger and cut +down every one of her crew. + +Then he looked at the other ship. The old man who had been playing the +violin suddenly dropped it and snatched up a musket from behind the coil +of rope on which he had been sitting. The dancers ceased to dance, +sprang away, and returned in an instant with muskets also. Heavy pistols +leaped from the shirts and blouses of the spectators, and up from the +inside of the ship poured a swarm of men armed to the teeth. A piece of +cloth swiftly climbed the mainmast of the stranger also, reached the +top, broke out there triumphantly, and the flag of England, over against +the black flag, blew out steady and true in the strong breeze. + +"God! A sloop of war!" exclaimed the captain. "About, Carlos! Put her +about!" + +But the sloop yawed quickly, her portholes opened, bronze muzzles +appeared, tampions fell away, and a tremendous voice shouted: + +"Fire!" + +Robert saw a sheet of flame spring from the side of the sloop, there was +a terrific crash, a dizzying column of smoke and the schooner seemed +fairly to leap from the water, as the broadside swept her decks and tore +her timbers. The surly mate was cut squarely in two by a round shot, men +screaming in rage and pain went down and the captain staggered, but +recovered himself. Then he shouted to the steersman to put the schooner +about and rushing among the sailors he ordered them to another task than +that of boarding. + +"It was a trick, and it trapped us most damnably!" he cried. "A fool I +was! Fools we must all have been to have been caught by it! They lured +us on! But now, you rascals, to your work, and it's for your lives! We +escape together or we hang together!" + +The night had darkened much, clouds trailing before the moon and stars, +but Robert clearly saw the slaver's face. It was transformed by chagrin +and wrath, though it expressed fierce energy, too. Blood was running +from his shoulder down his left arm, but drawing his sword he fairly +herded the men to the sails; that is, to those that were left. The +helmsman put the shattered schooner about and she drove rapidly on a new +course. But the sloop of war, tacking, let go her other broadside. + +Robert anticipated the second discharge, and by impulse rather than +reason threw himself flat upon the deck, where he heard the heavy shot +whistling over his head and the cries of those who were struck down. +Spars and rigging, too, came clattering to the deck, but the masts stood +and the schooner, though hit hard, still made way. + +"Steady! Keep her steady, my boys!" shouted the captain. "We've still a +clean pair of heels, and with a little luck we'll lose the sloop in the +darkness!" + +He was a superb seaman and the rising wind helped him. The wounded +schooner had gained so much that the third broadside did but little +damage and killed only one man. Robert stood up again and looked back at +the pursuing vessel, her decks covered with men in uniform, the gunners +loading rapidly while over the sloop the flag of England that was then +the flag of his own country too, streamed straight out in the wind, +proud and defiant. + +He felt a throb of intense, overwhelming pride. The black flag had been +overmatched by the good flag. In the last resort, those who lived right +had proved themselves more than equal to those who lived wrong. Law and +order were superior to piracy and chaos. Forgetful of his own safety, he +hoped that the sloop would overtake the schooner, and obeying his +impulse he uttered a shout of triumph. The captain turned upon him +fiercely. + +"You cheer the wrong ship," he said. "If they overtake us, you being +with us, I'll swear that you were one of the hardiest men in my crew!" + +Robert laughed, he could not help it, though the act was more or less +hysterical, and replied: + +"I'll chance it! But, Captain, didn't you have the surprise of your +whole life, and you so cunning, too!" + +The man raised his cutlass, but dropped it quickly. + +"Don't try me that way again," he said. "It was my impulse to cut you +down, and the next time I'd do it. But you're right. It was a surprise, +though we'll escape 'em yet, and we'll let 'em know we're not just a +hunted rabbit, either!" + +The Long Tom in the stern of the schooner opened fire. The first shot +splashed to the right of the sloop, and the second to the left, but the +third struck on board, and two men were seen to go down. The captain +laughed. + +"That's a taste of their own medicine," he said. + +A big gun on the sloop thundered, and a round shot cut away one of the +schooner's spars. Another flashed and a load of grape hissed over the +decks. Two men were killed and three more wounded. The captain shouted +in anger and made the others crack on all the sail they could. She was a +staunch schooner, and though hurt grievously she still made speed. +Swifter than the sloop, despite her injuries, she gradually widened the +gap between them, while the wind rose fast, and the trailing blackness +spread over the sea. + +Although still close at hand, the outline of the pursuing sloop became +dim. Robert was no longer able to trace the human figures on her deck, +but the banner of law and right flying from her topmast yet showed in +the dusk. Forgetful as before of his own danger, he began to have a fear +that the pirate would escape. Under his breath he entreated the avenging +sloop to come on, to sail faster and faster, he begged her gunners to +aim aright despite the darkness, to rake the decks of the schooner with +grape and to send the heavy round shot into her vitals. + +The sloop kept up a continuous fire with her bow guns. The heavy reports +crashed through the darkness, the sounds rolling sullenly away, and not +every shot went wild. There was a tearing of sails, a splintering of +spars, a shattering of wood, and now and then the fall of a man. Under +the insistent and continuous urgence of the captain the men on the +schooner replied with the Long Tom in her stern, and, when one of the +shots swept the deck of the sloop, the fierce, dark sailors shouted in +joy. Robert saw with a sinking of the heart that the gap between the two +vessels was still widening, while almost the last star was gone from the +heavens, and it was now so dark that everything was hidden a few hundred +yards away. + +"We'll lose her! We'll lose her yet!" cried the captain. "Winds and the +night fight for us. See you, Peter, we must be the chosen children of +fortune, for this can hardly be chance!" + +Robert said nothing, because it seemed for the time at least that the +captain's words were true. A sudden and tremendous gust of wind caught +the schooner and drove her on, ragged and smashed though she was, at +increased speed, while the same narrow belt of wind seemed to miss the +sloop. The result was apparent at once. The gap between them became a +gulf. The flag flying so proudly on the topmast of the sloop was gone in +the dusk. Her spars and sails faded away, she showed only a dim, low +hulk on the water from which her guns flashed. + +The schooner tacked again. A new bank of blackness poured down over the +sea, and the sloop was gone. + +"It was a trap and we sailed straight into it," exclaimed the captain, +"but it couldn't hold us. We've escaped!" + +He spoke the truth. They drove steadily on a long time, and saw no more +of the sloop of war. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ISLAND + + +Robert came out of his benumbed state. It had all seemed a fantastic +dream, but he had only to look around him to know that it was reality. +Three or four battle lanterns were shining and they threw a ghostly +light over the deck of the schooner, which was littered with spars and +sails, and the bodies of men who had fallen before the fire of the +sloop. Streams of blood flowed everywhere. He sickened and shuddered +again and again. + +The captain, a savage figure, stained with blood, showed ruthless +energy. Driving the men who remained unwounded, he compelled them to cut +away the wreckage and to throw the dead overboard. Garrulous, possessed +by some demon, he boasted to them of many prizes they would yet take, +and he pointed to the black flag which still floated overhead, unharmed +through all the battle. He boasted of it as a good omen and succeeded in +infusing into them some of his own spirit. + +Robert was still unnoticed and at first he wandered about his strait +territory. Then he lent a helping hand with the wreckage. His own life +was at stake as well as theirs, and whether they wished it or not he +could not continue to stand by an idler. Circumstance and the sea forced +him into comradeship with men of evil, and as long as it lasted he must +make the best of it. So he fell to with such a will that it drew the +attention of the captain. + +"Good boy, Peter!" he cried. "You'll be one of us yet in spite of +yourself! Our good fortune is yours, too! You as well as we have escaped +a merry hanging! I'll warrant you that the feel of the rope around the +neck is not pleasant, and it's well to keep one's head out of the noose, +eh, Peter?" + +Robert did not answer, but tugged at a rope that two other men were +trying to reeve. He knew now that while they had escaped the sloop of +war their danger was yet great and imminent. The wind was still rising, +and now it was a howling gale. The schooner had been raked heavily. Most +of her rigging was gone, huge holes had been smashed in her hull, half +of her crew had been killed and half of the rest were wounded, there +were not enough men to work her even were she whole and the weather the +best. As the crest of every wave passed she wallowed in the trough of +the sea, and shipped water steadily. The exultant look passed from the +captain's eyes. + +"I'm afraid you're a lad of ill omen, Peter," he said to Robert. "I had +you on board another ship once and she went to pieces. It looks now as +if my good schooner were headed the same way." + +A dark sailor standing near heard him, and nodded in approval, but +Robert said: + +"Blame the sloop of war, not me. You would lay her aboard, and see what +has happened!" + +The captain frowned and turned away. For a long time he paid no further +attention to Robert, all his skill and energy concentrated upon the +effort to save his ship. But it became evident even to Robert's +inexperienced eye that the schooner was stricken mortally. The guns of +the sloop had not raked and slashed her in vain. A pirate she had been, +but a pirate she would be no more. She rolled more heavily all the time, +and Robert noticed that she was deeper in the water. Beyond a doubt she +was leaking fast. + +The captain conferred with the second mate, a tall, thin man whom he +called Stubbs. Then the two, standing together near the mast, watched +the ship for a while and Robert, a little distance away, watched them. +He was now keenly alive to his own fate. Young and vital, he did not +want to die. He had never known a time when he was more anxious to live. +He was not going to be sold into slavery on a West India plantation. +Fortune had saved him from that fate, and it might save him from new +perils. In a storm on a sinking vessel he was nevertheless instinct with +hope. Somewhere beyond the clouds Tayoga's Tododaho on his great star +was watching him. The captain spoke to him presently. + +"Peter," he said, "I think it will be necessary for us to leave the ship +soon. That cursed sloop has done for the staunchest schooner that ever +sailed these seas. I left you on board a sinking vessel the other time, +but as it seemed to bring you good luck then, I won't do it now. +Besides, I'm tempted to keep you with me. You bore yourself bravely +during the battle. I will say that for you." + +"Thanks for taking me, and for the compliment, too," said Robert. "I've +no mind to be left here alone in the middle of the ocean on a sinking +ship." + +"'Tis no pleasant prospect, nor have we an easy path before us in the +boats, either. On the whole, the chances are against us. There's land +not far away to starboard, but whether we'll make it in so rough a sea +is another matter. Are you handy with an oar?" + +"Fairly so. I've had experience on lakes and rivers, but none on the +sea." + +"'Twill serve. We'll launch three boats. Hooker, the boatswain, takes +one, Stubbs has the other, and I command the last. You go with me." + +"It would have been my choice." + +"I'm flattered, Peter. I may get a chance yet to sell you to one of the +plantations." + +"I think not, Captain. The stars in their courses have said 'no.'" + +"Come! Come! Don't be Biblical here." + +"The truth is the truth anywhere. But I'm glad enough to go with you." + +One of the boats was launched with great difficulty, and the boatswain, +Hooker, and six men, two of whom were wounded, were lowered into it. It +capsized almost immediately, and all on board were lost. Those destined +for the other two boats hung back a while, but it became increasingly +necessary for them to make the trial, no matter what the risk. The +schooner rolled and pitched terribly, and a sailor, sent to see, +reported that the water was rising in her steadily. + +The captain showed himself a true seaman and leader. He had been wounded +in the shoulder, but the hurt had been bound up hastily and he saw to +everything. Each of the boats contained kegs of water, arms, ammunition +and food. A second was launched and Stubbs and his crew were lowered +into it. A great wave caught it and carried it upon its crest, and +Robert, watching, expected to see it turn over like the first, but the +mate and the crew managed to restore the balance, and they disappeared +in the darkness, still afloat. + +"There, lads," exclaimed the captain, "you see it can be done. Now we'll +go too, and the day will soon come when we'll have a new ship, and then, +ho! once more for the rover's free and gorgeous life!" + +The unwounded men raised a faint cheer. The long boat was launched with +infinite care, and Robert lent a hand. The pressure of circumstances +made his feeling of comradeship with these men return. For the time at +least his life was bound up with theirs. Two wounded sailors were +lowered first into the boat. + +"Now, Peter, you go," said the captain. "As I told you, I may have a +chance yet to sell you to a plantation, and I must preserve my +property." + +Robert slid down the rope. The captain and the others followed, and they +cast loose. They were eight in the boat, three of whom were wounded, +though not badly. The lad looked back at the schooner. He saw a dim +hulk, with the black flag still floating over it, and then she passed +from sight in the darkness and driving storm. + +He took up an oar, resolved to do his best in the common struggle for +life, and with the others fought the sea for a long time. The captain +set their course south by west, apparently for some island of which he +knew, and meanwhile the men strove not so much to make distance as to +keep the boat right side up. Often Robert thought they were gone. They +rode dizzily upon high waves, and they sloped at appalling angles, but +always they righted and kept afloat. The water sprayed them continuously +and the wind made it sting like small shot, but that was a trifle to men +in their situation who were straining merely to keep the breath in their +bodies. + +After a while--Robert had no idea how long the time had been--the +violence of the wind seemed to abate somewhat, and their immense peril +of sinking decreased. Robert sought an easier position at the oar, and +tried to see something reassuring, but it was still almost as dark as +pitch, and there was only the black and terrible sea around them. But +the captain seemed cheerful. + +"We'll make it, lads, before morning," he said. "The storm is sinking, +as you can see, and the island is there waiting for us." + +In another hour the sea became so much calmer that there was no longer +any danger of the boat overturning. Half of the men who had been rowing +rested an hour, and then the other half took their turn. Robert was in +the second relay, and when he put down his oar he realized for the first +time that his hands were sore and his bones aching. + +"You've done well, Peter," said the captain. "You've become one of us, +whether or no, and we'll make you an honored inhabitant of our island +when we come to it." + +Robert said nothing, but lay back, drawing long breaths of relief. The +danger of death by drowning had passed for the moment and he had a sense +of triumph over nature. Despite his weariness and soreness, he was as +anxious as ever to live, and he began to wonder about this island of +which the captain spoke. It must be tropical, and hence in his +imagination beautiful, but by whom was it peopled? He did not doubt that +they would reach it, and that he, as usual, would escape all perils. + +Always invincible, his greatest characteristic was flaming up within +him. He seemed to have won, in a way, the regard of the captain, and he +did not fear the men. They would be castaways together, and on the land +opportunities to escape would come. On the whole he preferred the +hazards of the land to those of the sea. He knew better how to deal with +them. He was more at home in the wilderness than on salt water. Yet a +brave heart was alike in either place. + +"We'd better take it very easy, lads," said the captain. "Not much +rowing now, and save our strength for the later hours of the night." + +"Why?" asked Robert. + +"Because the storm, although it has gone, is still hanging about in the +south and may conclude to come back, assailing us again. A shift in the +wind is going on now, and if it hit us before we reached the island, +finding us worn out, we might go down before it." + +It was a good enough reason and bye and bye only two men kept at the +oars, the rest lying on the bottom of the boat or falling asleep in +their seats. The captain kept a sharp watch for the other boat, which +had gone away in the dark, but beheld no sign of it, although the moon +and stars were now out, and they could see a long distance. + +"Stubbs knows where the island is," said the captain, "and if they've +lived they'll make for it. We can't turn aside to search all over the +sea for 'em." + +Robert after a while fell asleep also in his seat, and despite his +extraordinary situation slept soundly, though it was rather an +unconsciousness that came from extreme exhaustion, both bodily and +mental. He awoke some time later to find that the darkness had come back +and that the wind was rising again. + +"You can take a hand at the oar once more, Peter," said the captain. "I +let you sleep because I knew that it would refresh you and we need the +strength of everybody. The storm, as I predicted, is returning, not as +strong as it was at first, perhaps, but strong enough." + +He wakened the other men who were sleeping, and all took to the oars. +The waves were running high, and the boat began to ship water. Several +of the men, under instructions from the captain, dropped their oars and +bailed it out with their caps or one or two small tin vessels that they +had stored aboard. + +"Luckily the wind is blowing in the right direction," said the captain. +"It comes out of the northeast, and that carries us toward the island. +Now, lads, all we have to do is to keep the boat steady, and not let it +ship too much water. The wind itself will carry us on our way." + +But the wind rose yet more, and it required intense labor and vigilance +to fight the waves that threatened every moment to sink their craft. +Robert pulled on the oar until his arms ached. Everybody toiled except +the captain, who directed, and Robert saw that he had all the qualities +to make him a leader of slavers or pirates. In extreme danger he was the +boldest and most confident of them all, and he stood by his men. They +could see that he would not desert them, that their fortune was his +fortune. He was wounded, Robert did not yet know how badly, but he never +yielded to his hurt. He was a figure of strength in the boat, and the +men drew courage from him to struggle for life against the overmastering +sea. Somehow, for the time at least, Robert looked upon him as his own +leader, obeying his commands, willingly and without question. + +He was drenched anew with the salt water, but as they were in warm seas +he never thought of it. Now and then he rested from his oar and helped +bail the water from the boat. + +A pale dawn showed at last through the driving clouds, but it was not +encouraging. The sea was running higher than ever, and there was no sign +of land. One of the men, much worse wounded than they had thought, lay +down in the bottom of the boat and died. They tossed his body +unceremoniously overboard. Robert knew that it was necessary, but it +horrified him just the same. Another man, made light of head by dangers +and excessive hardships, insisted that there was no island, that either +they would be drowned or would drift on in the boat until they died of +thirst and starvation. The captain drew a pistol and looking him +straight in the eye said: + +"Another word of that kind from you, Waters, and you'll eat lead. You +know me well enough to know that I keep my word." + +The man cowered away and Robert saw that it was no vain threat. Waters +devoted his whole attention to an oar, and did not speak again. + +"We'll strike the island in two or three hours," the captain said with +great confidence. + +The dawn continued to struggle with the stormy sky, but its progress was +not promising. It was only a sullen gray dome over a gray and ghastly +sea, depressing to the last degree to men worn as they were. But in +about two hours the captain, using glasses that he had taken from his +coat, raised the cry: + +"Land ho!" + +He kept the glasses to his eyes a full two minutes, and when he took +them down he repeated with certainty: + +"Land ho! I can see it distinctly there under the horizon in the west, +and it's the island we've been making for. Now, lads, keep her steady +and we'll be there in an hour." + +All the men were vitalized into new life, but the storm rose at the same +time, and spray and foam dashed over them. All but two or three were +compelled to work hard, keeping the water out of the boat, while the +others steadied her with the oars. Robert saw the captain's face grow +anxious, and he began to wonder if they would reach the island in time. +He wondered also how they would land in case they reached it, as he knew +from his reading and travelers' tales that most of the little islands in +these warm seas were surrounded by reefs. + +The wind drove them on and the island rose out of the ocean, a dark, low +line, just a blur, but surely land, and the drooping men plucked up +their spirits. + +"We'll make it, lads! Don't be down-hearted!" cried the captain. "Keep +the boat above water a half hour longer, and we'll tread the soil of +mother earth again! Well done, Peter! You handle a good oar! You're the +youngest in the boat, but you've set an example for the others! There's +good stuff in you, Peter." + +Robert, to his own surprise, found his spirit responding to this man's +praise, slaver and pirate though he was, and he threw more strength into +his swing. Soon they drew near to the island, and he heard such a +roaring of the surf that he shuddered. He saw an unbroken line of white +and he knew that behind it lay the cruel teeth of the rocks, ready to +crunch any boat that came. Every one looked anxiously at the captain. + +"There's a rift in the rocks to the right," he said, "and when we pass +through it we'll find calm water inside. Now, lads, all of you to the +oars and take heed that you do as I say on the instant or we'll be on +the reef!" + +They swung to the right, and so powerful were wind and wave that it +seemed to Robert they fairly flew toward the island. The roaring of the +surf grew and the long white line rose before them like a wall. He saw +no opening, but the captain showed no signs of fear and gave quick, +sharp commands. The boat drove with increased speed toward the island, +rising on the crests of great waves, then sinking with sickening speed +into the trough of the sea, to rise dizzily on another wave. Robert saw +the rocks, black, sharp and cruel, reaching out their long, savage +teeth, and the roar of wind and surf together was now so loud that he +could no longer hear the captain's commands. He was conscious that the +boat was nearly full of water, and when he was not blinded by the flying +surf he saw looks of despair on the faces of the men. + +An opening in the line of reefs disclosed itself, and the boat shot +toward it. He heard the captain shout, but did not understand what he +said, then they were wrenched violently to the left by a powerful +current. He saw the black rocks frowning directly over him, and felt the +boat scrape against them. The whole side of it was cut away, and they +were all hurled into the sea. + +Robert was not conscious of what he did. He acted wholly from impulse +and the instinctive love of life that is in every one. He felt the water +pour over him, and fill eye, ear and nostril, but he was not hurled +against rock. He struck out violently, but was borne swiftly away, not +knowing in which direction he was taken. + +He became conscious presently that the force driving him on was not so +great and he cleared the water from his eyes enough to see that he had +been carried through the opening and toward a sandy beach. His mind +became active and strong in an instant. Chance had brought him life, if +he only had the presence of mind to take it. He struck out for the land +with all his vigor, hoping to reach it before he could be carried back +by a returning wave. + +The wave caught him, but it was not as powerful as he had feared, and, +when he had yielded a little, he was able to go forward again. Then he +saw a head bobbing upon the crest of the next retreating wave and being +carried out to sea. It was the captain, and reaching out a strong arm +Robert seized him. The shock caused him to thrust down his feet, and to +his surprise he touched bottom. Grasping the captain with both hands he +dragged him with all his might and ran inland. + +It was partly an instinctive impulse to save and partly genuine feeling +that caused him to seize the slaver when he was being swept helpless out +to sea. The man, even though in a malicious, jeering way, had done him +some kindnesses on the schooner and in the boat, and he could not see +him drown before his eyes. So he settled his grasp upon his collar, held +his head above the water and strove with all his might to get beyond the +reach of the cruel sea. Had he been alone he could have reached the land +with ease, but the slaver pulled upon him almost a dead weight. + +Another returning wave caught him and made him stagger, but he settled +his feet firmly in the sand, held on to the unconscious man, and when it +had passed made a great effort to get beyond the reach of any other. He +was forced half to lift, half to drag the slaver's body, but he caught +the crest of the next incoming wave, one of unusual height and strength, +and the two were carried far up the beach. When it died in foam and +spray he lifted the man wholly and ran until he fell exhausted on the +sand. When another wave roared inland it did not reach him, and no +others came near. As if knowing they were baffled, they gave up a +useless pursuit. + +Robert lay a full half hour, supine, completely relaxed, only half +conscious. Yet he was devoutly thankful. The precious gift of life had +been saved, the life that was so young, so strong and so buoyant in him. +The sea, immense, immeasurable and savage might leap for him, but it +could no longer reach him. He was aware of that emotion, and he was +thankful too that an Infinite Hand had been stretched out to save him in +his moment of direst peril. + +He came out of his cataleptic state, which was both a mental and +physical effect, and stood up. The air was still dim with heavy clouds +and the wind continuously whistled its anger. He noticed for the first +time that it was raining, but it was a trifle to him, as he had already +been thoroughly soaked by the sea. + +The sea itself was as wild as ever. Wave after wave roared upon the land +to break there, and then rush back in masses of foam. As far as Robert +could see the surface of the water, lashed by the storm, was wild and +desolate to the last degree. It was almost as if he had been cast away +on another planet. A feeling of irrepressible, awful loneliness +overpowered him. + +"Well, Peter, we're here." + +It was a feeble voice, but it was a human one, the voice of one of his +own kind, and, in that dreary wilderness of the ocean, it gave welcome +relief as it struck upon his ear. He looked down. The slaver, returned +to consciousness, had drawn himself into a sitting position and was +looking out at the gray waters. + +"I've a notion, Peter," he said, "that you've saved my life. The last I +remember was being engulfed in a very large and very angry ocean. It was +kind of you, Peter, after I kidnapped you away from your friends, +meaning to sell you into slavery on a West India plantation." + +"I couldn't let you drown before my eyes." + +"Most men in your place would have let me go, and even would have helped +me along." + +"Perhaps I felt the need of company. 'Twould have been terrible to be +alone here." + +"There may be something in that. But at any rate, you saved me. I'm +thinking that you and I are all that's left. I was a fool, Peter, ever +to have mixed in your business. I can see it now. When I carried you +away from New York I lost my ship. I kidnap you away again from Albany, +and I lose my ship and all my crew. I would have lost my own life, too, +if it had not been for you. It was never intended by the fates that I +should have been successful in my attempts on you. The first time should +have been enough. That was a warning. Well, I've paid the price of my +folly. All fools do." + +He tried to stand up, but fresh blood came from his shoulder and he +quickly sat down again. It was obvious that he was very weak. + +"I'll do the best I can for us both," said Robert, "but I don't know the +nature of this land upon which we're cast. I suppose it's an island, of +course. I can see trees inland, but that's all I can discover at +present." + +"I know a deal more," said the slaver. "That's why I had the boat +steered for this point, hoping to make the little bay into which the +opening through the reefs leads. It's an island, as you say, seven or +eight miles long, half as broad and covered thickly with trees and +brush. There's a hut about half a mile inland, and if you help me there +we'll both find shelter. I'll show the way. As trying too steadily to do +you evil brought me bad luck I'll now try to do you good. You can put it +down to logic, and not to any sudden piety in me." + +Yet Robert in his heart did not ascribe it wholly to logic. He was +willing to believe in a kindly impulse or two in everybody, there was a +little good hidden somewhere deep down even in Tandakora, though it +might have to struggle uncommonly hard for expression. He promptly put +his arm under the man's and helped him to his feet. + +"Give me the direction," he said, "and I'll see that we reach the hut." + +"Bear toward the high hill ahead and to the right. And between you and +me, Peter, I'm glad it's inland. I've had enough of the sea for a while +and I don't want to look at it. How is it behaving now?" + +Robert, looking back, saw a great wave rushing upon the beach as if it +thought it could overtake them, and it gave him an actual thrill of +delight to know the effort would be in vain. + +"It's as wild, as desolate and as angry as ever," he said, "and we're +well away from it for the present." + +"Then go on. I fear I shall have to lean upon you rather hard. A bit of +grape shot from that cursed sloop has bitten pretty deep into my +shoulder. I've been doubly a fool, Peter, in kidnapping you a second +time after the first warning, and in allowing myself to be tolled up +under the broadside of that sloop. It's the last that hurts me most. I +behaved like any youngster on his first cruise." + +Robert said nothing, but did his best to support the wounded man, who +was now bearing upon him very heavily. His own strength was largely +factitious, coming from the hope that they would soon find shelter and a +real place in which to rest, but such as it was it was sufficient for +the time being. + +He did not look back again. Like the slaver, he wanted to shut out the +sea for the present. It was a raging, cruel element, and he felt better +with it unseen. But he became conscious, instead, of the rain which was +driving hard. He suddenly realized that he was cold, and he shivered so +violently that the slaver noticed it. + +"Never mind, Peter," he said. "We're going to a palace, or at least +'twill seem a palace by power of contrast. There you'll be snug and +warm." + +"And you can bind up your wound again and get back your strength." + +"Aye, we can bind it up again, but it's not so sure about my getting +back my strength. I tell you again, lad, that the grape bit deep. It +hurts me all the time to think I was lured under those guns by a silly +old fiddler and a couple of silly sailors dancing to his silly tune. +You're a good lad, Peter, I give you credit for it, and since, beside +myself, only one on board the schooner was saved, I'm glad it was you +and not a member of the crew." + +"We don't know that others were not saved. We haven't had time yet to +see." + +"I know they weren't. It's only a miracle that we two came through the +reefs. Miracles may happen, Peter, but they don't happen often. Nobody +else will appear on the island. Keep steering for the hill. I'll be glad +when we get there, because, between you and me, Peter, it will be just +about as far as I can go and I'll need a long, long rest." + +He bore so heavily upon Robert now that their progress was very slow, +and the lad himself began to grow weak. It was impossible for any one, +no matter how hardy of body and soul, to endure long, after going +through what he had suffered. He too staggered. + +"I'm leaning hard on you, Peter," said the slaver. "I know it, but I +can't help it. What a difference a whiff of grapeshot makes!" + +Robert steadied himself, made a mighty effort, and they went on. The +wind shifted now and the rain drove directly in his face. It was cold to +him, but it seemed to whip a little increase of vigor and strength into +his blood, and he was able to go somewhat faster. As he pulled along +with his burden he looked curiously at the region through which he was +traveling. The ground was rough, often with layers of coral, and he saw +on all sides of him dense groves of bushes, among which he recognized +the banana by the fruit. It gave him a thrill of relief. At all events +here was food of a kind, and they would not starve to death. It was the +first time he had thought of food. Hitherto he had been occupied wholly +with the struggle for immediate life. + +A belt of tall trees shut out the hill toward which he had been +steering, and he was uncertain. But the man gave him guidance. + +"More to the right, Peter," he said. "I won't let you go astray, and +it's full lucky for us both that I know this island." + +A half hour of painful struggle and Robert saw the dark shape of a small +house in the lee of a hill. + +"It's the hut, Peter," said the slaver, "and you've done well to bring +us here. You're not only a good lad, but you're strong and brave, too. +You needn't knock at the door. No one will answer. Push it open and +enter. It really belongs to me." + +Robert obeyed while the man steadied himself sufficiently to stand +alone. He thrust his hand against the door, which swung inward, +revealing a dark interior. A musty odor entered his nostrils, but the +hut, whatever its character, was dry. That was evident, and so it was +welcome. He went in, helping the wounded man along with him, and +standing there a moment or two everything became clear. + +It was more than a hut. He was in a room of some size, containing +articles of furniture, obviously brought across the sea, and clothing +hanging from the wall on hooks. A couch was beside one wall, and two +doors seemed to lead to larger chambers or to small closets. The captain +staggered across the room and lay down on the couch. + +"Well, how do you like it, Peter?" he asked. "'Twill serve in a storm, +will it not?" + +"It will serve grandly," replied Robert. "How does it come to be here?" + +"I had it built. The islands all the way from the Bahamas to South +America and the waters around them are the great hunting ground for +people in my trade, and naturally we need places of refuge, secluded +little harbors, so to speak, where we can commune with ourselves and +refresh our minds and bodies. Even rovers must have periods of +relaxation, and you'll find a lot of such places scattered about the +islands, or, rather, you won't find 'em because they're too well hidden. +I had this built myself, but I never dreamed that I should come back to +it in the way I have." + +"It's a palace just now," said Robert, "yes, it's more than a palace, +it's a home. I see clothing here on the wall, and, by your leave, I'll +change you and then myself into some of those dry garments." + +"You're lord of the manor, Peter, by right of strength. I'm in no +condition to resist you, even had I the wish, which I haven't." + +Assisted by the man himself, he removed the captain's garments and put +him in dry clothing, first looking at the wound in his shoulder, which +his experience told him was very serious. The piece of grapeshot had +gone entirely through, but the loss of blood had been large, and there +was inflammation. + +"I must bathe that with fresh water a little later and devise some kind +of dressing," said Robert. "I've had much experience in the wilderness +with wounds." + +"You're a good lad, Peter," said the slaver. "I've told you that before, +but I repeat it now." + +Robert then arrayed himself in dry garments. He was strangely and +wonderfully attired in a shirt of fine linen with lace ruffles, a short, +embroidered jacket of purple velvet, purple velvet knee-breeches, silk +stockings and pumps, or low shoes, with large silver buckles. It was +very gorgeous, and, just then, very comfortable. + +"You look the dandy to the full, Peter," said the slaver. "The clothes +have hung here more than a year. They came from a young Spaniard who had +the misfortune to resist too much when we took the ship that carried +him. They've come to a good use again." + +Robert shuddered, but in a moment or two he forgot the origin of his new +raiment. He had become too much inured to deadly peril to be excessively +fastidious. Besides, he was feeling far better. Warmth returned to his +body and the beat of the rain outside the house increased the comfort +within. + +"I think, Peter," said the slaver, "that you'd better go to sleep. +You've been through a lot, and you don't realize how near exhaustion you +are." + +Without giving a thought to the question of food, which must present +itself before long, Robert lay down on the floor and fell almost at once +into a sound slumber. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PIRATE'S WARNING + + +When the lad awoke it was quite dark in the house, but there was no +sound of rain. He went to the door and looked out upon a fairly clear +night. The storm was gone and he heard only a light wind rustling +through palms. There was no thunder of beating surf in the distance. It +was a quiet sky and a quiet island. + +He went back and looked at the slaver. The man was asleep on his couch, +but he was stirring a little, and he was hot with fever. Robert felt +pity for him, cruel and blood-stained though he knew him to be. Besides, +he was the only human companion he had, and he did not wish to be left +alone there. But he did not know what to do just then, and, lying down +on the floor, he went to sleep again. + +When he awoke the second time day had come, and the slaver too was +awake, though looking very weak. + +"I've been watching you quite a while, Peter," he said. "You must have +slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Youth has a wonderful capacity for +slumber and restoration. I dare say you're now as good as ever, and +wondering where you'll find your breakfast. Well, when I built this +house I didn't neglect the plenishings of it. Open the door next to you +and you'll find boucan inside. 'Boucan,' as you doubtless know, is dried +beef, and from it we got our name the buccaneers, because in the +beginning we lived so much upon dried beef. Enough is in that closet to +last us a month, and there are herds of wild cattle on the island, an +inexhaustible larder." + +"But we can't catch wild cattle with our hands," said Robert. + +The slaver laughed. + +"You don't think, Peter," he said, "that when I built a house here and +furnished it I neglected some of the most necessary articles. In the +other closet you'll find weapons and ammunition. But deal first with the +boucan." + +Robert opened the closet and found the boucan packed away in sheets or +layers on shelves, and at once he became ravenously hungry. + +"On a lower shelf," said the slaver, "you'll find flint and steel, and +with them it shouldn't be hard for a wilderness lad like you to start a +fire. There are also kettles, skillets and pans, and I think you know +how to do the rest." + +Robert went to work on a fire. The wood, which was abundant outside, was +still damp, but he had a strong clasp knife and he whittled a pile of +dry shavings which he succeeded in igniting with the flint and steel, +though it was no light task, requiring both patience and skill. But the +fire was burning at last and he managed to make in one of the kettles +some soup of the dried beef, which he gave to the captain. The man had +no appetite, but he ate a little and declared that he felt stronger. +Then Robert broiled many strips for himself over the coals and ate +ravenously. He would have preferred a greater variety of food, but it +was better than a castaway had a right to expect. + +His breakfast finished, he continued his examination of the house, which +was furnished with many things, evidently captured from ships. He found +in one of the closets a fine fowling piece, a hunting rifle, two +excellent muskets, several pistols, ammunition for all the fire-arms and +a number of edged weapons. + +"You see, Peter, you're fitted for quite an active defense should +enemies come," said the slaver. "You'll admit, I think, that I've been a +good housekeeper." + +"Good enough," said Peter. "Are there any medicines?" + +"You'll find some salves and ointments on the top shelf in the second +closet, and you can make a poultice for this hurt of mine. Between you +and me, Peter, I've less pain, but much more weakness, which is a bad +sign." + +"Oh, you'll be well in a few days," said Robert cheerfully. "One wound +won't carry off a man as strong as you are." + +"One wound always suffices, provided it goes in deep enough, but I thank +you for your rosy predictions, Peter. I think your good wishes are +genuinely sincere." + +Robert realized that they were so, in truth. In addition to the call of +humanity, he had an intense horror of being left alone on the island, +and he would fight hard to save the slaver's life. He compounded the +poultice with no mean skill, and, after bathing the wound carefully with +fresh water from a little spring behind the hut, he applied it. + +"It's cooling, Peter, and I know it's healing, too," said the man, "but +I think I'll try to go to sleep again. As long as I'm fastened to a +couch that's about the only way I can pass the time. Little did I think +when I built this house that I'd come here without a ship and without a +crew to pass some helpless days." + +He shut his eyes. After a while, Robert, not knowing whether he was +asleep or not, took down the rifle, loaded it, and went out feeling that +it was high time he should explore his new domain. + +In the sunlight the island did not look forbidding. On the contrary, it +was beautiful. From the crest of the hill near the house he saw a +considerable expanse, but the western half of the island was cut off +from view by a higher range of hills. It was all in dark green foliage, +although he caught the sheen of a little lake about two miles away. As +far as he could see a line of reefs stretched around the coast, and the +white surf was breaking on them freely. + +From the hill he went back to the point at which he and the captain had +been swept ashore, and, as he searched along the beach he found the +bodies of all those who had been in the boat with them. He had been +quite sure that none of them could possibly have escaped, but it gave +him a shock nevertheless to secure the absolute proof that they were +dead. He resolved if he could find a way to bury them in the sand beyond +the reach of the waves, but, for the present, he could do nothing, and +he continued along the shore several miles, finding its character +everywhere the same, a gentle slope, a stretch of water, and beyond that +the line of reefs on which the white surf was continually breaking, +reefs with terrible teeth as he well knew. + +But it was all very peaceful now. The sea stretched away into infinity +the bluest of the blue, and a breeze both warm and stimulating came out +of the west. Robert, however, looked mostly toward the north. Albany and +his friends now seemed a world away. He had been wrenched out of his old +life by a sudden and unimaginable catastrophe. What were Tayoga and +Willet doing now? How was the war going? For him so far as real life was +concerned the war simply did not exist. He was on a lost island with +only a wounded man for company and the struggle to survive and escape +would consume all his energies. + +Presently he came to what was left of their boat. It was smashed badly +and half buried in the sand. At first he thought he might be able to use +it again, but a critical examination showed that it was damaged beyond +any power of his to repair it, and with a sigh he abandoned the thought +of escape that way. + +He continued his explorations toward the south, and saw groves of wild +banana, the bushes or shrubs fifteen or twenty feet high, some of them +with ripe fruit hanging from them. He ate one and found it good, though +he was glad to know that he would not have to depend upon bananas wholly +for food. + +A mile to the south and he turned inland, crossing a range of low hills, +covered with dense vegetation. As he passed among the bushes he kept his +rifle ready, not knowing whether or not dangerous wild animals were to +be found there. He had an idea they were lacking in both the Bahamas and +the West Indies, but not being sure, he meant to be on his guard. + +Before he reached the bottom of the slope he heard a puff, and then the +sound of heavy feet. All his wilderness caution was alive in a moment, +and, drawing back, he cocked the rifle. Then he crept forward, conscious +that some large wild beast was near. A few steps more and he realized +that there were more than one. He heard several puffs and the heavy feet +seemed to be moving about in an aimless fashion. + +He came to the edge of the bushes, and, parting them, he looked +cautiously from their cover. Then his apprehensions disappeared. Before +him stretched a wide, grassy savanna and upon it was grazing a herd of +wild cattle, at least fifty in number, stocky beasts with long horns. +Robert looked at them with satisfaction. Here was enough food on the +hoof to last him for years. They might be tough, but he had experience +enough to make them tender when it came to fire and the spit. + +"Graze on in peace until I need you," he said, and crossing the savanna +he found beyond, hidden at first from view by a fringe of forest, the +lake that he had seen from the crest of the hill beside the house. It +covered about half a square mile and was blue and deep. He surmised that +it contained fish good to eat, but, for the present he was content to +let them remain in the water. They, like the wild cattle, could wait. + +Feeling that he had been gone long enough, he went back to the house and +found the slaver asleep or in a stupor, and, when he looked at him +closely, he was convinced that it was more stupor than sleep. He was +very pale and much wasted. It occurred suddenly to Robert that the man +would die and the thought gave him a great shock. Then, in very truth, +he would be alone. He sat by him and watched anxiously, but the slaver +did not come back to the world for a full two hours. + +"Aye, Peter, you're there," he said. "As I've told you several times, +you're a good lad." + +"Can I make you some more of the beef broth?" asked Robert. + +"I can take a little I think, though I've no appetite at all." + +"And I'd like to dress your wound again." + +"If it's any relief to you, Peter, to do so, go ahead, though I think +'tis of little use." + +"It will help a great deal. You'll be well again in a week or two. It +isn't so bad here. With a good house and food it's just the place for a +wounded man." + +"Plenty of quiet, eh Peter? No people to disturb me in my period of +convalescence." + +"Well, that's a help." + +Robert dressed the wound afresh, but he noticed during his ministrations +that the slaver's weakness had increased, and his heart sank. It was a +singular fact, but he began to feel a sort of attachment for the man who +had done him so much ill. They had been comrades in a great hazard, and +were yet. Moreover, the fear of being left alone in a tremendous +solitude was recurrent and keen. These motives and that of humanity made +him do his best. + +"I thank you, Peter," said the wounded man. "You're standing by me in +noble fashion. On the whole, I'm lucky in being cast away with you +instead of one of my own men. But it hurts me more than my wound does to +think that I should have been tricked, that a man of experience such as +I am should have been lured under the broadside of the sloop of war by +an old fellow playing a fiddle and a couple of sailors dancing. My mind +keeps coming back to it. My brain must have gone soft for the time +being, and so I've paid the price." + +Robert said nothing, but finished his surgeon's task. Then he made a +further examination of the house, finding more boucan stored in a small, +low attic, also clothing, both outer and inner garments, nautical +instruments, including a compass, a pair of glasses of power, and +bottles of medicine, the use of some of which he knew. + +Then he loaded the fowling piece and went back toward the lake, hoping +he might find ducks there. Beef, whether smoked or fresh, as an +exclusive diet, would become tiresome, and since they might be in for a +long stay on the island he meant to fill their larder as best he could. +On his way he kept a sharp watch for game, but saw only a small coney, a +sort of rabbit, which he left in peace. He found at a marshy edge of the +lake a number of ducks, three of which he shot, and which he dressed and +cooked later on, finding them to be excellent. + +Robert made himself a comfortable bed on the floor with blankets from +one of the closets and slept soundly through the next night. The +following morning he found the slaver weaker than ever and out of his +head at times. He made beef broth for him once more, but the man was +able to take but little. + +"'Tis no use, Peter," he said in a lucid interval. "I'm sped. I think +there's no doubt of it. When that sloop of war lured us under her guns +she finished her task; she did not leave a single thing undone. My +schooner is gone, my crew is gone, and now I'm going." + +"Oh, no," said Robert. "You'll be better to-morrow." + +The man said nothing, but seemed to sink back into a lethargic state. +Robert tried his pulse, but could hardly feel its beat. In a half hour +he roused himself a little. + +"Peter," he said. "You're a good lad. I tell you so once more. You saved +me from the sea, and you're standing by me now. I owe you for it, and I +might tell you something, now that my time's at hand. It's really come +true that when I built this house I was building the place in which I am +to die, though I didn't dream of it then." + +Robert was silent, waiting to hear what he would tell him. But he closed +his eyes and did not speak for five minutes more. The lad tried his +pulse a second time. It was barely discernible. The man at length opened +his eyes and said: + +"Peter, if you go back to the province of New York beware of Adrian Van +Zoon." + +"Beware of Van Zoon! Why?" + +"He wants to get rid of you. I was to put you out of the way for him, at +a price, and a great price, too. But it was not intended, so it seems, +that I should do so." + +"Why does Adrian Van Zoon want me put out of the way?" + +"That I don't know, Peter, but when you escape from the island you must +find out." + +His eyelids drooped and closed once more, and when Robert felt for his +pulse a third time there was none. The slaver and pirate was gone, and +the lad was alone. + +Robert felt an immense desolation. Whatever the man was he had striven +to keep him alive, and at the last the captain had shown desire to undo +some of the evil that he had done to him. And so it was Adrian Van Zoon +who wished to put him out of the way. He had suspected that before, in +fact he had been convinced of it, and now the truth of it had been told +to him by another. But, why? The mystery was as deep as ever. + +Robert had buried the bodies of the sailors in the sand in graves dug +with an old bayonet that he had found in the house, and he interred the +captain in the same manner, only much deeper. Then he went back to the +house and rested a long time. The awful loneliness that he had feared +came upon him, and he wrestled with it for hours. That night it became +worse than ever, but it was so acute that it exhausted itself, and the +next morning he felt better. + +Resolved not to mope, he took down the rifle, put some of the smoked +beef in his pocket, and started on a long exploration, meaning to cross +the high hills that ran down the center of the island, and see what the +other half was like. + +In the brilliant sunshine his spirits took another rise. After all, he +could be much worse off. He had a good house, arms and food, and in time +a ship would come. A ship must come, and, with his usual optimism, he +was sure that it would come soon. + +He passed by the lakes and noted the marshy spot where he had shot the +ducks. Others had come back and were feeding there now on the water +grasses. Doubtless they had never seen man before and did not know his +full destructiveness, but Robert resolved to have duck for his table +whenever he wanted it. + +A mile or two farther and he saw another but much smaller lake, around +the edge of which duck also were feeding, showing him that the supply +was practically unlimited. Just beyond the second lake lay the range of +hills that constituted the backbone of the island, and although the sun +was hot he climbed them, their height being about a thousand feet. From +the crest he had a view of the entire island, finding the new half much +like the old, low, hilly, covered with forest, and surrounded with a +line of reefs on which the surf was breaking. + +His eyes followed the long curve of the reefs, and then stopped at a +dark spot that broke their white continuity. His blood leaped and +instantly he put to his eyes the strong glasses that he had found in the +house and that fortunately he had brought with him. Here he found his +first impression to be correct. The dark spot was a ship! + +But it was no longer a ship that sailed the seas. Instead it was a +wrecked and shattered ship, with her bow driven into the sand, and her +stern impaled on the sharp teeth of the breakers. Then his heart leaped +again. A second long look through the glasses told him that the lines of +the ship, bruised and battered though she was, were familiar. + +It was the schooner. The storm had brought her to the island also, +though to the opposite shore, and there she lay a wreck held by the sand +and rocks. He descended the hills, and, after a long walk, reached the +beach. The schooner was not broken up as much as he had thought, and as +she could be reached easily he decided to board her. + +The vessel was tipped partly over on her side, and all her spars and +sails were gone. She swayed a little with the swell, but she was held +fast by sand and rocks. Robert, laying his clothes and rifle on the +beach, waded out to her, and, without much difficulty, climbed aboard, +where he made his way cautiously over the slanting and slippery deck. + +His first motive in boarding the wreck was curiosity, but it now +occurred to him that there was much treasure to be had, treasure of the +kind that was most precious to a castaway. A long stay on the island had +not entered into his calculations hitherto, but he knew now that he +might have to reckon on it, and it was well to be prepared for any +event. + +He searched first the cabins of the captain and mates, taking from them +what he thought might be of use, and heaping the store upon the beach. +He soon had there a pair of fine double-barreled pistols with plenty of +ammunition to fit, another rifle, one that had been the captain's own, +with supplies of powder and ball, a half dozen blankets, a medicine +chest, well supplied, and a cutlass, which he took without any +particular thought of use. + +Then he invaded the carpenter's domain, and there he helped himself very +freely, taking out two axes, two hatchets, two saws, a hammer, two +chisels, several augers, and many other tools, all of which he heaped +with great labor upon the beach. + +Then he explored the cook's galley, gleaning three large bags of flour, +supplies of salt and pepper, five cured hams, four big cheeses, several +bottles of cordial and other supplies such as were carried on any +well-found ship. It required great skill and caution to get all his +treasures safely ashore, but his enthusiasm rose as he worked, and he +toiled at his task until midnight. Then he slept beside the precious +heap until the next day. + +He lighted a fire with his flint and steel, which he made a point to +carry with him always, and cooked a breakfast of slices from one of the +hams. Then he planned a further attack upon the schooner, which had not +altered her position in the night. + +Robert now felt like a miser who never hoards enough. Moreover, his +source of supply once gone, it was not likely that he would find +another, and there was the ship. The sea was in almost a dead calm, and +it was easier than ever to approach her. So he decided to board again +and take off more treasure. + +He added to the heap upon the beach another rifle, two muskets, several +pistols, a small sword and a second cutlass, clothing, a considerable +supply of provisions and a large tarpaulin which he meant to spread over +his supplies while they lay on the sand. Then he launched a dinghy which +he found upon the ship with the oars inside. + +The dinghy gave him great pleasure. He knew that it would be an arduous +task to carry all his supplies on his back across the island to the +house, and it would lighten the labor greatly to make trips around in +the boat. So he loaded into the dinghy as much of the most precious of +his belongings as he thought it would hold, and began the journey by +water that very day, leaving the rest of the goods covered with the +tarpaulin in the event of rain. + +It was a long journey, and he had to be careful about the breakers, but +fortunately the sea remained calm. He was caught in currents several +times, but he came at last to the opening in the rocks through which he +and the captain had entered and he rowed in joyfully. He slept that +night in the house and started back in the morning for another load. One +trip a day in the dinghy he found to be all that he could manage, but he +stuck to his work until his precious store was brought from the beach to +the house. + +He could not make up his mind even then to abandon the schooner +entirely. There might never be another magazine of supply, and he +ransacked her thoroughly, taking off more tools, weapons, clothing and +ammunition. Even then he left on board much that might be useful in case +of emergency, such as cordage, sails, and clothing that had belonged to +the sailors. There was also a large quantity of ammunition for the Long +Tom which he did not disturb. The gun itself was still on board the +ship, dismounted and wedged into the woodwork, but practically as good +as ever. Robert, with an eye for the picturesque, thought it would have +been fine to have taken it ashore and to have mounted it before the +house, but that, of course, was impossible. He must leave it to find its +grave in the ocean, and that, perhaps, was the best end to a gun used as +the Long Tom had been. + +Part of his new treasures he took across the island on his back, and +part he carried around it in the boat, which he found to be invaluable, +and of which he took the utmost care, drawing it upon the beach at +night, beyond the reach of tide or storm. + +More than two weeks passed in these labors, and he was so busy, mind and +body, that he was seldom lonely except at night. Then the feeling was +almost overpowering, but whenever he was assailed by it he would +resolutely tell himself that he might be in far worse case. He had +shelter, food and arms in plenty, and it would not be long before he was +taken off the island. Exerting his will so strongly, the periods of +depression became fewer and shorter. + +But the silence and the utter absence of his own kind produced a marked +effect upon his character. He became graver, he thought more deeply upon +serious things than his years warranted. The problem of his own identity +was often before him. Who was he? He was sure that Benjamin Hardy knew. +Jacobus Huysman must know, too, and beyond a doubt Adrian Van Zoon did, +else he would not try so hard to put him out of the way. And St. Luc +must have something to do with this coil. Why had the Frenchman really +pointed out to him the way of escape when he was a prisoner at +Ticonderoga? He turned these questions over and over and over in his +mind, though always the answer evaded him. But he resolved to solve the +problem when he got back to the colonies and as soon as the great war +was over. It was perhaps typical of him that he should want his own +personal fortunes to wait upon the issue of the mighty struggle in which +he was so deeply absorbed. + +Then his thoughts turned with renewed concentration to the war. Standing +far off in both mind and body, he was able to contemplate it as a whole +and also to see it in all its parts. And the more he looked at it the +surer he was that England and her colonies would succeed. Distance and +perspective gave him confidence. The French generals and French soldiers +had done wonders, nobody could be braver or more skilful than they, but +they could not prevail always against superior might and invincible +tenacity. + +Sitting on the ground and looking at the white surf breaking on the +rocks, he ended the war in the way he wished. The French and Canada were +conquered completely and his own flag was victorious everywhere. +Braddock's defeat and Ticonderoga were but incidents which could delay +but which could not prevent. + +But he did not spend too much time in reflection. He was too young for +that, and his years in the wilderness helped him to bear the burden of +being alone. Rifle on shoulder, he explored every part of the island, +finding that his domain presented no great variety. There was much +forest, and several kinds of tropical fruits were for his taking, but +quadruped life was limited, nothing larger than small rodents. +Well-armed as he was, he would have preferred plenty of big game. It +would have added spice to his life, much of which had been spent in +hunting with Willet and Tayoga. Excitement might have been found in +following bear or deer, but he knew too well ever to have expected them +on an island in summer seas. + +There was some sport in fishing. Plenty of tackle had been found among +the ship's stores, and he caught good fish in the larger lake. He also +tried deep sea fishing from the dinghy, but the big fellows bit so fast +that it soon ceased to be of interest. The fish, though, added freshness +and variety to his larder, and he also found shellfish, good and +wholesome when eaten in small quantities, along the shore. + +He went often to the highest hill in the center of the island, where he +would spend long periods, examining the sea from horizon to horizon with +his strong glasses, searching vainly for a sail. He thought once of +keeping a mighty bonfire burning every night, but he reconsidered it +when he reflected on the character of the ship that it might draw. + +Both the Bahamas and the West Indies--he did not know in which group he +was--swarmed then with lawless craft. For nearly two hundred years +piracy had been common, and in a time of war especially the chances were +against a ship being a friend. He decided that on the whole he would +prefer a look at the rescuer before permitting himself to be rescued. + +The weather remained beautiful. He had been a month on the island, and +the sea had not been vexed by another storm since his arrival. The +schooner was still wedged in the sand and on the rocks, and he made +several more trips to her, taking off many more articles, which, +however, he left in a heap well back of the beach covered with a +tarpaulin and the remains of sails. He felt that they could lie there +awaiting his need. Perhaps he would never need them at all. + +His later visits to the schooner were more from curiosity than from any +other motive. He had a strong desire to learn more about the captain and +his ship. There was no name anywhere upon the vessel, nor could he find +any ship's log or manifest or any kind of writing to indicate it. +Neither was the name of the slaver known to him, nor was there any +letter nor any kind of paper to disclose it. It was likely that it would +always remain hidden from him unless some day he should wrench it from +Adrian Van Zoon. + +Robert went into the sea nearly every morning. As he was a powerful +swimmer and the weather remained calm, he was in the habit of going out +beyond the reefs, but one day he noticed a fin cutting the water and +coming toward him. Instantly he swam with all his might toward the +reefs, shivering as he went. When he drew himself up on the slippery +rocks he did not see the formidable fin. He was quite willing to utter +devout thanks aloud. It might not have been a shark, but it made him +remember they were to be expected in those waters. After that he took no +chances, bathing inside the reefs and going outside in the dinghy only. + +A few days later he was upon his highest hill watching the horizon when +he saw a dark spot appear in the southwest. At first he was hopeful that +it was a sail, but as he saw it grow he knew it to be a cloud. Then he +hurried toward the house, quite sure a storm was coming. Knowing how the +southern seas were swept by hurricanes, it was surprising that none had +come sooner, and he ran as fast as he could for the shelter of the +house. + +Robert made the door just in time. Then the day had turned almost as +dark as night and, with a rush and a roar, wind and rain were upon him. +Evidently the slaver had known those regions, and so he had built a +house of great strength, which, though it quivered and rattled under the +sweep of the hurricane, nevertheless stood up against it. + +The building had several small windows, closed with strong shutters, but +as wind and rain were driving from the west he was able to open one on +the eastern side and watch the storm. It was just such a hurricane as +that which had wrecked the shattered schooner. It became very dark, +there were tremendous displays of thunder and lightning, which ceased, +after a while, as the wind grew stronger, and then through the dark he +saw trees and bushes go down. Fragments struck against the house, but +the stout walls held. + +The wind kept up a continuous screaming, as full of menace as the crash +of a battle. Part of the time it swept straight ahead, cutting wide +swathes, and then, turning into balls of compressed air, it whirled with +frightful velocity, smashing everything level with the ground as if it +had been cut down by a giant sword. + +Robert had seen more than one hurricane in the great northern woods and +he watched it without alarm. Although the house continued to rattle and +shake, and now and then a bough, wrenched from its trunk, struck it a +heavy blow, he knew that it would hold. There was a certain comfort in +sitting there, dry and secure, while the storm raged without in all its +violence. There was pleasure too in the knowledge that he was on the +land and not the sea. He remembered the frightful passage that he and +the slaver had made through the breakers, and he knew that his escape +then had depended upon the slimmest of chances. He shuddered as he +recalled the rocks thrusting out their savage teeth. + +The storm, after a while, sank into a steady rain, and the wind blew but +little. The air was now quite cold for that region, and Robert, lying +down on the couch, covered himself with a blanket. He soon fell asleep +and slept so long, lulled by the beat of the rain, that he did not +awaken until the next day. + +Then he took the dinghy and rowed around to the other side of the +island. As he had expected, the schooner was gone. The storm had broken +her up, and he found many of her timbers scattered along the beach, +where they had been brought in by the waves. He felt genuine sadness at +the ship's destruction and disappearance. It was like losing a living +friend. + +Fortunately, the tarpaulin and heavy sails with which he had covered his +heap of stores high up the beach, weighting them down afterward with +huge stones, had held. Some water had entered at the edges, but, as the +goods were of a kind that could not be damaged much, little harm was +done. Again he resolved to preserve all that he had accumulated there, +although he did not know that he would have any need of them. + +When he rowed back in the dinghy he saw a formidable fin cutting the +water again, and, laying down the oars, he took up the rifle which he +always carried with him. He watched until the shark was almost on the +surface of the water, and then he sent a bullet into it. There was a +great splashing, followed by a disappearance, and he did not know just +then the effect of his shot, but a little later, when the huge body of +the slain fish floated to the surface he felt intense satisfaction, as +he believed that it would have been a man-eater had it the chance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MAKING THE BEST OF IT + + +After his return in the dinghy Robert decided that he would have some +fresh beef and also a little sport. Although the island contained no +indigenous wild animals of any size, there were the wild cattle, and he +had seen they were both long of horn and fierce. If he courted peril he +might find it in hunting them, and in truth he rather wanted a little +risk. There was such an absence of variety in his life, owing to the +lack of human companionship, that an attack by a maddened bull, for +instance, would add spice to it. The rifle would protect him from any +extreme danger. + +He knew he was likely to find cattle near the larger lake, and, as he +had expected, he saw a herd of almost fifty grazing there on a flat at +the eastern edge. Two fierce old bulls with very long, sharp horns were +on the outskirts, as if they were mounting guard, while the cows and +calves were on the inside near the lake. + +Robert felt sure that the animals, although unharried by man, would +prove wary. For the sake of sport he hoped that it would be so, and, +using all the skill that he had learned in his long association with +Willet and Tayoga, he crept down through the woods. The bulls would be +too tough, and as he wanted a fat young cow it would be necessary for +him to go to the very edge of the thickets that hemmed in the little +savanna on which they were grazing. + +The wind was blowing from him toward the herd and the bulls very soon +took alarm, holding up their heads, sniffing and occasionally shaking +their formidable horns. Robert picked a fat young cow in the grass +almost at the water's edge as his target, but stopped a little while in +order to disarm the suspicion of the wary old guards. When the two went +back to their pleasant task of grazing he resumed his cautious advance, +keeping the fat young cow always in view. + +Now that he had decided to secure fresh beef, he wanted it very badly, +and it seemed to him that the cow would fulfill all his wants. A long +experience in the wilderness would show him how to prepare juicy and +tender steaks. Eager to replenish his larder in so welcome a way, he +rose and crept forward once more in the thicket. + +The two bulls became suspicious again, the one on the right, which was +the larger, refusing to have his apprehension quieted, and advancing +part of the way toward the bushes, where he stood, thrusting forward +angry horns. His attitude served as a warning for the whole herd, which, +becoming alarmed, began to move. + +Robert was in fear lest they rush away in a panic, and so he took a long +shot at the cow, bringing her down, but failing to kill her, as she rose +after falling and began to make off. Eager now to secure his game he +drew the heavy pistol that he carried at his belt, and, dropping his +rifle, rushed forward from the thicket for a second shot. + +The cow was not running fast. Evidently the wound was serious, but +Robert had no mind for her to escape him in the thickets, and he pursued +her until he could secure good aim with the pistol. Then he fired and +had the satisfaction of seeing the cow fall again, apparently to stay +down this time. + +But his satisfaction was short. He heard a heavy tread and an angry +snort beside him. He caught the gleam of a long horn, and as he whirled +the big bull was upon him. He leaped aside instinctively and escaped the +thrust of the horn, but the bull whirled also, and the animal's heavy +shoulder struck him with such force that he was knocked senseless. + +When Robert came to himself he was conscious of an aching body and an +aching head, but he recalled little else at first. Then he remembered +the fierce thrusts of the angry old bull, and he was glad that he was +alive. He felt of himself to see if one of those sharp horns had entered +him anywhere, and he was intensely relieved to find that he had suffered +no wound. Evidently it had been a collision in which he had been the +sufferer, and that he had fallen flat had been a lucky thing for him, as +the fierce bull had charged past him and had then gone on. + +Robert was compelled to smile sourly at himself. He had wanted the +element of danger as a spice for his hunting, and he had most certainly +found it. He had been near death often, but never nearer than when the +old bull plunged against him. He rose slowly and painfully, shook +himself several times to throw off as well as he could the effect of his +heavy jolt, then picked up his rifle at one point and his pistol at +another. + +The herd was gone, but the cow that he had chosen lay dead, and, as her +condition showed him that he had been unconscious not more than five +minutes, there was his fresh beef after all. As his strength was fast +returning, he cut up and dressed the cow, an achievement in which a long +experience in hunting had made him an expert. He hung the quarters in a +dense thicket of tall bushes where vultures or buzzards could not get at +them, and took some of the tenderest steaks home with him. + +He broiled the steaks over a fine bed of coals in front of the house and +ate them with bread that he baked himself from the ship's flour. He +enjoyed his dinner and he was devoutly grateful for his escape. But how +much pleasanter it would have been if Willet and Tayoga, those faithful +comrades of many perils, were there with him to share it! He wondered +what they were doing. Doubtless they had hunted for him long, and they +had suspected and sought to trace Garay, but the cunning spy doubtless +had fled from Albany immediately after his capture. Willet and Tayoga, +failing to find him, would join in the great campaign which the British +and Americans would certainly organize anew against Canada. + +It was this thought of the campaign that was most bitter to Robert. He +was heart and soul in the war, in which he believed mighty issues to be +involved, and he had seen so much of it already that he wanted to be in +it to the finish. When these feelings were strong upon him it was almost +intolerable to be there upon the island, alone and helpless. All the +world's great events were passing him by as if he did not exist. But the +periods of gloom would not last long. Despite his new gravity, his +cheerful, optimistic spirit remained, and it always pulled him away from +the edge of despair. + +Although he had an abundance of fresh meat, he went on a second hunt of +the wild cattle in order to keep mind and body occupied. He wanted +particularly to find the big bull that had knocked him down, and he knew +that he would recognize him when he found him. He saw a herd grazing on +the same little savanna by the lake, but when he had stalked it with +great care he found that it was not the one he wanted. + +A search deeper into the hills revealed another herd, but still the +wrong one. A second day's search disclosed the right group grazing in a +snug little valley, and there was the big bull who had hurt so sorely +his body and his pride. A half hour of creeping in the marsh grass and +thickets and he was within easy range. Then he carefully picked out that +spot on the bull's body beneath which his heart lay, cocked his rifle, +took sure aim, and put his finger to the trigger. + +But Robert did not pull that trigger. He merely wished to show to +himself and to any invisible powers that might be looking on that he +could lay the bull in the dust if he wished. If he wanted revenge for +grievous personal injury it was his for the taking. But he did not want +it. The bull was not to blame. He had merely been defending his own from +a dangerous intruder and so was wholly within his rights. + +"Now that I've held you under my muzzle you're safe from me, old +fellow," were Robert's unspoken words. + +He felt that his dignity was restored and that, at the same time, his +sense of right had been maintained. Elated, he went back to the house +and busied himself, arranging his possessions. They were so numerous +that he was rather crowded, but he was not willing to give up anything. +One becomes very jealous over his treasures when he knows the source of +supplies may have been cut off forever. So he rearranged them, trying to +secure for himself better method and more room, and he also gave them a +more minute examination. + +In a small chest which he had not opened before he found, to his great +delight, a number of books, all the plays of Shakespeare, several by +Beaumont and Fletcher, others by Congreve and Marlowe, Monsieur Rollin's +Ancient History, a copy of Telemachus, translations of the Iliad and +Odyssey, Ovid, Horace, Virgil and other classics. Most of the books +looked as if they had been read and he thought they might have belonged +to the captain, but there was no inscription in any of them, and, on the +other hand, they might have been taken from a captured ship. + +With plenty of leisure and a mind driven in upon itself, Robert now read +a great deal, and, as little choice was left to him, he read books that +he might have ignored otherwise. Moreover, he thought well upon what he +read. It seemed to him as he went over his Homer again and again that +the gods were cruel. Men were made weak and fallible, and then they were +punished because they failed or erred. The gods themselves were not at +all exempt from the sins, or, rather, mistakes for which they punished +men. He felt this with a special force when he read his Ovid. He +thought, looking at it in a direct and straight manner, that Niobe had a +right to be proud of her children, and for Apollo to slay them because +of that pride was monstrous. + +His mind also rebelled at his Virgil. He did not care much for the +elderly lover, Æneas, who fled from Carthage and Dido, and when Æneas +and his band came to Italy his sympathies were largely with Turnus, who +tried to keep his country and the girl that really belonged to him. He +was quite sure that something had been wrong in the mind of Virgil and +that he ought to have chosen another kind of hero. + +Shakespeare, whom he had been compelled to read at school, he now read +of his own accord, and he felt his romance and poetry. But he lingered +longer over the somewhat prosy ancient history of Monsieur Rollin. His +imaginative mind did not need much of a hint to attempt the +reconstruction of old empires. But he felt that always in them too much +depended upon one man. When an emperor fell an empire fell, when a king +was killed a kingdom went down. + +He applied many of the lessons from those old, old wars to the great war +that was now raging, and he was confirmed in his belief that England and +her colonies would surely triumph. The French monarchy, to judge from +all that he had heard, was now in the state of one of those old oriental +monarchies, decayed and rotten, spreading corruption from a poisoned +center to all parts of the body. However brave and tenacious the French +people might be, and he knew that none were more so, he was sure they +could not prevail over the strength of free peoples like those who +fought under the British flag, free to grow, whatever their faults might +be. So, old Monsieur Rollin, who had brought tedium to many, brought +refreshment and courage to Robert. + +But he did not bury himself in books. He had been a creature of action +too long for that. He hunted the wild cattle over the hills, and, now +and then, taking the dinghy he hunted the sharks also. Whenever he found +one he did not spare the bullets. His finger did not stop at the +trigger, but pulled hard, and he rarely missed. + +But in spite of reading and action, time dragged heavily. The old +loneliness and desolation would return and they were hard to dispel. He +could not keep from crying aloud at the cruelty of fate. He was young, +so vital, so intensely alive, so anxious to be in the middle of things, +that it was torture to be held there. Yet he was absolutely helpless. It +would be folly to attempt escape in the little dinghy, and he must wait +until a ship came. He would spend hours every day on the highest hill, +watching the horizon through his glasses for a ship, and then, bitter +with disappointment, he would refuse to look again for a long time. + +Whether his mind was up or down its essential healthiness and sanity +held true. He always came back to the normal. Had he sought purposely to +divest himself of hope he could not have done it. The ship was coming. +Its coming was as certain as the rolling in of the tide, only one had to +wait longer for it. + +Yet time passed, and there was no sign of a sail on the horizon. His +island was as lonely as if it were in the South Seas instead of the +Atlantic. He began to suspect that it was not really a member of any +group, but was a far flung outpost visited but rarely. Perhaps the war +and its doubling the usual dangers of the sea would keep a ship of any +kind whatever from visiting it. He refused to let the thought remain +with him, suppressing it resolutely, and insisting to himself that such +a pleasant little island was bound to have callers some time or other, +some day. + +But the weeks dragged by, and he was absolutely alone in his world. He +had acquired so many stores from the schooner that life was comfortable. +It even had a touch of luxury, and the struggle for existence was far +from consuming all his hours. He found himself as time went on driven +more and more upon his books, and he read them, as few have ever read +anything, trying to penetrate everything and to draw from them the best +lessons. + +As a student, in a very real sense of the term, Robert became more +reconciled to his isolation. His mind was broadening and deepening, and +he felt that it was so. Many things that had before seemed a puzzle to +him now became plain. He was compelled, despite his youth, to meditate +upon life, and he resolved that when he took up its thread again among +his kind he would put his new knowledge to the best of uses. + +He noted a growth of the body as well as of the mind. An abundant and +varied diet and plenty of rest gave him a great physical stimulus. It +seemed to him that he was taller, and he was certainly heavier. Wishing +to profit to the utmost, and, having a natural neatness, he looked after +himself with great care, bathing inside the reefs once every day, and, +whether there was work to be done or not, taking plenty of exercise. + +He lost count of the days, but he knew that he was far into the autumn, +that in truth winter must have come in his own and distant north. That +thought at times was almost maddening. Doubtless the snow was already +falling on the peaks that had seen so many gallant exploits by his +comrades and himself, and on George and Champlain, the lakes so +beautiful and majestic under any aspect. Those were the regions he +loved. When would he see them again? But such thoughts, too, he crushed +and saw only the ship that was to take him back to his own. + +Some change in the weather came, and he was aware that the winter of the +south was at hand. Yet it was not cold. There was merely a fresh sparkle +in the air, a new touch of crispness. Low, gray skies were a relief, +after so much blazing sunshine, and the cool winds whipped his blood to +new life. The house had a fireplace and chimney and often he built a low +fire, not so much for the sake of warmth as for the cheer that the +sparkling blaze gave. Then he could imagine that he was back in his +beloved province of New York. Now the snow was certainly pouring down +there. The lofty peaks were hidden in clouds of white, and the ice was +forming around the edges of Andiatarocte and Oneadatote. Perhaps Willet +and Tayoga were scouting in the snowy forests, but they must often hang +over the blazing fires, too. + +The coldness without, the blaze on the hearth, and the warmth within +increased his taste for reading and his comprehension seemed to grow +also. He found new meanings in the classics and he became saturated also +with style. His were the gifts of an orator, and it was often said in +after years, when he became truly great, that his speech, in words, in +metaphor and in illustration followed, or at least were influenced, by +the best models. Some people found in him traces of Shakespeare, the +lofty imagery and poetry and the deep and wide knowledge of human +emotions, of life itself. Others detected the mighty surge of Homer, or +the flow of Virgil, and a few discerning minds found the wit shown in +the comedies of the Restoration, from which he had unconsciously plucked +the good, leaving the bad. + +It is but a truth to say that every day he lived in these days he lived +a week or maybe a month. The stillness, the utter absence of his kind, +drove his mind inward with extraordinary force. He gained a breadth of +vision and a power of penetration of which he had not dreamed. He +acquired toleration, too. Looking over the recent events in his perilous +life, he failed to find hate for anybody. Perhaps untoward events had +turned the slaver into his evil career, and at the last he had shown +some good. The French were surely fighting for what they thought was +their own, and they struck in order that they might not be struck. +Tandakora himself was the creature of his circumstances. He hated the +people of the English colonies, because they were spreading over the +land and driving away the game. He was cruel because it was the Ojibway +nature to be cruel. He would have to fight Tandakora, but it was because +conditions had made it necessary. + +His absorption as a student now made him forget often that he was alone, +and there were long periods when he was not unhappy, especially when he +was trying to solve some abstruse mental problem. He regretted sometimes +that he did not have any book on mathematics, but perhaps it was as well +for him that he did not. His mind turned more to the other side of life, +to style, to poetry, to the imagination, and, now, as he was moving +along the line of least resistance, under singularly favorable +circumstances, he made extraordinary progress. + +Heavy winds came and Robert liked them. He had plenty of warm clothing +and it pleased him to walk on the beach, his face whipped by the gale, +and to watch the great waves come in. It made him stronger to fight the +storm. The response to its challenge rose in his blood. It was curious, +but at such times his hope was highest. He stood up, defying the lash of +wind and rain, and felt his courage rise with the contest. Often, he ran +up and down the beach until he was soaked through, letting the fierce +waves sweep almost to his feet, then he would go back to the house, +change to dry clothing, and sleep without dreams. + +There was no snow, although he longed for it, as do those who are born +in northern regions. Once, when he stood on the crest of the tallest +hill on the island, he thought he saw a few tiny flakes floating in the +air over his head, but they were swept away by the wind, as if they were +down, and he never knew whether it was an illusion or reality. But he +was glad that it had happened. It gave him a fleeting touch of home, and +he could imagine once more, and, for a few seconds, that he was not +alone on the island, but back in his province of New York, with his +friends not far away. + +Then came several days of fierce and continuous cold rain, but he put on +an oilskin coat that he found among the stores and spent much of the +time out of doors, hunting ducks along the edges of the larger lake, +walking now and then for the sake of walking, and, on rare occasions, +seeking the wild cattle for fresh meat. The herds were in the timber +most of the time for shelter, but he was invariably able to secure a +tender cow or a yearling for his larder. He saw the big bull often, and, +although he was charged by him once again, he refused to pull trigger on +the old fellow. He preferred to look upon him as a friend whom he had +met once in worthy combat, but with whom he was now at peace. When the +bull charged him he dodged him easily among the bushes and called out +whimsically: + +"Let it be the last time! I don't mean you any harm!" + +The fierce leader went peacefully back to his grazing, and it seemed to +Robert that he had been taken at his word. The old bull apparently +realized at last that he was in no danger from the human being who came +to look at him at times, and he also was willing to call a truce. Robert +saw him often after that, and invariably hailed him with words of +friendship, though at a respectful distance. The old fellow would look +up, shake his big head once or twice in a manner not at all hostile, and +then go on peacefully with his grazing. It pleased Robert to think that +in the absence of his own kind he had a friend here, and--still at a +respectful distance--he confided to him some of his opinions upon +matters of importance. He laughed at himself for doing so, but he was +aware that he found in it a certain relief, and he continued the +practice. + +The dinghy became one of his most precious possessions. A little farther +to the north he had found a creek that flowed down from the center of +the island, rising among the hills. It was narrow and shallow, except +near the mouth, but there it had sufficient depth for the boat, and he +made of it a safe anchorage and port during the winter storms. He slept +more easily now, as he knew that however hard the wind might blow there +was no danger of its being carried out to sea. He thought several times +of rigging a mast and sails for it and trying to make some other island, +but he gave up the idea, owing to the smallness of the boat, and his own +inexperience as a sailor. He was at least safe and comfortable where he +was, and a voyage of discovery or escape meant almost certain death. + +But he used the dinghy in calm weather for bringing back some of the +stores that he had left on the other side of the island. The lighter +articles he brought by land. There was not room for all of them in the +house, but he built a shed under which he placed those not of a +perishable nature, and covered them over with the tarpaulin and sails. +He still had the feeling that he must not lose or waste anything, +because he knew that in the back of his head lay an apprehension lest +his time on the island should be long, very long. + +He kept in iron health. His life in the wilderness had taught him how to +take care of himself, and, with an abundant and varied diet and plenty +of exercise, he never knew a touch of illness. He did not forget to be +grateful for it. A long association with Tayoga had taught him to +remember these things. It might be true that he was being guarded by +good spirits. The white man's religion and the red man's differed only +in name. His God and Tayoga's Manitou were the same, and the spirits of +the Onondaga were the same as his angels of divine power and mercy. + +Often in the moonlight he looked up at the great star upon which Tayoga +said that Tododaho dwelled, that wise Onondaga chieftain who had gone +away to the skies four hundred years before. Once or twice he thought he +could see the face of Tododaho with the wise snakes, coil on coil in his +hair, but, without his full faith, it was not given to him to have the +full vision of Tayoga. He found comfort, however, in the effort. It gave +new strength to the spirit, and, situated as he was, it was his soul, +not his body, that needed fortifying. + +He decided that Christmas was near at hand, and he decided to celebrate +it. With the count of time lost it was impossible for him to know the +exact day, but he fixed upon one in his mind, and resolved to use it +whether right or wrong in date. The mere fact that he celebrated it +would make it right in spirit. It might be the 20th or the 30th of +December, but if he chose to call it the 25th, the 25th it would be. +Endowed so liberally with fancy and with such a power of projecting the +mind, it was easy for him to make believe, to turn imagination into +reality. And this power was heightened by his loneliness and isolation, +and by the turning in of his mind so tremendously upon itself. + +After the thought of a Christmas dinner was struck out by his fancy it +grew fast, and he made elaborate preparations. Ducks were shot, a +yearling from the wild cattle was killed, the stores from the ship were +drawn upon liberally, and he even found among them a pudding which could +yet be made savory. Long experience had made him an excellent cook and +he attended to every detail in the most thorough manner. + +The dinner set, he arrayed himself in the finest clothes to be found in +his stock, and then, when all was ready, he sat down to his improvised +board. But there was not one plate alone, there were four, one for +Willet opposite him, one for Tayoga at his right hand and one for +Grosvenor at his left. And for every thing he ate he placed at least a +small portion on every plate, while with unspoken words he talked with +these three friends of his. + +It was a dark day, very cold and raw for the island, and while there was +no Christmas snow there was a cold rain lashing the windows that could +very well take its place. A larger fire than usual, crackling and +cheerful, was blazing on the hearth, throwing the red light of its +flames over the table, and the three places where his invisible friends +sat. + +His power of evocation was so vivid and intense that he could very well +say that he saw his comrades around the table. There was Willet big, +grave and wise, but with the lurking humor in the corner of his eye, +there was Tayoga, lean, calm, inscrutable, the young philosopher of the +woods and the greatest trailer in the world, and there was Grosvenor, +ruddy, frank, tenacious, eager to learn all the lore of the woods. Yes, +he could see them and he was glad that he was serving Christmas food to +them as well as to himself. Willet loved wild duck and so he gave him an +extra portion. Tayoga was very partial to cakes of flour and so he gave +him a double number, and Grosvenor, being an Englishman, must love beef, +so he helped him often to steak. + +It was fancy, but fancy breeds other and stronger fancies, and the +feeling that it was all reality grew upon him. Dreams are of thin and +fragile texture, but they are very vivid while they last. Of course +Willet, Tayoga and Grosvenor were there, and when the food was all +served, course by course, he filled four glasses, one at each plate, +from a bottle of the old cordial that he had saved from the ship, lifted +his own to his lips, tasted it and said aloud: + +"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!" + +Then he shut his eyes and when he shut them he saw the three tasting +their own glasses, and he heard them say with him: + +"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE VOICE IN THE AIR + + +Robert slept long and peacefully the night after his Christmas dinner, +and, when he rose the next morning, he felt more buoyant and hopeful +than for days past. The celebration had been a sort of anchor to his +spirit, keeping him firm against any tide of depression that in his +situation might well have swept him toward despair. As he recalled it +the day after, Tayoga, Willet and Grosvenor were very vivid figures at +his table, sitting opposite him, and to right and left. They had +responded to his toast, he had seen the flash in their eyes, and their +tones were resonant with hope and confidence. It was clear they had +meant to tell him that rescue was coming. + +He accepted these voices out of the distance as definite and real. It +could not be long until he saw the hunter, the Onondaga and the young +Englishman once more. His lonely life caused him, despite himself, to +lend a greater belief to signs and omens. Tayoga was right when he +peopled the air with spirits, and most of the spirits on that island +must be good spirits, since all things, except escape, had been made +easy for him, house, clothes, food and safety. + +The day itself was singularly crisp and bright, inciting to further +cheerfulness. It was also the coldest he had yet felt on the island, +having a northern tang that stirred his blood. He could shut his eyes +and see the great forests, not in winter, but as they were in autumn, +glowing in many colors, and with an air that was the very breath of +life. The sea also sang a pleasant song as it rolled in and broke on the +rocks, and Robert, looking around at his island, felt that he could have +fared far worse. + +Rifle on shoulder he went off for a long and brisk walk, and his steps +unconsciously took him, as they often did, toward the high hill in the +center of the island, a crest that he used as a lookout. On his way he +passed his friend, the old bull, grazing in a meadow, and, watching his +herd, like the faithful guardian he was. Robert called to him +cheerfully. The big fellow looked up, shook his horns, not in hostile +fashion but in the manner of comrade saluting comrade, and then went +back, with a whole and confident heart, to his task of nipping the +grass. Robert was pleased. It was certain that the bull no longer +regarded him with either fear or apprehension, and he wanted to be +liked. + +It was nearly noon when he reached his summit, and as he was warm from +exercise he sat down on a rock, staying there a long time and scouring +the horizon now and then through the glasses. The sea was a circle of +blazing blue, and the light wind sang from the southwest. + +He had brought food with him and in the middle of the day he ate it. +With nothing in particular to do he thought he would spend the afternoon +there, and, making himself comfortable, he waited, still taking +occasional glances through the glasses. While he sat, idling more than +anything else, his mind became occupied with Tayoga's theory of spirits +in the air--less a theory however than the religious belief of the +Indians. + +He wanted to believe that Tayoga was right, and his imagination was so +vivid and intense that what he wished to believe he usually ended by +believing. He shut his eyes and tested his power of evocation. He knew +that he could create feeling in any part of his body merely by +concentrating his mind upon that particular part of it and by continuing +to think of it. Physical sensation even came from will. So he would +imagine that he heard spirits in the air all about him, not anything +weird or hostile, but just kindly people of the clouds and winds, such +as those created by the old Greeks. + +Fancying that he heard whispers about him and resolved to hear them, he +heard them. If a powerful imagination wanted to create whispers it could +create them. The spirits of the air, Tayoga's spirits, the spirits of +old Hellas, were singing in either ear, and the song, like that of the +sea, like the flavor breathed out by his Christmas celebration, was full +of courage, alive with hope. + +He had kept his eyes closed a full half hour, because, with sight shut +off, the other senses became much more acute for the time. The power +that had been in the eyes was poured into their allies. Imagination, in +particular, leaped into a sudden luxuriant growth. It was true, of +course it was quite true, that those friendly spirits of the air were +singing all about him. They were singing in unison a gay and brilliant +song, very pleasant to hear, until he was startled by a new note that +came into it, a note not in harmony with the others, the voice of +Cassandra herself. He listened and he was sure. Beyond a doubt it was a +note of warning. + +Robert opened his eyes and everything went away. There was the pleasant, +green island, and there was the deep blue sea all about it. He laughed +to himself. He was letting imagination go too far. One could make +believe too much. He sat idly a few minutes and then, putting the +glasses to his eyes, took another survey of the far horizon where blue +sky and blue water met. He moved the focus slowly around the circle, and +when he came to a point in the east he started violently, then sprang to +his feet, every pulse leaping. + +He had seen a tiny black dot upon the water, one that broke the +continuity of the horizon line, and, for a little while, he was too +excited to look again. He stood, the glasses in his trembling fingers +and stared with naked eyes that he knew could not see. After a while he +put the glasses back and then followed the horizon. He was afraid that +it was an illusion, that his imagination had become too vivid, creating +for him the thing that was not, and now that he was a little calmer he +meant to put it to the proof. + +He moved the glasses slowly from north to east, following the line where +sky and water met, and then the hands that held them trembled again. +There was the black spot, a trifle larger now, and, forcing his nerves +to be calm, he stared at it a long time, how long he never knew, but +long enough for him to see it grow and take form and shape, for the +infinitesimal but definite outline of mast, sails and hull to emerge, +and then for a complete ship to be disclosed. + +The ship was coming toward the island. The increase in size told him +that. It was no will-o'-the-wisp on the water, appearing a moment, then +gone, foully cheating his hopes. If she kept her course, and there was +no reason why she should not, she would make the island. He had no doubt +from the first that a landing there was its definite purpose, most +likely for water. + +When he took the glasses from his eyes the second time he gave way to +joy. Rescue was at hand. The ship, wherever she went, would take him to +some place where human beings lived, and he could go thence to his own +country. He would yet be in time to take part in the great campaign +against Quebec, sharing the dangers and glory with Willet, Tayoga, +Grosvenor and the others. The spirits in the air had sung to him a true +song, when his eyes were shut, and, in his leaping exultation, he forgot +the warning note that had appeared in their song, faint, almost buried, +but nevertheless there. + +He put the glasses to his eyes a third time. The ship was tacking, but +that was necessary, and it was just as certain as ever that her +destination was the island. Owing to the shifts and flaws in the wind it +would be night before she arrived, but that did not matter to him. +Having waited months he could wait a few hours longer. Likely as not she +was an English ship out of the Barbadoes, bound for the Carolinas. He +must be somewhere near just such a course. Or, maybe she was a colonial +schooner, one of those bold craft from Boston. There was a certain +luxury in speculating on it, and in prolonging a doubt which would +certainly be solved by midnight, and to his satisfaction. It was not +often that in real life one looked at a play bound to develop within a +given time to a dramatic and satisfying finish. + +He remained on the crest until late in the afternoon, watching the ship +as she tacked with the varying winds, but, in the end, always bearing +toward the island. He was quite sure now that her arrival would be after +dark. She would come through the opening in the reefs that he and the +slaver had made so hardly in the storm, but on the night bound to follow +such a day it would be as easy as entering a drawing room, with the +doors held open, and the guest made welcome. He would be there to give +the welcome. + +He was able to see more of the ship now. As he had surmised, she was a +schooner, apparently very trim and handled well. Doubtless she was fast. +The faster the better, because he was eager to get back to the province +of New York. + +Late in the afternoon, he left the hill and went swiftly back to his +house, where he ate an early supper in order that he might be on the +beach to give welcome to the guest, and perhaps lend some helpful advice +about making port. There was none better fitted than he. He was the +oldest resident of the island. Nobody could be jealous of his position +as adviser to the arriving vessel. + +This was to be a great event in his life, and it must be carried out in +the proper manner with every attention to detail. He put on the uniform +of an English naval officer that he had found on the ship, and then +rifle on shoulder and small sword in belt went through the forest toward +the inlet. + +The night was bright and beautiful, just fitted for a rescue, and an +escape from an island. All the stars had come out to see it, and, with +his head very high, he trod lightly as he passed among the trees, +approaching the quiet beach. Before he left the wood he saw the top of +the schooner's mast showing over a fringe of bushes. Evidently she had +anchored outside the reefs and was sending in a boat to look further. +Well, that was fit and proper, and his advice and assistance would be +most timely. + +The wind rose a little and it sang a lilting melody among the leaves. +His imagination, alive and leaping, turned it into the song of a +troubadour, gay and welcoming. Tayoga's spirits were abroad again, +filling the air in the dusk, their favorite time, and he rejoiced, until +he suddenly heard once more that faint note of warning, buried under +the volume of the other, but nevertheless there. + +Alone, driven in upon himself for so many months, he was a creature of +mysticism that night. What he imagined he believed, and, obedient to the +warning, he drew back. All the caution of the northern wilderness +returned suddenly to him. He was no longer rushing forward to make a +welcome for guests awaited eagerly. He would see what manner of people +came before he opened the door. Putting the rifle in the hollow of his +arm he crept forward through the bushes. + +A large boat was coming in from the schooner, and the bright moonlight +enabled him to see at first glance that the six men who sat in it were +not men of Boston. Nor were they men of England. They were too dark, and +three of them had rings in their ears. + +Perhaps the schooner was a French privateer, wishing to make a secret +landing, and, if so, he had done well to hold back. He had no mind to be +taken a prisoner to France. The French were brave, and he would not be +ill-treated, but he had other things to do. He withdrew a little farther +into the undergrowth. The door of welcome was open now only a few +inches, and he was peering out at the crack, every faculty alive and +ready to take the alarm. + +The boat drew closer, grounded on the beach, and the men, leaping out, +dragged it beyond the reach of the low waves that were coming in. Then, +in a close group, they walked toward the forest, looking about +curiously. They were armed heavily, and every one of them had a drawn +weapon in his hand, sword or pistol. Their actions seemed to Robert +those of men who expected a stranger, as a matter of course, to be an +enemy. Hence, they were men whose hands were against other men, and so +also against young Robert Lennox, who had been alone so long, and who +craved so much the companionship of his kind. + +He drew yet deeper into the undergrowth and taking the rifle out of the +hollow of his arm held it in both hands, ready for instant use. The men +came nearer, looking along the edge of the forest, perhaps for water, +and, as he saw them better, he liked them less. The apparent leader was +a short, broad fellow of middle years, and sinister face, with huge gold +rings in his ears. All of them were seamed and scarred and to Robert +their looks were distinctly evil. + +The door of welcome suddenly shut with a snap, and he meant to bar it on +the inside if he could. His instinct gave him an insistent warning. +These men must not penetrate the forest. They must not find his house +and treasures. Fortunately the dinghy was up the creek, hidden under +overhanging boughs. But the event depended upon chance. If they found +quickly the water for which they must be looking, they might take it and +leave with the schooner before morning. He devoutly hoped that it would +be so. The lad who had been so lonely and desolate an hour or two +before, longing for the arrival of human beings, was equally eager, now +that they had come, that they should go away. + +The men began to talk in some foreign tongue, Spanish or Portuguese or a +Levantine jargon, perhaps, and searched assiduously along the edges of +the forest. Robert, lurking in the undergrowth, caught the word "aqua" +or "agua," which he knew meant water, and so he was right in his surmise +about their errand. There was a fine spring about two hundred yards +farther on, and he hoped they would soon stumble upon it. + +All his skill as a trailer, though disused now for many months, came +back to him. He was able to steal through the grass and bushes without +making any noise and to creep near enough to hear the words they said. +They went half way to the spring, then stopped and began to talk. Robert +was in fear lest they turn back, and a wider search elsewhere would +surely take them to his house. But the men were now using English. + +"There should be water ahead," said the swart leader. "We're going down +into a dip, and that's just the place where springs are found." + +Another man, also short and dark, urged that they turn back, but the +leader prevailed. + +"There must be water farther on," he said. "I was never on this island +before, neither were you, José, but it's not likely the trees and bushes +would grow so thick down there if plenty of water didn't soak their +roots." + +He had his way and they went on, with Robert stalking them on a parallel +line in the undergrowth, and now he knew they would find the water. The +spirit of the island was watching over its own, and, by giving them what +they wanted at once, would send these evil characters away. The leader +uttered a shout of triumph when he saw the water gleaming through the +trees. + +"I told you it was here, didn't I, José?" he said. "Trust me, a sailor +though I am, to read the lay of the land." + +The spring as it ran from under a rock formed a little pool, and all of +the men knelt down, drinking with noise and gurglings. Then the leader +walked back toward the beach, and fired both shots from a +double-barreled pistol into the air. Robert judged that it was a signal, +probably to indicate that they had found water. Presently a second and +larger boat, containing at least a dozen men, put out from the schooner. +A third soon followed and both brought casks which were filled at the +spring and which they carried back to the ship. + +Robert, still and well hidden, watched everything, and he was glad that +he had obeyed his instinct not to trust them. He had never seen a crew +more sinister in looks, not even on the slaver, and they were probably +pirates. They were a jumble of all nations, and that increased his +suspicion. So mixed a company, in a time of war, could be brought +together only for evil purposes. + +It was hard for him to tell who was the captain, but the leader who had +first come ashore seemed to have the most authority, although nearly all +did about as they pleased to the accompaniment of much talk and many +oaths. Still they worked well at filling the water casks, and Robert +hoped they would soon be gone. Near midnight, however, one of the boats +came back, loaded with food, and kegs and bottles of spirits. His heart +sank. They were going to have a feast or an orgie on the beach and the +day would be sure to find them there. Then they might conclude to +explore the island, or at least far enough to find his house. + +They dragged up wood, lighted a fire, warmed their food and ate and +drank, talking much, and now and then singing wild songs. Robert knew +with absolute certainty that this was another pirate ship, a rover of +the Gulf or the Caribbean, hiding among the islands and preying upon +anything not strong enough to resist her. + +The men filled him with horror and loathing. The light of the flames +fell on their faces and heightened the evil in them, if that were +possible. Several of them, drinking heavily of the spirits, were already +in a bestial state, and were quarreling with one another. The others +paid no attention to them. There was no discipline. + +Apparently they were going to make a night of it, and Robert watched, +fascinated by the first sight of his own kind in many months, but +repelled by their savagery when they had come. Some of the men fell down +before the fires and went to sleep. The others did not awaken them, +which he took to be clear proof that they would remain until the next +day. + +A drop of water fell on his face and he looked up. He had been there so +long, and he was so much absorbed in what was passing before his eyes +that he had not noted the great change in the nature of the night. Moon +and stars were gone. Heavy clouds were sailing low. Thunder muttered on +the western horizon, and there were flashes of distant lightning. + +Hope sprang up in Robert's heart. Perhaps the fear of a storm would +drive them to the shelter of the ship, but they did not stir. Either +they did not dread rain, or they were more weatherwise than he. The +orgie deepened. Two of the men who were quarreling drew pistols, but the +swart leader struck them aside, and spoke to them so fiercely that they +put back their weapons, and, a minute later, Robert saw them drinking +together in friendship. + +The storm did not break. The wind blew, and, now and then, drops of rain +fell, but it did not seem able to get beyond the stage of thunder and +lightning. Yet it tried hard, and it became, even to Robert, used to the +vagaries of nature, a grim and sinister night. The thunder, in its +steady growling, was full of menace, and the lightning, reddish in +color, smelled of sulphur. It pleased Robert to think that the island +was resenting the evil presence of the men from the schooner. + +The ruffians, however, seemed to take no notice of the change. It was +likely that they had not been ashore for a long time before, and they +were making the most of it. They continued to eat and the bottles of +spirits were passed continuously from one to another. Robert had heard +many a dark tale of piracy on the Spanish Main and among the islands, +but he had never dreamed he would come into such close contact with it +as he was now doing for the second time. + +He knew it was lucky for the men that the storm did not break. The +schooner in her position would be almost sure to drag her anchor and +then would drive on the rocks, but they seemed to have no apprehensions, +and, it was quite evident now, that they were not going back to the +vessel until the next day. The ghastly quality of the night increased, +however. The lightning flared so much and it was so red that it was +uncanny, it even had a supernatural tinge, and the sullen rumbling of +the distant thunder added to it. + +The effect upon Robert, situated as he was and alone for many months, +was very great. Something weird, something wild and in touch with the +storm that threatened but did not break, crept into his own blood. He +was filled with hatred and contempt of the men who caroused there. He +wondered what crimes they had committed on those seas, and he had not +the least doubt that the list was long and terrible. He ought to be an +avenging spirit. He wished intensely that Tayoga was with him in the +bush. The Onondaga would be sure to devise some plan to punish them or +to fill them with fear. He felt at that moment as if he belonged to a +superior race or order, and would like to stretch forth his hand and +strike down those who disgraced their kind. + +The swart leader at last took note of the skies and their sinister +aspect. Robert saw him walking back and forth and looking up. More than +half of his men were stretched full length, either asleep or in a +stupor, but some of the others stood, and glanced at the skies. Robert +thought he saw apprehension in their eyes, or at least his imagination +put it there. + +A wild and fantastic impulse seized him. These men were children of the +sea, superstitious, firm believers in omens, and witchcraft, ready to +see the ghosts of the slain, all the more so because they were stained +with every crime, then committed so freely under the black flag. He had +many advantages, too. He was a master of woodcraft, only their +wilderness was that of the waters. + +He gave forth the long, melancholy hoot of the owl, and he did it so +well that he was surprised at his own skill. The note, full of +desolation and menace, seemed to come back in many echoes. He saw the +swart leader and the men with him start and look fearfully toward the +forest that curved so near. Then he saw them talking together and gazing +at the point from which the sound had come. Perhaps they were trying to +persuade themselves the note was only fancy. + +Robert laughed softly to himself. He was pleased, immensely pleased with +his experiment. His fantastic mood grew. He was a spirit of the woods +himself; one of those old fauns of the Greeks, and he was really there +to punish the evil invaders of his island. His body seemed to grow light +with his spirit and he slid away among the trees with astonishing ease, +as sure of foot and as noiseless as Tayoga himself. Then the owl gave +forth his long, lonely cry with increased volume and fervor. It was a +note filled with complaint and mourning, and it told of the desolation +that overspread a desolate world. + +Robert knew now that the leader and his men were disturbed. He could +tell it by the anxious way in which they watched the woods, and, gliding +farther around the circle, he sent forth the cry a third time. He was +quite sure that he had made a further increase in its desolation and +menace, and he saw the swart leader and his men draw together as if they +were afraid. + +The owl was not the only trick in Robert's trade. His ambition took a +wide sweep and fancy was fertile. He had aroused in these men the fear +of the supernatural, a dread that the ghosts of those whom they had +murdered had come back to haunt or punish them. He had been an apt pupil +of Tayoga before the slaver came to Albany, and now he meant to show the +ruffians that the owl was not the only spirit of fate hovering over +them. + +The deep growl of a bear came from the thicket, not the growl of an +ordinary black bear, comedian of the forest, but the angry rumble of +some great ursine beast of which the black bear was only a dwarf cousin. +Then he moved swiftly to another point and repeated it. + +He heard the leader cursing and trying to calm the fears of the men +while it was evident that his own too were aroused. The fellow suddenly +drew a pistol and fired a bullet into the forest. Robert heard it +cutting the leaves near him. But he merely lay down and laughed. His +fantastic impulse was succeeding in more brilliant fashion than he had +hoped. + +Imitating their leader, six or eight of the men snatched out pistols and +fired at random into the woods. The cry of a panther, drawn out, long, +full of ferocity and woe, plaintive on its last note, like the haunting +lament of a woman, was their answer. He heard a gasp of fear from the +men, but the leader, of stauncher stuff, cowed them with his curses. + +Robert moved back on his course, and then gave forth the shrill, fierce +yelp of the hungry wolf, dying into an angry snarl. It was, perhaps, a +more menacing note than that of the larger animals, and he plainly saw +the ruffians shiver. He was creating in them the state of mind that he +wanted, and his spirits flamed yet higher. All things seemed possible to +him in his present mood. + +He moved once more and then lay flat in the dense bushes. He fancied +that the pirates would presently fire another volley into the shadows, +and, in a moment of desperate courage, might even come into the forest. +His first thought was correct, as the leader told off the steadier men, +and, walking up and down in front of the forest, they raked it for a +considerable distance with pistol shots. All of them, of course, passed +well over Robert's head, and as soon as they finished he went back to +his beginnings, giving forth the owl's lament. + +He heard the leader curse more fiercely than ever before, and he saw +several of the men who had been pulling trigger retreat to the fire. It +was evident to him that the terror of the thing was entering their +souls. The night itself, as if admiring his plan, was lending him the +greatest possible aid. The crimson lightning never ceased to quiver and +the sullen rumble of the distant thunder was increasing. It was easy +enough for men, a natural prey to superstition, and, with the memories +of many crimes, to believe that the island was haunted, that the ghosts +of those they had slain were riding the lightning, and that demons, +taking the forms of animals, were waiting for them in the bushes. + +But the swart leader was a man of courage and he still held his ruffians +together. He cursed them fiercely, told them to stand firm, to reload +their pistols and to be ready for any danger. Those who still slumbered +by the fire were kicked until they awoke, and, with something of a +commander's skill, the man drew up his besotted band against the mystic +dangers that threatened so closely. + +But Robert produced a new menace. He was like one inspired that night. +The dramatic always appealed to him and his success stimulated him to +new histrionic efforts. He had planted in their minds the terror of +animals, now he would sow the yet greater terror of human beings, +knowing well that man's worst and most dreaded enemy was man. + +He uttered a deep groan, a penetrating, terrible groan, the wail of a +soul condemned to wander between the here and the hereafter, a cry from +one who had been murdered, a cry that would doubtless appeal to every +one of the ruffians as the cry of his own particular victim. The effect +was startling. The men uttered a yell of fright, and started in a panic +run for the boats, but the leader threatened them with his leveled +pistol and stopped them, although the frightful groan came a second +time. + +"There's nothing in the bush!" Robert heard him say. "There can't be! +The place has no people and we know there are no big wild animals on the +islands in these seas! It's some freak of the wind playing tricks with +us!" + +He held his men, though they were still frightened, and to encourage +them and to prove that no enemy, natural or supernatural, was near, he +plunged suddenly into the bushes to see the origin of the terrifying +sounds. His action was wholly unexpected, and chance brought him to the +very point where Robert was. The lad leaped to his feet and the pirate +sprang back aghast, thinking perhaps that he had come face to face with +a ghost. Then with a snarl of malignant anger he leveled the pistol that +he held in his hand. But Robert struck instantly with his clubbed +rifle, and his instinctive impulse was so great that he smote with +tremendous force. The man was caught full and fair on the head, and, +reeling back from the edge of the bushes in which they stood, fell dead +in the open, where all his men could see. + +It was enough. The demons, the ghosts that haunted them for their +crimes, were not very vocal, but they struck with fearful power. They +had smitten down the man who tried to keep them on their island, and +they were not going to stay one second longer. There was a combined yell +of horror, the rush of frightened feet, and, reaching their boats, they +rowed with all speed for the schooner, leaving behind them the body of +their dead comrade. + +Robert, awed a little by his own success in demonology, watched until +they climbed on board the ship, drawing the boats after them. Then they +hoisted the anchor, made sail, and presently he saw the schooner tacking +in the wind, obviously intending to leave in all haste that terrible +place. + +She became a ghost ship, a companion to the _Flying Dutchman_, outlined +in red by the crimson lightning that still played at swift intervals. +Now she turned to the color of blood, and the sea on which she swam was +a sea of blood. Robert watched her until at last, a dim, red haze, she +passed out of sight. Then he turned and looked at the body of the man +whom he had slain. + +He shuddered. He had never intended to take the leader's life. Five +minutes before it occurred he would have said such a thing was +impossible. It was merely the powerful impulse of self-protection that +had caused him to strike with such deadly effect, and he was sorry. The +man, beyond all doubt, was a robber and murderer who had forfeited his +life a dozen times, and still he was sorry. It was a tragedy to him to +take the life of any one, no matter how evil the fallen might be. + +He went back to the house, brought a shovel, one of the numerous ship's +stores, and buried the body at once high up the beach where the greatest +waves could not reach it and wash it away. He did his task to the rumble +of thunder and the flash of lightning, but, when he finished it, dawn +came and then the storm that had threatened but that had never burst +passed away. He felt, though, that it had not menaced him. To him it was +a good storm, kindly and protecting, and giving sufficient help in his +purpose that had succeeded so well. + +It was a beautiful day, the air crisp with as much winter as the island +ever knew, and shot with the beams from a brilliant sun, but Robert was +exhausted. He had passed through a night of intense emotions, various, +every one of them poignant, and he had made physical and mental efforts +of his own that fairly consumed the nerves. He felt as if he could lie +down and sleep for a year, that it would take at least that long to +build up his body and mind as they were yesterday. + +He dragged himself through the woods, forced his unwilling muscles to +cook a breakfast which he ate. Then he laid himself down on his bed, his +nerves now quiet, and fell asleep at once. When he awoke it was night +and he lay giving thanks for his great escape until he slept again. When +he awoke a second time day had returned, and, rising, he went about his +usual tasks with a light heart. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SLOOP OF WAR + + +Robert ate a light breakfast and went out to look at his domain, now +unsullied. What a fine, trim, clean island it was! And how desirable to +be alone on it, when the Gulf and the Caribbean produced only such +visitors as those who had come two nights before! He looked toward the +little bay, fearing to see the topmast of the schooner showing its tip +over the trees, but the sky there, an unbroken blue, was fouled by no +such presence. He was rid of the pirates--and forever he hoped. + +It seemed to him that he had passed through an epic time, one of the +great periods of his life. He wondered now how he had been able to carry +out such a plan, how he had managed to summon up courage and resources +enough, and he felt that the good spirits of earth and air and water +must have been on his side. They had fought for him and they had won for +him the victory. + +He shouldered his rifle and strolled through the woods toward the beach. +He had never noticed before what a fine forest it was. The trees were +not as magnificent as those of the northern wilderness, but they had a +beauty very peculiarly their own, and they were his. There was not a +single other claimant to them anywhere in the world. + +It was a noble beach too, smooth, sloping, piled with white sand, +gleaming now in the sun, and the little frothy waves that ran up it and +lapped at his feet, like puppies nibbling, were just the friendliest +frothy little waves in the world. But there were the remains of the fire +left by the ruffians to defile it, and broken bottles and broken food +were scattered about. The litter hurt his eyes so much that he gathered +up every fragment, one by one, and threw them into the sea. When the +last vestige of the foul invasion was cleared away he felt that he had +his lonely, clean island back again, and he was happy. + +He strolled up and down the glistening beach, feeling a great content. +After a while, he threw off his clothes and swam in the invigorating +sea, keeping well inside the white line of the breakers, in those waters +into which the sharks did not come. When he had sunned himself again on +the sand he went to the creek, took his dinghy from the bushes, where it +had been so well hidden, and rowed out to sea, partly to feel the spring +of the muscles in his arms, and partly to sit off at a distance and look +at his island. Surely if one had to be cast away that was the very +island on which he would choose to be cast! Not too big! Not too hot! +And not too cold! Without savage man or savage beasts, but with plenty +of wild cattle for the taking, and good fish in the lakes, and in the +seas about it. Plenty of stores of all kinds from the slaver's schooner, +even books to read. So far from being unfortunate he was one of the +lucky. A period of retirement from the companionship of his own kind +might be trying on the spirit, but it also meant meditation and mental +growth. + +His joy over the departure of the pirates was so great and his +temperament was such that he felt a mighty revulsion of the spirits. He +had a period of extravagant elation. He took off his cap and saluted his +island. He made little speeches of glowing compliment to it, he called +it the pearl of its kind, the choicest gem of the Gulf or the Caribbean, +and, if pirates came again while he was there, he would drive them away +once more with the aid of the good spirits. + +He rowed back, hid his boat in the old covert among the bushes at the +edge of the creek, and, rifle on shoulder, started through the forest +toward his peak of observation. On the way, he passed the lake and saw +the herd of wild cattle grazing there, the old bull at its head. The big +fellow, assured now by use and long immunity, cocked his head on one +side and regarded him with a friendly eye. But the bull had a terrible +surprise. He heard the sharp ping of a rifle and a fearful yell. Then he +saw a figure capering in wild gyrations, and thinking that this human +being whom he had learned to trust must have gone mad, he forgot to be +angry, but was very much frightened. Enemies he could fight, but mad +creatures he dreaded, and, bellowing hoarsely to his convoy, as a +signal, he took flight, all of them following him, their tails streaming +straight out behind them, so fast they ran. + +Robert leaped and danced as long as one of them was in sight. When the +last streaming tail had disappeared in the bushes he sobered down. He +realized that he had given his friend, the bull, a great shock. In a +way, he had been guilty of a breach of faith, and he resolved to +apologize to him in some fashion the next time they met. Yet he had been +so exultant that it was impossible not to show it, and he was only a lad +in years. + +When he reached the crest of his peak he scanned the sea on all sides. +Eagerly as he had looked before for a sail he now looked to see that +there was none. Around and around the circle of the horizon his eyes +traveled, and when he assured himself that no blur broke the bright line +of sea and sky his heart swelled with relief. + +In a day or so, his mind became calm and his thoughts grew sober. Then +he settled down to his studies. The battle of life occupied only a small +portion of his time, and he resolved to put the hours to the best use. +He pored much over Shakespeare, the other Elizabethans and the King +James Bible, a copy of which was among the books. It was his intention +to become a lawyer, an orator, and if possible a statesman. He knew that +he had the gift of speech. His mind was full of thoughts and words +always crowded to his lips. It was easy enough for him to speak, but he +must speak right. The thoughts he wished to utter must be clothed in the +right kind of words arranged in the right way, and he resolved that it +should be so. + +The way in which men thought and the way in which their thoughts were +put in the Bible and the great Elizabethans fascinated him. That was the +way in which he would try to think, and the way in which he would try to +put his thoughts. So he recited the noble passages over and over again, +he memorized many of them, and he listened carefully to himself as he +spoke them, alike for the sense and the music and power of the words. + +It was then perhaps that he formed the great style for which he was so +famous in after years. His vocabulary became remarkable for its range, +flexibility and power, and he developed the art of selection. His rivals +even were used to say of him that he always chose the best word. He +learned there on the island that language was not given to man merely +that he might make a noise, but that he might use it as a great marksman +uses a rifle. + +Work and study together filled his days. They kept far from him also any +feeling of despair. He had an abiding faith that a ship of the right +kind would come in time and take him away. He must not worry about it. +It was his task now to fit himself for the return, to prove to his +friends when he saw them once more that all the splendid opportunities +offered to him on the island had not been wasted. + +Almost unconsciously, he began to reason more deeply, to look further +into the causes of things, and his mind turned particularly to the +present war. The more he thought about it the greater became his +conviction that England and the colonies were bound to win. Courage and +numbers, resources and tenacity must prevail even over great initial +mistakes. Duquesne and Ticonderoga would be brushed away as mere events +that had no control over destiny. + +He remembered Bigot's ball in Quebec that Willet and Tayoga and he had +attended. It came before him again almost as vivid as reality. He +realized now in the light of greater age and experience how it typified +decadence. A power that was rotten at the top, where the brain should +be, could never defeat one that was full of youthful ardor and strength, +sound through and through, awkward and ill directed though that strength +might be. The young French leaders and their soldiers were valiant, +skillful and enduring--they had proved it again and again on sanguinary +fields--but they could not prevail when they had to receive orders from +a corrupt and reckless court at Versailles, and, above all when they had +to look to that court for help that never came. + +His reading of the books in the slaver's chest told him that folly and +crime invariably paid the penalty, if not in one way then in another, +and he remembered too some of the ancient Greek plays, over which he had +toiled under the stern guidance of Master Alexander McLean. Their burden +was the certainty of fate. You could never escape, no matter how you +writhed, from what you did, and those old writers must have told the +truth, else men would not be reading and studying them two thousand +years after they were dead. Only truth could last twenty centuries. +Bigot, Cadet, Péan, and the others, stealing from France and Canada and +spending the money in debauchery, could not be victorious, despite all +the valor of Montcalm and St. Luc and De Levis and their comrades. + +He remembered, too, the great contrast between Quebec and New York that +had struck him when he arrived at the port at the mouth of the Hudson +with the hunter and the Onondaga. The French capital in Canada was all +of the state; it was its creature. If the state declined, it declined, +there was little strength at the roots, little that sprang from the +soil, but in New York, which men already forecast as the metropolis of +the New World, there was strength everywhere. It might be a sprawling +town. There might be no courtliness to equal the courtliness at the +heart of Quebec, but there was vigor, vigor everywhere. The people were +eager, restless, curious, always they worked and looked ahead. + +He saw all these things very clearly. Silence, loneliness and distance +gave a magnificent perspective. Facts that were obscured when he was +near at hand, now stood out sharp and true. His thoughts in this period +were often those of a man double his age. His iron health too remained. +His was most emphatically the sound mind in the sound body, each helping +the other, each stimulating the other to greater growth. + +It was a fact, however, that the Onondaga belief, peopling the air and +all sorts of inanimate objects with spirits, grew upon him; perhaps it +is better to say that it was a feeling rather than a belief. According +to Tayoga the good spirits fought with the bad, and on his island the +good had prevailed. They had told him that a ship was coming, and then +they had warned him that it would be a ship of pirates. They had shown +him how to drive away the ruffians. His inspiration had not been his +own, it had come from them and he thankfully acknowledged it. + +He told himself now as he went about his island that he heard the good +spirits singing among the leaves and he told it to himself so often that +he ended by believing it. It was such a pleasant and consoling belief +too. He listened to hear them say that he would leave the island when +the time was ripe and his imagination was now so extraordinarily vivid +that what he expected to hear he heard. The spirits assured him that +when the time came to go he would go. They did not tell him exactly when +he would go, but that could not be asked. No one must anticipate a +complete unveiling of the future. It was sufficient that intimations +came out of it now and then. + +It was this feeling, amounting to a conviction, that bore him up on a +shield of steel. It soothed the natural impatience of his youth and +temperament. Why grieve over not going when he knew that he would go? +Yet, a long time passed and there was no sail upon the sea, though the +fact failed to shake his faith. Often he climbed his peak of observation +and studied the circling horizon through the glasses, only to find +nothing, but he was never discouraged. There was never any fall of the +spirits. No ship showed, but the ship that was coming might even then be +on the way. She had left some port, probably one in England, not +dreaming that it was a most important destiny and duty of hers to pick +up a lone lad cast away on an island in the Gulf or the Caribbean--at +least it was most important to him. + +Now came a time of storms that seemed to him to portend a change in the +seasons. The island was swept by wind and rain, but he liked to be +lashed by both. He even went out in the dinghy in storms, though he kept +inside the reefs, and fought with wave and undertow and swell, until, +pleasantly exhausted, he retreated to the beach, drawing his little boat +after him, where he watched the sea, vainly struggling to reach the one +who had defied it. It was after such contests that he felt strongest of +the spirit, ready to challenge anything. + +He plunged deeper and deeper into his studies, striving to understand +everything. The intensity of his application was possible only because +he was alone. Forced to probe, to examine and to ponder, his mind +acquired new strength. Many things which otherwise would have been +obscure to him became plain. Looking back upon his own eventful life +since that meeting with St. Luc and Tandakora in the forest, he was +better able to read motives and to understand men. The reason why Adrian +Van Zoon wished him to vanish must be money, because only money could be +powerful enough to make such a man risk a terrible crime. Well, he would +have a great score to settle with Van Zoon. He did not yet know just how +he would settle it, but he did not doubt that the day of reckoning would +come. + +A cask of oil and several lanterns were among his treasures from the +ship, and, making use of them, he frequently read late at night, often +with the rain beating hard on walls and roof. Then it seemed to him that +his mind was clearest, and he resolved again and again that when he +returned to his own he would make full use of what he learned on the +island. It seemed to him sometimes that his being cast away was a piece +of luck and not a misfortune. + +A clear day came, and, taking his rifle, he strolled toward his peak of +observation, passing on the way the herd of wild cattle with the old +bull at its head. The big fellow looked at him suspiciously, as if +fearing that his friend might be suffering from one of his mad spells +again. But Robert's conduct was quite correct. He walked by in a quiet +and dignified manner, and, reassured, the bull went back to his task of +reducing the visible grass supply. + +He saw nothing from the peak except the green island and the blue sea +all about it, but there was a singing wind among the leaves and it was +easy for him to sit down on a rock and fall into a dreaming state. The +good spirits were abroad, and it was their voices that he heard among +the leaves. Their chant too was full of courage, hope and promise, and +his spirits lifted as he listened. They were watching over him, guarding +him from evil, and he felt, at last, that they were telling him +something. + +It is not always easy to know the exact burden of a song, even if it is +uplifting, and Robert listened a long time, trying to decipher exactly +what the good spirits were saying to him. It was just such a song as +they sang to him before the pirate ship came, saving one strain and that +was most important. There was no underlying note of warning. Hunt for it +as he would, with his fullest power of hearing, he could detect no trace +of it. Then he became convinced. Another ship was coming, and this time +it was no pirate craft. + +He roused himself from his dreaming state and shook his head, but the +vision did not depart. The ship was coming and it was for him to receive +it. The news of it had been written too deeply upon the sensitive plate +of his brain to be effaced, and, as he walked back toward the house, it +seemed to grow more vivid. He was too much excited to study that day, +and he spent the time building a great heap of wood upon the beach. Even +if one were helped by good spirits he must do his own part. They might +bring the ship to the horizon's rim, but it was for him to summon it +from there, and he would have a great bonfire ready. + +The brilliance of the day departed in the afternoon, and it became +apparent that the season of rain and storm was not yet over. Clouds +marched up in grim battalions from the south and west, rain came in +swift puffs and then in long, heavy showers, the sea heaved, breaking +into great waves and the surf dashed fiercely on the sharp teeth of the +rocks. + +Robert's spirits fell. This was not the way in which a rescuing ship +should come, under a somber sky and before driving winds. Perhaps he had +read the voices of the spirits wrong, or at least the ship, instead of +coming now, was coming at some later time, a month or two months away +maybe. He watched through the rest of the afternoon, hoping that the +clouds would leave, but they only thickened, and, long before the time +of sunset, it was almost as dark as night. He was compelled to remain in +the shelter of the house, and, in a state of deep depression, he ate his +supper without appetite. + +The storm was one of the fiercest he had seen while on the island. The +rain drove in sheets, beating upon the walls and roof of the house like +hail, and the wind kept up a continuous whistling and screaming. All the +while the house trembled over him. Nor was there any human voice in the +wind. The good spirits, if such existed, would not dare the storm, but +had retreated to cover. All the illusion was gone, he was just a lonely +boy on a lonely island, listening to the wrath of a hurricane, a ship +might or might not come, most probably never, or if it did it would be +another pirate. + +The storm did not seem to abate as the evening went on, perhaps it was +the climax of the season. Tired of hearing its noise he lay down on his +couch and at last fell asleep. He was awakened from slumber by an impact +upon the drum of his ear like a light blow, but, sitting up, he realized +that it was a sound. The storm had not abated. He heard the beat of wind +and rain as before, but he knew it was something else that had aroused +him. The noise of the storm was regular, it was going on when he fell +asleep, and it had never ceased while he slept. This was something +irregular, something out of tune with it, and rising above it. He +listened intently, every nerve and pulse alive, body and mind at the +high pitch of excitement, and then the sound came again, low but +distinct, and rising above the steady crash of the storm. + +He knew the note. He had heard it often, too often on that terrible day +at Ticonderoga. It could be but one thing. It was the boom of a cannon, +and it could come only from a ship, a ship in danger, a ship driven by +the storm, knowing nothing of either sea or island, sending forth her +signal of distress which was also a cry for help. + +It was his ship! The ship of rescue! But he must first rescue _it_! Now +he heard the voices of the good spirits, the voices that had been silent +all through the afternoon and evening, singing through the storm, +calling to him, summoning him to action. He had not taken off his +clothes and he leaped from the couch, snatched up a lighted lantern, +stuffed flint and steel in his pocket, and ran out into the wind and +rain, of which he was now scarcely conscious. + +The boom came to his ears a second time, off to the east, and now +distinctly the report of a cannon. He waited a little, watching, and, +when the report came a third time, he saw dimly the flash of the gun, +but it was too dark for him to see anything of the ship. She was outside +the reefs, how far he could not tell, but he knew by the difference in +the three reports that she was driving toward the island. + +It was for him to save the unknown vessel that was to save him, and in +the darkness and storm he felt equal to the task. His soul leaped within +him. His whole body seemed to expand. He knew what to do, and, quick as +lightning, he did it. He ran at full speed through the woods, his +lighted lantern swinging on his arm, and twice on the way he heard the +boom of the cannon, each time a little nearer. The reports merely made +him run faster. Time was precious, and in the moment of utmost need he +was not willing to lose a second. + +He reached the great heap of wood that he had built up on the beach, +worked frantically with flint and steel, shielding the shavings at the +bottom with his body, and quickly set fire to them. The blaze crackled, +leaped and grew. He had built his pyramid so well, and he had selected +such inflammable material, that he knew, if the flames once took hold, +the wind would fan them so fiercely the rain could not put them out. + +Higher sprang the blaze, running to the crest of the pyramid, roaring in +the wind and then sending out defiant hissing tongues at the rain. The +boom of the cannon came once more, and, then by the light of his +splendid bonfire, he looked. There was the ship outside the reefs which +his great pyramid of flame now enabled her to see. He shouted in his +joy, and threw on more wood. If he could only build that pyramid high +enough they would see the opening too and make for it. + +He worked frantically, throwing on driftwood, the accumulation of many +years, and the flames biting into every fresh log, roared and leaped +higher. The ship ceased to fire her signal guns, and now he saw, with a +great surge of joy, that she was beating up in the storm and trying for +the opening in the reef, her only chance, the chance that he had given +her. He had done his part and he could do no more but feed the fire. + +As he threw on wood he watched. His pyramid of flame roared and threw +out sparks in myriads. The ship, a sloop, was having a desperate +struggle with wind and wave, but his beacon was always there, showing +her the way, and he never doubted for a moment that she would make the +haven. He was sure of it. It was a terrible storm, and there was a +fierce sea beating on the reefs, but a master mind was on the sloop, the +mind of a great sailor, and that mind, responding to his signal of the +fire, the only one that could have been made, was steering the ship +straight for the opening in the reef. + +His glasses were always in his pocket, and, remembering them now for the +first time, he clapped them to his eyes. The sloop and her tracery of +mast and spars became distinct. He saw guns on the deck and men, men in +uniform, and he could see well enough, a moment or two later, to tell +that they wore the uniform of Britain. His heart gave a wild throb. The +spirits in the air were good spirits, and the storm had never been able +to drive them away. They had been calling to him when he thought they +were silent, only he had not been able to hear them. + +He gave a wild shout of joy that could be heard above the crash of the +storm. Triumph was assured. He was rescuing, and he would be rescued. He +did not realize until that instant how eager he was to be taken from the +island, how he longed, with all his soul, to rejoin his own kind, to see +his friends again and to take a part in the great events that were +shaking the world. He uttered his wild shout over and over, and, in +between, he laughed, laughed with a joy that he could not control. + +The sloop entered the opening. It seemed to him that the rocks, those +fearful sharks' teeth, almost grazed her on either side, and his heart +stood still, but she went safely past them, drew into the little harbor +where she was safe from the wildest storm that ever blew, dropped +anchor, and was at rest. + +Robert in his exultation had never permitted his fire to die down an +inch. Rather he had made it grow higher and higher until it was a vast +core of light, throwing a red glare over the beach and the adjacent +waves, and sending off vast showers of sparks. But when the ship cast +anchor in her port he stood still before it, a dark figure, a perfect +silhouette outlined against a blazing background, and watched, while a +boat was launched from the sloop. + +He saw five figures descend into the boat. Four were sailors and one an +officer in uniform, and he knew well that they were coming to see him, +the human being by the fire who had saved them. Pride was mingled with +his joy. If he had not been there the sloop and probably all on board of +her would have perished. It was touch and go, only a brief opportunity +to save had been allowed him, but he had used it. So he raised himself +to his full height, straightened his clothes, for which he always had +respect despite the storm, and waited on. He had a full sense of drama, +and he felt that this was one of the most dramatic moments of his life. + +The boat came up the beach on a wave, the men sprang out, held it as the +wave retreated, and then dragged it after them until it was beyond the +reach of invading water. Robert meanwhile never stirred, and the great +fire behind him enlarged his figure to heroic proportions. + +The officer, young, handsome, in the British naval uniform, walked +forward, with the four sailors following in a close group behind, but he +stopped again, and looked at the strange figure before him. Evidently +something in its pose, in its whole appearance, in truth, made an +extraordinary impression upon him. He passed his hands before his eyes +as if to make sure that it was no blur of the vision, and then he went +forward again, the sailors keeping close behind, as if they were in fear +lest the figure prove to be supernatural. + +"Who are you?" called the young officer. + +"Robert Lennox, of Albany, the Province of New York, and the +wilderness," replied Robert. "Welcome to my island." + +His sense of drama was still strong upon him, and he replied in his +fullest and clearest voice. The officer stared, and then said: + +"You've saved the ship and all our lives." + +"I think that's what I was here for, though it's likely that you've +saved me, too. What ship it that?" + +"His Majesty's sloop of war, _Hawk_, Captain Stuart Whyte, from +Bridgetown in the Barbadoes, for Boston." + +Robert thrilled when he heard the word "Boston." It was not New York, +but it was a port for home, nevertheless. + +"Who are you?" continued the officer, on fire with curiosity. "You've +told me your name, but what are you? and where are the other people of +the island?" + +"There are no other people. It's my island. I'm sole lord of the isle, +and you're most welcome." + +"You heard our signal guns?" + +"Aye, I heard 'em, but I knew before you fired a shot that you were +coming." + +"'Tis impossible!" + +"It's not! I knew it, though I can't explain how to you. Behold my +bonfire! Do you think I could have built such a pyramid of wood between +the firing of your first shot and your coming into my harbor? No, I was +ready and waiting for you." + +"That's convincing." + +"I repeat that I welcome you to Lennox Island. My house is but a short +distance inland in a beautiful forest. I should like to receive Captain +Whyte there as an honored guest, and you, too." + +"Your house?" + +"Aye, my house. And it's well built and well furnished. You'd be +surprised to know how much comfort it can offer." + +The officer--a lieutenant--and the men, coming closer, inspected Robert +with the most minute curiosity. Lone men on desert islands were likely +to go insane, and it was a momentary thought of the officer that he was +dealing with some such unhappy creature, but Robert's sentences were too +crisp, and his figure too erect and trim for the thought to endure more +than a few seconds. + +"It's raining heavily," he said, "and Captain Whyte will be glad to be a +guest at your home later. I'll admit that for a moment I doubted the +existence of your house, but I don't now. Are you willing to go on board +the _Hawk_ with us and meet Captain Whyte?" + +"Gladly," replied Robert, who felt that his dramatic moment was being +prolonged. "The storm is dying now. Having done its worst against you, +and, having failed, it seems willing to pass away." + +"But we don't forget that you saved us," said the officer. "My name is +Lanham, John Lanham, and I'm a lieutenant on the _Hawk_." + +The storm was, in truth, whistling away to the westward and its rage, so +far as Robert's island was concerned, was fully spent. The waves were +sinking and the night was lightening fast. The sloop of war, heaving at +her anchorage, stood up sharp and clear, and it seemed to Robert that +there was something familiar in her lines. As he looked he was sure. +Coincidence now and then stretches forth her long arm, and she had +stretched it now. + +The sailors, when the sea died yet more, relaunched the boat. Lanham and +Robert sprang in, and the men bent to the oars. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BACK TO THE WORLD + + +Captain Stuart Whyte of His Majesty's gallant sloop of war, the _Hawk_, +was standing on his own quarterdeck, looking curiously at the scene +about him, and, taking it in, as well as he could, by the light of a +great bonfire blazing on the beach some distance away. He was a young +officer and his immense relief predominated over his curiosity. The +_Hawk_ was a fine sloop, and he loved her, but there had been a terrible +time that night when he thought she was lost and her crew and himself +with her. + +He had seen more than one storm in these sudden seas, but this was +perhaps the worst. All bearings were gone, and then the signs showed +breakers. He was a brave man and he had brave officers, but every one of +them had despaired, until suddenly a light, a pillar of fire, rose in +the darkness and the storm, almost from the heart of the ocean, as if it +had been evoked by his own signal guns. Then, by this marvelous beacon, +they had scraped between the rocks and into safety. Clearly it was a +miracle, and young Captain Whyte felt a deep and devout gratitude. He +had then sent one of his best officers ashore to see the man who had +saved them, and, meanwhile, he had stood by, watching through his +glasses. + +He saw the man of the island get into the boat with Lanham and approach +the sloop. The storm had now sunk much, and it was not difficult to come +aboard, but Captain Whyte, still intensely curious, but with a proper +sense of his own dignity, withdrew to his cabin where he might receive +the lord of the isle in state. + +He rose politely, and then stared at the tall youth who came in with +Lieutenant Lanham, the water running from his clothes. Yet the stranger +had a dignity fully equal to his own, and there was also something very +uncommon about him, a look of strength and confidence extraordinary in +one so young. + +"Won't you sit down?" said Captain Whyte. + +Robert glanced at his clothes. + +"I bring the storm with me," he said--he often spoke in the language +that he had unconsciously imbibed in much reading of the Elizabethans. + +"Never mind that. Water won't hurt my cabin, and if it did you're +welcome just the same. I suppose you represent the people of the island, +to whom my crew and I owe so much." + +"I am the people of the island." + +"You mean that you're here alone?" + +"Exactly that. But tell me, before we go any further, Captain, what +month this is." + +"May." + +"And the year?" + +"1759." + +"I wanted to be sure. I see that I've been on the island eight or nine +months, but I lost all count of time, and, now and then it seemed like +eight or nine years. As I've already told Lieutenant Lanham, I'm Robert +Lennox, of Albany, the Province of New York, and the wilderness. I was +kidnapped at Albany and carried down the Hudson and out to sea by a +slaver and pirate." + +"'Tis an extraordinary tale, Mr. Lennox." + +"But a true one, Captain Whyte." + +"I meant no insinuation that it wasn't. Extraordinary things happen in +the world, and have been happening in these seas, ever since Columbus +first came into them." + +"Still mine is such an unusual story that it needs proof, and I give it. +Did you not last autumn pretend that yours was a merchant ship, have a +sailor play the violin on deck while others danced about, and lure under +your guns a pirate with the black flag at her masthead?" + +Captain Whyte stared in astonishment. + +"How do you know that?" he exclaimed. + +"Did you not shatter the pirate ship with your broadsides but lose her +afterwards in a great storm that came up suddenly?" + +"Aye, so I did, and I've been looking for her many a time since then." + +"You'll never find her, Captain. Your guns were aimed well enough, and +they took the life out of her. She couldn't weather the storm. Of all +the people who were aboard her then I'm the only survivor. Her captain +escaped with me to this island, but he died of wounds and I buried him. +I can show you his grave." + +"How do I know that you, too, are not one of the pirates?" + +"By taking me back on your ship to the colonies, and proving my tale. If +you don't find that every word I tell you is true you can hang me to +your own yardarm." + +Captain Whyte laughed. It was a fair and frank offer, but he was a +reader of men, and he felt quite sure that the strange youth was telling +the absolute truth. + +"He's given me, sir, quite correct accounts of events that happened in +the colonies last year," said Lanham. "He was at Ticonderoga and his +narrative of the battle agrees fully with the accounts that we +received." + +And just at that moment coincidence stretched out her long arm again, as +she does so often. + +"I had a cousin at Ticonderoga," said Captain Whyte. "A splendid young +fellow, name of Grosvenor. I've seen a letter from him in which he says +'twas a terrible fight, but that we threw away our chances before we +went upon the field." + +"Grosvenor! Grosvenor!" exclaimed Robert eagerly. "Why, I knew him! He +was a friend of mine! We were in the forest together, in combat and +escape. His first name was Alfred. Did he say nothing in his letter of +Robert Lennox?" + +"Of course he did! I was so much interested in you that I paid little +attention to your name, and it glided past me as if I'd not heard it. He +told of a friend of his, name of yours, who had been lost, murdered they +all believed by some spy." + +"And did he say nothing also of Tayoga, a wonderful Onondaga Indian, and +of David Willet, a great hunter?" + +"Aye, so he did. I recall those names too. Said the Indian was the most +marvelous trailer the world had ever known, could trace the flight of a +bird through the air, and a lot more that must have been pure romance." + +"It's all true! every word of it. I'll see that you meet Tayoga, and +then you'll believe, and you must know Willet, too, one of the grandest +men that ever lived, soul of honor, true as steel, all those things." + +"I believe you! Every word you say! But I can't keep you talking here +with the water dripping from you. We really couldn't question your +truth, either, after you'd saved our ship and all our lives. I see you +have a naval uniform of ours. Well, we'll give you a dry one in its +place. See that the best the _Hawk_ has is his, Lanham." + +Robert was taken to a small cabin that was vacant and he exchanged into +dry clothing. He went back a little later to the captain's room with +Lanham, where they insisted upon his taking refreshment, and then +Captain Whyte sent him to bed. + +"I've a million questions to ask you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "but I won't +ask 'em until to-morrow. You must sleep." + +Robert's manner had been calm, but he found when he lay down that he was +surcharged with excitement. It was inside him and wanted to get it out, +but he kept it bottled up, and after an hour spent in quieting his +nerves he fell asleep. When he awoke, dressed and went on deck, all +trace of the storm had gone. The _Hawk_ swung quietly at anchor and to +him she seemed the very finest ship that had ever sailed on any sea from +the day of the galley to the day of the three-decker. He noticed with +pleasure how trim everything was, how clean was the wood, how polished +the brass, and how the flag of Britain snapped in the breeze overhead. +He noticed too the eighteen pounders and he knew these were what had +done the business for the slaver and pirate. Lanham gave him a hearty +welcome. + +"It's half way to noon," he said, "and you slept long and well, as you +had a right to do, after saving His Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop, +_Hawk_, from the rocks. We had a boat's crew ashore this morning, not +because we doubted your word, but to see that everything was trim and +snug on your island, and they found your house. On my word, quite a +little castle, and well furnished. We didn't disturb a thing. It's +yours, you know." + +"I merely inherited it," said Robert. "The slaver and pirate who +kidnapped me built it as a place for a refuge or a holiday, and he came +back here to die. He furnished it partly, and the rest came from his +wrecked ship." + +After breakfast Robert went ashore also with the captain and Lanham, and +he showed them about the island. They even saw the old bull at the head +of his herd, and Robert waved him a friendly farewell. The house and its +contents they decided to leave exactly as they were. + +"They may shelter some other castaway," said Robert. + +"We'll even leave the guns and ammunition," said Captain Whyte. "We +don't need 'em. You rescued 'em from the ship and they belong to you. +The _Hawk_ has no claim on 'em." + +"I'd like for 'em to stay here," said Robert. "Nobody may ever be cast +away on this island again, and on the other hand it might happen next +week. You can't tell. But it's been a good island to me, and, though I +say farewell, I won't forget it." + +"You take the right view of it," said Captain Whyte, "and even if I +didn't feel your way about it, although I do, I'd be bound to give you +your wish since you saved us. You've also taken quite a burden off my +mind. It's always been a source of grief to me that the pirate eluded us +in the storm, but since you've shown me that we were really responsible +for her sinking I feel a lot better about it." + +On the _Hawk_ Lanham told him what had been passing in the world. + +"There's a great expedition out from England under that young general, +Wolfe, who distinguished himself at Louisbourg," he said. "It aims at +the taking of Quebec, and we're very hopeful. The rendezvous is +Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island and army and navy, I suppose, are +already there. Your own Royal Americans will be in it, and what we lost +at Ticonderoga we propose to regain--and more--before Quebec. The _Hawk_ +is bound for Louisbourg to join the fleet, but she puts in at Boston +first. If you choose to go on to Louisbourg with us you won't fare ill, +because the captain has taken a great fancy for you." + +"I thank you much," said Robert, gratefully. "I'm almost tempted to join +the great expedition from Louisbourg into the St. Lawrence, but I feel +that I must leave the ship at Boston. I'm bound to hunt up Willet and +Tayoga, and we'll come by land. We'll meet you before the heights of +Quebec." + +Everything seemed to favor the northward voyage of the _Hawk_. Good +winds drove her on, and Robert's heart leaped within him at the thought +that he would soon be back in his own country. Yet he made little +outward show of it. The gravity of mind and manner that he had acquired +on the island remained with him. Habits that he had formed there were +still very powerful. It was difficult for him to grow used to the +presence of other people, and at times he longed to go out on his peak +of observation, where he might sit alone for hours, with only the +rustling of the wind among the leaves in his ears. The sound of the +human voice was often strange and harsh, and now and then only his will +kept him from starting when he heard it, as one jumps at the snarl of a +wild animal in the bush. + +But the friendship between him, Captain Whyte, Lieutenant Lanham and the +other young officers grew. People instinctively liked Robert Lennox. +Whether in his gay mood or his grave he had a charm of manner that few +could resist, and his story was so strange, so picturesque that it +invested him with compelling romance. He told all about his kidnapping +and his life upon the island, but he said nothing of Adrian Van Zoon. He +let it be thought that the motive of the slaver in seizing him was +merely to get a likely lad for sale on a West India plantation. But his +anger against Van Zoon grew. He was not one to cherish wrath, but on +this point it was concentrated, and he intended to have a settlement. It +was not meant that he should be lost, it was not meant that Adrian Van +Zoon should triumph. He had been seized and carried away twice, and each +time, when escape seemed impossible, a hand mightier than that of man +had intervened in his favor. + +He spoke a little of his thought once or twice when he stood on the deck +of the _Hawk_ on moonlight nights with Captain Whyte and Lieutenant +Lanham. + +"You can't live with the Indians as much as I have," he said, +"especially with such a high type of Indian as the Iroquois, without +acquiring some of their beliefs which, after all, are about the same as +our own Christian religion. The difference is only in name. They fill +the air with spirits, good and evil, and have 'em contending for the +mastery. Now, I felt when I was on the island and even before that I was +protected by the good spirits of the Iroquois, and that they were always +fighting for me with the bad." + +"I take it," said Captain Whyte, "that the Indian beliefs, as you tell +them, are more like the mythology of the old Greeks and Romans. I'm a +little rusty on my classics, but they had spirits around everywhere, +good and bad, always struggling with one another, and their gods +themselves were mixtures of good and evil, just like human beings. But +I'm not prepared to say, Mr. Lennox, that you weren't watched over. It +seems strange that of all the human beings on the slaver you should have +been the only one saved and you the only one not stained with crime. +It's a fact I don't undertake to account for. And you never found out +the name of the pirate captain?" + +"Neither his nor that of his ship. It had been effaced carefully from +the schooner and all her boats." + +"I suppose it will remain one of the mysteries of the sea. But tell me +more about my cousin, Grosvenor. He was really becoming a trailer, a +forest runner?" + +"He was making wonderful progress. I never saw anybody more keen or +eager." + +"A fine lad, one of our best. I'm glad that you two met. I'd like to +meet too that Frenchman, St. Luc, of whom you've spoken so often. We +Englishmen and Frenchmen have been fighting one another for a thousand +years, and it seems odd, doesn't it, Mr. Lennox, that it should be so? +Why, the two countries can see each other across the Channel on clear +days, and neighbors ought to be the best of friends, instead of the most +deadly enemies. It seems that the farther a nation is from another the +better they get along together. What is there in propinquity, Mr. +Lennox, to cause hostility?" + +"I don't know, but I suppose it's rivalry, the idea that if your +neighbor grows he grows at your expense. Your hostility carries over to +us in America also. We're your children and we imitate our parents. The +French in Canada hate the English in the Provinces and the English in +the Provinces hate the French in Canada, when there's so much of the +country of each that they're lost in it." + +"It's a queer world, Mr. Lennox. In spite of what you say and which I +endorse, I'm going with an eager heart in the great expedition against +Quebec, and so will you. I'll be filled with joy if it succeeds and so +will you." + +Robert admitted the fact. + +"And I'd be delighted if we could meet a French sloop of about our own +size and armament," continued the captain. "Every man on board the +_Hawk_ would go into battle with her eagerly, and yet I don't hate the +French individually. They're a brave and gallant nation, and this St. +Luc, of whom you speak, seems to be the very flower of chivalry." + +The captain's wish to meet a French sloop of war of his own size was not +granted. He had high hopes the fourth day when they saw a sail, but it +proved to be a schooner out of Newport returning from Jamaica with a +cargo of sugar and molasses. The _Hawk_ showed her heels in disgust, and +pursued her way northward. + +As the time to reach Boston drew near, Robert's heart filled again. He +would be back in his own land, and his world would be before him once +more. He had already decided that he would go at once to Albany and +there pick up the thread of his old life. He was consumed, too, by +curiosity. What had happened since he was gone? His feeling that he had +been in the island eight or nine years instead of eight or nine months +remained. While it was his own world to which he was returning, it was +also a new world. + +Came the day when the harbor lights of the port of Boston showed through +a haze and Robert, standing on the deck of the _Hawk_, watched the city +rise out of the sea. He was dressed in a good suit of civilian clothing +that he had found on the island, and he had some money that had never +been taken from him when he was kidnapped, enough to pay his way from +Boston to Albany. His kindly English friends wanted to lend him more, +but he declined it. + +"You can pay us back in Quebec," said White. + +"I don't need it," replied Robert, "but I'll keep the rendezvous there +with you both." + +As the _Hawk_ was to stay two or three days in port in order to take on +supplies, they went ashore together, and the three were full of +curiosity when they entered, for the first time, the town of which they +had heard so much. Boston had already made such impress upon the +imagination that all the English colonists were generally known to the +French in Canada as Bostonnais. In England it had a great name, and +there were often apprehensions about it. It was the heart and soul of +the expedition when the New Englanders surprised the world by taking the +great French fortress of Louisbourg, and it had an individuality and a +personality which it has never lost. + +"I don't know how I'm going to like it," said Captain Whyte, as they +left the sloop. "I hear that they're very superior here, and consider us +English a rather backward lot. Don't you think you'd better reconsider, +Lennox, and go on with us to Louisbourg?" + +Robert laughed. + +"I'm not afraid of the Bostonians," he said. "I met some very competent +ones on the shores of Lake George. There was one Elihu Strong, a colonel +of Massachusetts infantry, whom I like to remember. In truth, Captain, +what I see here arouses my admiration. You noticed the amount of +shipping in the port. The Bostonians are very keen traders, and they say +there are sharp differences in character between them and the people of +our southern provinces, but as I come from a middle province, New York, +I am, in a sense, neutral. The New Englanders have a great stake in the +present war. Their country has been ravaged for more than a century by +French and Indians from Canada, and this province of Massachusetts is +sending to it nearly every man, and nearly every dollar it has." + +"We know of their valor and tenacity in England," said Captain Whyte, +"but we know also that they're men of their own minds." + +"Why shouldn't they be? That's why they're English." + +"Since you put it that way, you're right. But here we are." + +The town, about the size of New York, looked like a great city to +Robert. He had come from a land that contained only one inhabitant, +himself, and it was hard for him now to realize there were so many +people in the world. The contrast put crowds everywhere, and, at times, +it was very confusing, though it was always interesting. The men were +mostly tall, thin, and with keen but composed eyes. They were of purer +British blood than those in New York, but it seemed to Robert that they +had departed something from type. They were more strenuous than the +English of Old England, and the New Yorkers, in character if not in +blood and appearance, were more nearly English than the Bostonians. He +also thought, and he was not judging now so much from a glimpse of +Boston as from the New England men whom he had met, that they were +critical both of themselves and others, and that they were a people who +meant to have their way at any cost. + +But his attempts to estimate character and type were soon lost in his +huge delight at being back in his own country. Robert's mind was a +mirror. It always reflected his surroundings. Quickly adaptable, he +usually perceived the best of everything, and now busy and prosperous +Boston in its thin, crisp air, delighted him immeasurably. His feelings +were much as they had been when he visited New York. Here was a great +city, that is, great for his country and time, and it was destined to be +much greater. + +As usual with sailors Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham wished to go +to a coffee house, and Robert, nothing loath, accompanied them to one of +good quality to which they were directed near the water front. Here they +found numerous guests in the great common room and much talk going +forward, mostly talk of the war, as was natural. There was much +criticism of the British Government, not restrained at all, rather +increased, by the uniforms of the two naval officers. + +"'Tis reported that the new expedition gathered at Louisbourg will go +the way of the one that was repulsed at Ticonderoga," said a thin, +elderly man. "I hear 'tis commanded by young Wolfe, who is sickly and +much given to complaint. Abercrombie, who led us at Ticonderoga, was +fat, old and slothful, and now Wolfe, who leads the new force is young, +sickly and fretful. It seems that England can't choose a middle course. +Why doesn't she send us a man?" + +"That I can't tell you, Master Carver," said the man whom he was +addressing, "but I do know that if England would consult Massachusetts +more we'd fare better in this war. We should have marched over the +French army at Ticonderoga. I can't understand to this day how we lost +that battle." + +"It seems that in very truth we lacked something there." + +Robert was sitting not ten feet from them and their tone being so very +critical, he could not restrain a word or two. + +"Your pardon, if I interrupt," he said, "but hearing you speak in a +somewhat slighting manner of Ticonderoga I'm bound to advise you that +you're wrong, since I was there. The English and Scotch troops, with our +own Americans, showed the very greatest valor on that sad occasion. +'Twas no fault of theirs. Our defeat was due to the lack of artillery, +the very skillful arrangements of the French commander, the Marquis de +Montcalm, and the extreme courage of the French army." + +The two, who seemed to be merchants or shipping men, regarded him with +interest but with no appearance of resentment because of his +interference in their conversation. Apparently the criticism that they +permitted so freely to themselves they were willing also to allow to +others. + +"But you are English," said the first who had spoken, "and 'tis most +natural for you to defend the generals who are sent out from the home +country." + +"I am not English. I am a native of the Province of New York, and being +a colonial like yourselves, I think we allow too little credit to the +old country in the war. I speak as one who through the force of +circumstances has been an eye witness to many of the facts. My name is +Robert Lennox, sir, and my companions are Captain Stuart Whyte and +Lieutenant John Lanham of His Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop of war +_Hawk_, now in Boston harbor." + +"And I, sir," responded the thin man with much courtesy, "am Samuel +Carver, wholesale dealer in cloth and leather, and my friend is Lemuel +Mason, owner of shipping plying principally to the West Indies. We're +pleased to meet His Majesty's officers and also you, Mr. Lennox, who we +can see is very young to have had so much experience in the wars. We +trust that all of you will pardon our freedom of criticism, but we're at +the heart of affairs here, and we see very clearly. It's not a freedom +that we'll give up." + +Captain Whyte laughed easily. + +"If what we hear in England of Boston is true," he said, "'tis a +privilege that nothing can make you give up. Perhaps 'tis as well. I'm +all for free speech myself. Through it affairs are well threshed out. +But I assure you you're wrong about General Wolfe. 'Tis true that he's +young and that he's sickly, but he's been chosen by Mr. Pitt for most +solid reasons. He has a great gift for arms. I've been fortunate enough +to meet him once or twice, and I can assure you that he makes a most +favorable impression. Moreover, the fact that he's been chosen by Mr. +Pitt is proof of his worth. Mr. Pitt is a very great man and he has that +highest of all talents, the ability to know other men and to direct +them." + +Captain Whyte spoke with much warmth and his words carried conviction. + +"I can well believe you, sir, when you speak so highly of Mr. Pitt," +said Mr. Carver. "'Tis evident that he has the honor and glory of +England at heart and 'tis evident, too, that he does not mean to neglect +the interests of the colonies, a matter of the utmost importance. 'Tis +only Mr. Pitt among the home statesmen who have recognized our greatness +on this side of the ocean." + +"Believe me, sir, I'm not blind to the growth and prosperity of the +colonies," said Captain Whyte. "I've seen your cities and I know how +much the Americans have done in the present war." + +"Then 'tis a pity that England also doesn't know it," said Mr. Mason +somewhat sharply. + +But Captain Whyte refused to be either angry or disconcerted. + +"The width of our ocean always promotes ignorance, and +misunderstandings," he said. "And 'tis true too that the closest of kin +will quarrel, but families usually unite against an alien foe." + +"'Tis so," admitted Mr. Mason, "and 'tis the business of statesmanship +to smooth down the quarrels that arise between the different parts of a +great kingdom. I trust that ours will always be equal to the task." + +"Do you know a merchant of this city, Elihu Strong, who is also a +colonel of the Massachusetts infantry?" asked Robert. "I met him in a +strenuous business before Ticonderoga, where he also had a gallant +part." + +"We could scarce be Bostonians and not know Elihu Strong," said Mr. +Carver. "One of the most active of our merchants, he has ships of his +own that ply between here and England, and he has also taken a very +zealous part in the war. The regiment that he commanded was equipped +partly at his expense." + +"Commanded?" exclaimed Robert. + +"I used the past tense, not because he has fallen, my young friend, but +Elihu was unfortunate enough to receive a severe wound in the leg some +months after Ticonderoga, and he is now recuperating at his own home +here near the Common. 'Tis not dangerous. He will not lose the leg, but +he will not be able to walk on it for some months yet. A great pity, say +I, that Elihu Strong is out of active service for a while, as His +Majesty's government might profit greatly by his advice and leadership +in the field." + +"I've no doubt of it," said Captain Whyte with the greatest sincerity. +"I'm all for coöperation with the experienced men of the colonies, and +so is a far greater than I, the illustrious Mr. Pitt. They're on the +ground, they've lived their lives here and they ought to know." + +"Our hope is in Mr. Pitt," said Mr. Carver. "You speak well of him, +Captain Whyte, and 'tis pleasing to our ears to hear you, because you +cannot know how his name inspires confidence in the colonies. Why, sir, +we look upon him as almost the half of England!" + +It was so. And it was destined to remain so. Whatever happened between +England and America, the name of the elder Pitt, the great Englishman, +kept and keeps its place in the hearts of Americans, who in some +respects are the most sentimental and idealistic of all peoples. + +Robert saw that the two young English officers and the two middle aged +Boston merchants were arriving at an understanding, that good relations +were established already, and he thought it wise to leave them together. + +"I think," he said, "that I will visit Colonel Strong at his house, and +as my time in Boston must be short 'twill be best for me to go now." + +Both Mr. Carver and Mr. Mason urged him to spend the night at their +houses, and Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham were zealous for his +return with them to the _Hawk_, but he declined the offer, though saying +he would certainly visit the sloop before he left Boston. He judged that +it would be wise to leave the four together, in the coffee-house, and, +after receiving careful instructions how to reach the mansion of that +most respectable and worthy Bostonian, Colonel Elihu Strong, he went +into the street. + +He found the Strong home to be a goodly house, one of the best in the +city, partly of brick and partly of wood, with columns in front, all +very spacious and pleasing. He knocked with a heavy brass knocker and a +trim colored maid responded. + +"Is Colonel Strong at home?" he asked. + +"He is, sir," she responded in English as good as his own, "though +confined to his chair with a wound in the leg which makes his temper a +trifle short at times." + +"Naturally. So would mine be if I couldn't walk. I wish to see him." + +"What name, sir, shall I say?" + +"Tell him 'tis one who served with him in wilderness fighting, on the +eve of Ticonderoga." + +She looked at him doubtfully, but her face cleared in a moment. Robert's +frank, open gaze invited everybody's confidence. + +"Come into the hall, sir," she said, and then led the way from the hall +into a large room opening upon a lawn, well-shaded by many fine, large +trees. Elihu Strong sat in a chair before one of the windows, and his +wounded leg, swathed heavily, reposed in another chair. + +Robert paused, and his heart beat rather hard. This was the first friend +of his old life that he had seen. Now, he was coming in reality back to +his world. He stood a few moments, irresolute, and then advancing +lightly he said: + +"Good morning, Colonel Strong!" + +The wounded man wheeled in his chair and looked at him, inquiry in his +face. Robert did not know what changes his life on the island had made +in his appearance, his expression rather, but he saw that Colonel Strong +did not know him, and it pleased him to play for a minute or so with the +fact. + +"You did not receive this bullet, sir, when you saved us from St. Luc," +he said. "It must have been much later, but I know it was a bad moment +for the Province of Massachusetts when the hostile lead struck you." + +Colonel Strong stared. + +"Who are you?" he exclaimed. + +"There was a battle on the shores of Lake George, at a point where our +men had been building boats. They were besieged by a mixed force of +French and Indians, commanded by the great French partisan leader, St. +Luc. They beat off the attacks, but they would have been overcome in +time, if you had not hurried to their relief, with a strong force and +two brass cannon." + +"That is true and if the Governor and Legislature of Massachusetts had +done their full duty we'd have had twice as many men and four, six, or +even eight cannon in place of two. But what do you know about those +things?" + +"There were two boys, one Indian and one white, who came on the lake, +telling you of the plight of the boat builders. The Indian was Tayoga of +the Clan of the Bear, of the Nation Onondaga, of the Great League of the +Hodenosaunee, the finest trailer in the world. The white boy was Robert +Lennox, of the Province of New York." + +"Aye, you speak truly. Full well do I remember them. How could I forget +them? Tayoga is back there now with the hunter Willet, doing some great +service in the war, what I know not, but it is something surely great. +The white boy, Robert Lennox, is dead. A great loss, too! A fine and +gallant lad." + +"How do you know he is dead?" + +"I had it in a letter from Master Benjamin Hardy of New York, with whom +I often transact affairs of business, and he, in turn, had it from one +Jacobus Huysman, a burgher of Albany in most excellent standing. Parts +of the matter are obscure, but the result is certain. It seems that the +lad was stalked by a spy, one Garay, and was murdered by him. His body, +they think, was thrown into the Hudson and was carried away. At least it +was never found. A most tragic business. I could have loved that lad as +if he had been my own son. It caused great grief to both Hardy and +Huysman,--and to me, too." + +A lump came into Robert's throat. He did have friends, many and +powerful, and they mourned him. He seemed to have the faculty of +inspiring liking wherever he went. He had been standing in the shadow, +while the wounded man sat where the sunlight from the windows poured +upon him. He moved a little nearer where he could be more clearly seen, +and said: + +"But what if I tell you that Robert Lennox is not dead, that he survived +a most nefarious plot against him, that he was, in truth, kidnapped and +carried far away to sea, but was rescued in a most remarkable manner and +has come back to his own land." + +"'Tis impossible! 'Tis a wild tale, though God knows I wish it were +true, because he was a fine and gallant lad." + +"'Tis a wild tale, sir, that I confess, but 'tis not impossible, for it +has happened. I am that Robert Lennox who came with Tayoga, the +Onondaga, in the canoe, through the fog on Lake George, to you, asking +that you hurry to the relief of the boat builders! You will remember, +sir, the fight at the ford, when they sought to ambush us, and how we +routed them with the cannon. You'll recall how St. Luc drew off when we +reached the boat builders. I've been away a long time, where every month +counted as a year, and perhaps I've changed greatly, but I'm that same +Robert Lennox to whom you said more than once that if the Governor and +Legislature of the Province of Massachusetts had done their full duty +your force would have been three or four times as strong." + +"What? What? No stranger could know as much as you know! Come farther +into the light, boy! The voice is nearly the same as I remember it, but +the face has changed. You're older, graver, and there's a new look! But +the eyes are like his! On my soul I believe it's Robert Lennox! Aye, I +know 'tis Robert! Come, lad, and shake hands with me! I would go to you +but this wretched wound holds me in my chair! Aye, boy, yours is the +grasp of a strong and honest hand, and when I look into your eyes I know +'tis you, Robert, your very self. Sit you down and tell me how you have +risen from the grave, and why you've come to comfort an old man with +this most sudden and welcome news!" + +The moisture rose in Robert's eyes. Truly he had friends, and not least +among them was this thin, shrewd Bostonian. He drew a chair close to the +colonel and spun the wonderful tale of his kidnapping, the sea fight, +the wreck, the island and his rescue by the _Hawk_. Colonel Strong +listened intently and seldom interrupted, but when Robert had finished +he said: + +"'Tis clear, lad, that your belief in the good spirits was well placed. +We lose nothing by borrowing a little from the Iroquois beliefs. Their +good spirits are our angels. 'Tis all the same in the essence, only the +names are different. 'Tis clear, too, that they were watching over you. +And now this house is your home so long as you stay in Boston. We're +full of the great war, as you'll soon learn. Mr. Pitt has sent over a +new commander and a mighty attempt will be made on Quebec, though if the +King and Parliament of Britain did their full duty, the expedition would +be three times as large, and, if the Legislature and Governor of +Massachusetts also did their full duty, they would give three times as +much help." + +"I'll stay gladly with you to-night, sir, but I must go in the morning. +I wish to reach Albany as soon as possible and show that I'm not dead. +You're the first, sir, of all my friends, to learn it. I must tell my +comrades of the _Hawk_ good-bye too. They've been very good to me, and +their ship is in your harbor." + +"But you spend the night here. That's promised, and I can give you news +of some of your friends, those gallant lads who were with us in the +great adventure by the lake. The young Englishman, Grosvenor, the +Philadelphians, Colden, Wilton and Carson, and the Virginians, Stuart +and Cabell, have all been to see me. Grosvenor joins a regiment with +Wolfe, the Grenadiers, I think, and the Philadelphians and Virginians +are transferred to the Royal Americans, for the term of the war, at +least." + +"I hope to see them all, sir, under the walls of Quebec. Captain Whyte +of the _Hawk_ offered to take me in his ship to the rendezvous at +Louisbourg, but I felt that I must go first to Albany and then join +Willet and Tayoga. We'll go by land and meet the army and fleet coming +down the St. Lawrence." + +"A proper plan, and a proper ambition, my lad. I would that I could be +with you, but this wound may hold me here. As for going to Albany, I may +assist you in that matter. A company of Boston merchants are sending a +despatch, that is, a stage, to Albany to-morrow. I am one of that +company and I can provide a place for you." + +"My very great thanks are yours, sir." + +"Say no more about it. 'Tis just what I ought to do. 'Tis a long +journey, but 'tis a fine time of the year, and you'll have a pleasant +trip. Would that I had your youth and your unwounded leg and I'd be with +you under the walls of Quebec, whether we take the city or not." + +His eyes sparkled and his thin cheeks flushed with his intense fire. +Robert knew that there was no more valiant soldier than the shrewd +Boston merchant, and he appreciated his intense earnestness. + +"Perhaps, sir," he said, "your recovery will be in full time for the +campaign." + +"I fear not, I'm sure not, Mr. Lennox, and yet I wish with all my soul +to be there. I foresee victory, because I think victory is due. 'Tis not +in nature for the French in Canada, who are few and who receive but +little help from their own country, to hold back forever the whole might +of Britain and her colonies. They have achieved the impossible already +in stemming the flood so long, and because it's about time for the +weight, in spite of everything, to break over the dam, I think that +victory is at hand. And then, Britain will be supreme on the North +American continent from the Spanish domains northward to the Pole." + +"And that means a tremendous future, sir, for England and her colonies!" + +The face of Elihu Strong clouded. + +"I do not know," he cried. "I hope so, and yet, at times, I fear not. +You think only of united hearts in England and America and a long future +under one flag. I repeat that I wish it could be so and yet the old +always regard the new with patronage, and the new always look upon the +old with resentment. There are already differences between the English +and Americans, questions of army rank, disputes about credit in the +field, different points of view, created by the width of an ocean." + +"But if we are victorious and overrun Canada, they will be settled." + +"There lies the greatest danger, my lad. 'Tis the common peril that +holds us together for the time. When this shadow in the north which has +overhung us so long, is removed, the differences will grow the greater, +and each side will assert itself. 'Tis in our common blood. The English +are a free people and freedom brings diversities, differing opinions and +a strenuous expression of them. I see already great issues between the +colonies and the mother country, and I pray that temperate men may have +the handling of them. The wrong will not be all on one side, nor the +right either. But enough of an old man's forebodings! Why should I +poison your happy return from an adventure, in which your chance of +escape was not one in ten?" + +Robert talked with him a while longer, and then he suggested that he go +to the _Hawk_ and tell his friends there good-bye, as they had probably +returned to the ship by this time. + +"But be sure you're back here by nightfall," said Colonel Strong. "You +favor me, lad, by coming. It refreshes me to see you and to talk with +one who had a share with me in an eventful campaign. And have you money +enough for this trip to Albany? I take it that you were not accumulating +much treasure while you were on the island, and a loan may be timely." + +Robert thanked him, but said he had enough for his needs. He promised +also to be back by nightfall, and, having said farewell to the officers +of the sloop, he returned to Colonel Strong's mansion at the appointed +time. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE WILDERNESS AGAIN + + +The full hospitality of Colonel Strong's house was for Robert, and he +sat late that night, listening to the talk of his host, merchant and +warrior, and politician too. There were many like him in the colonies, +keen men who had a vision for world affairs and who looked far into the +future. He was so engrossed in these matters that he did not notice that +he was doing nearly all the talking, but Robert was content to listen. + +As Robert sat with Colonel Strong he felt to the full the reality of his +own world to which he had returned, and his long life on the island +became for the time a dream, something detached, that might have +happened on another planet. Yet its effects remained. His manner was +grave, and his thoughts were those of one much beyond his years. But +mingled with his gravity were an elation and a sanguine belief in his +future. He had survived so much that coming dangers could not daunt him. + +The special coach departed the next morning and Robert sat upon the seat +with the driver. All things were auspicious. The company in the coach +was good, the driver was genial and the weather fine. It was a long trip +and they slept several nights in inns by the way, but Robert always had +pleasant memories of that journey. He was seeing his country under the +most favorable conditions, well cultivated, trim and in the full +freshness of spring. + +They reached Albany and his heart beat hard once more. He realized now +that he was one risen from the dead. His reception by Colonel Strong had +shown him that, but he believed the joy of his friends would be great +when they saw him. The coach drew up at the George Inn, and, leaving it +there, he started through the streets, taking no baggage. + +It was the same busy little city with its thrifty Dutch burghers. The +tide of war had brought added prosperity to Albany, and he saw about him +all the old signs of military preparations. It was yet a base for the +great campaigns to the northward. Evidently the fear of an attack by +Montcalm had passed, as he did not see apprehension or depression in the +faces of the people. + +He went directly to the house of Master Jacobus Huysman, that staunch +friend of his and Tayoga's, and the solid red brick building with its +trim lawns and gardens looked as neat and comfortable as ever. It was +hard to believe that he had gone away, that he had been so long on an +island. Nothing had been changed except himself and he felt different, +much older. + +He lifted the heavy brass knocker, and struck thrice. The sound of +footsteps came from within, and he knew at once that they were +Caterina's. Middle-aged, phlegmatic and solid she had loved both him and +Tayoga, despite tricks and teasing, but he knew her very phlegm would +keep her from being startled too much. Only an earthquake could shake +the poise of Caterina. + +The door swung slowly open. The nature of Caterina was cautious and she +never opened a door quickly. + +"Good-morning, Caterina," said Robert. "Is Master Jacobus in? I stayed +away a bit longer than I intended, and I wish to make my apologies to +him, if I've caused him any inconvenience." + +The mouth of Caterina, a wide cleft, opened full as slowly as the door +and full as steadily, and her eyes seemed to swell at the same time. But +she did not utter a word. Words might be forming in her throat, though +they were not able to pass her lips. But Robert saw amazement and joy in +her eyes. She knew him. That was evident. It was equally evident that +she had been struck dumb, so he grasped her large and muscular hand and +said: + +"I've come back, Caterina, a trifle late 'tis true, but as you see I'm +here. It's not my fault that I've been delayed a little. I hope that +Master Jacobus is well. I know he's in his study as the odor of his pipe +comes floating to me, a pleasant odor too, Caterina; I've missed it." + +"Aye! Aye!" said Caterina. It was all she could manage to say, but +suddenly she seized his hand, and fell to kissing it. + +"Don't do that, Caterina!" exclaimed Robert, pulling his hand away. +"You're glad to see me and I'm glad to see you. I'm no ghost. I'm solid +and substantial, at least ten pounds heavier than I was when I went away +suddenly at the invitation of others. And now, Caterina, since you've +lost your voice I'll go in and have a talk with Master Jacobus." + +Caterina's mouth and eyes were still opening wider and wider, but as +Robert gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder she managed to gasp: + +"You haf come back! you wass dead, but you wouldn't stay dead." + +"Yes, that's it, Caterina, I wouldn't stay dead, or rather I was lost, +but I wouldn't stay lost. I'll go in now and see Master Jacobus." + +He walked past her toward the odor of the pipe that came from the study +and library of Mr. Huysman, and Caterina stood by the door, still +staring at him, her mouth opening wider and wider. No such extraordinary +thing had ever happened before in the life of Caterina, and yet it was a +happy marvel, one that filled her with gratitude. + +The door of Mr. Huysman's room was open and Robert saw him very clearly +before he entered, seated in a great chair of mahogany and hair cloth, +smoking his long hooked pipe and looking thoughtfully now and then at +some closely written sheets of foolscap that he held in his hand. He was +a solid man of the most solid Dutch ancestry, solid physically and +mentally, and he looked it. Nothing could shake his calm soul, and it +was a waste of time to try to break anything to him gently. Good news or +bad news, it was well to be out with it, and Robert knew it. So he +stepped into the room, sat down in a chair near that of Mr. Huysman and +said: + +"I hope, sir, that I've not caused you any inconvenience. I didn't mean +to keep you waiting so long." + +Master Jacobus turned and regarded him thoughtfully. Then he took one +long puff at his pipe, removed it from his mouth, and blew the smoke in +spirals towards the ceiling. + +"Robert," he said, after an inspection of a full minute, "why were you +in such a hurry about coming back? Are you sure you did everything you +should before you came? You wass sometimes a hasty lad." + +"I can't recall, sir, anything that I've neglected. Also, I wiped my +shoes on the porch and I shut the door when I came in, as Caterina used +to bid me do." + +"It iss well. It shows that you are learning at last. Caterina and I haf +had much trouble teaching manners to you and that young Onondaga scamp, +Tayoga." + +"As we grow older, sir, we have more desire to learn. We're better able +to perceive the value of good advice." + +Master Jacobus Huysman put the stem of his long pipe back in his mouth, +took the very longest draught upon it that he had ever drawn, removed it +again, sent the smoke rushing in another beautiful spear of spirals +toward the ceiling, and, then, for the first and last time in his life, +he lost all control over himself. Springing to his feet he seized Robert +by both hands and nearly wrung them off. + +"Robert, my lost lad!" he exclaimed. "It iss you! it iss really you! I +knew that you wass dead, and, yet when you walked into the room, I knew +that it wass you alive! Your face iss changed! your look iss changed! +your manner iss changed! you are older, but I would have known you +anywhere and at the first glance! You do not understand how much you +took out of my life when you went, and you do not know how much you have +brought back when you come again! I do not ask why you left or where you +have been, you can tell it all when you are ready! It iss enough that +you are here!" + +Tears rose in Robert's eyes and he was not ashamed of them. He knew that +his welcome would be warm, but it had been even warmer than he had +expected. + +"I did not go away of my own accord, sir," he said. "I could not have +been so heartless as that. I've a wonderful tale to tell, and, as soon +as you give me all the news about my friends, I'll tell it." + +"Take your time, Robert, take your time. Maybe you are hungry. The +kitchen iss full of good things. Let me call Caterina, and she will +bring you food." + +The invitation of the good Mynheer Jacobus, a very natural thought with +him, eased the tension. Robert laughed. + +"I thank you, sir," he said, "but I cannot eat now. Later I'll show you +that I haven't lost my ability at the trencher, but I'd like to hear now +about Tayoga and Dave." + +"They're gone into the northern forests to take part in the great +expedition that's now arranging against Quebec. We hunted long, but we +could discover no trace of you, not a sign, and then there was no +conclusion left but the river. You had been murdered and thrown into the +Hudson. Your body could not disappear in any other way, and we wass sure +it must have been the spy Garay who did the foul deed. Only Tayoga kept +any hope. He said that you wass watched over by Manitou and by his own +patron saint, Tododaho, and though you might be gone long, Manitou and +Tododaho would bring you back again. But we thought it wass only a way +he had of trying to console himself for the loss of his friend. Willet +had no hope. I wass sorry, sorry in my soul for David. He loved you as a +son, Robert, and the blow wass one from which he could never have +recovered. When all hope wass gone he and Tayoga plunged into the +forest, partly I think to forget, and I suppose they have been risking +the hair on their heads every day in battle with the French and +Indians." + +"It is certain that they won't shirk any combat," said Robert. "Valiant +and true! No one was ever more valiant and true than they are!" + +"It iss so, and there wass another who took it hard, very hard. I speak +of Benjamin Hardy of New York. I wrote him the letter telling him all +that we knew, and I had a reply full of grief. He took it as hard as +Willet." + +"It was almost worth it to be lost a while to discover what good and +powerful friends I have." + +"You have them! You have them! And now I think, Robert, that the time +draws nigh for you to know who you are. No, not now! You must wait yet a +little longer. Believe me, Robert, it iss for good reasons." + +"I know it, Mr. Huysman! I know it must be so! But I know also there is +one who will not rejoice because I've come back! I mean Adrian Van +Zoon!" + +"Why, Robert, what do you know of Adrian Van Zoon?" + +"I was told by a dying man to beware of him, and I've always heard that +dying men speak the truth. And this was a dying man who was in a +position to know. I'm sure his advice was meant well and was based on +knowledge. I think, Mr. Huysman, that I shall have a large score to +settle with Adrian Van Zoon." + +"Well, maybe you have. But tell me, lad, how you were lost and how you +came back." + +So, Robert told the long story again, as he had told it to Elihu Strong, +though he knew that he was telling it now to one who took a deeper and +more personal interest in him than Colonel Strong, good friend though +the latter was. Jacobus Huysman had settled back into his usual calm, +smoking his long pipe, and interrupting at rare intervals with a short +question or two. + +"It iss a wonderful story," he said, when Robert finished, "and I can +see that your time on the island wass not wholly lost. You gained +something there, Robert, my lad. I cannot tell just what it iss, but I +can see it in you." + +"I feel that way myself, sir." + +"No time iss ever lost by the right kind of a man. We can put every hour +to some profit, even if it iss not the kind of profit we first intended. +But I will not preach to one who hass just risen from the dead. Are you +sure, Robert, you will not have a dinner now? We have some splendid fish +and venison and sausage and beef! Just a plate of each! It will do you +good!" + +Robert declined again, but his heart was very full. He knew that Master +Jacobus felt deep emotion, despite his calmness of manner, and this was +a way he had of giving welcome. To offer food and to offer it often was +one of the highest tributes he could pay. + +"I could wish," he said, "that you would go to New York and stay with +Benjamin Hardy, but as you will not do it, I will not ask it. I know +that nothing on earth can keep you from going into the woods and joining +Willet and Tayoga, and so I will help you to find them. Robert Rogers, +the ranger leader, will be here to-morrow, and he starts the next day +into the north with a force of his. He can find Willet and Tayoga, and +you can go with him." + +"Nothing could be better, sir. I know him well. We've fought side by +side in the forest. Is he going to lead his rangers against Quebec?" + +"I do not know. Maybe so, and maybe he will have some other duty, but in +any event he goes up by the lakes, and you're pretty sure to find Tayoga +and Willet in that direction. I know that you will go, Robert, but I +wish you would stay." + +"I must go, and if you'll pardon me for saying it, sir, you won't wish +in your heart that I would stay. You'd be ashamed of me, if I were to do +so." + +Mr. Huysman made no answer, but puffed a little harder on his pipe. Very +soon he sent for Master Alexander McLean, and that thin dry man, coming +at once, shook hands with Robert, released his hand, seized and shook it +a second and a third time with more energy than ever. Mr. McLean, an +undemonstrative man, had never been known to do such a thing before, and +he was never known to do it again. Master Jacobus regarded him with +staring eyes. + +"Alexander iss stirred! He iss stirred mightily to make such a display +of emotion," he said under his breath. + +"Robert hass been away on an island all by himself, eight or nine months +or more," he added, aloud. + +"And of course," said Master McLean, who had recovered his usual calm, +"he forgot all his classical learning while he was there. I do not know +where his island is, but desert islands are not conducive to a noble +education." + +"On the contrary, sir," said Robert, "I learned more about good +literature when I was there than I ever did anywhere else, save when I +sat under you." + +"'Tis clearly impossible. In such a place you could make no advancement +in learning save by communing with yourself." + +"Nevertheless, sir, happy chance gave me a supply of splendid books. I +had Shakespeare, Marlowe, Beaumont and Fletcher, translations of Homer +and of other great Greeks and Latins." + +Mr. McLean's frosty eyes beamed. + +"What a wonderful opportunity!" he said. "Eight or nine months on a +desert island with the best of the classics, and nobody to disturb you! +No such chance will ever come to me, I fear. Which book of the Iliad is +the finest, Robert?" + +"The first, I think. 'Tis the noble opening, the solemn note of tragedy +that enchains the attention of us all." + +"Well answered. But I wish to make a confession to you and Jacobus, one +that would shock nearly all scholars, yet I think that I must speak it +out, to you two at least, before I die. There are times when my heart +warms to the Odyssey more than it does to the Iliad. The personal appeal +is stronger in the Odyssey. There is more romance, more charm. The +interest is concentrated in Ulysses and does not scatter as it does in +the Iliad, where Hector is undoubtedly the most sympathetic figure. And +the coming home of Ulysses arouses emotion more than anything in the +Iliad. Now, I have made my confession--I suppose there is something in +the life of every man that he ought to hide--but be the consequences +what they may I am glad I have made it." + +Mr. McLean rose from his chair and then sat down again. Twice that day +he had been shaken by emotion as never before, once by the return of the +lad whom he loved, risen from the dead, and once by the confession of a +terrible secret that had haunted him for years. + +"When I was on the island I reread both books in excellent +translations," said Robert, the utmost sympathy showing in his voice, +"and I confess, sir, though my opinion is a poor one, that it agrees +with yours. Moreover, sir, you have said it ahead of me. I shall +maintain it, whenever and wherever it is challenged." + +Mr. McLean's frosty blue eyes gleamed again, and his sharp strong chin +set itself at a firm defiant angle. It was clear that he was relieved +greatly. + +"Have a pipe, Alexander," said Master Jacobus. "A good pipe is a +splendid fortifier of both body and soul, after a great crisis." + +Mr. McLean accepted a pipe and smoked it with methodical calm. Robert +saw that a great content was settling upon both him and Mr. Huysman, +and, presently, the burgher began to tell him news of vital importance, +news that they had not known even in Boston when he left. It seemed that +the Albany men had channels through Canada itself, by which they learned +quickly of great events in the enemy's camp. + +"Wolfe with his fleet and army will be in the Gulf of St. Lawrence very +soon," said Master Jacobus, "and by autumn they will certainly appear +before Quebec. Whatever happens there it will not be another Duquesne, +nor yet a Ticonderoga. You must know, Robert, that the great merchants +of the great ports get the best of information from England and from +France too, because it is to their interest to do so. Mr. Pitt iss a +great minister, the greatest that England hass had in centuries, a very +great man." + +"Colonel Strong said the same, sir." + +"Colonel Strong hass the same information that we have. He iss one of +our group. And the new general, Wolfe, iss a great man too. Young and +sickly though he may be, he hass the fire, the genius, the will to +conquer, to overcome everything that a successful general must have. I +feel sure that he will be more than a match for Montcalm, and so does +Alexander. As you know, Robert, Wolfe iss not untried. He was the soul +of the Louisbourg attack last year. People said the taking of the place +was due mostly to him, and they've called him the 'Hero of Louisbourg.'" + +"You almost make me wish, sir, that I had accepted the offer of Captain +Whyte and had gone on to Louisbourg." + +"Do not worry yourself. If you find Willet and Tayoga, as you will, you +can reach Quebec long before Wolfe can achieve much. He hass yet to +gather his forces and go up the St. Lawrence. Armies and fleets are not +moved in a day." + +"Do you know what Rogers' immediate duties are?" + +"I do not, but I think he iss to help the movement that General Amherst +is going to conduct with a strong force against Ticonderoga and Crown +Point. Oh, Mr. Pitt hass a great plan as becomes a great man, and Canada +will be assailed on all sides. I hear talk too that Rogers will also be +sent to punish the St. Francis Indians who have ravaged the border." + +They talked a while longer, and Robert listened, intent, eager. The +burgher and the schoolmaster had the vision of statesmen. They were +confident that England and the colonies would achieve complete success, +that all defeats and humiliations would be wiped away by an overwhelming +triumph. Their confidence in Pitt was wonderful. That sanguine and +mighty mind had sent waves of energy and enthusiasm to the farthest +limits of the British body politic, whether on one side of the Atlantic +or the other, and it was a singular, but true, fact, that the wisest +were those who believed in him most. + +Mr. McLean went away, after a while, and Robert took a walk in the town, +renewing old acquaintances and showing to them how one could really rise +from the dead, a very pleasant task. Yet he longed with all his soul for +the forest, and his comrades of the trail. His condition of life on the +island had been mostly mental. It had been easy there to subsist. His +physical activities had not been great, save when he chose to make them +so, and now he swung to the other extreme. He wished to think less and +to act more, and he shared with Mr. Huysman and Mr. McLean the belief +that the coming campaign would win for England and her colonies a +complete triumph. + +He too thrilled at the name of Pitt. The very sound of the four letters +seemed to carry magic everywhere, with the young English officers on the +ship, in Boston, in Albany, and he had noticed too that it inspired the +same confidence at the little towns at which they stopped on their way +across Massachusetts. Like a blast on the horn of the mighty Roland, the +call of Pitt was summoning the English-speaking world to arms. Robert +little dreamed then, despite the words of Colonel Strong, that the great +cleavage would come, and that the call would not be repeated until more +than a century and a half had passed, though then it would sound around +the world summoning new English-speaking nations not then born. + +Rogers, the famous ranger, upon whom Tayoga had bestowed the name +Mountain Wolf, arrived the next day, bringing with him fifty men whom he +supplied with ammunition for one of his great raids. The rest of his +band was waiting for him near the southern end of Lake George, and he +could stay only a few hours in Albany. He gave Robert a warm welcome. + +"I remember you well, Mr. Lennox," he said. "We've had some hard +fighting together around Lake George against St. Luc, Tandakora and the +others, but I think the battle line will shift far northward now. +Amherst is going to swoop down on Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Sir +William Johnson, well of his wound, is to march against Niagara. I'll +punish the St. Regis Indians for all their barbarities. Oh, it's to be a +great campaign, and I'll tell you a secret too." + +"What is it?" asked Robert. + +"We're to have St. Luc against us near the lakes once more. Could you +ask for a better antagonist?" + +Robert smiled at the man's eagerness, but his heart throbbed, as always, +at the mention of the great French chevalier's name. + +"He'll give us all we can do," he said. + +"That's why I want to meet him," said Rogers. "The whole northern +frontier is going to be ablaze." + +Robert left that very day with Rogers and his men. Mr. Huysman purchased +for him a splendid equipment which he forced him to accept, and he and +Mr. McLean bade him good-by, while Caterina wept in her apron. + +"Don't fear for me," said Robert, who was much moved. "Mr. Pitt will +bring us all victory. His first efforts failed at Ticonderoga, as we +know, but now he has all his forces moving on all fronts, and he's bound +to succeed. You've said that yourselves." + +"So we have, Robert," said Mr. Huysman, "and we shall watch for your +return, confident that you'll come." + +The next day the rangers, Robert with them, were far to the north of +Albany, and then they plunged into the deep woods. Robert rejoiced at +the breath of the forest now in its freshest green, not yet faded by +summer heats. He had grown to love his island, but it was not like the +mighty wilderness of North America, in which he had spent so much of his +life. He kept at the head of the column, side by side with the Mountain +Wolf, and his step was so strong and elastic that Rogers took approving +notice. + +"You like the woods, Robert," he said. "Well, so do I. It's the only +place where a man can live a free life." + +"I like the woods and the towns too," said Robert. "Each in its place. +Where do we camp to-night?" + +"By a little lake, a few miles farther on, and as we're not yet in the +Indian country we'll make it a fire camp." + +The lake covered only two or three acres, but it was set in high hills, +and it was as clear as crystal. A great fire was built near the shore, +two or three of the rangers caught plenty of fish for all, and they were +broiled over the coals. Game had become so plentiful, owing to the +ravages of the war, that a fat deer was shot near the water, and, when +they added coffee and samp from their own stores, they had a feast. + +Robert ate with a tremendous appetite, and then, wrapping himself in his +blanket, lay down under a tree. But he did not go to sleep for a long +time. He was full of excitement. All the omens and signs told him that +he was coming into the thick of events once more, and he felt also that +he would soon see Willet and Tayoga again. He would encounter many +perils, but for the present at least he did not fear them. Much of his +vivid youth was returning to him. + +He saw the surface of the lake from where he lay, a beautiful silver in +the clear moonlight, and he could even perceive wild fowl swimming at +the far edge, unfrightened by the presence of man, or by the fires that +he built. The skies were a great silver curve, in which floated a +magnificent moon and noble stars in myriads. There was the one on which +Tayoga's Tododaho lived, and so powerful was Robert's fancy that he +believed he could see the great Onondaga sage with the wise snakes in +his hair. And there too was the star upon which Hayowentha lived and the +Onondaga and the Mohawk undoubtedly talked across space as they looked +down on their people. + +Out of the forest came the calls of night birds, and Robert saw one +shoot down upon the lake and then rise with a fish in its talons. He +almost expected to see the dusky figure of Tandakora creep from the +bush, and he knew at least that the Ojibway chief would be somewhere +near the lakes. Beyond a doubt they would encounter him and his warriors +as they pressed into the north. Rogers, noticing that he was not asleep, +sat down beside him and said: + +"I suppose, Mr. Lennox, when you find Tayoga and Willet that you'll go +with Amherst's army against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. A great force +has gathered to take those places." + +"I'm not sure," said Robert, "I think it depends largely upon what +Tayoga and Dave have planned, but I want to go against Quebec, and I +think they will too. Still, I'd like to see our defeat at Ticonderoga +atoned for. It's a place that we ought to have, and Crown Point too." + +"A scout that I sent out has come in," said Rogers, "and he says he's +seen an Indian trail, not big enough to be of any danger to us, but it +shows we'll have 'em to deal with before long, though this is south of +their usual range. I hear an owl hooting now, and if I didn't know it +was a real owl I could think it was Tandakora himself." + +"I hear it too," said Robert, "and I'm not so sure that it's a real owl. +Do you think that any band will try to cut us off before we reach +Amherst and the lake?" + +"I can't say, but my faith in the owl, Robert, is beginning to shake +too. It may be an Indian belonging to the band that the scout told +about, but I still don't think we're in any danger of attack. We're in +too small force to try it down here, but they might cut off a +straggler." + +"I'd like to help keep the watch." + +"We won't need you to-night, but I may call on you to-morrow night, so +it's my advice to you to sleep now." + +The Mountain Wolf walked away to look at his outposts--he was not one +ever to neglect any precaution--and Robert, knowing that his advice was +good, closed his eyes, trying to sleep. But his hearing then became more +acute, and the long, lonesome note of the owl came with startling +dreams. Its cry was in the west, and after a while another owl in the +north answered it. Robert wished that Tayoga was with him. He would +know, but as for himself he could not tell whether or no the owls were +real. They might be Indians, and if so they would probably, when they +gathered sufficient force, throw themselves across the path of the +rangers and offer battle. This presence too indicated that Tayoga and +Willet might be near, because it was against just such bands that they +guarded, and once more his heart beat fast. + +He opened his eyes to find that the beauty of the night had deepened, if +that were possible. The little lake was molten silver, and the forest +seemed silver too under silver skies. The moon, large and benignant, +smiled down on the earth, not meant, so Robert thought, for battle. But +the two owls were still calling to each other, and now he was convinced +that they were Indians and not owls. He was really back in the +wilderness, where there was no such thing as peace, the wilderness that +had seldom ever known peace. But believing with Rogers that the force +was too strong to be attacked he fell asleep, at last, and awoke to +another bright summer day. + +They resumed the advance with great caution. Rogers did not go directly +toward the force of Amherst, but bore more toward the west, thinking it +likely that he would have to meet the force of Sir William Johnson who +was to coöperate with Prideaux in the attack on Niagara. + +"Sir William has entirely recovered from the wound he received at the +Battle of Lake George," Rogers said to Robert, "and he's again taking a +big part in the war. We have Louisbourg and Duquesne, and now, if we +take Niagara and Ticonderoga and Crown Point, we can advance in great +force on Quebec and Montreal." + +"So we can," said Robert, "but there are those owls again, hooting in +the daytime, and I'm quite sure now they're Indians." + +"I think so too, and it begins to look as if they meant an attack. Every +mile here brings us rapidly nearer to dangerous country. I'll send out +two more scouts." + +Two of his best men were dispatched, one on either flank, but both came +in very soon with reports of imminent danger. Trails were seen, and they +had grown in size. One found the trace of a gigantic moccasin, and it +was believed to be that of Tandakora. Many scouts knew his footstep. +There was no other so large in the north. Rogers' face was grave. + +"I think they're going to try to cut us off before we reach the bigger +part of my force," he said. "If so, we'll give 'em a fight. You'll be in +the thick of it much earlier than you expected, Robert." + +Robert also was inclined to that opinion, but he was still confident +they could not be menaced by any very large party, and he remained in +that belief the next night, when they made their camp on a little hill, +covered with bushes, but with open country on every side, an excellent +site for defense. They ate another plentiful supper, then put out their +fire, posted sentinels and waited. + +Robert was among the sentinels, and Rogers, who had made him second in +command until he was reunited with his main force, stood by him in the +first hour while they waited. There was again a splendid moon and plenty +of fine stars, shedding a brilliant glow over the forest, and they +believed they could see any enemy who tried to approach, especially as +the hill was surrounded on all sides by a stretch of open. + +"It's a good place for a camp," said the Mountain Wolf, looking around +with approval. "I believe they'll scarce venture to attack us here." + +"But there are the owls," said Robert. "They're at least thinking about +it." + +The long mournful cry came from the depths of the forest, and then it +was repeated a second and a third time at other points. + +"The owls that send forth those calls," said Robert, "don't sit on the +boughs of trees." + +"No," said Rogers; "it's the warriors, not a doubt of it, and they'll be +stealing in on us before long." + +But several hours passed before there was any stir in the forest beyond +the open. Then a rifle cracked there, but no one heard the impact of the +bullet. Rogers laughed scornfully. + +"Their lead fell short," he said. "How could they expect to hit any of +us at such a range, and they not the best of marksmen even in the +daylight. They can't hope to do any more than to keep us awake." + +The rangers made no reply to the shot, they would not deign it with such +notice, but the guard was doubled, while the others remained in their +blankets. A half hour more passed, and a second shot came, but from a +point much nearer. + +"They're trying to steal forward through the grass that grows tall down +there," said Rogers. "They're more bent on battle than I thought they'd +be. It seems that they mean to stalk us, so we'll just stalk 'em back." + +Four of the rangers, fine sharpshooters, edged their way along the +slope, and, when the warriors among the trees fired, pulled trigger by +the flash of their rifles. It was difficult to hit any one in such a +manner, and more than twenty shots were fired by the two sides, before a +death shout was uttered. Then it came from the forest, and Robert knew +that one warrior was gone. He was taking no present part in the battle +himself, held like the bulk of the force in reserve, but he was an +intent observer. Rogers, the daring leader of the rangers, still +standing by his side, took it all as a part of his daily work, which in +truth it was. + +"I think it was Thayer who brought down that warrior," he said. "Thayer +is one of the bravest men I ever saw, and a great scout and trailer. +He'd be worthy to go with Willet and Tayoga and you. Ah, there goes a +second death shout! Any one who seeks a brush with these boys of mine +does it at his own risk." + +He spoke proudly, but one of his own men came creeping back presently +with a wound in his shoulder. Rogers himself bound it up and the man lay +down in his blanket, confident that in a week he could resume his place +in the campaign. Those who lived the life he did had, of necessity, +bodies as hard as iron. + +The deadly skirmishing died down repeatedly, but, after a little while, +it was always renewed. Though the warriors were getting the worst of it, +they persisted in the attack, and Robert knew they must have some +motive, not yet evident. + +"Either they hope to frighten us back, or they mean to hold us until a +much bigger force comes up," he said. + +"One or the other," said Rogers, "but I don't believe any big band would +venture down here. The hope to frighten us seems the more likely." + +The combat, drawn out long and with so little result, annoyed Robert +intensely. As he saw it, it could have no decisive effect upon anything +and was more than futile, it was insensate folly. The original time set +for his watch was over long since and he wanted to roll himself in his +blanket and find slumber, but those ferocious warriors would not let +him. Despite their losses, they still hung around the hill, and, giving +up the attempt to stalk the defenders through the grass, fired long +shots from the cover of the forest. Another ranger was wounded by a +chance bullet, but Rogers, skillful and cautious, refused to be drawn +from the shelter of the bushes on the hill. + +Thus the fitful and distant combat was waged until dawn. But with the +rise of a brilliant sun, throwing a clear light over the whole +wilderness, the warriors drew off and the rangers resumed their march. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE REUNION + + +Willet, the hunter, and Tayoga, the great young Onondaga trailer, were +walking through the northern woods, examining forest and bush very +cautiously as they advanced, knowing that the danger from ambushed +warriors was always present. Willet was sadder and sterner than of old, +while the countenance of the Onondaga was as grave and inscrutable as +ever, though he looked older, more mature, more the mighty forest +runner. + +"Think you, Tayoga," said the hunter, "that Tandakora and his men have +dared to come into this region again?" + +"Tandakora will dare much," replied the Onondaga. "Though he is full of +evil, we know that well. The French still hold Ticonderoga, and he can +use it as a base for bands much farther south." + +"True, but I don't think they'll have Ticonderoga, or Crown Point, +either, long. Amherst is gathering too big an army and there is no +Montcalm to defend them. The Marquis will have his hands full and +overflowing, defending Quebec against Wolfe. We've held both Duquesne +and Louisbourg a long while now. We've smashed the French line at both +ends, and Mr. Pitt is going to see that it's cut in the center too. How +I wish that Robert were alive to see the taking of Ticonderoga! He saw +all the great defeat there and he was entitled to this recompense." + +He sighed deeply. + +"It may be, Great Bear," said Tayoga, "that Dagaeoga will see the taking +of Ticonderoga. No one has ever looked upon his dead body. How then do +we know that he is dead?" + +Willet shook his head. + +"'Tis no use, Tayoga," he said. "The lad was murdered by Garay and the +river took his body away. Why, it will be a year this coming autumn +since he disappeared, and think you if he were alive he couldn't have +come back in that time! 'Tis the part of youth to hope, and it does you +credit, but the matter is past hope now. We've all given up except you." + +"When only one hopes, Great Bear, though all others have failed, there +is still hope left. Last night I saw Tododaho on his star very clearly. +He looked down at me, smiled and seemed to speak. I could not hear his +words, but at the time I was thinking of Dagaeoga. Since Tododaho sits +with the great gods, and is one of them, he knew my thoughts, and, if he +smiled when I was thinking of Dagaeoga, he meant to give me hope." + +The hunter again shook his head sadly. + +"You thought you saw it, because you wished it so much," he said, "or +maybe the promise of Tododaho was for the future, the hereafter." + +"For the hereafter we need no special promise, Great Bear. That has +always been made to all of us by Manitou himself, but I was thinking of +Dagaeoga alive, present with us in this life, when Tododaho smiled down +on me. I hold it in my heart, Great Bear, as a sign, a promise." + +Willet shook his head for the third time, and with increasing sadness, +but said nothing more. If Tayoga cherished such a hope it was a +consolation, a beautiful thing, and he was not one to destroy anybody's +faith. + +"Do you know this region?" he asked. + +"I was through here once with the Mohawk chief, Daganoweda," replied +Tayoga. "It is mostly in heavy forest, and, since the war has gone on so +long and the settlers have gone away, there has been a great increase in +the game." + +"Aye, I know there'll be no trouble on that point. If our own supplies +give out it won't take long to find a deer or a bear. It's a grand +country in here, Tayoga, and sometimes it seems a pity to one that it +should ever be settled by white people, or, for that matter, by red +either. Let it remain a wilderness, and let men come in, just a little +while every year, to hunt." + +"Great Bear talks wisdom, but it will not be done his way. Men have been +coming here a long time now to fight and not to hunt. See, Great Bear, +here is a footprint now to show that some one has passed!" + +"'Twas made by the moccasin of a warrior. A chance hunter." + +"Suppose we follow it, Great Bear. It is our business to keep guard and +carry word to Amherst." + +"Good enough. Lead and I'll follow." + +"It is not the step of a warrior hunting," said Tayoga, as they pursued +the traces. "The paces are even, regular and long. He goes swiftly, not +looking for anything as he goes, but because he wishes to reach a +destination as soon as possible. Ah, now he stopped and he leaned +against this bush, two of the stems of which are broken! I do not know +what he stopped for, Great Bear, but it may have been to give a signal, +though that is but a surmise. Now he goes on, again walking straight and +swift. Ah, another trail coming from the west joining his and the two +warriors walk together!" + +The two followed the double trail a mile or more in silence, and then it +was joined by the traces of three more warriors. The five evidently had +stood there, talking a little while, after which they had scattered. + +"Now, what does that mean?" exclaimed the hunter. + +"I think if we follow every one of the five trails," said Tayoga, "we +will find that the men lay down in the bush. It is certain in my mind, +Great Bear, that they were preparing for a battle, and they were but a +part of a much larger force hidden in these thickets." + +"Now, that's interesting, Tayoga. Let's look around and see if we can +find where more of the warriors lay." + +They circled to the right, and presently they came upon traces where +three men had knelt behind bushes. The imprints of both knees and toes +were plain. + +"They were here a long time," said Tayoga, "because they have moved +about much within a little space. In places the ground is kneaded by +their knees. And lo! Great Bear, here on the bush several of the young +leaves are burned. Now, you and I know well what alone would do that at +such a time." + +"It was done by the flash from a big musket, such a musket as those +French Indians carry." + +"It could have been nothing else. I think if we go still farther around +the curve we will find other bushes behind which other warriors kneeled +and fired, and maybe other leaves scorched by the flash of big muskets." + +A hundred yards more and they saw that for which they looked. The signs +were just the same as at the other places. + +"Now, it is quite clear to you and me, Great Bear," said the Onondaga, +"that these men, posted along a curving line, were firing at something. +They were here a long time, as the numerous and crowded footprints at +every place show. They could not have been firing at game, because there +were too many of them, and the game would not have stayed to be fired at +so long. Therefore, Great Bear, and you know it as well as I, they must +have been in battle. All the points of ambush to which we have come are +at an almost equal distance from some other point." + +"Which, Tayoga, is that hill yonder, crowned with bushes, but with bare +slopes, a good place for a defense, and just about a long rifle or +musket shot from the forest here." + +"So it is, Great Bear. It could be nothing else. The defenders lay among +the bushes on top of the hill, and the battle was fought in the night, +because those who attacked were not numerous enough to push a combat in +the day. The defenders must have been white men, as we know from the +footprints here that the assailants were warriors. Ah, here are other +traces, Great Bear, and here are more, all trodden about in the same +manner, indicating a long stay, and all at about an equal distance from +the hill! I think the warriors lay in the forest all night firing upon +the hill, and probably doing little damage. But they suffered more hurt +themselves. See, here are faint traces of blood, yet staining the grass, +and here is a trail leading out of the bushes and into the grass that +lines the slopes of the hill. The trail goes forward, and then it comes +back. It is quite clear to both of us, Dagaeoga, that a warrior, +creeping through the long grass, tried to stalk the hill, but met a +bullet instead. Those who lay upon the hill and defended themselves were +not asleep. They could detect warriors who tried to steal forward and +secure good shots at them. And they could fire at long range and hit +their targets. Now, soldiers know too little of the forest to do that, +and so it must have been scouts or rangers." + +"Perhaps some of the rangers belonging to Rogers. We know that he's +operating in this region." + +"It was in my thought too, Great Bear, that the rangers of the Mountain +Wolf lay on the hill. See, here is a second trace of blood, and it also +came from a warrior who tried to stalk the hill, but who had to come +back again after he had been kissed by a bullet. The men up there among +the bushes never slept, and they allowed no one of their enemies to come +near enough for a good shot with a musket. The chances are ninety-nine +out of a hundred that they were rangers, Great Bear, and we may speak of +them as rangers. Now, we come to a spot where at least a dozen warriors +lay, and, since their largest force was here, it is probable that their +chief stayed at this spot. See, the small bones of the deer picked clean +are lying among the bushes. I draw from it the opinion, and so do you, +Great Bear, that the warriors kept up the siege of the hill until dawn, +because at dawn they would be most likely to eat their breakfast, and +these little bones of the deer prove that they did eat this breakfast +here. Now, it is very probable that they went away, since they could win +nothing from the defenders of the hill." + +"Here's their broad trail leading directly from the hill." + +They followed the trail a little distance, finding those of other +warriors joining, until the total was about forty. Willet laughed with +quiet satisfaction. + +"They had all they wanted of the hill," he said, "and they're off +swiftly to see if they can't find easier prey elsewhere." + +"And you and I, Great Bear, will go back and see what happened on the +hill, besides discovering somewhat more about the identity of the +defenders." + +"Long words, Tayoga, but good ones upon which we can act. I'm anxious +about the top of that hill myself." + +They went back and walked slowly up the hill. They knew quite well that +nobody was there now. The entire forest scene had vanished, so far as +the actors were concerned, but few things disappear completely. The +actors could go, but they could not do so without leaving traces which +the two great scouts were able to read. + +"How long ago do you think all this happened, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"Not many hours since," replied the Onondaga. "It is mid-morning now, +and we know that the warriors departed at dawn. The people on the hill +would stay but a little while after their enemies had gone, and since +they were rangers they would not long remain blind to the fact that they +had gone." + +They pushed into the bushes, and were soon among the traces left by the +defenders. + +"Here is where the guard knelt," said Tayoga, as they walked around the +circle of the bushes, "and behind them is where the men slept in their +blankets. That is farther proof that they were rangers. They had so much +experience, and they felt so little alarm that most of them slept +placidly, although they knew warriors were watching below seeking to +shoot them down. The character of the footprints indicates that all of +the defenders were white men. Here is a trail that I have seen many +times before, so many times that I would know it anywhere. It is that of +the Mountain Wolf. He probably had a small part of his rangers here and +was on his way to join his main force, to act either with Amherst or +Waraiyageh (Sir William Johnson). Of course he would depart with speed +as soon as his enemy was beaten off." + +"Altogether reasonable, Tayoga, and I'm glad Rogers is in these parts +again with his rangers. Our generals will need him." + +"The Mountain Wolf stood here a long time," said Tayoga. "He walked now +and then to the right, and also to the left, but he always came back to +this place. He stood here, because it is a little knoll, and from it he +could see better than from anywhere else into the forest that hid the +enemy below. The Mountain Wolf is a wise man, a great forest fighter, +and a great trailer, but he was not alone when he stood here." + +"I suppose he had a lieutenant of course, a good man whom he could +trust. Every leader has such a helper." + +The Onondaga knelt and examined the traces minutely. When he rose his +eyes were blazing. + +"He did have a good helper, an able assistant, O Great Bear!" he said. +"He had one whom he trusted, one whom I could trust, one whom you could +trust. The Mountain Wolf stood by this bush and talked often with one +whom we shall be very glad to see, O Great Bear, one whom the Mountain +Wolf himself was both surprised and glad to see." + +"Your meaning is beyond me, Tayoga." + +"It will not be beyond you very long, O Great Bear! When Tododaho, +reading my thoughts, looked down on me last night from the great star on +which he has lived four hundred years, and smiled upon me, his smile +meant what it said. The Hodenosaunee are the children of Todohado and +Hayowentha, and they never make sport of them, nor of any one of them." + +"I'm still in the dark of the matter, Tayoga!" + +"Does not Great Bear remember what I was thinking about when Todohado +smiled? What I said and always believed is true, O Great Bear! I +believed it against all the world and I was right. Look at the traces +beside those of the Mountain Wolf! They are light and faint, but look +well at them, O Great Bear! I would know them anywhere! I have seen them +thousands of times, and so has the Great Bear! Dagaeoga has come back! +He stood here beside the Mountain Wolf! He was on this hill among the +bushes all through the night, while the rangers fought the warriors +among the trees below! He and the Mountain Wolf talked together and +consulted while they looked at the forest! Lo! my brother Dagaeoga has +come back out of the mists and vapors into which he went nearly a year +ago, for he is my brother, though my skin is red and his is white, and +he has been my brother ever since we were little children together! Lo! +Great Bear, Dagaeoga has come back as I told you, as I alone told you he +would, and my heart sings a song of joy within me, because I have loved +my brother! Look! look, Great Bear, and see where the living Dagaeoga +has walked, not six hours since!" + +Willet knelt and examined the traces. He too was a great trailer, but he +did not possess the superhuman instinct that had come down through the +generations to the Onondaga. He merely saw traces, lighter than those +made by Rogers. But if his eyes could not, his mind did tell him that +Tayoga was right. The ring of conviction was so strong in the voice of +the Onondaga that Willet's faith was carried with it. + +"It must be as you tell me, Tayoga," he said. "I do not doubt it. Robert +has been here with Rogers. He has come back out of the mists and vapors +that you tell about, and he walked this hill in the living flesh only a +few hours ago. Where could he have been? How has it happened?" + +"That does not concern us just now, Great Bear. It is enough to know +that he is alive, and we rejoice in it. Before many hours we shall speak +with him, and then he can tell his tale. I know it will be a strange and +wonderful one, and unless Degaeoga has lost his gift of words, which I +think impossible, it will lose no color in the telling." + +"Let him spin what yarn he pleases, I care not. All I ask is to put eyes +on the lad again. It seems, when I think of it in cold blood, that it +can scarce be true, Tayoga. You're sure you made no mistake about the +footsteps?" + +"None, Great Bear. It is impossible. I know as truly that the living +Dagaeoga stood on this hill six hours ago as I know that you stand +before me now." + +"Then lead on, Tayoga, and we'll follow the trail of the rangers. We +ought to overtake 'em by noon or soon after." + +The broad path, left by the rangers, was like the trail of an army to +Tayoga, and they followed it at great speed, keeping a wary eye for a +possible ambush on either side. The traces grew fresher and fresher, and +Tayoga read them with an eager eye. + +"The Mountain Wolf, Dagaeoga and the rangers are walking rapidly," he +said. "I think it likely that they are going to join Amherst in his +advance on Ticonderoga or Crown Point, or maybe they will turn west and +help Waraiyageh, but, in either case, they do not feel any alarm about +the warriors with whom they fought last night. Now and then the trail of +a scout branches off from their main trail, but it soon comes back +again. They feel quite sure that the warriors were only a roving band, +and will not attack them again. The Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga walk side +by side, and we can surmise, Great Bear, that they talk much together. +Perhaps Dagaeoga was telling the Mountain Wolf where he has been these +many months, why he went away, and why he chose to come back when he did +out of the mists and vapors. Dagaeoga is strong and well. Look how his +footprints show the length of his stride and how steady and even it is! +He walks stride for stride with the Mountain Wolf, who as we know is six +feet tall. Dagaeoga has grown since he went away. He was strong before +he left, but he is stronger now. I think we shall find, Great Bear, that +while Dagaeoga was absent his time was not lost. It may be that he +gained by it." + +"I'm not thinking whether he has or not, Tayoga. I'm glad enough to get +the lad back on any terms. We're making great speed now, and I think we +ought to overtake 'em before long. The trail appears to grow a lot +fresher." + +"In an hour, Great Bear, we can signal to them. It will be best to send +forth a call, since one does not approach in the forest, in war, without +sending word ahead that he is a friend, else he may be met by a bullet." + +"That's good and solid truth, Tayoga. We couldn't have our meeting with +Robert spoiled at the last moment by a shot. But it's much too early yet +to send out a call." + +"So it is, Great Bear. I think, too, the rangers have increased their +speed. Their stride has lengthened, but, as before, the Mountain Wolf +and Dagaeoga keep together. They are great friends. You will recall that +they fought side by side on the shores of Andiatarocte." + +"I remember it well enough, Tayoga. Nobody could keep from liking +Robert. 'Tis a gallant spirit he has." + +"It is so, Great Bear. He carries light wherever he goes. Such as he are +needed among us. Because of that I never believed that Manitou had yet +taken him to himself. The rangers stopped here, sat on these fallen +logs, and ate food at noonday. There are little bones that they threw +away, and the birds, seeking shreds of food, are still hopping about." + +"That's clear, Tayoga, and since they would probably stay about fifteen +minutes we ought to come within earshot of them in another half hour." + +They pressed on at speed, and, within the appointed time, they sank down +in a dense clump of bushes, where Tayoga sent forth the mellow, +beautiful song of a bird, a note that penetrated a remarkable distance +in the still day. + +"It is a call that Dagaeoga knows," he said. "We have used it often in +the forest." + +In a few minutes the reply, exactly the same, faint but clear, came back +from the north. When the sound died away, Tayoga imitated the bird +again, and the second reply came as before. + +"Now we will go forward and shake the hand of Dagaeoga," said the +Onondaga. + +Rising from the bush, the two walked boldly in the direction whence the +reply had come, and they found a tall, straight young figure advancing +to meet them. + +"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Willet. + +"Dagaeoga!" said the Onondaga. + +Each seized a hand of Robert and shook it. Their meeting was not +especially demonstrative, but their emotions were very deep. They were +bound together by no common ties. + +"You've changed, Robert," said Willet, merely as a sort of relief to his +feelings. + +"And you haven't, Dave," said Robert, with the same purpose in view. +"And you, Tayoga, you're the great Onondaga chief you always were." + +"I hope to be a chief some day," said Tayoga simply, "and then, when I +am old enough, to be a sachem too, but that rests with Tododaho and +Manitou. Dagaeoga has been away a long time, and we do not know where he +went, but since he has come back out of the mists and vapors, it is +well." + +"I understood your call at once," said Robert, "and as you know I gave +the reply. I came from Albany with Rogers to find you, and I found you +quicker than I had hoped. We had a meeting with hostile warriors last +night, but we beat 'em off, and we've been pushing on since then." + +"Your encounter last night was what enabled us to find you so quickly," +said Willet. "Tayoga read on the ground the whole story of the combat. +He understood every trace. He recognized the footprints of Rogers and +then your own. He always believed that you'd come back, but nobody else +did. He was right, and everybody else was wrong. You're bigger, Robert, +and you're graver than you were when you went away." + +"I've been where I had a chance to become both, Dave. I'll tell you all +about it later, for here's Rogers now, waiting to shake hands with you +too." + +"Welcome, old friend," said Rogers, grasping the hunter's powerful hand +in his own, almost as powerful, "and you too Tayoga. If there's a finer +lad in the wilderness anywhere, I don't know it." + +They said little more at present, joining the group of rangers and going +on steadily until nightfall. On the way Robert gave Willet and Tayoga an +outline of what had happened to him, not neglecting the dying words of +the slaver. + +"It was the hand of Van Zoon," he said. + +"Aye, it was Van Zoon," said the hunter. "It was his hand too that was +raised against you that time in New York. I've feared him on your +account, Robert. It's one reason why we've been so much in the forest. +You wonder why Huysman or Hardy or I don't tell you about him, but all +in good time. If we don't tell you now it's for powerful reasons." + +"The others have told me so too," said Robert, "and I'm not asking to +know anything I oughtn't to know now. If you put off such knowledge, +Dave, I'm sure it ought to be put off." + +They overtook the main body of the rangers that night, and Rogers now +had a force of more than two hundred men, but information from his +second in command decided him to join in the great movement of Sir +William Johnson and Prideaux against Niagara. The duties of Willet and +Tayoga called them to Amherst, and of course Robert went with them. So +the next morning they parted from Rogers. + +"I think there'll be big things to tell the next time we meet," said +Willet to Rogers. "Mr. Pitt doesn't make his plans for nothing. He not +only makes big plans, but he prepares big armies and fleets to carry 'em +out." + +"We have faith in him everywhere here," said Rogers, "and I hear they've +the same faith in him on the other side of the Atlantic. The failure +before Ticonderoga didn't seem to weaken it a particle. Take care of +yourselves, my friends." + +It was a sincere farewell on both sides, but quickly over, and the three +pressed on to Amherst's camp, in the valley near the head of Lake +George, that had already seen so many warlike gatherings. Here a +numerous and powerful army, bent upon taking Ticonderoga and Crown +Point, was being trained already, and Robert, after visiting it, looked +once more and with emotion upon the shores of Andiatarocte. + +Fate was continually calling him back to this lake and Champlain, around +which so much of American story is wrapped. The mighty drama known as +the Seven Years' War, that involved nearly all the civilized world, +found many of its springs and also much of its culmination here. The +efforts made by the young British colonies, and by the mother country, +England, were colossal, and the battles were great for the time. To the +colonies, and to those in Canada as well, the campaigns were a matter of +life or death. For the English colonies the war, despite valor and +heroic endurance, had been going badly in the main, but now almost all +felt that a change was coming, and it seemed to be due chiefly to one +man, Pitt. It was Napoleon who said later that "Men are nothing, a man +is everything," but America, as well as England, knew that in the Seven +Years' War Pitt, in himself, was more than an army--he was a host. And +America as well as England has known ever since that there was never a +greater Englishman, and that he was an architect who built mightily for +both. + +The future was not wholly veiled to Robert as he looked down anew upon +the glittering waters of Andiatarocte. He had come in contact with the +great forces that were at work, he had vision anew and greater vision, +and he knew the gigantic character of the stakes for which men played. +If the French triumphed here in America, then the old Bourbon monarchy, +which Willet told him was so diseased and corrupt, would appear +triumphant to all the world. It would invent new tyrannies, the cause +of liberty and growth would be set back generations, and nobody would be +trodden under the heel more than the French people themselves. Robert +liked the French, and sometimes the thought occurred to him that the +English and Americans were fighting not only their own battle but that +of the French as well. + +He knew as he stood with Willet and Tayoga looking at Lake George that +the great crisis of the war was at hand. All that had gone before was +mere preparation. He had felt the difference at once when he came back +from his island. The old indecision, doubt and despondency were gone; +now there was a mighty upward surge. Everybody was full of hope, and the +evidence of one's own eyes showed that the Anglo-American line was +moving forward at all points. A great army would soon be converging on +Ticonderoga, where a great army had been defeated the year before, but +now there would be no Montcalm to meet. He must be in Quebec to defend +the very citadel and heart of New France against the army and fleet of +Wolfe. The French in Canada were being assailed on all sides, and the +decaying Bourbon monarchy could or would send no help. Robert's +occasional thought, that the English and Americans might be fighting for +the French as well as themselves, did not project itself far enough to +foresee that out of the ashes left by the fall of Canada might spring +another and far stronger France. + +"I'm glad I'm back here to join in the new advance on Ticonderoga," said +Robert. "As I was with Montcalm and saw our army defeated when it ought +not to have been, I think it only a just decree of fate that I should be +here when it wins." + +"We'll take Ticonderoga this time, Robert. Never fear," said Willet. +"We'll advance with our artillery, and the French have no force there +that can stop us. Amherst is building a fort that he calls Edward, but +we'll never need it. He's very cautious, but it's as well, our curse in +this war has been the lack of caution, lack of caution by both English +and Americans. Still, that over-confidence has a certain strength in it. +You've noticed how we endure disaster. We've had heavy defeats, but we +rise after every fall, and go into the combat once more, stronger than +we went before." + +The three spent some time with Amherst, and saw his great force continue +its preparation and drilling, until at last the general thought they +were fit to cope with anything that lay before them. Then, a year +lacking but a few days after Abercrombie embarked with his great army +for the conquest of Ticonderoga, Amherst with another army, mostly +Americans, embarked upon the same waters, and upon the same errand. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were in a canoe in the van of the fleet. They +were roving scouts, held by the orders of nobody, and they could do as +they pleased, but for the present they pleased to go forward with the +army. Robert and Tayoga were paddling with powerful strokes, while +Willet watched the shores, the lake and the long procession. The sun was +brilliant, but there was a strong wind off the mountains and the boats +rocked heavily in the waves. Nevertheless, the fleet, carrying its +artillery with it, bore steadily on. + +"The French have as big a force at Ticonderoga as they had when Montcalm +defeated Abercrombie," said the hunter, "and it's commanded by +Bourlamaque." + +"A brave and skillful man," said Robert. "I saw him when I was a +prisoner of the French." + +"But he knows Amherst will not make the mistake Abercrombie did," said +Willet. "Our big guns will talk for us, and they'll say things that +wooden walls can't listen to long. I'm thinking that Bourlamaque won't +stand. I've heard that he'll retreat to the outlet of Lake Champlain and +make a last desperate defense at Isle-aux-noix. If he's wise, and I +think he is, he'll do it." + +"Do you know whether St. Luc is with him or if he has gone to Quebec +with Montcalm?" asked Robert. + +"I haven't heard, but I think it's likely that he's here, because he has +so much influence with the Indians, who are far more useful in the woods +than in a fortress like Quebec. It's probable that we'll hear from him +in the morning when we try a landing." + +"You mean we'll spend the night on the lake?" + +"Aye, lad. It's blowing harder, and we've a rough sea here, though 'tis +a mountain lake. We make way but slowly, and we must be full of caution, +or risk a shipwreck, with land in sight on both sides of us." + +Night drew on, dark and blowy, with the army still on the water, as +Willet had predicted, and much of it seasick. The lofty shores, green by +day, were clothed in mists and vapor, and the three saw no trace of the +French or the Indians, but they were quite sure they were watching from +the high forests. Robert believed now that St. Luc was there, and that +once again they would come into conflict. + +"Do you think we'd better try the shore to-night?" he asked. + +Willet shook his head. + +"'Twould be too risky," he replied, "and, even if we succeeded, 'twould +do no good. We'll find out in the morning all we want to know." + +They tied their canoe to one of the long boats, and, going on board the +latter, slept a little. But slumber could not claim Robert long. All +about, it was a battle-ground to him, whether land or water. Armies had +been passing and repassing, and fighting here from the beginning. It was +the center of the world to him, and in the morning they would be in +battle again. If St. Luc held the shore they would not land unscorched. +He tried to see signals on the mountain, but the French did not have to +talk to one another. They and their red allies lay silent and unseen in +the dark woods and waited. + +Dawn came, and the three were back in their canoe. The wind had died, +and the fleet, bearing the army, moved forward to the landing. Officers +searched the woods with their strongest glasses, while the scouts in +their canoes, daring every peril, shot forward and leaped upon the +shore. Then a sheet of musketry and rifle fire burst from the woods. Men +fell from the boats into the water, but others held on to the land that +they had gained. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet among the first fired at dusky figures in the +woods, and once or twice they caught the gleam of French uniforms. + +"It is surely St. Luc," said Robert, when he heard the notes of a silver +whistle, "but he can't keep us from landing." + +"Aye, it's he," said Willet, "and he's making a game fight of it against +overwhelming forces." + +Cannon from the boats also swept the forest with grape and round shot, +and the troops began to debark. It was evident that the French and +Indians were not in sufficient numbers to hold them back. Not all the +skill of St. Luc could avail. The three soon had evidence that the +formidable Ojibway chief was there also. Tayoga saw a huge trace in the +earth, and called the attention of Willet and Robert to it. + +"Tandakora is in the bush," he said. "Sharp Sword does not like him, but +Manitou has willed that they must often be allies. Now the battle +thickens, but the end is sure." + +The shores of Lake George, so often the scene of fierce strife, blazed +with the fury of the combat. The mountains gave back the thunder of guns +on the big boats, and muskets and rifles crackled in the forest. Now and +then the shouts of the French and the Indian yell rose, but the +triumphant American cheer always replied. The troops poured ashore and +the odds against St. Luc rose steadily. + +"The Chevalier can't hold us back many minutes longer," said Willet. "If +he doesn't give ground, he'll be destroyed." + +A few minutes more of resolute fighting and they heard the long, clear +call of the silver whistle. Then the forces in front of them vanished +suddenly, and not a rifle replied to their fire. French, Canadians and +Indians were gone, as completely as if they had never been, but, when +the Americans advanced a little farther, they saw the dead, whom St. Luc +had not found time to take away. Although the combat had been short, it +had been resolute and fierce, and it left its proofs behind. + +"Here went Tandakora," said Tayoga. "His great footsteps are far apart, +which shows that he was running. Perhaps he hopes to lay an ambush later +on. The heart of the Ojibway was full of rage because he could not +withstand us." + +"And I imagine that the heart of the Chevalier de St. Luc is also +heavy," said Robert. "He knows that General Amherst is bringing his +artillery with him. When I was at Ticonderoga last year and General +Abercrombie advanced, the French, considering the smallness of their +forces, were in doubt a long time about standing, and I know from what I +heard that they finally decided to defend the place because we did not +bring up our guns. We're making no such mistake now; we're not +underrating the enemy in that way. It's glorious, Dave, to come back +over the ground where you were beaten and retrieve your errors." + +"So it is, Robert. We'll soon see this famous Ticonderoga again." + +Robert's heart beat hard once more. All the country about him was +familiar. So much had been concentrated here, and now it seemed to him +that the climax was approaching. Many of the actors in last year's great +drama were now on another stage, but Bourlamaque and St. Luc were at +hand, and Tandakora had come too with his savages. He looked around it +the splendid landscape of lake and mountain and green forest, and the +pulses in his temples throbbed fast. + +"Aye, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, who was looking at him, "it is a great day +that has come." + +"I think so," said Robert, "and what pleases me most is the sight of the +big guns. Look how they come off the boats! They'll smash down that +wooden wall against which so many good men hurled themselves to death +last year. We've got a general who may not be the greatest genius in the +world, but he'll have neither a Braddock's defeat nor a Ticonderoga +disaster." + +Caution, supreme caution, was evident to them all as they moved slowly +forward, with the bristling guns at the front. Robert's faith in the +cannon was supreme. He looked upon them as their protectors. They were +to be the match for Ticonderoga. + +On they went, winding through the forest and valleys, but they met +nothing. The green woods were silent and deserted, though much was there +for Tayoga to read. + +"Here still goes Tandakora," he said, "and his heart is as angry as +ever. He is bitter against the French, too, because he fears now that he +has taken the wrong side. He sees the power of his enemies growing and +growing, and Montcalm is not here to lead the French. I do not think +Tandakora will go into the fort with St. Luc and Bourlamaque. His place +is not inside the walls. He wants the great forest to roam in." + +"In that Tandakora is right," said Willet; "he acts according to his +lights. A fortress is no place for an Indian." + +"Tandakora is now going more slowly," resumed the Onondaga. "His paces +shorten. It may be that he will stop to talk with some one. Ah! he does, +and it is no less a man than Sharp Sword himself. I have looked upon +Sharp Sword's footprints so often that I know them at a glance. He and +Tandakora stood here, facing each other, and talked. Neither moved from +his tracks while he spoke, and so I think it was not a friendly +conference. It is likely that the Ojibway spoke of the defeat of the +French, and Sharp Sword replied that in defeat as well as victory true +allies stand together. Moreover, he said that defeat might be followed +by victory and one must always hope. But Tandakora was not convinced. It +is the custom of the Indian to run away when he knows that his enemy is +too strong for him, and it may be wise. Now Tandakora turns from the +course and goes toward the west. And, lo! his warriors all fall in +behind him! Here is their great trail. Sharp Sword heads in another +direction. He is going with the French and Canadians to the fortress." + +The army, under the shadow of its great guns, moved slowly on, and +presently they came upon the terrible field of the year before. Before +them lay the wall, stronger than ever with earth and logs, but not a man +held it. The French and Canadians were in the fortress, and the +Americans and English were free to use the intrenchments as a shelter +for themselves if they chose. + +"It's going to be a siege," said Willet. + +The cannon of Ticonderoga soon opened, and Amherst's guns replied, the +cautious general moving his great force forward in a manner that +betokened a sure triumph, though it might be slow. But on the following +night the whole French army, save a few hundred men under Hebecourt, +left to make a last desperate stand, stole away and made for +Isle-aux-Noix. Hebecourt replied to Amherst's artillery with the +numerous guns of the fort for three days. Amherst still would not allow +his army to move forward for the assault, having in mind the terrible +losses of last year and knowing that he was bound to win. + +The brave Hebecourt and his soldiers also left the fort at last, +escaping in boats, and leaving a match burning in the magazine. One of +the bastions of Ticonderoga blew up with a tremendous explosion, and +then the victorious army marched in. Ticonderoga, such a looming and +tremendous name in America, a fortress for which so much blood had been +shed, had fallen at last. Robert did not dream that in another war, less +than twenty years away, it would change hands three times. + +They found, a little later, that Crown Point, the great fortress upon +which the French king had spent untold millions, had been abandoned also +and was there for the Anglo-American army to take whenever it chose. +Then Amherst talked of going on into Canada and coöperating with Wolfe, +but, true to his cautious soul, he began to build forts and arrange for +the mastery of Lake Champlain. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet grew impatient as the days passed. The news +came that Prideaux had been killed before Niagara, but Sir William +Johnson, the Waraiyageh of the Mohawks, assuming command in his stead, +had taken the place, winning a great victory. After the long night the +dawn had come. Everything seemed to favor the English and Americans, and +now the eyes of the three turned upon Quebec. It was evident that the +war would be won or lost there, and they could bear the delays no +longer. Saying farewell to their comrades of Amherst's army, they +plunged into the northern wilderness, taking an almost direct course for +Quebec. + +They were entering a region haunted by warriors, and still ranged by +daring French partisans, but they had no fear. Robert believed that the +surpassing woodcraft of the hunter and the Onondaga would carry them +safely through, and he longed for Quebec, upon which the eyes of both +the New World and the Old now turned. They had heard that Wolfe had +suffered a defeat at the Montmorency River, due largely to the +impetuosity of his men, but that he was hanging on and controlled most +of the country about Quebec. But Montcalm on the great rock was as +defiant as ever, and it seemed impossible to get at him. + +"We'll be there in ample time to see the result, whatever it is," said +Willet. + +"And we may find the trail of Sharp Sword and Tandakora who go ahead of +us," said Tayoga. + +"But the Ojibway turned away at Ticonderoga," said Robert. "Why do you +think he'll go to Quebec?" + +"Because he thinks he will get profit out of it, whatever the event. If +our army is defeated, he may have a great scalping, such as there was at +Fort William Henry; if the French are beaten, it will be easy enough for +him to get away in time. But as long as the issue hangs in the balance, +Tandakora means to be present." + +"Sound reasoning," said the hunter, "and we'll watch for the trail of +both St. Luc and the Ojibway. And now, lads, with eyes and ears open, +we'll make speed." + +And northward they went at a great rate, watching on all sides for the +perils that were never absent from the woods and peaks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BEFORE QUEBEC + + +True to the predictions of Tayoga, they struck the trail of St. Luc and +Tandakora far up in the province of New York and west of Lake Champlain. +Ever since the white man came, hostile forces had been going north or +south along well-defined passes in these regions, and, doubtless, bands +of Indians had been traveling the same course from time immemorial; so +it was not hard for them to come upon the traces of French and Indians +going to Quebec to make the great stand against Wolfe and his fleet. + +"It is a broad trail because many Frenchmen and Indians make it," said +the Onondaga. "As I have said, Sharp Sword and Tandakora do not like +each other, but circumstances make them allies. They have rejoined and +they go together to Quebec. Here is the trail of at least three hundred +men, perhaps two hundred Frenchmen and a hundred warriors. The footsteps +of Sharp Sword are unmistakable, and so are those of Tandakora. Behold +their great size, Dagaeoga; and here are the prints of boots which +belong to De Courcelles and Jumonville. I have seen them often before, +Dagaeoga. How could you believe they might have been left by somebody +else?" + +"I see nothing but some faint traces in the earth," said Robert. "If you +didn't tell me, I wouldn't be even sure that they were made by a man." + +"But they are plain to us who were born in the woods, and whose +ancestors have lived in the woods since the beginning of the world. It +is where we are superior to the white man, much as the white man thinks +of his wisdom, though there be those, like the Great Bear, the Mountain +Wolf and Black Rifle, who know much. But the feet of the two Frenchmen +who love not Dagaeoga have passed here." + +"It is true they do not love me, Tayoga. I wounded one of them last +year, shortly before Ticonderoga, as you know, and I fancy that I'd +receive short shrift from either if I fell into his hands." + +"That is so. But Dagaeoga will not let himself be captured again. He has +been captured often enough now." + +"I don't seem to be any the worse for it," said Robert, laughing. +"You're right, though, Tayoga. For me to be captured once more would be +once too much. As St. Luc doesn't like Tandakora, I imagine you don't +see him walking with them." + +"I do not, Dagaeoga. Sharp Sword keeps by himself, and now De Courcelles +and Jumonville walk with the Ojibway chief. Here are their three trails, +that of Tandakora between the other two. Doubtless the two Frenchmen are +trying to make him their friend, and it is equally sure that they speak +ill to him of St. Luc. But Sharp Sword does not care. He expects little +from Tandakora and his warriors. He is thinking of Quebec and the great +fight that Montcalm must make there against Wolfe. He is eager to arrive +at Stadacona, which you call Quebec, and help Montcalm. He knows that it +is all over here on Andiatarocte and Oneadatote, that Ticonderoga is +lost forever, that Crown Point is lost forever, and that Isle-aux-Noix +must go in time, but he hopes for Stadacona. Yet Sharp Sword is +depressed. He does not walk with his usual spring and courage. His paces +are shorter, and they are shorter because his footsteps drag. Truly, it +was a dagger in the heart of Sharp Sword to give up Ticonderoga and +Crown Point." + +"I can believe you, Tayoga," said Willet. "It's bitter to lose such +lakes and such a land, and the French have fought well for them. Do you +think there's any danger of our running into an ambush? It would be like +Tandakora to lie in wait for pursuers." + +"I am not sure, Great Bear. He, like the Frenchman, is in a great hurry +to reach Stadacona." + +An hour or two later they came to a dead campfire of St. Luc's force, +and, a little farther on, a new trail, coming from the west, joined the +Chevalier's. They surmised that it had been made by a band from Niagara +or some other fallen French fort in that direction, and that everywhere +along the border Montcalm was drawing in his lines that he might +concentrate his full strength at Quebec to meet the daring challenge of +Wolfe. + +"But I take it that the drawing in of the French won't keep down +scalping parties of the warriors," said Willet. "If they can find +anything on the border to raid, they'll raid it." + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "It may be that Tandakora and his warriors will +turn aside soon to see if they cannot ambush somebody." + +"In that case it will be wise for us to watch out for ourselves. You +think Tandakora may leave St. Luc and lie in wait, perhaps, for us?" + +"For any one who may come. He does not yet know that it is the Great +Bear, Dagaeoga and I who follow. Suppose we go on a while longer and see +if he leaves the main trail. Is it the wish of Great Bear and Dagaeoga?" + +"It is," they replied together. + +They advanced several hours, and then the great trail split, or rather +it threw off a stem that curved to the west. + +"It is made by about twenty warriors," said Tayoga, "and here are the +huge footsteps of Tandakora in the very center of it. I think they will +go northwest a while, and then come back toward the main trail, hoping +to trap any one who may be rash enough to follow Sharp Sword. But, if +the Great Bear and Dagaeoga wish it, we will pursue Tandakora himself +and ambush him when he is expecting to ambush others." + +The dark eyes of the Onondaga gleamed. + +"I can see, Tayoga, that you're hoping for a chance to settle that score +between you and the Ojibway," said the hunter. "Maybe you'll get it this +time, and maybe you won't, but I'm willing to take the trail after him, +and so is Robert here. We may stop a lot of mischief." + +It was then about two o'clock in the afternoon, and, as Tayoga said that +Tandakora's trail was not more than a few hours old, they pushed on +rapidly, hoping to stalk his camp that very night. The traces soon +curved back toward St. Luc's and they knew they were right in their +surmise that an ambush was being laid by the Ojibway. He and his +warriors would halt in the dense bush beside the great trail and shoot +down any who followed. + +"We'll shatter his innocent little plan," said Willet, his spirits +mounting at the prospect. + +"Tandakora will not build a fire to-night," said Tayoga. "He will wait +in the darkness beside Sharp Sword's path, hoping that some one will +come. He will lie in the forest like a panther waiting to spring on its +prey." + +"And we'll just disturb that panther a little," said Robert, +appreciating the merit of their enterprise, which now seemed to all +three a kind of great game. + +"Aye, we'll make Tandakora think all the spirits of earth and air are +after him," said Willet. + +They now moved with great caution as the trail was growing quite fresh. + +"We will soon be back to Sharp Sword's line of march," said Tayoga, "and +I think we will find Tandakora and his warriors lying in the bushes not +more than a mile ahead." + +They redoubled their caution, and, when they approached a dense thicket, +Robert and Willet lay down and Tayoga went on, creeping on hands and +knees. In a half hour he came back and said that Tandakora and his band +were in the thicket watching the great trail left by St. Luc. + +"The Ojibway does not dream that he himself is being watched," said the +Onondaga, "and now I think we would better eat a little food from our +knapsacks and wait until the dark night that is promised has fully +come." + +Tayoga's report was wholly true. Tandakora and twenty fierce warriors +lay in the thicket, waiting to fall upon those who might follow the +trail of St. Luc. He had no doubt that a force of some kind would come. +The Bostonnais and the English always followed a retreating enemy, and +experience never kept them from walking into an ambush. Tandakora was +already counting the scalps he would take, and his savage heart was +filled with delight. He had been aghast when Bourlamaque abandoned +Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Throughout the region over which he had +been roaming for three or four years the Bostonnais would be triumphant. +Andiatarocte and Oneadatote would pass into their possession forever. +The Ojibway chief belonged far to the westward, to the west of the Great +Lakes, but the great war had called him, like so many others of the +savage tribes, into the east, and he had been there so long that he had +grown to look upon the country as his own, or at least held by him and +his like in partnership with the French, a belief confirmed by the great +victories at Duquesne and Oswego, William Henry and Ticonderoga. + +Now Tandakora's whole world was overthrown. The French were withdrawing +into Canada. St. Luc, whom he did not like, but whom he knew to be a +great warrior, was retreating in haste, and the invincible Montcalm was +beleaguered in Quebec. He would have to go too, but he meant to take +scalps with him. Bostonnais were sure to appear on the trail, and they +would come in the night, pursuing St. Luc. It was a good night for such +work as his, heavy with clouds and very dark. He would creep close and +strike before his presence was even suspected. + +Tandakora lay quiet with his warriors, while night came and its darkness +grew, and he listened for the sound of men on the trail. Instead he +heard the weird, desolate cry of an owl to his left, and then the +equally lone and desolate cry of another to his right. But the warriors +still lay quiet. They had heard owls often and were not afraid of them. +Then the cry came from the north, and now it was repeated from the +south. There was a surfeit of owls, very much too many of them, and they +called to one another too much. Tandakora did not like it. It was almost +like a visitation of evil spirits. Those weird, long-drawn cries, +singularly piercing on a still night, were bad omens. Some of his +warriors stirred and became uneasy, but Tandakora quieted them sternly +and promised that the Bostonnais would soon be along. Hope aroused +again, the men plucked up courage and resumed their patient waiting. + +Then the cry of the panther, long drawn, wailing like the shriek of a +woman, came from the east and the west, and presently from the north and +the south also, followed soon by the dreadful hooting of the owls, and +then by the fierce growls of the bear. Tandakora, in spite of himself, +in spite of his undoubted courage, in spite of his vast experience in +the forest, shuddered. The darkness was certainly full of wicked +spirits, and they were seeking prey. So many owls and bears and panthers +could not be abroad at once in a circle about him. But Tandakora shook +himself and resolved to stand fast. He encouraged his warriors, who were +already showing signs of fright, and refused to let any one go. + +But the forest chorus grew. Tandakora heard the gobble of the wild +turkey as he used to hear it in his native west, only he was sure that +the gobble now was made by a spirit and not by a real turkey. Then the +owl hooted, the panther shrieked and the bear growled. The cry of a +moose, not any moose at all, as Tandakora well knew, but the foul +emanation of a wicked spirit, came, merely to be succeeded by the weird +cries of night birds which the Ojibway chief had never seen, and of +which he had never dreamed. He knew, though, that they must be hideous, +misshapen creatures. But he still stood fast, although all of his +warriors were eager to go, and the demon chorus came nearer and nearer, +multiplying its cries, and adding to the strange notes of birds the +equally strange notes of animals, worse even than the growl of bear or +shriek of panther. + +Tandakora knew now that the wicked spirits of earth and air were abroad +in greater numbers than he had ever known before. They fairly swarmed +all about him and his warriors, continually coming closer and closer and +making dire threats. The night was particularly suited to them. The +heavy black clouds floating before the moon and stars were met by thick +mists and vapors that fairly oozed out of the damp earth. It was an evil +night, full of spells and magic, and the moment came when the chief +wished he was in his own hunting grounds far to the west by the greatest +of the Great Lakes. + +The darkness was not too great for him to see several of his warriors +trembling and he rebuked them fiercely, though his own nerves, tough as +they were, were becoming frayed and uneasy. He forgot to watch the trail +and listen for the sound of footsteps. All his attention was centered +upon that horrible and circling chorus of sound. The Bostonnais might +come and pass and he would not see them. He went into the forest a +little way, trying to persuade himself that they were really persecuted +by animals. He would find one of these annoying panthers or bears and +shoot it, or he would not even hesitate to send a bullet through an owl +on a bough, but he saw nothing, and, as he went back to his warriors, a +hideous snapping and barking of wolves followed him. + +The note of the wolf had not been present hitherto in the demon chorus, +but now it predominated. What it lacked in the earliness of coming it +made up in the vigor of arrival. It had in it all the human qualities, +that is, the wicked or menacing ones--hunger, derision, revenge, desire +for blood and threat of death. Tandakora, veteran of a hundred battles, +one of the fiercest warriors that ever ranged the woods, shook. His +blood turned to water, ice water at that, and the bones of his gigantic +frame seemed to crumble. He knew, as all the Indians knew, that the +souls of dead warriors, usually those who had been wicked in life, +dwelled for a while in the bodies of animals, preferably those of +wolves, and the wolves about him were certainly inhabited by the worst +warriors that had ever lived. In every growl and snap and bark there was +a threat. He could hear it, and he knew it was meant for him. But what +he feared most of all was the deadly whine with which growl, snap and +bark alike ended. Perspiration stood out on his face, but he could not +afford to show fear to his men, and, retreating slowly, he rejoined +them. He would make no more explorations in the haunted wood that lay +all about them. + +As the chief went back to his men the snarling and snapping of the demon +wolves distinctly expressed laughter, derision of the most sinister +kind. They were not only threatening him, they were laughing at him, and +his bones continued to crumble through sheer weakness and fear. It was +not worth while for him to fire at any of the sounds. The bullet might +go through a wolf, but it would not hurt him, it would merely increase +his ferocity and make him all the more hungry for the blood of +Tandakora. + +The band pressed close together as the wolves growled and snapped all +about them, but the warriors still saw nothing. How could they see +anything when such wolves had the power of making themselves invisible? +But their claws would tear and their teeth would rend just the same when +they sprang upon their victims, and now they were coming so close that +they might make a spring, the prodigious kind of spring that a demon +wolf could make. + +It was more than Tandakora and his warriors could stand. Human beings, +white or red, they would fight, but not the wicked and powerful spirits +of earth and air which were now closing down upon them. The chief could +resist no longer. He uttered a great howl of fear, which was taken up +and repeated in a huge chorus by his warriors. Then, and by the same +impulse, they burst from the thicket, rushed into St. Luc's trail and +sped northward at an amazing pace. + +Tayoga, Willet and Robert emerged from the woods, lay down in the trail +and panted for breath. + +"Well, that's the easiest victory we ever gained," said Robert. "Even +easier than one somewhat like it that I won on the island." + +"I don't know about that," gasped Willet. "It's hard work being an owl +and a bear and a panther and a wolf and trying, too, to be in three or +four places at the same time. I worked hardest as a wolf toward the +last; every muscle in me is tired, and I think my throat is the most +tired of all. I must lie by for a day." + +"Great Bear is a splendid animal," said Tayoga in his precise, book +English, "nor is he wanting as a bird, either. I think he turned himself +into birds that were never seen in this world, and they were very +dreadful birds, too. But he excelled most as a wolf. His growling and +snapping and whining were better than that of ninety-nine out of a +hundred wolves, only a master wolf could have equaled it, and when I +stood beside him I was often in fear lest he turn and tear me to pieces +with tooth and claw." + +"Tandakora was in mortal terror," said Robert, who was not as tired as +the others, who had done most of the work in the demon chorus. "I caught +a glimpse of his big back, and I don't think I ever saw anybody run +faster. He'll not stop this side of the St. Lawrence, and you'll have to +postpone your vengeance a while, Tayoga." + +"I could have shot him down as he stood in the woods, shaking with +fear," said the Onondaga, "but that never would have done. That would +have spoiled our plan, and I must wait, as you say, Dagaeoga, to settle +the score with the Ojibway." + +"I think we'd better go into the bushes and sleep," said the hunter. +"Being a demon is hard work, and there is no further danger from the +warriors." + +But Robert, who was comparatively fresh, insisted on keeping the watch, +and the other two, lying down on their blankets, were soon in deep +slumber. The next day they shot a young bear, and had a feast in the +woods, a reward to which they thought themselves entitled after the +great and inspired effort they had made the night before. As they sat +around their cooking fire, eating the juicy steaks, they planned how +they should enter Canada and join Wolfe, still keeping their +independence as scouts and skirmishers. + +"Most of the country around the city is held by the English, or at least +they overrun it from time to time," said Willet, "and we ought to get +past the French villages in a single night. Then we can join whatever +part of the force we wish. I think it likely that we can be of most use +with the New England rangers, who are doing a lot of the scouting and +skirmishing for Wolfe." + +"But I want to see the Royal Americans first," said Robert. "I heard in +Boston that Colden, Wilton, Carson, Stuart and Cabell had gone on with +them, and I know that Grosvenor is there with his regiment. I should +like to see them all again." + +"And so would I," said the hunter. "A lot of fine lads. I hope that all +of them will come through the campaign alive." + +They traveled the whole of the following night and remained in the +forest through the day, and following this plan they arrived before +Quebec without adventure, finding the army of Wolfe posted along the St. +Lawrence, his fleet commanding the river, but the army of Montcalm +holding Quebec and all the French elated over the victory of the +Montmorency River. Robert went at once to the camp of the Royal +Americans, where Colden was the first of his friends whom he saw. The +Philadelphian, like all the others, was astounded and delighted. + +"Lennox!" he exclaimed, grasping his hand. "I heard that you were dead, +killed by a spy named Garay, and your body thrown into the Hudson, where +it was lost! Now, I know that reports are generally lies! And you're no +ghost. 'Tis a solid hand that I hold in mine!" + +"I'm no ghost, though I did vanish from the world for a while," said +Robert. "But, as you see, I've come back and I mean to have a part in +the taking of Quebec." + +Wilton and Carson, Stuart and Cabell soon came, and then Grosvenor, and +every one in his turn welcomed Robert back from the dead, after which he +gave to them collectively a rapid outline of his story. + +"'Tis a strange tale, a romance," said Grosvenor. "It's evident that +it's not intended you shall lose your life in this war, Lennox. What has +become of that wonderful Onondaga Indian, Tayoga, and the great hunter, +Willet?" + +"They're both here. You shall see them before the day is over. But what +is the feeling in the army?" + +"We're depressed and the French are elated. It's because we lost the +Montmorency battle. The Royal Americans and the Grenadiers were too +impulsive. We tried to rush slopes damp and slippery from rain, and we +were cut up. I received a wound there, and so did Wilton, but neither +amounts to anything, and I want to tell you, Lennox, that, although +we're depressed, we're not withdrawing. Our general is sick a good deal, +but the sicker he grows the braver he grows. We hang on. The French say +we can continue hanging on, and then the winter will drive us away. You +know what the Quebec winter is. But we'll see. Maybe something will +happen before winter comes." + +As Robert turned away from the little group he came face to face with a +tall young officer dressed with scrupulousness and very careful of his +dignity. + +"Charteris!"[A] he exclaimed. + +"Lennox!" + +They shook hands with the greatest surprise and pleasure. + +"When I last saw you at Ticonderoga you were a prisoner of the French," +said Robert. + +"And so were you." + +"But I escaped in a day or two." + +"I escaped also, though not in a day or two. I was held a prisoner in +Quebec all through the winter and spring and much befell me, but at last +I escaped to General Wolfe and rejoined my old command, the Royal +Americans." + +"And he took part in the battle of Montmorency, a brave part too," said +Colden. + +"No braver than the others. No more than you yourself, Colden," +protested Charteris. + +"And 'tis said that, though he left Quebec in the night, he left his +heart there in the possession of a very lovely lady who speaks French +better than she speaks English," said Colden. + +"'Tis not a subject of which you have definite information," rejoined +Charteris, flushing very red and then laughing. + +But Colden, suspecting that his jest was truth rather, had too much +delicacy to pursue the subject. Later in the day Robert returned with +Willet and Tayoga and they had a reunion. + +"When we take Quebec," said Tayoga to Grosvenor, "Red Coat must go back +with us into the wilderness and learn to become a great warrior. We can +go beyond the Great Lakes and stay two or three years." + +"I wish I could," laughed Grosvenor, "but that is one of the things I +must deny myself. If the war should be finished, I shall have to return +to England." + +"St. Luc is in Quebec," said Willet. "We followed his trail a long +distance." + +"Which means that our task here will be the harder," said Colden. + +Robert went with Willet, Charteris and Tayoga the next day to Monckton's +camp at Point Levis, whence the English batteries had poured destruction +upon the lower town of Quebec, firing across the St. Lawrence, that most +magnificent of all rivers, where its channel was narrow. He could see +the houses lying in ashes or ruins, but above them the French flag +floated defiantly over the upper city. + +"Montcalm and his lieutenants made great preparations to receive General +Wolfe," said Charteris. "As I was in Quebec then, I know something +about them, and I've learned more since I escaped. They threw up +earthworks, bastions and redoubts almost all the way from Quebec to +Montcalm's camp at Beauport. Over there at Beauport the Marquis' first +headquarters were located in a big stone house. Across the mouth of the +St. Charles they put a great boom of logs, fastened together by chains, +and strengthened further by two cut-down ships on which they mounted +batteries. Forces passing between the city and the Beauport camp crossed +the St. Charles on a bridge of boats, and each entrance of the bridge +was guarded by earthworks. In the city they closed and fortified every +gate, except the Palace Gate, through which they passed to the bridge or +from it. They had more than a hundred cannon on the walls, a floating +battery carried twelve more guns, and big ones too, and they had a lot +of gun-boats and fire ships and fire rafts. They gathered about fifteen +thousand men in the Beauport camp, besides Indians, with the regulars in +the center, and the militia on the flank. In addition to these there +were a couple of thousand in the city itself under De Ramesay, and I +think Montcalm had, all told, near to twenty thousand men, about double +our force, though 'tis true many of theirs are militia and we have a +powerful fleet. I suppose their numbers have not decreased, and it's a +great task we've undertaken, though I think we'll achieve it." + +Robert looked again and with great emotion upon Quebec, that heart and +soul of the French power in North America. Truly much water had flowed +down the St. Lawrence since he was there before. He could not forget the +thrill with which he had first approached it, nor could he forget those +gallant young Frenchmen who had given him a welcome, although he was +already, in effect, an official enemy. And then, too, he had seen Bigot, +Péan, Cadet and their corrupt group who were doing so much to wreck the +fortunes of New France. Not all the valor of Montcalm, De Levis, +Bourlamaque, St. Luc and the others could stay the work of their +destructive hands. + +The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small. It was +true! The years had passed. The French victories in North America had +been numerous. Again and again they had hurled back the English and +Americans, and year after year they had dammed the flood. They had +struck terrible blows at Duquesne and Oswego, at William Henry and at +Ticonderoga. But the mills of God ground on, and here at last was the +might of Britain before Quebec, and Robert's heart, loyal as he was to +the mother country, always throbbed with pride when he recalled that his +own Americans were there too, the New England rangers and the staunch +regiment of Royal Americans, the bravest of the brave, who had already +given so much of their blood at Montmorency. In these world-shaking +events the Americans played their splendid part beside their English +kin, as they were destined to do one hundred and fifty-nine years later +upon the soil of Europe itself, closing up forever, as most of us hope, +the cleavage between nations of the same language and same ideals. + +Robert looked long at Quebec on its heights, gleaming now in the sun +which turned it into a magic city, increasing its size, heightening the +splendor of the buildings and heightening, too, the formidable obstacles +over which Wolfe must prevail. Nature here had done wonders for the +defense. With its mighty river and mighty cliffs it seemed that a +capable general and a capable army could hold the city forever. + +"Aye, it's strong, Lennox," said Charteris, who read his thoughts. +"General Wolfe, as I know, has written back to England that it's the +strongest place in the world, and he may be right, but we've had some +successes here, mingled with some failures. Aside from the Battle of +Montmorency most of the land fighting has been in our favor, and our +command of the river through our fleet is a powerful factor in our +favor. Yet, the short Quebec summer draws to a close, and if we take the +city we must take it soon. General Wolfe is lying ill again in a farm +house, but his spirit is not quenched and all our operations are +directed from his sick bed." + +As Charteris spoke, the batteries on the Heights of Levis opened again, +pouring round shot, grape and canister upon the Lower Town. Fragments of +buildings crashed to the earth, and other fragments burst into flames. +Cannon on the frigates in the river also fired upon the devoted city and +from the great rock cannon replied. Coils of smoke arose, and, uniting +into a huge cloud, floated westward on the wind. It was a great +spectacle and Robert's heart throbbed. But he was sad too. He had much +pity for the people of Quebec, exposed to that terrible siege and the +rain of death. + +"We've ravaged a good deal of the country around Quebec," continued +Charteris. "It's hard, but we're trying to cut off the subsistence of +the French army, and, on the other hand, bands of their Indian allies +raid our outposts and take scalps. It's the New England rangers mostly +that deal with these war parties, in which the French and Canadians +themselves take a part." + +"Then Tandakora will find plenty of employment here," said Willet. +"Nothing will give him more joy than to steal upon a sentinel in the +dark and cut him down." + +"And while Tandakora hunts our people," said Tayoga, "we will hunt him. +What better work can we do, Great Bear, than to meet these raiding +parties?" + +"That's our task, Tayoga," replied the hunter. + +As they turned away from the Heights of Levis the batteries were still +thundering, pouring their terrible flood of destruction upon the Lower +Town, and far up on the cliffs cannon were firing at the ships in the +river. Robert looked back and his heart leaped as before. The eyes of +the world he knew were on Quebec, and well it deserved the gaze of the +nations. It was fitting that the mighty drama should be played out +there, on that incomparable stage, where earth rose up to make a fitting +channel for its most magnificent river. + +"It's all that you think it is," said Charteris, again reading his +thoughts; "a prize worth the efforts of the most warlike nations." + +"The Quebec of the English and French," said Tayoga, "but the lost +Stadacona of the Mohawks, lost to them forever. Whatever the issue of +the war the Mohawks will not regain their own." + +The others were silent, not knowing what to say. A little later a tall, +lank youth to whom Charteris gave a warm welcome met them. + +"Been taking a look at the town, Leftenant?" he said. + +"Aye, Zeb," replied Charteris. "I've been showing it to some friends of +mine who, however, have seen it before, though not under the same +conditions. These gentlemen are David Willet, Robert Lennox and Tayoga, +the Onondaga, and this is Zebedee Crane,[B] a wonderful scout to whom I +owe my escape from Quebec." + +Willet seized the lank lad's hand and gave it a warm grasp. + +"I've heard of you, Zeb Crane," he said. "You're from the Mohawk Valley +and you're one of the best scouts and trailers in the whole Province of +New York, or anywhere, for that matter." + +"And I've heard uv all three uv you," said the boy, looking at them +appreciatively. "I wuz at Ticonderogy, an' two uv you at least wuz thar. +I didn't git to see you, but I heard uv you. You're a great hunter, Mr. +Willet, whom the Iroquois call the Great Bear, an' ez fur Tayoga I know +that he belongs to the Clan of the Bear uv the nation Onondaga, an' that +he's the grandest trailer the world hez ever seed." + +Tayoga actually blushed under his bronze. + +"The flattery of my friends should be received at a heavy discount," he +said in his prim, precise English. + +"It ain't no flattery," said Zebedee. "It's the squar' an' solid truth. +I've heard tales uv you that are plum' impossible, but I know that they +hev happened all the same. Ef they wuz to tell me that you had tracked +the wild goose through the air or the leapin' salmon through the water +I'd believe 'em." + +"It would be very little exaggeration," said Robert, earnestly. "Be +quiet, Tayoga! If we want to sing your praises we'll sing 'em and you +can't help it." + +The five recrossed the river together, and went to Wolfe's camp below +the town facing the Montmorency, Charteris going back into camp with the +Royal Americans to whom he belonged, and the others going as free lances +with the New England rangers. Robert also resumed his acquaintance with +Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanhan of the _Hawk_, who were delighted to +meet him again. + +Soon they found that there was much for them to do. Robert's heart bled +at the sight of the devastated country. Houses and farms were in ruins +and their people fled. Everywhere war had blazed a red path. Nor was it +safe for the rangers unless they were in strong parties. Ferocious +Indians roamed about and cut off all stragglers, sometimes those of +their own French or Canadian allies. Once they came upon the trail of +Tandakora. They found the dead bodies of four English soldiers lying +beside an abandoned farm house, and Tayoga, looking at the traces in the +earth, told the tale as truly as if he had been there. + +"Tandakora and his warriors stood behind these vines," he said, going to +a little arbor. "See their traces and in the center of them the prints +left by the gigantic footsteps of the Ojibway chief. The house had been +plundered by some one, maybe by the warriors themselves, before the +soldiers came. Then the Ojibway and his band hid here and waited. It was +easy for them. The soldiers knew nothing of wilderness war, and they +came up to the house, unsuspecting. They were at the front door, when +Tandakora and his men fired. Three of them fell dead where they lie. The +fourth was wounded and tried to escape. Tandakora ran from behind the +vines. Here goes his trail and here he stopped, balanced himself and +threw his tomahawk." + +"And it clove the wounded soldier's head," said Robert. "Here he lies, +telling the rest of the tale." + +They buried the four, but they found new tragedies. Thus the month of +August with its successes and failures, its attacks and counter-attacks +dragged on, as the great siege of Quebec waged by Phipps and the New +Englanders nearly three-quarters of a century before had dragged. + + + [A] The story of Edward Charteris is told in the author's novel, "A + Soldier of Manhattan." + + [B] The story of Zeb Crane and his remarkable achievements is + contained in the author's novel, "A Soldier of Manhattan." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE LONE CHÂTEAU + + +Despite his courage and the new resolution that he had acquired during +his long months on the island, Robert's heart often sank. They seemed to +make no progress with the siege of Quebec. Just so far had they gone and +they could go no farther. The fortress of France in the New World +appeared impregnable. There it was, cut clear against the sky, the light +shining on its stone buildings, proud and defiant, saying with every new +day to those who attacked it that it could not be taken, while Montcalm, +De Levis, Bougainville, St. Luc and the others showed all their old +skill in defense. They heard too that Bourlamaque after his retreat from +Ticonderoga and Crown Point was sitting securely within his lines and +intrenchments at Isle-aux-Noix and that the cautious Amherst would delay +longer and yet longer. + +It was now certain that no help could be expected from Amherst and his +strong army that year. The most that he would do would be to keep +Bourlamaque and his men from coming to the relief of Quebec. So far as +the capital of New France was concerned the issue must be fought out by +the forces now gathered there for the defense and the offense, the +French and the Indians against the English and the Americans. + +Robert realized more keenly every day that the time was short and +becoming shorter. Hot summer days were passing, nights came on crisp and +cool, the foliage along the king of rivers and its tributaries began to +glow with the intense colors of decay, there was more than a touch of +autumn in the air. They must be up and doing before the fierce winter +came down on Quebec. Military operations would be impossible then. + +In this depressing time Robert drew much courage from Charteris, who had +been a prisoner a long time in Quebec, and who understood even more +thoroughly than young Lennox the hollowness of the French power in North +America. + +"It is upheld by a few brave and skillful men and a small but heroic +army," he said. "In effect, New France has been deserted by the Bourbon +monarchy. If it were not for the extraordinary situation of Quebec, +adapted so splendidly to purposes of defense, we could crush the Marquis +de Montcalm in a short time. The French regulars are as good as any +troops in the world and they will fight to the last, but the Canadian +militia is not disciplined well, and is likely to break under a fierce +attack. You know, Lennox, what militiamen always are, no matter to what +nation they belong. They may fight and die like heroes at one time, and, +at another time, they may run away at the first fire, struck with panic. +What we want is a fair chance at the French army in the open. General +Wolfe himself, though cursed by much illness, never loses hope. I've had +occasion to talk with him more than once owing to my knowledge of Quebec +and the surrounding country, and there's a spirit for you, Lennox. It's +in an ugly body but no man was ever animated by a finer temper and +courage." + +Robert and Charteris formed a great friendship, a true friendship that +lasted all their long lives. But then Robert had a singular faculty for +making friends. Charteris interested him vastly. He had a proud, +reserved and somewhat haughty nature. Many people thought him exclusive, +but Robert soon learned that his fastidiousness was due to a certain shy +quality, and a natural taste for the best in everything. Under his +apparent coldness lay a brave and staunch nature and an absolute +integrity. + +Robert's interest in Charteris was heightened by the delicate cloud of +romance that floated about him, a cloud that rose from the hints thrown +forth now and then by Zebedee Crane. The young French lady in Quebec who +loved him was as beautiful as the dawn and she had the spirit of a +queen. Charteris lived in the hope that they might take Quebec and her +with it. But Robert was far too fine of feeling ever to allude to such +an affair of the heart to Charteris, or in truth to any one else. + +It was a period of waiting and yet it was a period of activity. The +partisans were incessant in their ways. Robert heard that his old +friend, Langlade, was leading a numerous band against the English, and +the evidences of Tandakora's murderous ferocity multiplied. Nor were the +outlying French themselves safe from him. News arrived that he intended +an attack upon a château called Chatillard farther up the river but +within the English lines. A band of the New England rangers, led by +Willet, was sent to drive him off, and to destroy the Ojibway pest, if +possible. Robert, Tayoga and Zeb Crane went with him. + +They arrived at the château just before twilight. It was a solid stone +building overlooking the St. Lawrence, and the lands about it had a +narrow frontage on the river, but it ran back miles after the old French +custom in making such grants, in order that every estate might have a +river landing. Willet's troops numbered about forty men, and, respecting +the aged M. de Chatillard, who was quite ill and in bed, they did not +for the present go into the house, eating their own supper on the long, +narrow lawn, which was thick with dwarfed and clipped pines and other +shrubbery. + +But they lighted no fires, and they kept very quiet, since they wished +for Tandakora to walk into an ambush. The information, most of which had +been obtained by Zeb Crane, was to the effect that Tandakora believed a +guard of English soldiers was in the house. After his custom he would +swoop down upon them, slaughter them, and then be up and away. It was a +trick in which the savage heart of the Ojibway delighted, and he had +achieved it more than once. + +The August night came down thick and dark. A few lights shone in the +Château de Chatillard, but Willet and his rangers stood in black gloom. +Almost at their feet the great St. Lawrence flowed in its mighty +channel, a dim blue under the dusky sky. Nothing was visible there save +the slow stream, majestic, an incalculable weight of water. Nothing +appeared upon its surface, and the far shore was lost in the night. It +seemed to Robert, despite the stone walls of the château by their side, +that they were back in the wilderness. It was a northern wilderness too. +The light wind off the river made him shiver. + +The front door of the house opened and a figure outlined against the +light appeared. It was an old man in a black robe, tall, thin and +ascetic, and Robert seeing him so clearly in the light of a lamp that he +held in his hand recognized him at once. It was Father Philibert +Drouillard, the same whom he had defeated in the test of oratory in the +vale of Onondaga before the wise sachems, when so much depended on +victory. + +"Father Drouillard!" he exclaimed impulsively, stepping forward out of +the shadows. + +"Who is it who speaks?" asked the priest, holding the lamp a little +higher. + +"Father Drouillard, don't you know me?" exclaimed Robert, advancing +within the circle of light. + +"Ah, it is young Lennox!" said the priest. "What a meeting! And under +what circumstances!" + +"And there are others here whom you know," said Robert. "Look, this is +David Willet who commands us, and here also is Tayoga, whom you remember +in the vale of Onondaga." + +Father Drouillard saluted them gravely. + +"You are the enemies of my country," he said, "but I will not deny that +I am glad to see you here. I understand that the savage, Tandakora, +means to attack this house to-night, thinking that it holds a British +garrison. Well, it seems that he will not be far wrong in his thought." + +A ghost of a smile flickered over the priest's pale face. + +"A garrison but not the garrison that he expects to destroy," said +Willet. "Tandakora fights nominally under the flag of France, but as you +know, Father, he fights chiefly to gratify his own cruel desires." + +"I know it too well. Come inside. M. de Chatillard wishes to see you." + +Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Zeb Crane went in, and were shown into the +bedroom where the Seigneur Louis Henri Anatole de Chatillard, past +ninety years of age, lay upon his last bed. He was a large, handsome old +man, fair like so many of the Northern French, and his dying eyes were +full of fire. Two women of middle years, his granddaughters, knelt +weeping by each side of his bed, and two servants, tears on their faces, +stood at the foot. Willet and his comrades halted respectfully at the +door. + +"Step closer," said the old man, "that I may see you well." + +The four entered and stood within the light shed by two tall candles. +The old man gazed at them a long time in silence, but finally he said: + +"And so the English have come at last." + +"We're not English, M. de Chatillard," said Willet, "we're Americans, +Bostonnais, as you call us." + +"It is the same. You are but the children of the English and you fight +together against us. You increase too fast in the south. You thrive in +your towns and in the woods, and you send greater and greater numbers +against us. But you cannot take Quebec. The capital of New France is +inviolate." + +Willet said nothing. How could he argue with a man past ninety who lay +upon his dying bed? + +"You cannot take Quebec," repeated M. de Chatillard, rising, strength +showing in his voice. "The Bostonnais have come before. It was in +Frontenac's time nearly three-quarters of a century ago, when Phipps and +his armada from New England arrived before Quebec. I was but a lad then +newly come from France, but the great governor, Frontenac, made ready +for them. We had batteries in the Sault-au-Matelot on Palace Hill, on +Mount Carmel, before the Jesuits' college, in the Lower Town and +everywhere. Three-quarters of a century ago did I say? No, it was +yesterday! I remember how we fought. Frontenac was a great man as +Montcalm is!" + +"Peace, M. de Chatillard," said Father Drouillard soothingly. "You speak +of old, old times and old, old things!" + +"They were the days of my youth," said the old man, "and they are not +old to me. It was a great siege, but the valor of France and Canada were +not to be overcome. The armies and ships of the Bostonnais went back +whence they came, and the new invasion of the Bostonnais will have no +better fate." + +Willet was still silent. He saw that the old siege of Quebec was much +more in M. de Chatillard's mind than the present one, and if he could +pass away in the odor of triumph the hunter would not willingly change +it. + +"Who is the youth who stands near you?" said M. de Chatillard, looking +at Robert. + +"He is Robert Lennox of the Province of New York," replied Father +Drouillard, speaking for Willet. "One of the Bostonnais, but a good +youth." + +"One of the Bostonnais! Then I do not know him! I thought for a moment +that I saw in him the look of some one else, but maybe I was mistaken. +An old man cheats himself with fancies. Lad, come thou farther into the +light and let me see thee more clearly." + +The tone of command was strong in his voice, and Robert, obeying it, +stepped close to the bed. The old man raised his head a little, and +looked at him long with hawk's eyes. Robert felt that intent gaze +cutting into him, but he did not move. Then the Seigneur Louis Henri +Anatole de Chatillard laughed scornfully and said to Father Drouillard: + +"Why do you deceive me, Father? Why do you tell me that is one, Robert +Lennox, a youth of the Bostonnais, who stands before me, when my own +eyes tell me that it is the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, come as +befits a soldier of France to say farewell to an old man before he +dies." + +Robert felt an extraordinary thrill of emotion. M. de Chatillard, seeing +with the eyes of the past, had taken him for the Chevalier. But why? + +"It is not the Chevalier de St. Luc," said Father Drouillard, gently. +"It is the lad, Robert Lennox, from the Province of New York." + +"But it is St. Luc!" insisted the old man. "The face is the same, the +eyes are the same! Should I not know? I have known the Chevalier, and +his father and grandfather before him." + +The priest signed to Robert, and he withdrew into the shadow of the +room. Then Father Drouillard whispered into M. de Chatillard's ear, one +of the servants gave him medicine from a glass, and presently he sank +into quiet, seeming to be conscious no longer of the presence of the +strangers. Willet, Robert and the others withdrew softly. Robert was +still influenced by strong emotion. Did he look like St. Luc? And why? +What was the tie between them? The question that had agitated him so +often stirred him anew. + +"Very old men, when they come to their last hours, have many illusions," +said Willet. + +"It may be so," said Robert, "but it was strange that he should take me +for St. Luc." + +Willet was silent. Robert saw that as usual the hunter did not wish to +make any explanations, but he felt once more that the time for the +solution of his problem was not far away. He could afford to wait. + +"The Seigneur cannot live to know whether Quebec will fall," said +Tayoga. + +"No," said Willet, "and it's just as well. His time runs out. His mind +at the last will be filled with the old days when Frontenac held the +town against the New Englanders." + +The rangers were disposed well about the house, and they also watched +the landing. Tandakora and his men might come in canoes, stealing along +in the shadow of the high cliffs, or they might creep through the fields +and forest. Zeb Crane, who could see in the dark like an owl and who had +already proved his great qualities as a scout and ranger, watched at the +river, and Willet with Robert and Tayoga was on the land side. But they +learned there was another château landing less than a quarter of a mile +lower down, and Tandakora, coming on the river, might use that, and yet +make his immediate approach by land. + +Willet stood by a grape arbor with Robert and the Onondaga, and watched +with eye and ear. + +"Tandakora is sure to come," said the hunter. "It's just such a night as +he loves. Little would he care whether he found English or French in the +house; if not the English whom he expects, then the French, and dead men +have nothing to say, nor dead women either. It may be, Tayoga, that you +will have your chance to-night to settle your score with him." + +"I do not think so, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga. "The night is so +dark that I cannot see Tododaho on his star, but no whisper from him +reaches me. I think that when the time comes for the Ojibway and me to +see which shall continue to live, Tododaho or the spirits in the air +will give warning." + +Robert shivered a little. Tayoga's tone was cool and matter of fact, but +his comrades knew that he was in deadly earnest. At the appointed time +he and Tandakora would fight their quarrel out, fight it to the death. +In the last analysis Tayoga was an Indian, strong in Indian customs and +beliefs. + +"Tandakora will come about an hour before midnight," said the Onondaga, +"because it will be very dark then and there will yet be plenty of time +for his work. He will expect to find everybody asleep, save perhaps an +English sentinel whom he can easily tomahawk in the darkness. He does +not know that the old Seigneur lies dying, and that they watch by his +bed." + +"In that case," said the hunter with his absolute belief in all that +Tayoga said, "we can settle ourselves for quite a wait." + +They relapsed into silence and Robert began to look at the light that +shone from the bedroom of M. de Chatillard, the only light in the house +now visible. He was an old, old man between ninety and a hundred, and +Willett was right in saying that he might well pass on before the fate +of Quebec was decided. Robert was sure that it was going to fall, and M. +de Chatillard at the end of a long, long life would be spared a great +blow. But what a life! What events had been crowded into his three +generations of living! He could remember Le Grand Monarque, The Sun King +and the buildings of Versailles. He was approaching middle age when +Blenheim was fought. He could remember mighty battles, great changes, +and the opening of new worlds, and like Virgil's hero, he had been a +great part of them. That was a life to live, and, if Quebec were going +to fall, it was well that M. de Chatillard with his more than ninety +years should cease to live, before the sun of France set in North +America. Yes, Willet was right. + +A long time passed and Tayoga, lying down with his ear to the earth, was +listening. It was so dark now that hearing, not sight, must tell when +Tandakora came. + +"I go into the forest," whispered the Onondaga, "but I return soon." + +"Don't take any needless risks," said Willet. + +Tayoga slipped into the dusk, fading from sight like a wraith, but in +five minutes he came back. + +"Tandakora is at hand," he whispered. "He lies with his warriors in the +belt of pine woods. They are watching the light in the Seigneur's +window, but presently they will steal upon the house." + +"And find us on watch," said Willet, an exultant tone appearing in his +voice. "To the landing, Robert, and tell Zeb they're here on our side." + +The lank lad returned with Robert, though he left part of his men at +that point to guard against surprise, and the bulk of the force, under +Willet, crowded behind the grape arbor awaiting the onslaught of +Tandakora who, they knew, would come in caution and silence. + +Another period that seemed to Robert interminable, though it was not +more than half an hour, passed, and then he saw dimly a gigantic figure, +made yet greater by the dusk. He knew that it was Tandakora and his hand +slid to the trigger and hammer of his rifle. But he knew also that he +would not fire. It was no part of their plan to give an alarm so early. +The Ojibway vanished and then he thought he caught the gleam of a +uniform. So, a Frenchman, probably an officer, was with the warriors! + +"They have scouted about the house somewhat," whispered Tayoga, "and +they think the soldiers are inside." + +"In that case," Willet whispered back, "they'll break down the front +door and rush in for slaughter." + +"So they will. It is likely that they are looking now for a big log." + +Soon a long, dark shape emerged from the dark, a shape that looked like +one of the vast primeval saurians. It was a dozen warriors carrying the +trunk of a small tree, and all molded into one by the dusk. They +gathered headway, as they advanced, and it was a powerful door that +could withstand their blow. One of the ambushed rangers moved a little, +and, in doing so, made a noise. Quick as a flash the warriors dropped +the log, and another farther back fired at the noise. + +"Give it to 'em, lads!" cried Willet. + +A score of rifles flashed and the warriors replied instantly, but they +were caught at a disadvantage. They had come there for rapine and +murder, expecting an easy victory, and while Tandakora rallied them they +were no match for the rangers, led by such men as Willet and his +lieutenants. The battle, fierce and sanguinary, though it was, lasted a +bare five minutes and then the Ojibway and those of his band who +survived took to flight. Robert caught a glimpse among the fleeing men +of one whom he knew to be the spy, Garay. Stirred by a fierce impulse he +fired at him, but missed in the dusk, and then Garay vanished with the +others. Robert, however, did not believe that he had been recognized by +the spy and he was glad of it. He preferred that Garay should consider +him dead, and then he would be free of danger from that source. + +The firing was succeeded by a few minutes of intense silence and then +the great door of the Château de Chatillard opened again. Once more +Father Drouillard stood on the step, holding a lamp in his hand. + +"It is over, Father," said Willet. "We've driven off part of 'em and the +others lie here." + +"I heard the noise of the battle from within," said Father Drouillard +calmly, "and for the first time in my life I prayed that the Bostonnais +might win." + +"If you don't mind, Father, bring the lamp, and let us see the fallen. +There must be at least fifteen here." + +Father Drouillard, holding the light high, walked out upon the lawn with +steady step. + +"Here is a Montagnais," said Willet, "and this a St. Regis, and this a +St. Francis, and this a Huron, and this an Ojibway from the far west! +Ah, and here is a Frenchman, an officer, too, and he isn't quite dead! +Hold the lamp a little closer, will you, Father?" + +The priest threw the rays of the lamp upon the figure. + +"Jumonville!" exclaimed Robert. + +It was in truth François de Jumonville, shot through the body and dying, +slain in a raid for the sake of robbery and murder. When he saw the +faces of white men looking down at him, he raised himself feebly on one +elbow and said: + +"It is you again, Willet, and you, too, Lennox and Tayoga. Always across +my path, but for the last time, because I'm going on a long journey, +longer than any I ever undertook before." + +Father Drouillard fell on his knees and said a prayer for the dying man. +Robert looked down pityingly. He realized then that he hated nobody. +Life was much too busy an affair for the cherishing of hate and the +plotting of revenge. Jumonville had done him as much injury as he could, +but he was sorry for him, and had he been able to stay the ebbing of his +life, he would have done so. As the good priest finished his prayer the +head of François de Jumonville fell back. He was dead. + +"We will take his body into the house," said Father Drouillard, "prepare +it for the grave and give him Christian burial. I cannot forget that he +was an officer of France." + +"And my men shall help you," said Willet. + +They carried the body of Jumonville into the château and put it on a +bench, while the servants, remarkably composed, used as they were to +scenes of violence, began at once to array it for the grave. + +"Come into the Seigneur's room," said Father Drouillard, and Robert and +Willet followed him into the old man's chamber. M. de Chatillard lay +silent and rigid. He, too, had gone on the longest of all journeys. + +"His soul fled," said Father Drouillard, "when the battle outside was at +its height, but his mind then was not here. It was far back in the past, +three-quarters of a century since when Frontenac and Phipps fought +before Quebec, and he was little more than a lad in the thick of the +combat. I heard him say aloud: 'The Bostonnais are going. Quebec remains +ours!' and in that happy moment his soul fled." + +"A good ending," said Willet gravely, "and I, one of the Bostonnais, am +far from grudging him that felicity. Can my men help you with the +burial, Father? We remain here for the rest of the night at least." + +"If you will," said Father Drouillard. + +Zeb Crane touched Robert on the arm a little later. + +"Tayoga has come back," he said. + +"I didn't know he'd gone away," said Robert surprised. + +"He pursued Tandakora into the dark. Mebbe he thought Tododaho was wrong +and that the time for him to settle score with the Ojibway had re'lly +come. Any way he wuz off after him like an arrer from the bow." + +Robert went outside and found Tayoga standing quietly by the front door. + +"Did you overtake him?" he asked. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "I knew that I could not, because Tododaho +had not whispered to me that the time was at hand, but, since I had seen +him and he was running away, I felt bound to pursue him. The legs of +Tandakora are long, and he fled with incredible speed. I followed him to +the landing of the next château, where he ran down the slope, leaped +into a canoe, and disappeared into the mists and vapors that hang so +heavily over the river. His time is not yet." + +"It seems not, but at any rate we inflicted a very thorough defeat upon +him to-night. His band is annihilated." + +The bodies of all the fallen warriors were buried the next day, and +decent burial was also given to Jumonville. But that of the Seigneur de +Chatillard was still lying in state when Willet and the rangers left. + +"If you wish," said the hunter to Father Drouillard, "I can procure you +a pass through our lines, and you can return that way to the city. We +don't make war on priests." + +"I thank you," said Father Drouillard, "but I do not need it. It is easy +for me to go into Quebec, whenever I choose, but, for a day or two, my +duty will lie here. To-morrow we bury the Seigneur, and after that must +put this household in order. Though one of the Bostonnais, you are a +good man, David Willet. Take care of yourself, and of the lad, Robert +Lennox." + +The hunter promised and, saying farewell to the priest, they went back +to Wolfe's camp, east of the Montmorency, across which stream De Levis +lay facing them. During their absence a party of skirmishers had been +cut off by St. Luc, and the whole British army had been disturbed by the +activities of the daring Chevalier. But, on the other hand, Wolfe was +recovering from a serious illness. The sound mind was finding for itself +a sounder body, and he was full of ideas, all of the boldest kind, to +take Quebec. If one plan failed he devised another. He thought of +fording the Montmorency several miles above its mouth, and of attacking +Montcalm in his Beauport camp while another force made a simultaneous +attack upon him in front. He had a second scheme to cross the river, +march along the edge of the St. Lawrence, and then scale the rock of +Quebec, and a third for a general attack upon Montcalm's army in its +Beauport intrenchments. And he had two or three more that were +variations of the first three, but his generals, Murray, Monckton and +Townshend, would not agree to any one of them, and he searched his +fertile mind for still another. + +But a brave general, even, might well have despaired. The siege made no +apparent progress. Nothing could diminish the tremendous strength that +nature had given to the position of Quebec, and the skill of Montcalm, +Bougainville, and St. Luc met every emergency. Most ominous of all, the +summer was waning. The colors that betoken autumn were deepening. Wolfe +realized anew that the time for taking Quebec was shortening fast. The +deep red appearing in the leaves spoke a language that could not be +denied. + +Robert, about this time, received an important letter from Benjamin +Hardy. It came by way of Boston, Louisbourg and the St. Lawrence. It +told him in the polite phrase of the day how glad he had been to hear +from Master Jacobus Huysman that he was not dead, although Robert read +easily between the lines and saw how genuine and deep was his joy. Mr. +Hardy saw in his escape from so many dangers the hand of providence, a +direct interposition in his behalf. He said, from motives of prudence, +no mention of Robert's return from the grave had been made to his +acquaintances in New York, and Master Jacobus Huysman in Albany had been +cautioned to say as little about it as possible. He deemed this wise, +for the present, because those who had made the attempts upon his life +would know nothing of their failure and so he would have nothing to fear +from them. He was glad too, since he was sure to return to some field of +the war, that he had joined the expedition against Quebec. The risk of +battle there would be great, but it was likely that in so remote a +theater of action he would be safe from his unknown enemies. + +Mr. Hardy added that great hopes were centered on Wolfe's daring siege. +All the campaigns elsewhere were going well, at last. The full strength +of the colonies was being exerted and England was making a mighty +effort. Success must come. Everybody had confidence in Mr. Pitt, and in +New York they were hopeful that the shadow, hovering so long in the +north, would soon be dispelled forever. + +In closing he said that when the campaign was over Robert must come to +him in New York at once, and that Willet must come with him. His wild +life in the woods must cease. Ample provision for his future would be +made and he must develop the talents with which he was so obviously +endowed. + +The water was in Robert's eyes when he finished the letter. Aye, he read +between the lines, and he read well. The old thought that he had +friends, powerful friends, came to him with renewed strength. It was +obvious that the New York merchant had a deep affection for him and was +watching over him. It was true of Willet too, and also of Mr. Huysman. +His mind, as ever, turned to the problem of himself, and once more he +felt that the solution was not far away. + +The next day after he had received the letter Zeb Crane returned from +Quebec, into which he had stolen as a spy, and he told Robert and +Charteris that the people there, though suffering from privation, were +now in great spirits. They were confident that Montcalm, the +fortifications and the natural strength of the city would hold off the +invader until winter, soon to come, should drive him away forever. + +August was now gone and Wolfe wrote to the great Pitt a letter destined +to be his last official dispatch, a strange mixture of despondency and +resolution. He spoke of the help for Montcalm that had been thrown into +Quebec, of his own illness, of the decline in his army's strength +through the operations already carried out, of the fact that practically +the whole force of Canada was now against him, but, in closing, he +assured the minister that the little time left to the campaign should be +used to the utmost. + +While plan after plan presented itself to the mind of Wolfe, to be +discarded as futile, Robert saw incessant activity with the rangers and +fought in many skirmishes with the French, the Canadians and Indians. +Tandakora had gathered a new band and was as great a danger as ever. +They came upon his ruthless trail repeatedly, but they were not able to +bring him to battle again. Once they revisited the Château de +Chatillard, and found the life there going on peacefully within the +English lines. Father Drouillard had returned to Quebec. + +Another shade of color was added to the leaves and then Robert saw a +great movement in Wolfe's camp before the Montmorency. The whole army +seemed to be leaving the position and to be going on board the fleet. At +first he thought the siege was to be abandoned utterly and his heart +sank. But Charteris, whom he saw just before he went on his ship with +the Royal Americans, reassured him. + +"I think," he said, "that the die is cast at last. The general has some +great plan in his head, I know not what, but I feel in every bone that +we're about to attack Quebec." + +Robert now felt that way, too. The army merely concentrated its strength +on the Heights of Levis and Orleans on the other side, then took ship +again, and in the darkness of night, heavily armed and provisioned, ran +by the batteries of the city, dropping anchor at Cap Rouge, above +Quebec. + +Throughout these movements on the water Robert was in a long boat with +Willet, Tayoga and a small body of rangers. In the darkness he watched +the great St. Lawrence and the lights of the town far above them. What +they would do next he did not know, and he no longer asked. He believed +that Charteris was right, and that the issue was at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE RECKONING + + +Robert's belief that the issue was at hand was so strong that it was not +shaken at all, while they hovered about the town for a while. He heard +through Charteris that Wolfe was again ill, that he had suffered a +terrible night, but that day had found him better, and, despite his +wasted frame and weakness, he was among the troops, kindling their +courage anew, and stimulating them to greater efforts. + +"A soul of fire in an invalid's frame," said Charteris, and Robert +agreed with him. + +Through Zeb Crane's amazing powers as a spy, he heard that the French +were in the greatest anxiety over Wolfe's movements. They had thought at +first that he was abandoning the siege, and then that he meditated an +attack at some new point. Montcalm below the town and Bougainville above +it were watching incessantly. Their doubts were increased by the fierce +bombardments of the British fleet, which poured heavy shot into the +Lower Town and the French camp. The French cannon replied, and the hills +echoed with the roar, while great clouds of smoke drifted along the +river. + +Then an afternoon came when Robert felt that the next night and day +would tell a mighty tale. It was in the air. Everybody showed a tense +excitement. The army was being stripped for battle. He knew that the +troops on the Heights of Levis and at Orleans had been ordered to march +along the south shore of the St. Lawrence and join the others. The fleet +was ready, as always, and the army was to embark. This concentration +could not be for nothing. Before the twilight he saw Charteris and they +shook hands, which was both a salute and a farewell. + +"We take ship after dark," said Charteris, "and I know as surely as I'm +standing here that we make some great attempt to-night. The omens and +presages are all about us." + +"I feel that way, too," said Robert. + +"Tododaho will soon appear on his star," said Tayoga, who was with +Robert, "but, though I cannot see him, I hear his whisper already." + +"What does it say?" asked Robert. + +"The whisper of Tododaho tells me that the time has come. We shall meet +the enemy in a great battle, but he does not say who will win." + +"I believe that, if we can bring Montcalm to battle, we can gain the +victory," said Charteris. "I for one, Tayoga, thank you for the +prophecy." + +"And I," said Robert. "But we'll be together to the end." + +"Aye, Dagaeoga, and together we shall see what happens." + +Robert also saw the Philadelphians and the Virginians, and he shook +hands with them in turn, every one of them giving a silent toast to +victory or death. He found Grosvenor with his own regiment, the +Grenadiers. + +"We may meet somewhere to-morrow, Grosvenor," he said, "but neither of +us knows where, nor under what circumstances." + +"Just so we meet after victory, that's enough," said Grosvenor. + +"Aye, so it is." + +The boom of a cannon came from down the river, it was followed by +another and another and then by many, singularly clear in the September +twilight. A powerful British fleet ranged up in front of the Beauport +shore and opened a fierce fire on the French redoubts. It seemed as if +Wolfe were trying to force a landing there, and the French guns replied. +In the distance, with the thunder of the cannonade and the flashes of +fire, it looked as if a great battle were raging. + +"It is nothing," said Willet to Robert, "or rather it is only a feint. +It will make Montcalm below the town think he is going to be attacked, +and it will make Bougainville above it rest more easily. The French are +already worn down by their efforts in racing back and forth to meet us. +Our command over the water is a wonderful thing, and it alone makes +victory possible." + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga with a dozen rangers went into a long boat, +whence they looked up at the tall ships that carried the army, and +waited as patiently as they could for the order to move. + +"See the big fellow over there," said Willet, pointing to one of the +ships. + +Robert nodded. + +"That's the _Sutherland_, and she carries General Wolfe. Like the boat +of Cæsar, she bears our fortunes." + +"Truly 'tis so," said Robert. + +A good breeze was blowing down the river, and, at that moment, the stars +were out. + +"I see Tododaho with the wise snakes in his hair," said Tayoga in an +awed whisper, "and he looks directly down at me. His eyes speak more +plainly than his whisper that I heard in the twilight. Now, I know that +some mighty event is going to happen, and that the dawn will be heavy +with the fate of men." + +The sullen boom of a cannon came from a point far down the river, and +then the sullen boom of another replying. Quebec, on its rock, lay dark +and silent. Robert was shaken by a kind of shiver, and a thrill of +tremendous anticipation shot through him. He too knew instinctively that +they were upon the threshold of some mighty event. Whatever happened, he +could say, if he lived, that he was there, and, if he fell, he would at +least die a glorious death. His was the thrill of youth, and it was +wholly true. + +It was two hours past midnight and the ebb tide set in. The good wind +was still blowing down the river. Two lanterns went aloft in the rigging +of the _Sutherland_, and the signal for one of the great adventures of +history was given. All the troops had gone into boats earlier in the +evening, and now they pulled silently down the stream, Wolfe in one of +the foremost. + +Robert sat beside Tayoga, and Willet was just in front of them. Some of +the stars were still out, but there was no moon and the night was dark. +It seemed that all things had agreed finally to favor Wolfe's supreme +and last effort. The boats carrying the army were invisible from the +lofty cliffs and no spying canoes were on the stream to tell that they +were there. Robert gazed up at the black heights, and wondered where +were the French. + +"Are we going directly against Quebec?" he whispered to Willet. "'Tis +impossible to storm it upon its heights." + +"Nay, lad, nothing is impossible. As you see, we go toward Quebec and I +think we land in the rear of it. 'Tis young men who lead us, the boldest +of young men, and they will dare anything. But I tell you, Robert, our +coming to Quebec is very different from what it was when we came here +with a message from the Governor of the Province of New York." + +"And our reception is like to be different, too. What was that? It +sounded like the splash of a paddle ahead of us." + +"It was only a great fish leaping out of the water and then falling back +again," said Tayoga. "There is no enemy on the stream. Truly Manitou +to-night has blinded the French and the warriors, their allies. Montcalm +is a great leader, and so is St. Luc, but they do not know what is +coming. We shall meet them in the morning. Tododaho has said so to me." + +The boats passed on in their slow drifting with the tide. Once near to a +lofty headland, they were hailed by a French sentinel, who heard the +creaking of the boats, and who saw dim outlines in the dark, but a +Scotch officer, who spoke good French, made a satisfactory reply. The +boats drifted on, and the sentinel went back to his dreams, perhaps of +the girl that he had left in France. + +"Did I not tell you that Manitou had blinded the French and the +warriors, their allies, to-night?" whispered Tayoga to Robert. +"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the sentinel would have asked more, +or he would have insisted upon seeing more in the dark, but Manitou +dulled his senses. The good spirits are abroad, and they work for us." + +"Truly, I believe it is so, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"The French don't lack in vigilance, but they must be worn out," said +Willet. "It's one thing to sail on ships up and down a river, but it's +quite another for an army racing along lofty, rough and curving shores +to keep pace with it." + +They were challenged from another point of vantage by a sentinel and +they saw him running down to the St. Lawrence, pistol in hand, to make +good his question. But the same Scotch officer who had answered the +first placated him, telling him that theirs were boats loaded with +provisions, and not to make a noise or the English would hear him. Again +was French vigilance lulled, and they passed on around the headland +above Anse du Foulon. + +"The omens are ours," whispered Tayoga, with deep conviction. "Now, I +know that we shall arrive at the place to which we want to go. Unless +Manitou wishes us to go there, he would not have twice dulled the senses +of French sentinels who could have brought a French army down upon us +while we are yet in the river. And, lo! here where we are going to land +there is no sentinel!" + +"Under heaven, I believe you're right, Tayoga!" exclaimed Willet, with +intense earnestness. + +The boats swung in to the narrow beach at the foot of the lofty cliff +and the men disembarked rapidly. Then, hanging to rocks and shrubs, they +began to climb. There was still no alarm, and Robert held his breath in +suspense, and in amazement too. He did not know just where they were, +but they could not be very far from Quebec, and General Wolfe was +literally putting his head in the lion's mouth. He knew, and every one +around him knew, that it was now victory or death. He felt again that +tremendous thrill. Whatever happened, he would be in it. He kept +repeating that fact to himself and the thought of death was not with +him. + +"The dawn will soon be at hand," he said; "I feel it coming. If we can +have only a half hour more! Only a half hour!" + +"It will come with clouds," said Tayoga. "Manitou still favors us. He +wills that we shall reach the top." + +Robert made another pull and surmounted the crest. Everywhere the +soldiers were pouring over the top. A small body of French sentinels was +taken by surprise. Some of them were captured, and the others escaped in +the dusk to carry the alarm to the city, to Montcalm and to +Bougainville. But Wolfe was on the heights before Quebec. From points +farther up the river came the crash of cannon. It was the French +batteries firing upon the last of the boats, and upon the ships bringing +down the rest of the troops. But it was too late to stop the British +army, which included Americans, who were then British too. + +"The dawn is here," said Tayoga. + +The east was breaking slowly into dull light. Heavy clouds were floating +up from the west, and the air was damp with the promise of rain. The +British army was forming rapidly into line of battle, but no army was in +front of it. The daring enterprise of the night was a complete success, +and Montcalm had been surprised. He was yet to know that his enemy had +scaled the heights and was before Quebec. + +"We've gained a field of battle for ourselves," said Willet, "and it's +now for us to win the battle itself." + +The mind of Wolfe was at its supreme activity. A detachment, sent +swiftly, seized the battery at Samos that was firing upon the ships and +boats. Another battery, farther away at Sillery, was taken also, and the +landing of additional troops was covered. A party of Canadians who came +out of the town to see who these intrusive strangers might be, were +driven back in a hurry, and then Wolfe and his officers advanced to +choose their ground, the rangers hovering on the flanks of the regulars. + +Where the plateau was only a mile wide and before Quebec, the general +took his stand with the lofty cliffs of the St. Lawrence on the south +and the meadows of the St. Charles on the north. The field, the famous +Plains of Abraham, was fairly level with corn fields and bushes here and +there. A battalion of the Royal Americans was placed to guard the ford +of the St. Charles, but Robert saw the others, his friends among them, +formed up in the front ranks, where the brunt of the battle would fall. +Another regiment was in reserve. The rangers, with Robert, Tayoga and +Willet, still hovered on the flanks. + +Robert felt intense excitement. He always believed afterward that he +understood even at that instant the greatness of the cloudy dawn that +had come, and the momentous nature of the approaching conflict, holding +in its issue results far greater than those of many a battle in which +ten times the numbers were engaged. + +"How far away is Quebec?" he asked. + +"Over there about a mile," replied Willet. "We can't see it because the +ridge that the French call the Buttes-a-Neveu comes in between." + +"But look!" exclaimed Robert. "See, what is on the ridge!" + +The stretch of broken ground was suddenly covered with white uniforms. +They were French soldiers, the battalion of Guienne, aroused in their +camp near the St. Charles River by the firing, and come swiftly to see +what was the matter. There they stood, staring at the scarlet ranks, +drawn up in battle before them, unable to credit their eyes at first, +many of them believing for the moment that it was some vision of the +cloudy dawn. + +"I think that Montcalm's army will soon come," said Willet to Robert. +"You see, we're literally between three fires. We're facing the garrison +of Quebec, while we have Montcalm on one side of us and Bougainville on +the other. The question is which will it be, Bougainville or Montcalm, +but I think it will be Montcalm." + +"I know it will be Montcalm," said Robert, "and I know too that when he +comes St. Luc will be with him." + +"Aye, St. Luc will be with him. That's sure." + +It was even so. Montcalm was already on his way. The valiant general of +France, troubled by the hovering armies and fleets of Britain, uncertain +where they intended to strike or whether they meant to strike at all, +had passed a sleepless night. At dawn the distant boom of the cannon, +firing at the English ships above the town, had come to his ears. An +officer sent for news to the headquarters of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, +the Governor-General of New France, much nearer to the town, had not +returned, and, mounting, he galloped swiftly with one of his aides to +learn the cause of the firing. Near the Governor-General's house they +caught a distant gleam of the scarlet ranks of Wolfe's army, nearly two +miles away. + +When Montcalm saw that red flash his agitation and excitement became +intense. It is likely that he understood at once the full danger, that +he knew the crisis for Canada and France was at hand. But he dispatched +immediately the orders that would bring his army upon the scene. The +Governor-General, already alarmed, came out of his house and they +exchanged a few words. Then Montcalm galloped over the bridge across the +St. Charles and toward the British army. It is stated of him that during +this ride his face was set and that he never spoke once to his aides. + +Behind Montcalm came his army, hurrying to the battle-field, and, taking +the quickest course, it passed through Quebec, entering at the Palace +Gate and passing out through those of St. Louis and St. John, hastening, +always hastening, to join the battalion of Guienne, which already stood +in its white uniforms and beneath its banners on the Buttes-a-Neveu. + +Montcalm's army included the veterans of many victories. Through long +years they had fought valiantly for France in North America. At +Ticonderoga they had shown how they could triumph over great odds, over +men as brave as themselves, and, as they pressed through the narrow +streets of the quaint old town, they did not doubt that they were going +to another victory. With them, too, were the swart Canadians fighting +for their homes, their flag and, as they believed then, for their +religion, animated, too, by confidence in their courage, and belief in +the skill of their leaders who had so seldom failed. + +Behind the French and the Canadians were the Indians who had been drawn +so freely to Montcalm's banner by his success, thinking anew of +slaughter and untold spoil, such as they had known at William Henry and +such as they might have had at Ticonderoga. The gigantic Tandakora, +painted hideously, led them, and in all that motley array there was no +soul more eager than his for the battle. + +On that eventful morning, which the vast numbers of later wars cannot +dim, the councils of France were divided. Vaudreuil, fearing an attack +on the Beauport shore, did not give the valiant Montcalm all the help +that he could spare, nor did De Ramesay, commanding the garrison of +Quebec, send the artillery that the Marquis asked. + +But Montcalm was resolute. His soul was full of fire. He looked at the +ranks of Wolfe's army drawn up before him on the Plains of Abraham, and +he did not hesitate to attack. He would not wait for Bougainville, nor +would he hold back for the garrison of Quebec. He saw that the gauge of +battle had been flung down to him and he knew that he must march at once +upon the British--and the Americans. Mounted on a black horse, he rode +up and down the lines, waving or pointing his sword, his dark face alive +with energy. + +Montcalm now formed his men in three divisions. M. de Senezergues led +the left wing made up of the regiments of Guienne and Royal Roussillon, +supported by Canadian militia. M. de Saint Ours took the right wing with +the battalion of La Sarre and more Canadian militia. Montcalm was in the +center with the regiment of Languedoc and the battalion of Béarn. On +both flanks were Canadians and numerous Indians. + +Robert from his position on a little knoll with Willet and Tayoga +watched all these movements, and he was scarcely conscious of the +passage of time. There was a shifting in the British army also, as it +perfected its alignment, and the bagpipes of the Scotchmen were already +screaming defiance, but his eyes were mainly for the French before him. +He recognized Montcalm as he rode up and down the lines, raising his +sword, and presently he saw another gallant figure on horseback that he +knew. It was St. Luc, and the old thrill shot through him: St. Luc for +whom the ancient M. de Chatillard had taken him, St. Luc with whom he +must have some blood tie. + +Though it was now far beyond the time for the rising of the sun, the day +was still dark, heavy with clouds, and now and then a puff of rain was +blown in the faces of the waiting men, though few took notice. The wait +and the preparations had to Robert all the aspects of a duel, and the +incessant shrill screaming of the Scotch bagpipes put a fever in his +blood, setting all the little pulses in his head and body to beating. +Ever after he maintained that the call of the bagpipes was the most +martial music in the world. + +The crackle of firing broke out on the flanks. The Canadian and Indian +sharpshooters, from the shelter of houses, bushes and knolls, had opened +fire. Now and then a man in scarlet fell, but the army of Wolfe neither +moved nor replied, though some of the New England rangers, stealing +forward, began to send bullets at their targets. + +"I see Tandakora," said Tayoga, "and, in an hour, the score between us +will be settled. Tododaho told me so last night, but it is still +uncertain which shall be the victor." + +"Can't you get a shot at him?" asked Robert. + +"It is not yet time, Dagaeoga. Tododaho will say when the moment comes +for me to pull trigger on the Ojibway." + +Then Robert's gaze shifted back to the figure of St. Luc. The chevalier +rode a white horse, and he was helping Montcalm to form the lines in the +best order for the attack. He too held in his hand a sword, the small +sword that Robert had seen before, but he seldom waved it. + +"Are they ever coming?" asked Robert, who felt as if he had been +standing on the field many hours. + +"We've not long to wait now, lad," replied Willet. "Our own army is +ready and I think the fate of America will soon be decided here on this +cloudy morning." + +Another light puff of rain struck Robert in the face, but as before he +did not notice it. The crackling fire of the sharpshooters increased. +They were stinging the British flanks and more men in scarlet fell, but +the army of Wolfe remained immovable, waiting, always waiting. It was +for Montcalm now to act. French field pieces added their roar to the +crackle of rifles and muskets, and now and then the fierce yell of the +Indians rose above both. Robert thought he saw a general movement in the +French lines, and his thought was Willet's also. + +"The moment has come! Steady, lads! Steady!" said the hunter. + +The whole French army suddenly began to advance, the veterans and the +militia together, uttering great shouts, while the Indians on the flanks +gave forth the war whoop without ceasing. Robert remained motionless. +The steadfastness of soul that he had acquired on the island controlled +him now. Inwardly he was in a fever, but outwardly he showed no emotion. +He glanced at Montcalm on the black horse, and St. Luc on the white, and +then at the scarlet and silent ranks of Wolfe's army. But the French +were coming fast, and he knew that silence would soon burst into sudden +and terrible action. + +"The French lines are being thrown into confusion by the unevenness of +the ground and the rapidity of their advance," said Willet. "Their +surprise at our being here is so great that it has unsteadied them. Now +they are about to open fire!" + +The front of the charging French burst into flame and the bullets sang +in the scarlet ranks. Wolfe's army suddenly began to move forward, but +still it did not fire, although the battle of the skirmishers on the +flanks was rapidly increasing in ferocity. The rangers were busy now, +replying to the Indians and Canadians, but Robert still took rapid +glances and he looked oftenest toward the Americans, where his friends +stood. The advance of the French became almost a run, and he saw all the +muskets and rifles of his own army go up. + +A tremendous volley burst from the scarlet ranks, so loud and so close +together that it sounded like one vast cannon shot. It was succeeded +presently by another, and then by an irregular but fierce fire, which +died in its turn to let the smoke lift. + +Robert saw a terrible sight. The ground where the French army had stood +was literally covered with dead and wounded. The two volleys fired at +close range had mowed them down like grain. The French army, smitten +unto death, was reeling back, and the British, seizing the moment, +rushed forward with bayonet and drawn sword. The Highlanders, as they +charged with the broadsword, uttered a tremendous yell, and Robert saw +his own Americans in the front of the rush. He caught one glimpse of the +tall figure of Charteris and he saw Colden near him. Then they were all +lost in the smoke as they attacked. + +But Wolfe had fallen. Struck by three bullets, the last time in the +breast, he staggered and sat down. Men rushed to his aid, but he lived +just long enough to know that he had won the victory. Before the firing +died away, he was dead. Montcalm, still on horseback, was shot through +the body, but he was taken into the city, where he died the night of the +next day. Senezergues, his second in command, was also mortally wounded, +and Monckton, who was second to Wolfe, fell badly wounded too. + +But Robert did not yet know any of these facts. He was conscious only of +victory. He heard the triumphant cheers of Wolfe's army and he saw that +the French had stopped, then that they were breaking. He felt again that +powerful thrill, but now it was the thrill of victory. + +"We win! We win!" he cried. + +"Aye, so we do," said Willet, "but here are the Canadians and Indians +trying to wipe out us rangers." + +The fire in front of them from the knolls and bushes redoubled, but the +rangers, adept at such combats, pressed forward, pouring in their +bullets. The Canadians and Indians gave ground and the rangers, circling +about, attacked them on the flank. Tayoga suddenly uttered a fierce +shout and, dropping his rifle, leaped into the open. + +"Now, O Tandakora!" he cried. "The time has come and thou hast given me +the chance!" + +The gigantic figure of Tandakora emerged from the smoke, and the two, +tomahawk in hand, faced each other. + +"It is you, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of +the league of the Hodenosaunee," said the chief. "So you have come at +last that I may spit upon your dead body. I have long sought this +moment." + +"Not longer than I, Ojibway savage!" replied Tayoga. "Now you shall know +what it is to strike an Onondaga in the mouth, when he is bound and +helpless." + +The huge warrior threw back his head and laughed. + +"Look your last at the skies, Onondaga," he said, "because you will soon +pass into silence and darkness. It is not for a great chief to be slain +by a mere boy." + +Tayoga said no more, but gazed steadily into the eyes of the Ojibway. +Then the two circled slowly, each intently watching every movement of +the other. The great body of Tandakora was poised like that of a +panther, the huge muscles rippling under his bronze skin. But the +slender figure of Tayoga was instinct also with strength, and with an +incomparable grace and lightness. He seemed to move without effort, like +a beam of light. + +Tandakora crouched as he moved slowly toward the right. Then his arm +suddenly shot back and he hurled his tomahawk with incredible force. The +Onondaga threw his head to one side and the glittering blade, flying on, +clove a ranger to the chin. Then Tayoga threw his own weapon, but +Tandakora, with a quick shift evading it, drew his knife and, rushing +in, cried: + +"Now I have you, dog of an Onondaga!" + +Not in vain was Tayoga as swift as a beam of light. Not in vain was that +light figure made of wrought steel. Leaping to one side, he drew his own +knife and struck with all his might at the heart of that huge, rushing +figure. The blade went true, and so tremendous was the blow that +Tandakora, falling in a heap, gave up his fierce and savage soul. + +"They run! They run!" cried Robert. "The whole French army is running!" + +It was true. The entire French force was pouring back toward the gates +of the city, their leaders vainly trying to rally the soldiers. The +skirmishers fell back with them. A figure, darting from a bush, turned +to pull trigger on Robert, and then uttered a cry of terror. + +"A ghost! It is a ghost!" he exclaimed in French. + +But a second look told Achille Garay that it was no ghost. It may have +been a miracle, but it was Robert Lennox come back in the flesh, and his +finger returned to the trigger. Another was quicker. The hunter saw him. + +"That for you, Garay!" he cried, and sent a bullet through the spy's +heart. Then, drawing the two lads with him, he rushed forward in +pursuit. + +The confusion in the French army was increasing. Its defeat was fast +becoming a rout, but some of the officers still strove to stay the +panic. Robert saw one on a white horse gallop before a huddle of fleeing +men. But the soldiers, swerving, ran on. A bullet struck the horse and +he fell. The man leaped clear, but looked around in a dazed manner. Then +a bullet struck him too, and he staggered. Robert with a cry rushed +forward, and received into his arms the falling figure of St. Luc. + +He eased the Chevalier to the ground and rested his head upon his knee. + +"He isn't dead!" he exclaimed. "He's only shot through the shoulder!" + +"Now, this is in truth the hand of Providence," said Willet gravely, +"when you are here in the height of a great battle to break the fall of +your own uncle!" + +"My uncle!" exclaimed Robert. + +The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc smiled wanly. + +"Yes, my nephew," he said, "your own uncle, though wounded grievously, +on this the saddest of all days for France, son of my dear, dead sister, +Gabrielle." + +Then he fainted dead away from loss of blood, and the Canadian, Dubois, +appearing suddenly, helped them to revive him. Robert hung over him with +irrepressible anxiety. + +"The brother of my mother!" he exclaimed. "I always felt there was a +powerful tie, a blood tie, uniting us! That was why he spared me so +often! That was why he told me how to escape at Ticonderoga! He will not +die, Dave? He will not die?" + +"No, he will not die," replied Willet. "The Marquis de Clermont can +receive a greater wound than that, and yet live and flourish." + +"The Marquis de Clermont!" + +"Aye, the Chevalier de St. Luc is head of one of the greatest families +of France and you're his next of kin." + +"And so I'm half a Frenchman!" + +"Aye, half a Frenchman, half an Englishman, and all an American." + +"And so I am!" said Robert. + +"Truly it is a great morning," said Tayoga gravely. "Tododaho has given +to me the triumph, and Tandakora has gone to his hereafter, wherever it +may be; the soul of Garay is sped too, France has lost Canada, and +Dagaeoga has found the brother of his mother." + +"It's true," said Willet in a whimsical tone. "When things begin to +happen they happen fast. The battle is almost over." + +But the victorious army, as it advanced, was subjected to a severe fire +on the flank from ambushed Canadians. Many of the French threw +themselves into the thickets on the Coté Ste.-Genevieve, and poured a +hail of bullets into the ranks of the advancing Highlanders. Vaudreuil +came up from Beauport and was all in terror, but Bougainville and +others, arriving, showed a firmer spirit. The gates of Quebec were shut, +and it seemed to show defiance, while the English and Americans, still +in the presence of forces greater than their own, intrenched on the +field where they had won the victory, a victory that remains one of the +decisive battles of the world, mighty and far-reaching in its +consequences. + +A night of mixed triumph and grief came, grief for the loss of Wolfe and +so many brave men, triumph that a daring chance had brought such a +brilliant success. Robert found Charteris, Grosvenor, Colden and the +Virginians unharmed. Wilton was wounded severely, but ultimately +recovered his full strength. Carson was wounded also, but was as well as +ever in a month, while Robert himself, Tayoga, Willet and Zeb Crane were +not touched. + +But his greatest interest that night was in the Chevalier de St. Luc, +Marquis de Clermont. They had made him a pallet in a tent and one of the +best army surgeons was attending so famous and gallant an enemy. But he +seemed easiest when Robert was by. + +"My boy," he said, "I always tried to save you. Whenever I looked upon +you I saw in your face my sister Gabrielle." + +"But why did you not tell me?" asked Robert. "Why did not some one of +the others who seemed to know tell me?" + +"There were excellent reasons," replied the wounded man. "Gabrielle +loved one of the Bostonnais, a young man whom she met in Paris. He was +brave, gallant and true, was your father, Richard Lennox. I have nothing +to say against him, but our family did not consider it wise for her to +marry a foreigner, a member of another race. They eloped and were +married in a little hamlet on the wild coast of Brittany. Then they fled +to America, where you were born, and when you were a year old they +undertook to return to France, seeking forgiveness. But it was only a +start. The ship was driven on the rocks of Maine and they were lost, +your brave, handsome father and my beautiful sister--but you were saved. +Willet came and took you into the wilderness with him. He has stood in +the place of your own father." + +"But why did not they tell me?" repeated Robert. "Why was I left so long +in ignorance?" + +"There was a flaw. The priest who performed the marriage was dead. The +records were lost. The evil said there had been no marriage, and that +you were no rightful member of the great family of De Clermont. We could +not prove the marriage then and so you were left for the time with +Willet." + +"Why did Willet take me?" + +Raymond Louis de St. Luc turned to Willet, who sat on the other side of +the pallet, and smiled. + +"I will answer you, Robert," said the hunter. "I was one of those who +loved your mother. How could any one help loving her? As beautiful as a +dream, and a soul of pure gold. She married another, but when she was +lost at sea something went out of my life that could never be replaced +in this world. You have replaced it partly, Robert, but not wholly. It +seemed fitting to the others that, being what I was, and loving +Gabrielle de Clermont as I had, I should take you. I should have taken +you anyhow." + +Robert's head swam, and there was a mist before his eyes. He was +thinking of the beautiful young mother whom he could not remember. + +"Then I am by blood a De Clermont, and yet not a De Clermont," he said. + +"You're a De Clermont by blood, by right, and before all the world," +said Willet. "I've a letter from Benjamin Hardy in New York, stating +that the records have been found in the ruins of the burned church on +the coast of Brittany, where the marriage was performed. Their +authenticity has been acknowledged by the French government and all the +members of the De Clermont family who are in France. Copies of them have +been smuggled through from France." + +"Thanks to the good God!" murmured St. Luc. + +"And Adrian Van Zoon? Why has he made such war against me?" asked +Robert. + +"Because of money," replied Willet. "Your father was a great owner of +shipping, inherited, as Richard Lennox was a young man under thirty when +he was lost at sea. At his death the control of it passed into the hands +of his father's partner, Adrian Van Zoon. Van Zoon wanted it all, and, +since you had no relatives, he probably would have secured it if you had +been put out of the way. That is why you were safer with me at Albany +and in the woods, until your rightful claims could be established. +Benjamin Hardy, who had been a schoolmate and great friend of your +father, knew of this and kept watch on Van Zoon. Your estate has not +suffered in the man's hands, because, expecting it to be his own, he has +made it increase. Jonathan Pillsbury knew your history too. So did +Jacobus Huysman, in whose house we placed you when you went to school, +and so did your teacher, Master Alexander McLean." + +"I had powerful friends. I felt it all the time," said Robert. + +"So you had, lad, and it was largely because they saw you grow up worthy +of such friendship. You're a very rich man, Robert. There are ships +belonging to you on nearly every sea, or at least there would be if we +had no war." + +"And a Marquis of France--when I die," said St. Luc. + +"No! No!" exclaimed Robert. "You'll live as long as I will! Why, you're +only a young man!" + +"Twenty-nine," said St. Luc. "Gabrielle was twelve years older than I +am. You are more a younger brother than a nephew to me, Robert." + +"But I will never become a Marquis of France," said Robert. "I am +American, English to the core. I have fought against France, though I do +not hate her. I cannot go to France, nor even to England. I must stay in +the country in which I was born, and in which my father was born." + +"Spoken well," said Willet. "It was what I wanted to hear you say. The +Chevalier will return to France. He will marry and have children of his +own. Haven't we heard him sing often about the girl he left on the +bridge of Avignon? The next Marquis of Clermont will be his son and not +his nephew." + +Which came to pass, as Willet predicted. + +Robert stayed long that night by the pallet of his uncle, to whom the +English gave the best of attention, respecting the worth of a wounded +prisoner so well known for his bravery, skill and lofty character. St. +Luc finally fell asleep, and, going outside, Robert found Tayoga +awaiting him. When he told him all the strange and wonderful story that +he had heard inside the tent, the Onondaga said: + +"I suppose that Dagaeoga, being a great man, will go to Europe and +forget us here." + +"Never!" exclaimed Robert. "My home is in America. All I know is +America, and I'd be out of place in any other country." + +And then he added whimsically: + +"I couldn't go so far away from the Hodenosaunee." + +"Dagaeoga might go far and yet never come to a nation greater than the +great League," said Tayoga, with deep conviction. + +"That's true, Tayoga. How stands the battle? I had almost forgotten it +in the amazing tide of my own fortunes." + +"General Wolfe is dead, but his spirit lives after him. We are +victorious at all points. The French have fled into Quebec, and they yet +have an army much more numerous than ours, if they get it all together. +But Montcalm was wounded and they say he is dying. The soul has gone out +of them. I think Quebec will be yielded very soon." + +And surrendered it was a few days later, but the victors soon found that +the city they had won with so much daring would have to be defended with +the utmost courage and pertinacity. St. Luc, fast recovering from his +wound, was sent a prisoner to New York, together with De Galissonnière, +who had been taken unhurt, but Robert did not get away as soon as he had +expected. Quebec was in peril again, but now from the French. De Levis, +who succeeded Montcalm as the military leader of New France, gathering +together at Montreal all the fragments of the French power in Canada, +swore to retake Quebec. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet, with the rangers, served in the garrison of +Quebec throughout the long and bitter winter that followed. In the +spring they moved out with the army to meet De Levis, who was advancing +from Montreal to keep his oath. Robert received a slight wound in the +battle of Ste. Foy that followed, in which the English and Americans +were defeated, and were compelled to retreat into Quebec. + +This battle of Ste. Foy, in which Robert distinguished himself again +with the New England rangers, was long and fierce, one of the most +sanguinary ever fought on Canadian soil. De Levis, the French commander, +showed all the courage and skill of Montcalm, proving himself a worthy +successor to the leader who had fallen with Wolfe, and his men displayed +the usual French fire and courage. + +Hazen, the chief of the rangers, was badly wounded in the height of the +action, but Robert and Willet succeeded in bringing him off the field, +while Tayoga protected their retreat. A bullet from the Onondaga's rifle +here slew Colonel de Courcelles, and Robert, on the whole, was glad that +the man's death had been a valiant one. He had learned not to cherish +rancor against any one, and the Onondaga and the hunter agreed with him. + +"There is some good in everybody," said Willet. "We'll remember that and +forget the rest." + +But Robert's friends in the Royal Americans had a hard time of it in the +battle of Ste. Foy, even harder than in Wolfe's battle on the Plains of +Abraham. They were conspicuous for their valor and suffered many +casualties. Colden, Cabell and Stuart were wounded, but took no +permanent hurt. Charteris also received a slight wound, but he recovered +entirely before his marriage in the summer with the lovely Louise de St. +Maur, the daughter of the Seigneur Raymond de St. Maur, in whose house +he had been a prisoner a long time in Quebec. + +It was Robert's own personal contact and his great friendship for +Charteris, continuing throughout their long lives in New York, that +caused him to take such a strong and permanent interest in this +particular regiment which had been raised wholly in the colonies and +which fought so valiantly at Duquesne, Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, Quebec, +Ste. Foy, and in truth in nearly all the great North American battles of +the Seven Years' War. + +It was at first the Sixty-Second Regular Regiment of the British Army, +"Royal American Provincials," but through the lapsing of two other +regiments it soon became the Sixtieth. Its valor and distinction were so +high when composed wholly of Americans, except the superior officers, +that nearly seventy years subsequent to the fall of Quebec the +Englishmen, who after the great quarrel had replaced the Americans in +it, asked that they be allowed to use as their motto the Latin phrase, +_Celer et audax_, "Swift and Bold," "Quick and Ready," which Wolfe +himself was said to have conferred upon it shortly before his fall upon +the Plains of Abraham. And in memory of the great deeds of their +American predecessors, the gallant Englishmen who succeeded them were +permitted by the British government to use that motto. + +Despite their defeat at Ste. Foy, the English and Americans held the +capital against De Levis until another British fleet arrived and +compelled the retreat of the brave Frenchmen. More reënforcements came +from England, the powerful army of Amherst advanced from the south, +Montreal was taken, and it was soon all over with New France. + +Canada passed to England, and after its fall English and American +troops, men of the same blood, language and institutions, did not stand +together again in a great battle for more than a century and a half, and +then, strangely enough, it was in defense of that France which under one +flag they had fought at Duquesne and Ticonderoga, at Quebec and Ste. +Foy. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet went back to the colonies by land, and after a +long journey stopped at Albany, where they received the warmest of +welcomes from Master Jacobus Huysman, Master Alexander McLean and +Caterina. + +"I knew Robert that some time you would come into your own. I hold some +of the papers about you in my great chest here," said Jacobus Huysman. +"Now it iss for you to show that you understand how to use great fortune +well." + +"And never forget your dates," said Master Alexander. "It is well to +know history. All the more so, because you have had a part in the making +of it." + +Warm as was their welcome in Albany, it was no warmer than that given +them in New York by Benjamin Hardy and Jonathan Pillsbury. The very next +day they went to the house of Adrian Van Zoon for a reckoning, only to +find him dead in his bed. He had heard the night before of Robert's +arrival; in truth, it was his first intimation that young Lennox was +alive, and that all his wicked schemes against him had failed. + +"It may have been a stroke of heart disease," said Benjamin Hardy, as +they turned away, "or----" + +"He has gone and his crimes have gone with him," said Robert. "I don't +wish ever to know how he went." + +A little later the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, Marquis de +Clermont, the war now being over, sailed with his faithful Canadian +attendant, Dubois, from New York for France. The parting between him and +his nephew was not demonstrative, but it was marked by the deepest +affection on either side. + +"France has been defeated, but she is the eternal nation," said St. Luc. +"She will be greater than ever. She will be more splendid than before." + +The De Clermonts were a powerful stock, with their roots deep in the +soil. A son of St. Luc's became a famous general under Napoleon, a great +cavalry leader of singular courage and capacity, and a lineal descendant +of his, a general also, fought with the same courage and ability under +Joffre and Foch in the World War, being especially conspicuous for his +services at both the First and Second Marne. At the Second Marne he gave +a heartfelt greeting to two young American officers named Lennox, +calling them his cousins and brothers-in-arms, in blood as well as in +spirit. They were together in the immortal counter-stroke on the morning +of July 18, 1918, when Americans and French turned the tide of the World +War, and sealed anew an old friendship. They were also together +throughout those blazing one hundred and nineteen days when British, +French and Americans together, old enemies and old friends who had +mingled their blood on innumerable battle-fields, destroyed the greatest +menace of modern times and hurled the pretender to divine honors from +his throne. + +Robert found his fortune to be one of the largest in the New World, but +he kept it in the hands of Benjamin Hardy and David Willet, who +increased it, and he became the lawyer, orator and statesman for which +his talents fitted him so eminently. A marked characteristic in the life +of Robert Lennox, noted by all who knew him, was his liberality of +opinion. He had his share in public life, but the bitterness of +politics, then so common in this country as well as others, seemed never +to touch him. He was always willing to give his opponent credit for +sincerity, and even to admit that his cause had justice. In his opinion +the other man's point of view could always be considered. + +This broadness of mind often caused him to incur criticism, but it had +become so much his nature, and his courage was so great, that he would +not depart from it. He had been through the terrible war with the +French, and, even before he knew that he was half a Frenchman by blood, +he had gladly acknowledged the splendid qualities of the French, their +bravery and patience, and their logical minds. He always said during the +worst throes of their revolution that the French would emerge from it +greater than ever. + +His position was similar in the Revolutionary War with the English. +While he cast in his lot with his own people, and suffered with them, he +invariably maintained that the English nation was sound at the core. He +had fought beside them in a great struggle and he knew how strong and +true they were, and when our own strife was over he was most eager for a +renewal of good relations with the English, always saying that the fact +that they had quarreled and parted did not keep them from being of the +same blood and family, and hence natural allies. + +He consistently refused to hate an individual. He always insisted that +life was too busy to cherish a grudge or seek revenge. Bad acts +invariably punished themselves in the course of time. He was able to see +some good, a little at least, in everybody. Searching his mind in after +years, he could even find excuses for Adrian Van Zoon. He would say to +Willet that the man loved nothing but money, that perhaps he had been +born that way and could not help it, that he had made his attempts upon +him under the influence of what was the greatest of all temptations to +him, and that while he paid the slaver to carry him away he had not paid +him to kill him. As for Garay, he would say that he might have exceeded +orders. He would say the same about the shots the slaver had fired at +him at Albany. + +This tolerance came partly from his own character, and partly from an +enormous experience of life in the raw in his young and formative years. +He knew how men were to a large extent the creatures of circumstances, +and on the individual in particular his judgments were always mild. He +had two favorite sayings: + +"No man is as bad as he seems to his worst enemy." + +"No man is as good as he seems to his best friend." + +His own faults he knew perfectly well to be quickness of temper and a +proneness to hasty action. Throughout his life he fought against them +and he took as his models Willet and Tayoga, who always appeared to him +to have a more thorough command over their own minds and impulses than +any other men he ever knew. + +Aside from his brilliancy and power in public life, Lennox had other +qualities that distinguished him as a man. He was noted for his +cosmopolitan views concerning human affairs. He had an uncommon +largeness and breadth of vision, all the more notable then, as America +was, in many respects, outside the greater world of Europe. People in +speaking of him, however, recalled the extraordinary variety and +intensity of his experiences. Much of his story was known and it was not +diminished in the telling. He was always at home in the woods. He had an +uncommon sympathy for hunters, borderers, pathfinders and all kinds of +wilderness rovers. He understood them and they instinctively understood +him, invariably finding in him a redoubtable champion. He was also +closely in touch with the Indian soul, and his friends used to say +laughingly that he had something of the Indian in his own nature. At all +events, the Great League of the Hodenosaunee found in him a defender and +he was more than once an honored guest in the Vale of Onondaga. + +On the other hand, his interest in European affairs was always keen and +intelligent, especially in those of England and France, with whose sons +he had come into contact so much during the great war. He maintained a +lifelong correspondence with his friend, Alfred Grosvenor, who +ultimately became a nobleman and who sat for more than forty years in +the House of Lords. Lennox visited him several times in England, both +before and after the quarrel between the colonies and the mother +country, which, however, did not diminish their friendship a particle. +In truth, during those troubled times Grosvenor, who was noted for the +liberality of his sentiments and for an affection for Americans, +conceived during his service as a soldier on their continent in the +Seven Years' War, often defended them against the criticism of his +countrymen, while Lennox, on his side, very boldly told the people that +nothing could alter the fact that England was their mother country, and +that no one should even wish to alter it. + +But his correspondence with his uncle, Raymond Louis de St. Luc, Marquis +de Clermont, not so many years older than himself, covered a period of +nearly sixty years filled with world-shaking events, and, though it has +been printed for private circulation only, it is a perfect mine of fact, +comment and illumination. St. Luc was one of the few French noblemen to +foresee the great Revolution in his country, and, while he mourned its +excesses, he knew that much of it was justified. His patriotism and +courage were so high and so obvious that neither Danton, Marat nor +Robespierre dared to attack him. As an old man he supported Napoleon +ardently until the empire and the ambitions of the emperor became too +swollen, and, while he mourned Waterloo, he told his son, General Robert +Lennox de St. Luc, who distinguished himself so greatly there and who +almost took the château of Hougoumont from the English, that it was for +the best, and that it was inevitable. It was the comment of St. Luc, +then eighty-five years old and full of experience and wisdom, that a +very great man may become too great. + +Lennox was noted for his great geniality and his extraordinary capacity +for making friends. Yet there was a strain of remarkable gravity, even +austerity, in his character. There came times when he wished to be +alone, to hear no human voices about him. It was then perhaps that he +thought his best thoughts and took, too, his best resolutions. In the +great silences he seemed to see more clearly, and the path lay straight +before him. Many of his friends thought it an eccentricity, but he knew +it was an inheritance from his long stay alone upon the island, a period +in his life that had so much effect in molding his character. + +It was this ripeness of mind, based upon fullness of information and +deep meditation, that made him such a great man in the true sense of the +word. As a speaker he was without a rival either in form or substance in +the New World. It was said everywhere in New York that the famous +Alexander Hamilton and the equally skillful Aaron Burr went to the +courtroom regularly to study his methods. Both admitted quite freely in +private that they copied his style, though neither was ever able to +acquire the wonderful golden voice, the genuine phenomenon that made +Lennox so notable. + +On one of these occasions, after making a thrilling speech, when he +filled the souls of both Hamilton and Burr with despair, a great +Onondaga sachem, in the full costume of his nation, said to his friend +Willet, once a renowned hunter: + +"I always knew Dagaeoga could use more words than any one else could +find in the biggest dictionary." + + + + +THE END + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Page numbers in the table of contents and in the transcriber's notes +below refer to the original printed version. + +Footnotes have been moved to the end of their respective chapters. + +The following typographical errors in the original printed version have +been noted below and corrected only where indicated. + + +CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + +The character Louis de Galissonnière appears here as "GALISONNIÈRE." +Although he appears only at one other point in this book, the correct +spelling comes from his more frequent appearances in another novel of +the series, _The Masters of The Peaks_. + +The captain of the _Hawk_, Stuart Whyte, is listed here as "WHITE." + +The lieutenant of the _Hawk_, John Lanham, is listed here as "LATHAM." + + +CHAPTER I + +(Page 2) The character of Jacobus Huysman has a very noticeable dialect. +The spelling of "iss," "wass," and "hass," plus various other words in +his dialogue, is preserved as in the original text. + +(Page 17) Alfred Grosvenor is referred as "Grovenor's." + + +CHAPTER III + +(Page 53) "hiden" instead of "hidden." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER IV + +(Page 71) A missing closing quote at "... and so I decided against +him." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER V + +(Page 92) "probabilty" instead of "probability." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 93) "She's going almost due south ..." opens with a single quote. +Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER VIII + +(Page 144) "firce" instead of "fierce." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER XI + +(Page 203) Once again, Captain Stuart Whyte is referred to as "White." + +(Page 214) A missing closing quote at "... for the term of the war, at +least." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER XII + +(Page 221) "You" instead of "your" in "your look iss changed!" Corrected +in this text. + + +CHAPTER XIII + +(Pages 245, 246). The name "Todohado" appears twice in quick succession +on these pages. Presumably the spirit Tododaho was intended. + +(Page 247). Tayoga uses "Degaeoga," presumably meaning Dagaeoga, his +name for Lennox. + +(Page 248) "atack" instead of "attack." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 255) The location of Isle-aux-Noix appears here as +"Isle-aux-noix." + + +CHAPTER XIV + +(Page 266) A comma appeared to terminate the sentence "... laid by the +Ojibway." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 282) The lieutenant of the _Hawk_, John Lanham, is referred to as +"Lanhan." + +CHAPTER XV + +(Page 293) David Willet is referred to as "Willett." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Sun Of Quebec, by Joseph A. 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Altsheler. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sun Of Quebec, 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 Sun Of Quebec + A Story of a Great Crisis + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18774] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUN OF QUEBEC *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Nash, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>THE SUN OF QUEBEC</h1> + +<h2>A STORY OF A GREAT CRISIS</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF</h3> +<h3>"LORDS OF THE WILD," "THE GREAT SIOUX TRAIL," ETC.</h3> + + +<h2>APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC.</h2> +<h3>NEW YORK</h3> + +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY</h4> +<h3>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h3> + +<p class="center" style="margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;"><i>All rights reserved. This book, or parts +thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission of the publishers.</i></p> + +<h4>Copyright, 1947, by Sallie B. Altsheler</h4> + +<h5>Printed in the United States of America</h5> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FOREWORD" id="FOREWORD"></a>FOREWORD</h2> + + +<p>"The Sun of Quebec" is the sixth and closing +volume of the French and Indian War Series of which +the predecessors have been "The Hunters of the Hills," +"The Shadow of the North," "The Rulers of the +Lakes," "The Masters of the Peaks," and "The Lords +of the Wild." The important characters in the +earlier books reappear, and the mystery in the life of +Robert Lennox, the central figure in all the romances, +is solved.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHARACTERS_IN_THE_FRENCH_AND_INDIAN_WAR" id="CHARACTERS_IN_THE_FRENCH_AND_INDIAN_WAR"></a>CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES</h2> + +<table summary="Characters in the French and Indian War Series"> +<colgroup span="2" align="left" /> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Robert Lennox</span></td><td>A lad of unknown origin + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Tayoga</span></td><td>A young Onondaga warrior + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">David Willet</span></td><td>A hunter + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Raymond Louis de St. Luc</span></td><td>A brilliant French officer + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Aguste de Courcelles</span></td><td>A French officer + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">François de Jumonville</span></td><td>A French officer + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Louis de Galisonnière</span></td><td>A young French officer + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Jean de Mézy</span></td><td>A corrupt Frenchman + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Armand Glandelet</span></td><td>A young Frenchman + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Pierre Boucher</span></td><td>A bully and bravo + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Philibert Drouillard</span></td><td>A French priest + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">The Marquis Duquesne</span></td><td>Governor-General of Canada + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Marquis de Vaudreuil</span></td><td>Governor-General of Canada + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">François Bigot</span></td><td>Intendant of Canada + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Marquis de Montcalm</span></td><td>French commander-in-chief + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">De Levis</span></td><td>A French general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Bourlamaque</span></td><td>A French general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Bougainville</span></td><td>A French general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Armand Dubois</span></td><td>A follower of St. Luc + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">M. de Chatillard</span></td><td>An old French Seigneur + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Charles Langlade</span></td><td>A French partisan + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">The Dove</span></td><td>The Indian wife of Langlade + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Tandakora</span></td><td>An Ojibway chief + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Daganoweda</span></td><td>A young Mohawk chief + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Hendrick</span></td><td>An old Mohawk chief + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Braddock</span></td><td>A British general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Abercrombie</span></td><td>A British general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Wolfe</span></td><td>A British general + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Col. William Johnson</span></td><td>Anglo-American leader + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Molly Brant</span></td><td>Col. Wm. Johnson's Indian wife + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Joseph Brant</span></td><td>Young brother of Molly Brant, afterward +<br />the great Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Robert Dinwiddie</span></td><td>Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">William Shirley</span></td><td>Governor of Massachusetts + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin</span></td><td>Famous American patriot + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">James Colden</span></td><td>A young Philadelphia captain + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">William Wilton</span></td><td>A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Hugh Carson</span></td><td>A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Jacobus Huysman</span></td><td>An Albany burgher + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Caterina</span></td><td>Jacobus Huysman's cook + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Alexander McLean</span></td><td>An Albany schoolmaster + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Hardy</span></td><td>A New York merchant + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Johnathan Pillsbury</span></td><td>Clerk to Benjamin Hardy + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Adrian Van Zoon</span></td><td>A New York merchant + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">The Slaver</span></td><td>A nameless rover + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Achille Garay</span></td><td>A French spy + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Alfred Grosvenor</span></td><td>A young English officer + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">James Cabell</span></td><td>A young Virginian + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Walter Stuart</span></td><td>A young Virginian + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Black Rifle</span></td><td>A famous "Indian fighter" + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Elihu Strong</span></td><td>A Massachusetts colonel + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Alan Hervey</span></td><td>A New York financier + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Stuart White</span></td><td>Captain of the British sloop, <i>Hawk</i> + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">John Latham</span></td><td>Lieutenant of the British sloop, <i>Hawk</i> + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Edward Charteris</span></td><td>A young officer of the Royal Americans + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Zebedee Crane</span></td><td>A young scout and forest runner + +</td></tr><tr><td><span class="smcap">Robert Rogers</span></td><td>Famous Captain of American Rangers</td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table summary="Table of Contents"> +<col align="right"></col> +<col align="left"></col> +<col align="right"></col> +<tr><th colspan="2" align="left">CHAPTER</th><th align="left">PAGE</th></tr> +<tr><td>I</td><td><a href="#Page_1"><span class="smcap">Old Friends</span></a></td><td>1</td></tr> +<tr><td>II</td><td><a href="#Page_22"><span class="smcap">The Chest of Drawers</span></a></td><td>22</td></tr> +<tr><td>III</td><td><a href="#Page_46"><span class="smcap">The Pursuit of Garay</span></a></td><td>46</td></tr> +<tr><td>IV</td><td><a href="#Page_66"><span class="smcap">Out To Sea</span></a></td><td>66</td></tr> +<tr><td>V</td><td><a href="#Page_85"><span class="smcap">Music in the Moonlight</span></a></td><td>85</td></tr> +<tr><td>VI</td><td><a href="#Page_104"><span class="smcap">The Island</span></a></td><td>104</td></tr> +<tr><td>VII</td><td><a href="#Page_123"><span class="smcap">The Pirate's Warning</span></a></td><td>123</td></tr> +<tr><td>VIII</td><td><a href="#Page_142"><span class="smcap">Making the Best of It</span></a></td><td>142</td></tr> +<tr><td>IX</td><td><a href="#Page_158"><span class="smcap">The Voice in the Air</span></a></td><td>158</td></tr> +<tr><td>X</td><td><a href="#Page_176"><span class="smcap">The Sloop of War</span></a></td><td>176</td></tr> +<tr><td>XI</td><td><a href="#Page_193"><span class="smcap">Back To the World</span></a></td><td>193</td></tr> +<tr><td>XII</td><td><a href="#Page_217"><span class="smcap">The Wilderness Again</span></a></td><td>217</td></tr> +<tr><td>XIII</td><td><a href="#Page_238"><span class="smcap">The Reunion</span></a></td><td>238</td></tr> +<tr><td>XIV</td><td><a href="#Page_263"><span class="smcap">Before Quebec</span></a></td><td>263</td></tr> +<tr><td>XV</td><td><a href="#Page_284"><span class="smcap">The Lone Château</span></a></td><td>284</td></tr> +<tr><td>XVI</td><td><a href="#Page_303"><span class="smcap">The Reckoning</span></a></td><td>303</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><a name="THE_SUN_OF_QUEBEC" id="THE_SUN_OF_QUEBEC"></a>THE SUN OF QUEBEC</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>OLD FRIENDS</h3> + + +<p>Mynheer Jacobus Huysman walked to +the window and looked out at the neat red +brick houses, the grass, now turning yellow, and +the leaves, more brown than green. He was troubled, +in truth his heart lay very heavy within him. He was +thinking over the terrible news that had come so swiftly, +as evil report has a way of doing. But he had cause +for satisfaction, too, and recalling it, he turned to gaze +once more upon the two lads who, escaping so many +perils, had arrived at the shelter of his home.</p> + +<p>Robert and Tayoga were thin and worn, their clothing +was soiled and torn, but youth was youth and they were +forgetting dangers past in a splendid dinner that the fat +Caterina was serving for them while Mynheer Jacobus, +her master, stood by and saw the good deed well done.</p> + +<p>The dining room, large and furnished solidly, was +wonderful in its neatness and comfort. The heavy mahogany +of table, sideboard and chairs was polished and +gleaming. No trace of dirt was allowed to linger any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>where. +When the door to the adjoining kitchen opened, +as Caterina passed through, pleasant odors floated in, inciting +the two to fresh efforts at the trencher. It was all +as it had been when they were young boys living there, +attending the school of Alexander McLean and traveling +by painful steps along the road to knowledge. In its +snugness, its security and the luxury it offered it was a +wonderful contrast to the dark forest, where death +lurked in every bush. Robert drew a long sigh of content +and poured himself another cup of coffee.</p> + +<p>"And you escaped from the French after the great +battle?" said Mynheer Jacobus, asking the same question +over and over again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Robert, "and it was not a difficult +thing to do at all. The victory of the French was so +remarkable, and I think so unexpected, that they were +paying little attention to me. I just walked out of their +camp, and the only man I met was the Chevalier de St. +Luc, who did not seem at all interested in stopping me—a +curious fact, but a fact all the same."</p> + +<p>"A great leader and a fine man iss the Chevalier de St. +Luc," said Mr. Huysman.</p> + +<p>"He's both, as I've had many chances to learn, and I +intend to know more about him some day."</p> + +<p>"It may be that you will know even more than you +think."</p> + +<p>Robert looked sharply at the burgher, and he was about +to ask questions, but he reflected that Mynheer Jacobus, +if he were able to answer, would be evasive like all the +others and so he checked the words at his lips.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that time will disclose everything," he contented +himself with saying. "Meanwhile, I want to tell +you, sir, that Tayoga and I appreciate to the full your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +hospitality. It is noble, it always was noble, as we've had +ample occasion to discover."</p> + +<p>The full red face of Mynheer Jacobus bloomed into a +smile. The corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes +twinkled.</p> + +<p>"I must have had a premonition that you two were +coming," he said, "and so I stocked the larder. I remembered +of old your appetites, a hunger that could be +satisfied only with great effort, and then could come back +again an hour later, as fresh and keen as ever. You +are strong and healthy boys, for which you should be +grateful."</p> + +<p>"We are," said Robert, with great emphasis.</p> + +<p>"And you do not know whether Montcalm iss advancing +with his army?"</p> + +<p>"We don't, sir, but is Albany alarmed?"</p> + +<p>"It iss! It iss alarmed very greatly. It wass not +dreamed by any of us that our army could be defeated, +that magnificent army which I saw go away to what I +thought was certain victory. Ah, how could it have happened? +How could it have happened, Robert?"</p> + +<p>"We simply threw away our chances, sir. I saw it all. +We underrated the French. If we had brought up our +big guns it would have been easy. There was no lack +of courage on the part of our men. I don't believe that +people of British blood ever showed greater bravery, and +that means bravery equal to anybody's."</p> + +<p>Mynheer Jacobus Huysman sighed heavily.</p> + +<p>"What a waste! What a waste!" he said. "Now the +army hass retreated and the whole border iss uncovered. +The tomahawk and scalping knife are at work. Tales of +slaughter come in efery day, and it iss said that Montcalm +iss advancing on Albany itself."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe, sir, that he will come," said Robert.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +"The French numbers are much fewer than is generally +supposed, and I can't think he will dare to attack Albany."</p> + +<p>"It does not seem reasonable, but there iss great alarm. +Many people are leaving on the packets for New York. +Who would have thought it? Who could have thought +it! But I mean to stay, and if Montcalm comes I will +help fight in the defense."</p> + +<p>"I knew you wouldn't leave, sir. But despite our defeat +we've a powerful army yet, and England and the +Colonies will not sit down and just weep."</p> + +<p>"What you say iss so, Robert, my boy. I am not of +English blood, but when things look worst iss the time +when England shows best, and the people here are of the +same breed. I do not despair. What did you say had +become of Willet?"</p> + +<p>"Shortly before we reached Albany he turned aside to +see Sir William Johnson. We had, too, with us, a young +Englishman named Grosvenor, a fine fellow, but he went +at once to the English camp here to report for duty. He +was in the battle at Ticonderoga and he also will testify +that our army, although beaten, could have brought up +its artillery and have fought again in a day or two. It +would have gained the victory, too."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so! I suppose so! But it did not fight +again, and what might have been did not happen. It +means a longer war in this country and a longer war all +over the world. It spreads! It iss a great war, extending +to most of the civilized lands, the greatest war of +modern times and many think it will be the last war, but +I know not. The character of mankind does not change. +What do you two boys mean to do?"</p> + +<p>"We have not decided yet," replied Robert, speaking +for both. "We'll go back to the war, of course, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +means that we'll travel once more toward the north, but +we'll have to rest a few days."</p> + +<p>"And this house iss for you to rest in—a few days or +many days, as you please, though I hope it will be many. +Caterina shall cook for you four, five meals a day, if you +wish, and much at every meal. I do not forget how +when you were little you raided the fruit trees, and the +berry bushes and the vines. Well, the fruit will soon be +ripe again und I will turn my back the other way. I will +make that fat Caterina do the same, and you and Tayoga +can imagine that you are little boys once more."</p> + +<p>"I know you mean that, Mynheer Jacobus, and we +thank you from the bottom of our hearts," said Robert, +as the moisture came into his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Master Alexander McLean," said Mr. +Huysman, who had turned back to the window. "He +must have heard of your arrival and he wishes to see if +your perils in the woods have made you forget your ancient +history."</p> + +<p>In a minute or two Master McLean, tall, thin, reddish +of hair, and severe of gaze entered, his frosty blue eyes +lighting up as he shook hands with the boys, though his +manner remained austere.</p> + +<p>"I heard that you had arrived after the great defeat +at Ticonderoga," he said, "and you are fortunate to have +escaped with your lives. I rejoice at it, but those who +go into the woods in such times must expect great perils. +It is of course well for all our young men to offer their +lives now for their country, but I thought I saw in you +at least, Robert Lennox, the germ of a great scholar, and +it would be a pity for you to lose your life in some forest +skirmish."</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the compliment," said Robert, "but as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +I was telling Mynheer Jacobus I mean to go back into the +woods."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it not. The young of this generation are wise +in their own conceit. It was hard enough to control +Tayoga and you several years ago, and I cannot expect +to do it now. Doubtless all the knowledge that I have +been at such pains to instill into you will be lost in the +excitement of trail and camp."</p> + +<p>"I hope not, sir, though it's true that we've had some +very stirring times. When one is in imminent danger of +his life he cannot think much of his Latin, his Greek and +his ancient history."</p> + +<p>The severe features of Master Alexander McLean +wrinkled into a frown.</p> + +<p>"I do not know about that," he said. "Alexander the +Great slept with his Homer under his pillow, and doubtless +he also carried the book with him on his Asiatic +campaigns, refreshing and strengthening his mind from +time to time with dips into its inspiring pages. There is +no crisis in which it is pardonable for you to forget your +learning, though I fear me much that you have done so. +What was the date, Robert, of the fall of Constantinople?"</p> + +<p>"Mahomet the Second entered it, sir, in the year 1453 +A. D."</p> + +<p>"Very good. I begin to have more confidence in you. +And why is Homer considered a much greater poet than +Virgil?"</p> + +<p>"More masculine, more powerful, sir, and far more +original. In fact the Romans in their literature, as in +nearly all other arts, were merely imitators of the +Greeks."</p> + +<p>The face of Master McLean relaxed into a smile.</p> + +<p>"Excellent! Excellent!" he exclaimed. "You have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +done better than you claimed for yourself, but modesty is +an attribute that becomes the young, and now I tell you +again, Robert, that I am most glad you and Tayoga have +come safely out of the forest. I wish to inform you +also that Master Benjamin Hardy and his chief clerk, +Jonathan Pillsbury, have arrived from New York on the +fast packet, <i>River Queen</i>, and even now they are depositing +their baggage at the George Inn, where they +are expecting to stay."</p> + +<p>Master Jacobus who had been silent while the schoolmaster +talked, awoke suddenly to life.</p> + +<p>"At the George Inn!" he exclaimed. "It iss a good +inn, good enough for anybody, but when friends of mine +come to Albany they stay with me or I take offense. +Bide here, my friends, and I will go for them. Alexander, +sit with the lads and partake of refreshment while +I am gone."</p> + +<p>He hastened from the room and Master McLean, upon +being urged, joined Robert and Tayoga at the table, +where he showed that he too was a good man at the +board, thinness being no bar to appetite and capacity. +As he ate he asked the boys many questions, and they, +knowing well his kindly heart under his crusty manner, +answered them all readily and freely. Elderly and bookish +though he was, his heart throbbed at the tale of the +great perils through which they had gone, and his face +darkened when Robert told anew the story of Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>"It is our greatest defeat so far," he said, "and I hope +our misfortunes came to a climax there. We must have +repayment for it. We must aim at the heart of the +French power, and that is Quebec. Instead of fighting +on the defense, Britain and her colonies must strike down +Canada."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So it seems to me too, sir," said Robert. "We're permitting +the Marquis de Montcalm to make the fighting, to +choose the fields of battle, and as long as we do that we +have to dance to his music. But, sir, that's only my +opinion. I would not presume to give it in the presence +of my superiors."</p> + +<p>"You've had much experience despite your youth and +you're entitled to your thoughts. But I hear heavy +steps. 'Tis odds that it's Jacobus with his friends."</p> + +<p>The door was opened and Mr. Huysman with many +words of welcome ushered in his guests, who being +simple and strong men brought their own baggage from +the inn. Robert rose at once and faced Benjamin Hardy +in whose eyes shone an undoubted gladness. The merchant +did not look a day older than when Robert had +last seen him in New York, and he was as robust and +hearty as ever. Jonathan Pillsbury, tall, thin and dressed +with meticulous care, also permitted himself a smile.</p> + +<p>"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Benjamin Hardy, dropping +his baggage and holding out two sinewy hands. +"'Tis a delight to find you and Tayoga here. I knew +not what had become of you two, and I feared the worst, +the times being so perilous. Upon my word, we've quite +a reunion!"</p> + +<p>Robert returned his powerful and friendly grasp. He +was more than glad to see him for several reasons; for +his own sake, because he liked him exceedingly, and because +he was sure Master Benjamin held in his keeping +those secrets of his own life which he was yet to learn.</p> + +<p>"Sir," he said, "'tis not my house, though I've lived in +it, and I know that Mr. Huysman has already given you +a most thorough welcome, so I add that it's a delight to +me to see you again. 'Twas a pleasant and most mem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>orable +visit that Tayoga and I had at your home in New +York."</p> + +<p>"And eventful enough, too. You came very near going +to the Guineas on a slave trip. That was the kind of +hospitality I offered you."</p> + +<p>"No fault of yours, sir. I shall never forget the welcome +you gave us in New York. It warms my heart now +to think of it."</p> + +<p>"I see you've not lost your gift of speech. Words +continue to well from your lips, and they're good words, +too. But I talk overmuch myself. Here is Jonathan +waiting to speak to you. I told him I was coming to +Albany. 'Upon what affair?' he asked. ''Tis secret,' I +replied. 'Meaning you do not want to tell me of its +nature,' he said. 'Yes,' I replied. Then he said, 'Whatever +its gist, you'll need my presence and advice. I'm +going with you.' And here he is. Doubtless he is right."</p> + +<p>Jonathan Pillsbury clasped Robert's hand as warmly as +he ever clasped anybody's and permitted himself a second +smile, which was his limit, and only extraordinary +occasions could elicit two.</p> + +<p>"Our conversation has been repeated with accuracy," +he said. "I do not yet know why I have come to Albany, +but I feel sure it is well that I have come."</p> + +<p>Mr. Huysman hustled about, his great red face glowing +while fat Caterina brought in more to eat. He insisted +that the new guests sit at the table and eat tremendously. +It was a time when hospitality meant repeated +offerings of food, which in America was the most abundant +of all things, and Mr. Hardy and Mr. Pillsbury easily +allowed themselves to be persuaded.</p> + +<p>"And now, Robert, you must tell me something more +about Dave," said the merchant as they rose from the +table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>Young Lennox promptly narrated their adventures +among the peaks and about the lakes while the older +men listened with breathless attention. Nor did the +story of the great hunter suffer in Robert's telling. He +had an immense admiration for Willet and he spoke of +his deeds with such vivid words and with so much imagery +and embroidery that they seemed to be enacted +again there in that quiet room before the men who +listened.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that is Dave! True as steel. As honest and +brave as they ever make 'em," said Master Benjamin +Hardy, when he had finished. "A man! a real man if +ever one walked this earth!"</p> + +<p>"And don't forget Tayoga here," said Robert. "The +greatest trailer ever born. He saved us more than once +by his ability to read the faintest sign the earth might +yield."</p> + +<p>"When Dagaeoga begins to talk he never knows how +to stop," said Tayoga; "I but did the things all the warriors +of my nation are taught to do. I would be unworthy +to call myself a member of the clan of the Bear, +of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the +Hodenosaunee, if I could not follow a trail. Peace, Dagaeoga!"</p> + +<p>Robert joined in the laugh, and then the men began +to talk about the prospects of an attack upon Albany by +the French and Indians, though all of them inclined to +Robert's view that Montcalm would not try it.</p> + +<p>"As you were a prisoner among them you ought to +know something about their force, Robert," said Mr. +Hardy.</p> + +<p>"I had opportunities to observe," replied the lad, "and +from what I saw, and from what I have since heard concerning +our numbers I judge that we were at least four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +to one, perhaps more. But we threw away all our advantage +when we came with bare breasts against their +wooden wall and sharpened boughs."</p> + +<p>"It is a painful thing to talk about and to think about, +but Britain never gives up. She marches over her mistakes +and failures to triumph, and we are bone of her +bone. And you saw St. Luc!"</p> + +<p>"Often, sir. In the battle and in the preparations for +it he was the right arm of the Marquis de Montcalm. He +is a master of forest war."</p> + +<p>"He is all that, Robert, my lad. A strange, a most +brilliant man, he is one of our most formidable enemies."</p> + +<p>"But a gallant one, sir. He did nothing to prevent my +escape. I feel that at Ticonderoga as well as elsewhere +I am greatly in his debt."</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly he favors you. It does not surprise +me."</p> + +<p>Intense curiosity leaped up in Robert's heart once +more. What was he to St. Luc! What was St. Luc +to him! All these elderly men seemed to hold a secret +that was hidden from him, and yet it concerned him +most. His lips twitched and he was about to ask a question, +but he reflected that, as always before, it would not +be answered, it would be evaded, and he restrained his +eager spirit. He knew that all the men liked him, that +they had his good at heart, and that when the time came +to speak they would speak. The words that had risen +to his lips were unspoken.</p> + +<p>Robert felt that his elders wanted to talk, that something +they would rather not tell to the lads was in their +minds, and meanwhile the brilliant sunshine and free +air outside were calling to him and the Onondaga.</p> + +<p>"I think," he said, addressing them all collectively, +"that Tayoga and I should go to see Lieutenant Grosve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>nor. +He was our comrade in the forest, and he has been +somewhat overcome by his great hardships."</p> + +<p>"The idea would not be bad," said Master Benjamin +Hardy. "Youth to youth, and, while you are gone, we +old fellows will talk of days long ago as old fellows are +wont to do."</p> + +<p>And so they did want him and Tayoga to go! He +had divined their wishes aright. He was quite sure, too, +that when he and the Onondaga were away the past +would be very little in their minds. These active men in +the very prime of their powers were concerned most +about the present and the future. Well, whatever it was +he was sure they would discuss it with wisdom and +foresight.</p> + +<p>"Come, Tayoga," he said. "Outdoors is calling to us."</p> + +<p>"And be sure that you return in time for supper," said +Master Jacobus. "This house is to be your home as +long as you are in Albany. I should be offended mortally +if you went elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"No danger of that," said Robert. "Tayoga and I +know a good home when we find it. And we know +friends, too, when we see them."</p> + +<p>It was a bit of sentiment, but he felt it very deeply and +he saw that all of the men looked pleased. As he and +Tayoga went out he noticed that they drew their chairs +about the dining-room table that Caterina had cleared, +and before the door closed upon the two lads they were +already talking in low and earnest tones.</p> + +<p>"They have affairs of importance which are not for +us," he said, when he and the Onondaga were outside.</p> + +<p>"It is so," said Tayoga. "The white people have their +chiefs and sachems like the nations of the Hodenosaunee, +and their ranks are filled by age. The young warriors +are for the trail, the hunt, and the war path, and not for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +the council. It is right that it should be thus. I do not +wish to be a chief or a sachem before my time. I am +glad, Dagaeoga, to enjoy youth, and let our elders do the +hard thinking for us."</p> + +<p>"So am I," said Robert joyfully as he filled his lungs +with draught after draught of the fresh air. "No seat +at the council for me! Not for twenty years yet! Give +me freedom and action! Let others do the planning and +take the responsibility!"</p> + +<p>He felt a great elation. His sanguine temperament had +made a complete rebound from the depression following +Ticonderoga. Although he did not know it the result was +partly physical—good food and abundant rest, but he did +not seek to analyze the cause, the condition was sufficient. +The color in his cheeks deepened and his eyes +glowed.</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga is feeling very, very good," said Tayoga.</p> + +<p>"I am," replied Robert with emphasis. "I never felt +better. I'm forgetting Ticonderoga; instead, I'm beholding +our army at Quebec, and I'm seeing our flag wave +over all Canada."</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga sees what he wants to see."</p> + +<p>"It's not a bad plan. Then the lions die in your +path."</p> + +<p>"It is so. Dagaeoga speaks a great truth. We will +now see how Red Coat feels."</p> + +<p>A portion of the army that had retreated from Ticonderoga +was camped on the flats near the town, and Robert +and Tayoga walked swiftly toward the tents. It was a +much more silent force, British and American, than that +which had gone forth not so very long ago to what +seemed certain victory. Officers and men were angry. +They felt that they had been beaten when there was no +reason why they should have been defeated. Obeying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +orders, they had retreated in sullen silence, when they +had felt sure they could have gone on, fought a new battle, +and have crushed Montcalm. Now they waited impatiently +for another call to advance on Canada, and win +back their lost laurels. Both lads felt the tension.</p> + +<p>"They are like the wounded bear," said Tayoga. +"They feel very sore, and they wish for revenge."</p> + +<p>They learned that Grosvenor was in his tent and soon +found him there lying upon his blankets. Some of the +ruddy color was gone from his cheeks, and he looked +worn and thin. But he sat up, and welcomed Robert and +Tayoga joyously.</p> + +<p>"It's foolish of me to break down like this," he said, +"but after we got back to civilization something seemed +to cave in. I hope you chaps won't overlook the fact +that I'm not as much used to the forest as you are, and +bear in mind that I did my best."</p> + +<p>"Red Coat's best was very good," said Tayoga in his +grave, precise manner. "Few who have been in the forest +as little as he could have done as much and have +borne as much."</p> + +<p>"Do you really think so, Tayoga? You're not merely +flattering me?"</p> + +<p>"Our wisest sachem would tell you so, Red Coat."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, my friend. You make me feel better. I was +lucky enough to go through the great battle with little +hurt. It was a most ghastly slaughter, and I still dream +of it. I stood up all right until we got back to Albany, +and then I collapsed. But to-morrow I'll be on my feet +again. Your friends, Colden, Wilton and Carson are all +here. They showed great courage and they have some +slight wounds, but not enough to trouble 'em."</p> + +<p>Robert found the Philadelphians a little later, and they +all went back to Grosvenor's tent, where they were joined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +in a half hour by the Virginians, Walter Stuart and +James Cabell, who had been with them in Braddock's defeat +and whom Robert had known at Williamsburg. It +was a tight squeeze for them all in the tent, but there +was another and joyous reunion. Youth responded to +youth and hope was high.</p> + +<p>"Stuart and I did not arrive in time for Ticonderoga," +said Cabell, "but we mean to be in the next great battle."</p> + +<p>"So we do!" exclaimed Cabell. "The Old Dominion +had a taste of defeat at Fort Duquesne and you've had +the like here. Now we'll all wait and see how victory +agrees with us."</p> + +<p>"Some of us have been in at both defeats," said Grosvenor +rather sadly.</p> + +<p>But the presence of so many friends and the cheerful +talk made him feel so much better that he averred his +ability to go anywhere and do anything at once.</p> + +<p>"You've leave of absence if you wish it?" asked Cabell.</p> + +<p>"For several days more," replied Grosvenor.</p> + +<p>"Then let's all go into the town. I haven't had a good +look at Albany yet. I want to see if it's as fine a place as +Williamsburg."</p> + +<p>"It's larger," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"But size is not everything. That's where you northern +people make your mistake."</p> + +<p>"But you'll admit that Philadelphia's a fine city, won't +you?" said Colden, "and you know it's the largest in the +colonies."</p> + +<p>"But it's comparatively near to Virginia," said Cabell +briskly, "and our influence works wonders."</p> + +<p>"We've our own conceit in Philadelphia," said Wilton, +"but conceit and Virginia are just the same words, +though they may have a different sound."</p> + +<p>"Come on to the George Inn," said Grosvenor, "and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +you can argue it out there. Old England likes to see this +healthy rivalry among her children. She doesn't mind +your being bumptious."</p> + +<p>"We're bumptious, because we're like our parent," said +Cabell. "It's a matter of inheritance."</p> + +<p>"Let the George Inn settle it. Come on, lads."</p> + +<p>Grosvenor was feeling better and better. He was +adaptable and this was a sprightly group, full of kindred +spirits. The Virginians were as English as he was, and +the others nearly as much so. He had acquitted himself +well in the New World, in fields with which he was unfamiliar, +and these lads were friends. Danger and hardships +faded quite away into a forgotten past. He was +strong and well once more.</p> + +<p>"You shall all be my guests at the George Inn!" he exclaimed. +"We shall have refreshment and talk, plenty of +both."</p> + +<p>"As we Virginians are the oldest people in the colonies, +it's the right of Stuart and myself to be the hosts," said +Cabell.</p> + +<p>"Aye, so 'tis," said Stuart.</p> + +<p>"As we're from Philadelphia, the greatest and finest +city in the country, it's the right of Wilton, Carson and +myself," said Colden.</p> + +<p>But Grosvenor was firm. He had given the invitation +first, he said, and nobody could take the privilege from +him. So the others yielded gracefully, and in high good +humor the eight, saying much and humming little songs, +walked across the fields from the camp and into the +town. Robert noticed the bustling life of Albany with +approval. The forest made its appeal to him, and the +city made another and different but quite as strong appeal. +The old Fort Orange of the Dutch was crowded +now, not only with troops but with all the forms of in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>dustry +that follow in the train of an army. The thrifty +Dutch, despite their apprehension over the coming of +the French, were busy buying, selling, and between battles +much money was made.</p> + +<p>The George Inn, a low building but long and substantial +was down by the river. The great doors stood wide +open and much life flowed in and out, showing that it +too profited by war. The eight found seats at a table on +a sanded floor, and contented themselves with lemonade, +which they drank slowly, while they talked and looked.</p> + +<p>It was a motley and strange throng; American, English, +Dutch, German, Indian, Swedish. A half dozen languages +were heard in the great room, forerunner of the +many elements that were to enter in the composition of +the American nation. And the crowd was already cosmopolitan. +Difference of race attracted no attention. +Men took no notice of Tayoga because he was an Indian, +unless to admire his tall, straight figure and proud carriage. +Albany had known the Iroquois a century and a +half.</p> + +<p>Robert's spirits, like Grovenor's, mounted. Here he +was with many friends of his own age and kindred mind. +Everything took on the color of rose. All of them were +talking, but his own gift of speech was the finest. He +clothed narrative with metaphor and illustration until +it became so vivid that the others were glad to fall silent +and listen to him, though Robert himself was unconscious +of the fact. They made him relate once more his story of +the battle as he saw it from inside the French lines at +Ticonderoga, and, just as he came to the end of the +tale, he caught a glimpse of a tall man entering the tavern.</p> + +<p>"Tell us what you saw from the other side," he said +to Grosvenor, and they compelled the reluctant English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>man +to talk. Then Robert turned his eyes toward the +tall man who was now sitting at a small table in the corner +and drinking from a long glass. Something familiar +in his walk had caught his attention as he came in, and, +under cover of Grosvenor's talk, he wished to observe +him again without being noticed even by his own comrades.</p> + +<p>The stranger was sitting with the side of his face to +Robert, and his features were not well disclosed. His +dress was that of a seafaring man, rough but rather good +in texture, and a belt held a long dirk in a scabbard which +was usual at that time. The hand that raised the long +glass to his lips was large, red and powerful. Robert felt +that his first belief was correct. He had seen him before +somewhere, though he could not yet recall where, but +when he turned his head presently he knew. They had +met under such circumstances that neither was ever likely +to forget time or place.</p> + +<p>He was amazed that the stranger had come so boldly +into Albany, but second thought told him that there was +no proof against him, it was merely Robert's word +against his. Among people absorbed in a great war his +own story would seem wildly improbable and the +stranger's would have all the savor of truth. But he +knew that he could not be mistaken. He saw now the +spare face, clean shaven, and the hard eyes, set close together, +that he remembered so well.</p> + +<p>Robert did not know what to do. He listened for a +little while to Grosvenor's narrative but his attention +wandered back to the seafaring man. Then he decided.</p> + +<p>"Will you fellows talk on and excuse me for a few +minutes?" he said.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Lennox?" asked Colden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I see an acquaintance on the other side of the room. +I wish to speak to him."</p> + +<p>"That being the case, we'll let you go, but we'll miss +you. Hurry back."</p> + +<p>"I'll stay only a few minutes. It's an old friend and I +must have a little talk with him."</p> + +<p>He walked with light steps across the room which was +crowded, humming with many voices, the air heavy with +smoke. The man was still at the small table, and, opposite +him, was an empty chair in which Robert sat deliberately, +putting his elbows on the table, and staring +into the hard blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'm Peter Smith," he said. "You remember me?"</p> + +<p>There was a flicker of surprise in the Captain's face, +but nothing more.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Peter," he said. "I know you, but I was not +looking for you just at this moment."</p> + +<p>"But I'm here."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you're coming back to your duty, is that it? +Well, I'm glad. I've another ship now, and though you're +a runaway seaman I can afford to let bygones be bygones."</p> + +<p>"I hope your vessel has changed her trade. I don't +think I'd care to sail again on a slaver."</p> + +<p>"Always a particular sort of chap you were, Peter. +It's asking a lot for me to change the business of my +ship to suit you."</p> + +<p>"But not too much."</p> + +<p>The conversation was carried on in an ordinary tone. +Neither raised his voice a particle. Nobody took any +notice. His own comrades, engrossed in lively talk, +seemed to have forgotten Robert for the moment, and +he felt that he was master of the situation. Certainly the +slaver would be more uncomfortable than he.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was wondering," he said, "how long you mean to +stay in Albany."</p> + +<p>"It's a pleasant town," said the man, "as I have cause +to know since I've been here before. I may remain quite +a while. Still, I shall decide wholly according to my +taste."</p> + +<p>"But there is a certain element of danger."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the war! I don't think the French even if they +come to Albany will have a chance to take me."</p> + +<p>"I didn't have the war in mind. There are other risks +of which I think that I, Peter Smith, who sailed with you +once before ought to warn you."</p> + +<p>"It's good of you, Peter, to think so much of my +safety, but I don't believe I've any cause for fear. I've +always been able to take care of myself."</p> + +<p>The last words were said with a little snap, and Robert +knew they were meant as a defiance, but he appeared not +to notice.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well you've shown that you know how to look out +for number one," he said. "I'm only Peter Smith, a +humble seaman, but I've the same faculty. I bid you +good-day."</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Peter. I hope there's no ill feeling between +us, and that each will have whatever he deserves!"</p> + +<p>Cool! wonderfully cool, Robert thought, but he replied +merely: "I trust so, too, and in that case it is easy to +surmise what one of us would get."</p> + +<p>He sauntered back to his comrades, and, lest he +attract their attention, he did not look toward the slaver +again for a minute or two. When he glanced in that +direction he saw the man walking toward the door, not +in any hurried manner, but as if he had all the time in +the world, and need fear nobody. Cool! wonderfully +cool, Robert thought a second time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>The slaver went out, and Robert thought he caught a +glimpse of a man meeting him, a second man in whose +figure also there was something familiar. They were +gone in an instant, and he was tempted to spring up and +follow them, because the figure of which he had seen +but a little at the door reminded him nevertheless of +Achille Garay, the spy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE CHEST OF DRAWERS</h3> + + +<p>It was but a fleeting glimpse that Robert had of the +second man, but he believed that it was Garay. He +not only looked like the spy, but he was convinced +that it was really he. After the first moment or two he +did not doubt his identity, and making an excuse that he +wanted a little fresh air and would return in an instant +he walked quickly to the door. He caught another and +fugitive glimpse of two men, one tall and the other short, +walking away together, and he could not doubt that they +were the slaver and the spy.</p> + +<p>Had he been alone Robert would have followed them, +though he was quite certain that Garay must have had +some place of sure refuge, else he would not have ventured +into Albany. Even with that recourse his act was +uncommonly bold. If the slaver was daring, the spy +was yet more so. There was nothing against the slaver +that they could prove, but the spy put his neck in the +noose.</p> + +<p>Robert whistled softly to himself, and he was very +thoughtful. Willet, Tayoga and he had been so completely +victorious over Garay in the forest that perhaps he +had underrated him. Maybe he was a man to be feared. +His daring appearance in Albany must be fortified by supreme +cunning, and his alliance with the slaver implied +a plan. Robert believed that the plan, or a part of it at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +least, was directed against himself. Well, what if it was? +He could meet it, and he was not afraid. He had overcome +other perils, and he had friends, as true and steadfast +as were ever held to any man by hooks of steel. His +heart beat high, he was in a glow, his whole soul leaped +forward to meet prospective danger.</p> + +<p>He went back into the inn and took his seat with the +others. Now it was Stuart who was talking, telling them +of life in the great Southern colony and of its delights, +of the big houses, of the fields of tobacco, of the horse +races, of the long visits to neighbors, and how all who +were anybody were related, making Virginia one huge +family.</p> + +<p>"Now Cabell and I," he said, "belong to the same clan. +My mother and his father are third cousins, which makes +us fourth cousins, or fifth is it? But whether fourth or +fifth, we're cousins just the same. All the people of our +blood are supposed to stand together, and do stand together. +Oh, it has its delights! It makes us sufficient +unto ourselves! The old Dominion is a world in itself, +complete in all its parts."</p> + +<p>"But you have to come to Philadelphia to see a great +city and get a taste of metropolitan life," said Colden.</p> + +<p>Then a discussion, friendly but warm arose as to the +respective merits of the Virginia and Pennsylvania provinces, +and when it was at its height and the attention of +all the others was absorbed in it, Tayoga leaned over and +whispered to Robert:</p> + +<p>"What did you see at the door, Dagaeoga?"</p> + +<p>Robert was startled. So, the Onondago was watching, +after all. He might have known that nothing would +escape his attention.</p> + +<p>"I saw Garay, the spy," he replied in the same tone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And the man at the little table was the captain of +the slave ship on which you were taken?"</p> + +<p>"The same."</p> + +<p>"It bodes ill, Dagaeoga. You must watch."</p> + +<p>"I will, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>The crowd in the great room of the George Inn increased +and the young group remained, eager to watch +it. It was a reflex of the life in the colonies, at the seat +of conflict, and throbbing with all the emotions of a great +war that enveloped nearly the whole civilized world. A +burly fellow, dressed as a teamster, finally made his voice +heard above the others.</p> + +<p>"I tell you men," he said, "that we must give up Albany! +Our army has been cut to pieces! Montcalm is advancing +with twenty thousand French regulars, and +swarms of Indians! They control all of Lake George as +well as Champlain! Hundreds of settlers have already +fallen before the tomahawk, and houses are burning +along the whole border! I have it from them that have +seen the fires."</p> + +<p>There was a sudden hush in the crowd, followed by +an alarmed murmur. The man's emphasis and his startling +statements made an impression.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Dobbs! Tell us about it!" said one.</p> + +<p>"What do you know?" asked another.</p> + +<p>He stood up, a great tall man with a red face.</p> + +<p>"My cousin has been in the north," he said, "and he's +seen rangers, some that have just escaped from the Indians, +barely saving their hair. He heard from them that +the King of France has sent a big army to Canada, and +that another just as big is on the way. It won't be a +week before you see the French flag from the hills of +Albany, and wise men are already packing ready to go +to New York."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was another alarmed hush.</p> + +<p>"This fellow must be stopped," said Colden. "He'll +start a panic."</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga has the gift of words," whispered a voice +in Robert's ear, "and now is the time to use it."</p> + +<p>Nothing more was needed. Robert was on fire in an +instant, and, standing upon his chair, asked for attention.</p> + +<p>"Your pardon a moment, Mr. Dobbs," he said, "if I +interrupt you."</p> + +<p>"Why it's only a boy!" a man exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"A boy, it's true," said Robert, who now felt himself +the center of all eyes, and who, as usual, responded with +all his faculties to such an opportunity, "but I was present +at the Battle of Ticonderoga, and perhaps I've a chance +to correct a few errors into which our friend, Mr. Dobbs, +has fallen."</p> + +<p>"What are those errors?" asked the man in a surly +tone, not relishing his loss of the stage.</p> + +<p>"I'll come to them promptly," said Robert in his mellowest +tones. "They're just trifles, Mr. Dobbs, but still +trifles should be corrected. I stood with the French army +in the battle, and I know something about its numbers, +which are about one-sixth of what Mr. Dobbs claims +them to be."</p> + +<p>"What were you doing with the French?"</p> + +<p>"I happened to be a prisoner, Mr. Dobbs. I escaped +a day or two later. But here are with me young officers +of ours who were in the attack. Several of them felt +the sting of French bullets on that day, so when they +tell you what happened they know what they're talking +about. Their reports don't come from their cousins, but +are the product of their own eyes and ears. Peace, Mr. +Dobbs! I've the floor, or rather the chair, and I must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +tell the facts. We were defeated at Ticonderoga, it's +true, but we were not cut to pieces. Our generals failed +to bring up our artillery. They underrated the French. +They went with rifles, muskets and bayonets alone +against breastworks, defended by a valiant foe, for the +French are valiant, and they paid the price. But our +army is in existence and it's as brave as ever. Albany +is in no danger. Don't be alarmed."</p> + +<p>"You're but a boy. You don't know," growled Dobbs.</p> + +<p>"Peace, Mr. Dobbs! Give us peace. A boy who has +seen may know better than a man who has not seen. I +tell you once again, friends, that the Marquis de Montcalm +will not appear before Albany. It's a long way from +Ticonderoga to this city, too long a road for the French +army to travel. Wise men are not packing for flight to +New York. Wise men are staying right here."</p> + +<p>"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed the Virginians and Philadelphians +and Grosvenor, and "Hear! Hear!" was repeated +from the crowd. Dobbs' red face grew redder, but +now he was silent.</p> + +<p>"My friends," continued Robert in his golden persuasive +tones, "you're not afraid, you're all brave men, but +you must guard against panic. Experience tells you that +rumor is irresponsible, that, as it spreads, it grows. We're +going to learn from our defeat. The French are as near +to Albany as they'll ever come. The war is not going to +move southward. Its progress instead will be toward +Quebec. Remember that panic is always a bad counselor; +but that courage is ever a good one. Things are +never as bad as they look."</p> + +<p>"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed his young comrades again, +and the echoes from the crowd were more numerous than +before. The teamster began to draw back and presently +slipped out of the door. Then Robert sat down amid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +great applause, blushing somewhat because he had been +carried away by his feelings and apologizing to the others +for making himself conspicuous.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to apologize for," exclaimed Cabell. "'Twas +well done, a good speech at the right time. You've the +gift of oratory, Lennox. You should come to Virginia +to live, after we've defeated the French. Our province is +devoted to oratory. You've the gift of golden speech, and +the people will follow you."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I've made an enemy of that man, Dobbs," +said Robert, "and I had enemies enough already."</p> + +<p>His mind went back to the slaver and Garay, and he +was troubled.</p> + +<p>"We've had our little triumph here, thanks to Lennox," +said Colden, "and it seems to me now that we've about +exhausted the possibilities of the George. Besides, the +air is getting thick. Let's go outside."</p> + +<p>Grosvenor paid the score and they departed, a cheer +following them. Here were young officers who had +fought well, and the men in the George were willing to +show respect.</p> + +<p>"I think I'd better return to camp now," said Grosvenor.</p> + +<p>"We'll go with you," said Colden, speaking for the +Pennsylvanians.</p> + +<p>"Stuart and I are detached for the present," said Cabell. +"We secured a transfer from our command in +Virginia, and we're hoping for commissions in the Royal +Americans, and more active service, since the whole tide +of war seems to have shifted to the north rather than +the west."</p> + +<p>"The Royal Americans are fine men," said Robert. +"Though raised in the colonies, they rank with the British +regulars. I had a good friend in one of the regiments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +Edward Charteris, of New York, but he was taken at +Ticonderoga. I saw the French bring him in a prisoner. +I suppose they're holding him in Quebec now."</p> + +<p>"Then we'll rescue him when we take Quebec," said +Stuart valiantly.</p> + +<p>The friends separated with promises to meet again soon +and to see much of one another while they were in +Albany, Grosvenor and the Pennsylvanians continuing +to the camp, Cabell and Stuart turning back to the George +for quarters, and Robert and Tayoga going toward the +house of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. But before they +reached it young Lennox suggested that they turn toward +the river.</p> + +<p>"It is well to do so," said the Onondaga. "I think +that Dagaeoga wishes to look there for a ship."</p> + +<p>"That's in my mind, Tayoga, and yet I wouldn't know +the vessel I'm looking for if I saw her."</p> + +<p>"She will be commanded by the man whom we saw +in the inn, the one with whom Dagaeoga talked."</p> + +<p>"I've no doubt of it, Tayoga. Nothing escapes your +notice."</p> + +<p>"What are eyes for if not to see! And it is a time for +all to watch; especially, it is a time for Dagaeoga to +watch with his eyes, his ears and all his senses."</p> + +<p>"I've that feeling myself."</p> + +<p>"Something is plotting against you. The slaver did not +meet the spy for nothing."</p> + +<p>"Why should men bother about one as insignificant as +I am, when the world is plunged into a great war?"</p> + +<p>"It is because Dagaeoga is in the way of somebody. He +is very much in the way or so much trouble and risk +would not be taken to remove him."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it is Tayoga. I know that Mr. Hardy +and Mr. Huysman and doubtless others hold the key to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +this lock, but I feel quite sure they are not going to put +it in my hand just at present."</p> + +<p>"No, they will not, but it must be for very good reasons. +No one ever had better friends than Dagaeoga has +in them. If they do not choose to tell him anything it +will be wise for him not to ask questions."</p> + +<p>"That's just the way I feel about it, and so I'm going +to ask no questions."</p> + +<p>A hulking figure barred their way, a red face glowed +at them, and a rough voice demanded satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"You fellow with the slick tongue, you had 'em laughing +at me in the tavern," said Dobbs, the teamster. "You +just the same as told 'em I was a liar when I said the +French were coming."</p> + +<p>The man was full of unreasoning anger, and he handled +the butt end of a heavy whip. Yet Robert felt quite cool. +His pistol was in his belt, and Tayoga was at his elbow.</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, my good Mr. Dobbs," he said gaily. +"I would never tell a man he was a liar, particularly one +to whom I had not been introduced. I try to be choice in +my language. I was trained to be so by Mr. Alexander +McLean, a most competent schoolmaster of this city, and +I merely tried to disseminate a thought in the minds of +the numerous audience gathered in the George Inn. My +thought was unlike your thought, and so I was compelled +to use words that did not resemble the words used by +you. I was not responsible for the results flowing from +them."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," growled Dobbs. "You +string a lot of big words together, and I think you're +laughing at me again."</p> + +<p>"Impossible, Mr. Dobbs. I could not be so impolite. +My risibilities may be agitated to a certain extent, but +laugh in the face of a stranger, never! Now will you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +kindly let us pass? The street here is narrow and we do +not wish to crowd."</p> + +<p>Dobbs did not move and his manner became more +threatening than ever, the loaded whip swaying in his +hand. Robert's light and frolicsome humor did not depart. +He felt himself wholly master of the situation.</p> + +<p>"Now, good Mr. Dobbs, kind Mr. Dobbs, I ask you +once more to move," he said in his most wheedling manner. +"The day is too bright and pleasant to be disturbed +by angry feelings. My own temper is always even. Nothing +disturbs me. I was never known to give way to +wrath, but my friend whom you see by my side is a great +Onondaga chieftain. His disposition is haughty and +fierce. He belongs to a race that can never bear the +slightest suspicion of an insult. It is almost certain death +to speak to him in an angry or threatening manner. +Friends as we have been for years, I am always very +careful how I address him."</p> + +<p>The teamster's face fell and he stepped back. The +heavy whip ceased to move in a menacing manner in his +hand.</p> + +<p>"Prudence is always a good thing," continued Robert. +"When a great Indian chieftain is a friend to a man, any +insult to that man is a double insult to the chieftain. It +is usually avenged with the utmost promptitude, and place +is no bar. An angry glance even may invite a fatal +blow."</p> + +<p>Dobbs stepped to one side, and Robert and Tayoga +walked haughtily on. The Onondaga laughed low, but +with intense amusement.</p> + +<p>"Verily it is well to have the gift of words," he said, +"when with their use one, leaving weapons undrawn, can +turn an enemy aside."</p> + +<p>"I could not enter into a street fight with such a man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +Tayoga, and diplomacy was needed. You'll pardon my +use of you as a menace?"</p> + +<p>"I'm at Dagaeoga's service."</p> + +<p>"That being the case we'll now continue the search for +our slaver."</p> + +<p>They hunted carefully along the shores of the Hudson. +Albany was a busy river port at all times, but it was now +busier than ever, the pressure of war driving new traffic +upon it from every side. Many boats were bringing supplies +from further south, and others were being loaded +with the goods of timid people, ready to flee from Montcalm +and the French. Albany caught new trade both +coming and going. The thrifty burghers profited by it +and rejoiced.</p> + +<p>"We've nothing to go on," said Robert, "and perhaps +we couldn't tell the slaver's ship if we were looking +squarely at it. Still, it seems to me it ought to be a +small craft, slim and low, built for speed and with a +sneaky look."</p> + +<p>"Then we will seek such a vessel," said Tayoga.</p> + +<p>Nothing answered the description. The river people +were quite willing to talk and, the two falling into conversation +with them, as if by chance, were able to account +for every craft of any size. There was no strange +ship that could be on any mysterious errand.</p> + +<p>"It is in my mind, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, "that this +lies deeper than we had thought. The slaver would not +have shown himself and he would not have talked with +you so freely if he had not known that he would leave +a hidden trail."</p> + +<p>"It looks that way to me, Tayoga," said Robert, "and I +think Garay must be in some kind of disguise. He would +not venture so boldly among us if he did not have a way +of concealing himself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is in my mind, too, that we have underestimated +the spy. He has perhaps more courage and resolution +than we thought, or these qualities may have come to him +recently. The trade of a spy is very useful to Montcalm +just now. After his victory at Ticonderoga he will be +anxious to know what we are doing here at Albany, and +it will be the duty of Garay to learn. Besides, we put a +great humiliation upon him that time we took his letter +from him in the forest, and he is burning for vengeance +upon us. It is not in the nature of Dagaeoga to wish revenge, +but he must not blind himself on that account to +the fact that others cherish it."</p> + +<p>"It was the fortune of war. We have our disasters +and our enemies have theirs."</p> + +<p>"Yet we must beware of Garay. I know it, Dagaeoga."</p> + +<p>"At any rate we can't find out anything about him and +the slaver along the river, and that being the case I suggest +that we go on to the house of Mynheer Jacobus, +where we're pretty sure of a welcome."</p> + +<p>Their greetings at the burgher's home were as warm as +anybody could wish. Master McLean had left, and the +rest were talking casually in the large front room, but +the keen eyes of the Onondaga read the signs infallibly. +This was a trail that could not be hidden from him.</p> + +<p>"Other men have been here," he said a little later to +Robert, when they were alone in the room. "There has +been a council."</p> + +<p>"How do you know, Tayoga?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know, Dagaeoga? Because I have eyes and +I use them. It is printed all over the room in letters of +the largest type and in words of one syllable. The floor +is of polished wood, Dagaeoga, and there is a great table +in the center of the chamber. The chairs have been +moved back, but eight men sat around it. I can count<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +the faint traces made by the chairs in the polish of the +floor. They were heavy men—most of the men of Albany +are heavy, and now and then they moved restlessly, +as they talked. That was why they ground the chair legs +against the polish, leaving there little traces which will be +gone in another hour, but which are enough while they +last to tell their tale.</p> + +<p>"They moved so, now and then because their talk was +of great importance. They smoked also that they might +think better over what they were saying. A child could +tell that, because smoke yet lingers in the room, although +Caterina has opened the windows to let it out. Some of +it is left low down in the corners, and under the chairs +now against the wall. A little of the ash from their pipes +has fallen on the table, showing that although Caterina +has opened the windows she has not yet had time to clean +the room. You and I know, Dagaeoga, that she would +never miss any ash on the table. Master McLean smoked +much, perhaps more than any of the others. He uses the +strongest Virginia tobacco that he can obtain, and I +know its odor of old. I smell it everywhere in the room. +I also know the odor of the tobacco that Mynheer Jacobus +uses, and it is strongest here by the mantel, showing +that in the course of the council he frequently got up +and stood here. Ah, there is ash on the mantel itself! He +tapped it now and then with his pipe to enforce what he +was saying. Mynheer Jacobus was much stirred, or he +would not have risen to his feet to make speeches to the +others."</p> + +<p>"Can you locate Master Hardy also?"</p> + +<p>"I think I can, Dagaeoga."</p> + +<p>He ran around the room like a hound on the scent, +and, at last, he stopped before a large massive locked +chest of drawers that stood in the corner, a heavy ma<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>hogany +piece that looked as if it had been imported from +France or Italy.</p> + +<p>"Master Jacobus came here," said the Onondaga. "I +smell his tobacco. Ah, and Master Hardy came, too! I +now smell his tobacco also. I remember that when we +were in New York he smoked a peculiar, bitter West India +compound which doubtless is brought to him regularly +in his ships—men nearly always have a favorite tobacco +and will take every trouble to get it. I recognize the +odor perfectly. There are traces of the ash of both tobaccos +on the chest of drawers, and Master Huysman and +Master Hardy came here, because there are papers in this +piece of furniture which Master Huysman wished to +show to Master Hardy. They are in the third drawer +from the top, because there is a little dust on the others, +but none on the third. It fell off when it was opened, and +was then shut again strongly after they were through."</p> + +<p>Robert gazed with intense curiosity at the third drawer. +The papers in it might concern himself—he believed +Tayoga implicitly—but it was not for him to pry into the +affairs of two such good friends. If they wished to keep +their secret a while longer, then they had good reasons +for doing so.</p> + +<p>"Did the others come to the chest of drawers also, and +look at the papers?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The Onondaga knelt down and examined the polished +floor.</p> + +<p>"I do not think so," he replied at length. "It is wholly +likely that Master Jacobus and Master Hardy came to +the chest of drawers after the others had gone, and that +the papers had no bearing on the matters they talked over +in the council. Yes, it is so! It is bound to be so! The +odor of their two tobaccos is stronger than any of the +other odors in the room, showing that they were in here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +much longer than the others. It may be that the papers +in the third drawer relate to Dagaeoga."</p> + +<p>"I had that thought myself, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>"Does Dagaeoga wish me to go further with it?"</p> + +<p>"No, Tayoga. What those men desire to hide from us +must remain hidden."</p> + +<p>"I am glad Dagaeoga has answered that way, because +if he had not I should have refused to go on, and yet I +knew that was the way in which he would answer."</p> + +<p>They went to another room in which they found +Mr. Huysman, Mr. Hardy and the clerk, and Robert told +of his meeting with the slaver. The face of Benjamin +Hardy darkened.</p> + +<p>"Tayoga is right," he said. "That man's presence here +bodes ill for you, Robert."</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid. Besides I've too many friends," said +Robert quietly.</p> + +<p>"Both your statements are true, but you must be careful +just the same," interjected Master Jacobus. "Nevertheless, +we'll not be apprehensive. Master McLean iss +coming back for supper, and we're going to make it a +great affair, a real reunion for all of us. Caterina, helped +by two stout colored women, has been cooking all the +afternoon, and I hope that you two boys have had enough +exercise and excitement to whet your appetites. How +iss it?"</p> + +<p>"We have, sir!" they replied together, and with emphasis.</p> + +<p>"And now to your old room. You'll find there in a +closet clothes for both of you, Tayoga's of his own kind, +that Caterina has preserved carefully, and at six o'clock +come in to supper, which to-day iss to be our chief meal. +I would not have Benjamin Hardy to come all the way +from New York and say that I failed to set for him as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +good a meal as he would set for me if I were his guest in +his city. Not only my hospitality but the hospitality of +Albany iss at stake."</p> + +<p>"I know, sir, that your reputation will not suffer," said +Robert with great confidence.</p> + +<p>He and Tayoga in their room found their clothes preserved +in camphor and quickly made the change. Then +they stood by the window, looking out on the pleasant +domain, in which they had spent so many happy hours. +Both felt a glow.</p> + +<p>"Master Jacobus Huysman is a good man," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"A wise, fat chief," said the Onondaga. "A kind +heart and a strong head. He is worthy to rule. If he belonged +to the league of the Hodenosaunee we would put +him in a high place."</p> + +<p>"Though he holds no office, I think he sits in a high +place here. It is likely that the men who were around +the table to-day came to him for counsel."</p> + +<p>"It seems a good guess to me, Dagaeoga. Perhaps they +take measures to meet the threat of Montcalm."</p> + +<p>"They're our elders, and we'll let them do the thinking +on that point just now. Somehow, I feel light of heart, +Tayoga, and I want to enjoy myself."</p> + +<p>"Even though the slaver and the spy are here, and we +all believe that they threaten you?"</p> + +<p>"Even so. My heart is light, nevertheless. My mind +tells me that I ought to be apprehensive and sad, but my +heart has taken control and I am hopeful and gay?"</p> + +<p>"It is the nature of Dagaeoga, and he should give +thanks to Manitou that he has been made that way. It +is worth much more to him than the white man's gold."</p> + +<p>"I <i>am</i> thankful, Tayoga. I'm thankful for a lot of +things. How does this coat look on me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is small. You have grown much in the last year +or two. Your frame is filling out and you are bigger +every way. Still, it is a fine coat, and the knee breeches, +stockings and buckled shoes are very splendid. If Dagaeoga +does not look like a chief it is only because he is +not old enough, and he at least looks like the son of a +chief."</p> + +<p>Robert contemplated himself in a small mirror with +much satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"I'm frightfully tanned," he said. "Perhaps they +wouldn't take me for a model of fashion in Paris or London, +but here nearly everybody else is tanned also, and, +after all, it's healthy."</p> + +<p>The Onondaga regarded him with an amused smile.</p> + +<p>"If Dagaeoga had the time and money he would spend +much of both on dress," he said. "He loves to make a +fine appearance."</p> + +<p>"You say nothing but the truth," said Robert frankly. +"I hope some day to have the very best clothes that are +made. A man who respects his clothes respects himself. +I know no sin in trying to please the eyes of others and +incidentally myself. I note, Tayoga, that on occasion +you array yourself with great splendor, and that, at all +times, you're very particular about your attire."</p> + +<p>"It is so, Dagaeoga. I spoke in terms of approval, not +of criticism. Are you satisfied with yourself?"</p> + +<p>"As much as possible under the circumstances. If I +could achieve the change merely by making a wish I'd +have the coat and breeches of a somewhat richer hue, +and the buckles on the shoes considerably larger, but +they'll do. Shall we sit here and rest until Caterina calls +us for supper?"</p> + +<p>"I think so, Dagaeoga."</p> + +<p>But it was not long until the summons came, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +went into the great dining-room, where the elder company +was already gathered. Besides Mr. Huysman, Benjamin +Hardy, Jonathan Pillsbury, and Alexander McLean, +there were Nicholas Ten Broeck and Oliver Suydam, +two of Albany's most solid burghers, and Alan +Hervey, another visitor from New York, a thin man of +middle years and shrewd looks, whom Robert took to +be a figure in finance and trade. All the elders seemed +to know one another well, and to be on the best of terms.</p> + +<p>Robert and Tayoga were presented duly, and made +their modest acknowledgments, sitting together near the +end of the table.</p> + +<p>"These lads, young as they are," said Master Jacobus +Huysman, "have had much experience of the present war. +One of them was a prisoner of the French at Ticonderoga +and saw the whole battle, while the other fought +in it. Before that they were in innumerable encounters +and other perils, usually with the great hunter, David +Willet, of whom you all know, and who, I regret, is not +here."</p> + +<p>"It is no more than thousands of others have done," +said Robert, blushing under his tan.</p> + +<p>Hervey regarded him and Tayoga with interest. The +Onondaga was in full Indian dress, but Albany was used +to the Iroquois, and that fact was not at all exceptional.</p> + +<p>"War is a terrible thing," he said, "and whether a +nation is or is not to endure depends very much upon its +youth."</p> + +<p>"We always think that present youth is inferior to what +our own youth was," said Mr. Hardy. "That, I believe, +is a common human failing. But Master McLean ought +to know. Forty years of youth, year after year have +passed through his hands. What say you, Alexander?"</p> + +<p>"Youth is youth," replied the schoolmaster, weighing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +his sentences, "and by those words I mean exactly what +I say. I think it changes but little through all the ages, +and it is probably the same to-day that it was in old +Babylon. I find in my schoolroom that the youth of this +year is just like the youth of ten years ago, just as the +youth of ten years ago was exactly like the youth of +twenty, thirty and forty years ago."</p> + +<p>"And what are the cardinal points of this formative +age, Alexander?" asked Master Jacobus.</p> + +<p>"Speaking mildly, I would call it concentration upon +self. The horizon of youth is bounded by its own eye. +It looks no farther. As it sees and feels it, the world exists +for youth. We elders, parents, uncles, guardians and +such, live for its benefit. We are merely accessories to +the great and main fact, which is youth."</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that to be true, Robert?" asked Master +Benjamin Hardy, a twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"I hope it's not, sir," replied Robert, reddening again +under his tan.</p> + +<p>"But it's true and it will remain true," continued the +schoolmaster judicially. "It was equally true of all of us +who passed our youth long ago. I do not quarrel with +it. I merely state a fact of life. Perhaps if I could +I would not strip youth of this unconscious absorption in +self, because in doing so we might deprive it of the simplicity +and directness, the artless beliefs that make youth +so attractive."</p> + +<p>"I hold," said Mr. Hervey, "that age is really a state +of mind. We believe certain things at twenty, others at +thirty, others at forty, and so on. The beliefs of twenty +are true at twenty, we must not try them by the tests of +thirty, nor must we try those of thirty by the tests of +forty or fifty. So how are we to say which age is the +wiser, when every age accepts as true what it believes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +and, so makes it true? I agree, too, with Mr. McLean, +that I would not change the character of youth if I could. +Looking back upon my own youth I find much in it to +laugh at, but I did not laugh at it at the time. It was +very real to me then, and so must its feelings be to the +youth of to-day."</p> + +<p>"We wade into deep waters," said Mynheer Jacobus, +"and we may go over our heads. Ah, here are the +oysters! I hope that all of you will find them to your +liking."</p> + +<p>A dozen were served for every guest—it was the day of +plenty, the fields and woods and waters of America furnishing +more food than its people could consume—and +they approached them with the keen appetites of strong +and healthy men.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we do not have the sea food here that you +have in New York, Alan," said Master Jacobus with +mock humility, "but we give you of our best."</p> + +<p>"We've the finest oysters in the world, unless those of +Baltimore be excepted," said Hervey, "but yours are, in +truth, most excellent. Perhaps you can't expect to equal +us in a specialty of ours. You'll recall old Tom Cotton's +inn, out by the East River, and how unapproachably he +serves oyster, crab, lobster and every kind of fish."</p> + +<p>"I recall it full well, Alan. I rode out the Bowery +road when I was last in New York, but I did not get a +chance to go to old Tom's. You and I and Benjamin +have seen some lively times there, when we were a bit +younger, eh, Alan?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, Jacobus, you speak truly. We were just as +much concentrated upon self as the youth of to-day. And +in our elderly hearts we're proud of the little frivolities +and dissipations that were committed then. Else we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +would never talk of 'em and chuckle over 'em to one +another."</p> + +<p>"And what is more, we're not too old yet for a little +taste of pleasure, now and then, eh, Alexander?"</p> + +<p>The schoolmaster, appealed to so directly, pursed his +thin lips, lowered his lids to hide the faint twinkle in +his eyes, and replied in measured tones:</p> + +<p>"I cannot speak for you, Jacobus. I've known you a +long time and your example is corrupting, but I trust +that I shall prove firm against temptation."</p> + +<p>The oysters were finished. No man left a single one +untouched on his plate, and then a thick chicken soup +was served by two very black women in gay cotton prints +with red bandanna handkerchiefs tied like turbans around +their heads. Robert could see no diminution in the +appetite of the guests, nor did he feel any decrease in his +own. Mr. Hervey turned to him.</p> + +<p>"I hear you saw the Marquis de Montcalm himself," +he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Robert. "I saw him several times, +at Ticonderoga, and before that in the Oswego campaign. +I've been twice a prisoner of the French."</p> + +<p>"How does he look?"</p> + +<p>"Of middle age, sir, short, dark and very polite in +speech."</p> + +<p>"And evidently a good soldier. He has proved that +and to our misfortune. Yet, I cannot but think that we +will produce his master. Now, I wonder who it is +going to be. Under the English system the best general +does not always come forward first, and perhaps we've +not yet so much as heard the name of the man who is +going to beat Montcalm. That he will be beaten I've +no doubt. We'll conquer Canada and settle North Amer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>ican +affairs for all time. Perhaps it will be the last +great war."</p> + +<p>Robert was listening with the closest attention, and it +seemed to him that the New Yorker was right. With +Canada conquered and the French power expelled it +would be the last great war so far as North America was +concerned? How fallible men are! How prone they are +to think when they have settled things for themselves +they have settled them also for all future generations!</p> + +<p>"And then," continued Mr. Hervey, "New York will +become a yet greater port than it now is. It may even +hope to rival Philadelphia in size and wealth. It will be +London's greatest feeder."</p> + +<p>The soup, not neglected in the least, gave way to fish, +and then to many kinds of meat, in which game, bear, +deer and wild fowl were conspicuous. Robert took a +little of everything, but he was absorbed in the talk. He +felt that these men were in touch with great affairs, and, +however much they diverged from such subjects they +had them most at heart. It was a thrilling thought that +the future of North America, in some degree at least, +might be determined around that very table at which he +was sitting as a guest. He had knowledge and imagination +enough to understand that it was not the armies +that determined the fate of nations, but the men directing +them who stood behind them farther back, in the dark +perhaps, obscure, maybe never to become fully known, +but clairvoyant and powerful just the same. He was +resolved not to lose a word. So he leaned forward just +a little in his seat, and his blue eyes sparkled.</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga is glad to be here," said Tayoga in an +undertone.</p> + +<p>"So I am, Tayoga. They talk of things of which I +wish to hear."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As I told you, these be sachems with whom we sit. +They be not chiefs who lead in battle, but, like the +sachems, they plan, and, like the medicine men, they make +charms and incantations that influence the souls of the +warriors and also the souls of those who lead them to +battle."</p> + +<p>"The same thought was in my own mind."</p> + +<p>Wine smuggled from France or Spain was served to +the men, though young Lennox and the Onondaga +touched none. In truth, it was not offered to them, Master +Jacobus saying, with a glance at Robert:</p> + +<p>"I have never allowed you and Tayoga to have anything +stronger than coffee in my house, and although you +are no longer under my charge I intend to keep to the +rule."</p> + +<p>"We wish nothing more, sir," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"As for me," said the Onondaga, "I shall never touch +any kind of liquor. I know that it goes ill with my race."</p> + +<p>"Yours, I understand, is the Onondaga nation," said +Mr. Hervey, looking at him attentively.</p> + +<p>"The Onondaga, and I belong to the clan of the Bear," +replied Tayoga proudly. "The Hodenosaunee have held +the balance in this war."</p> + +<p>"That I know full well. I gladly give the great League +ample credit. It has been a wise policy of the English to +deal honestly and fairly with your people. In general +the French surpass us in winning and holding the affections +of the native races, but some good angel has directed +us in our dealings with the Six Nations. Without their +Indians the French could have done little against us. I +hear of one of their leaders who has endeared himself to +them in the most remarkable manner. There has been +much talk in New York of the Chevalier de St. Luc,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +and being nearer the seat of action you've perhaps heard +some of it here in Albany, Jacobus!"</p> + +<p>Robert leaned a little farther forward and concentrated +every faculty on the talk, but he said nothing.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we've heard much of him, Alan," replied Master +Jacobus. "I think he's the most dangerous foe that we +have among Montcalm's lieutenants. He passes like a +flame along the border, and yet report speaks well of +him, too. All our men who have come in contact with +him say he is a gallant and chivalrous foe."</p> + +<p>Robert glanced at Master Benjamin Hardy, but the +great merchant's face was blank.</p> + +<p>"Robert saw him, too, when he was a prisoner among +the French," said Mr. Huysman.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hervey looked at Robert, who said:</p> + +<p>"I saw him several times at Ticonderoga, where he +was the chief adviser of Montcalm during the battle, and +I've seen him often elsewhere. All that they say about +him is true. He's a master of forest warfare, and +his following is devoted."</p> + +<p>He glanced again at Benjamin Hardy, but the New +Yorker was helping himself to an especially tender bit +of venison and his face expressed nothing but appreciation +of his food. Robert sighed under his breath. They +would never do more than generalize about St. Luc. +Tayoga and he asked presently to be excused. The men +would sit much longer over their nuts and wine, and +doubtless when the lads were gone they would enter +more deeply into those plans and ventures that lay so +near their hearts.</p> + +<p>"I think I shall wander among the trees behind the +house," said Tayoga, when they were out of the dining-room. +"I want fresh air, and I wish to hear the wind +blowing among the leaves. Then I can fancy that I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +back in the great forest, and my soul will be in peace."</p> + +<p>"And commune, perhaps, with Tododaho on his star," +said Robert, not lightly but in all seriousness.</p> + +<p>"Even so, Dagaeoga. He may have something to tell +me, but if he does not it is well to be alone for a while."</p> + +<p>"I won't let you be alone just yet, because I'm going +out with you, but I don't mean to stay long, and then +you can commune with your own soul."</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful night, cooled by a breeze which +came crisp and strong from the hills, rustling through the +foliage, already beginning to take on the tints of early +autumn. After the warm room and many courses +of food it was very grateful to the two lads who stood +under the trees listening to the pleasant song of the +breeze. But in five minutes Robert said:</p> + +<p>"I'm going back into the house now, Tayoga. I can +see your star in the clear heavens, and perhaps Tododaho +will speak to you."</p> + +<p>"I shall see. Farewell for an hour, Dagaeoga."</p> + +<p>Robert went in.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE PURSUIT OF GARAY</h3> + + +<p>Robert paused a few moments in the hall. Sounds +of voices came from the dining room, showing that +the supper was still in progress. He thought of +going back there to listen to the talk, but he reflected that +the time for youth at the table had passed. They were +in their secrets now, and he strolled toward the large +room that contained the chest of drawers.</p> + +<p>A dim light from an unshuttered window shone into +the apartment and it was in his mind to wait there +for Tayoga, but he stopped suddenly at the door and +stared in astonishment. A shadow was moving in the +room, thin, impalpable and noiseless, but it had all the +seeming of a man. Moreover, it had a height and shape +that were familiar, and it reminded him of the spy, +Garay.</p> + +<p>He was too much surprised to move, and so he +merely stared. Garay knelt before the chest of drawers +and began to work at it with a small sharp tool that he +drew from his coat. Robert saw, too, that his attention +was centered on the third drawer from the top. Then +he came out of his catalepsy and started forward, but +in doing so his foot made a slight noise on the floor.</p> + +<p>Garay leaped to his feet, gave Robert one glance and +then disappeared through the open window, with incredible +dexterity and speed. Robert stared again. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +man was there and then he was not. It could not be +Garay, but his ghost, some illusion, a trick of the eye or +mind. Then he knew it was no fancy. With extraordinary +assurance the man had come there to rifle the +drawer—for what purpose Robert knew not.</p> + +<p>He ran to the window, but saw nothing save the peaceful +night, the waving trees and the quiet lawn lying +beyond. Then he walked to the chest and examined the +third drawer, noticing new scratches around the lock. +There was not the slightest doubt that Garay had been +trying to open it.</p> + +<p>He went to the door, resolved to tell Mr. Huysman at +once of the attempt upon the chest, but he stopped +irresolute. The low sounds of talk still came from the +dining-room. He was only a boy and his was a most +improbable tale. They might think he had been dreaming, +though he knew full well that he had seen straight +and true. And then Garay was gone, leaving no trace. +No, he would not interrupt Mr. Huysman now, but he +would talk it over with Tayoga.</p> + +<p>He found the Onondaga standing among the trees, +gazing with rapt vision at his star.</p> + +<p>"Did Tododaho speak to you?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"He did," replied Tayoga earnestly.</p> + +<p>"What did he say?"</p> + +<p>"That the great war will go on, and that you and I +and the Great Bear, who is away, will encounter many +more perils. The rest is veiled."</p> + +<p>"And while we take our ease, Tayoga, our enemies +are at work."</p> + +<p>"What does Dagaeoga mean?"</p> + +<p>"I went into the room containing the chest of drawers, +the story of which you read, and found there Garay, +the spy, trying to open it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga does not dream?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought for a moment or two that I did, but +it was reality. Garay escaped through the open window, +and, on the lock of the third drawer, were scratches that +he left where he had been working with a sharp tool. +Come, Tayoga, and look at them."</p> + +<p>The two went into the house. Robert lighted a lamp +for better light, and Tayoga knelt before the drawer, +giving it a long and close examination.</p> + +<p>"Garay is a very clever man," he said at last, "much +cleverer, perhaps, than we gave him the credit of being."</p> + +<p>"I think so too," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"As events show, he came into this house to obtain +the papers in this drawer, and you and I feel quite certain +that those papers concern you. And as you saw him +and the slaver together, it indicates that they have some +plot against you, what I know not. But the papers here +have much to do with it."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I should speak of it to Master Jacobus +and Mr. Hardy now?"</p> + +<p>"I think not, Dagaeoga. Whatever is the mystery +about you it is evident that they do not wish to tell you +of it yet. So, being what you are, you will not ask them, +but wait until such time as they see fit. I think these +scratches on the lock were made by the sharp point of a +hunting knife. Garay did not succeed in opening it, +though it is likely that he would have done so if you +had not interrupted him."</p> + +<p>"When he saw me he was gone like a flash. I did +not know a man could skip through a window with so +much celerity."</p> + +<p>"One has to be skillful at such things to carry on the +trade of a spy. That is why he could have opened this +lock, large and strong as it is, with the point of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +hunting knife had he been allowed time, and that is why +he flew through the window like a bird when you came +upon him."</p> + +<p>He examined the window, and then laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"But he did not go without leaving further proof of +himself," he said. "Here on the sill is the faintest trace +of blood where he bruised his hand or wrist in his rapid +flight."</p> + +<p>"Suppose you try to trail him, Tayoga. I believe you +could find out which way he went, even here in Albany. +The men will talk in there a long time, and won't miss +us. There's a fair moon."</p> + +<p>"I will try," said Tayoga in his precise fashion. "First +we will look at the ground under the window."</p> + +<p>They went outside and the Onondaga examined the +grass beneath it, the drop being five or six feet.</p> + +<p>"As he had to come down hard, he ought to have left +traces," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"So he did, Dagaeoga. I find several imprints, and +there also are two or three drops of blood, showing that +he scratched his hand considerably when he went through +the window. Here go the traces, leading north. Garay, +of course, knows this immediate locality well, as he +observed it closely when he made his attempt upon you +before. It is lucky that it rained yesterday, leaving the +ground soft. We may be able to follow him quite a +distance."</p> + +<p>"If anybody can follow him, you can."</p> + +<p>"It is friendship that makes Dagaeoga speak so. The +trail continues in its original course, though I think that +sooner or later it will turn toward the river."</p> + +<p>"Meaning that Garay will meet the slaver somewhere, +and that the natural place of the latter is on the water."</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga reasons well. That, I think, is just what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +Garay will do. It is likely, too, that he will curve about +the town. If he went upon a hard street we would lose +him, since he would leave no trail there, but he will keep +away because he does not wish to be seen. Ah, he now +turns from the houses and into the fields! We shall +be able to follow him. The moon is our friend. It is +pouring down rays enough to disclose his trail, if trail +he leaves."</p> + +<p>They were soon beyond the houses and climbed three +fences dividing the fields. At the third, Tayoga said:</p> + +<p>"Garay paused here and rested. There is a drop of +blood on the top rail. He probably sat there and looked +back to see if he was followed. Ah, here is a splinter +on a lower rail freshly broken!"</p> + +<p>"What do you make of it, Tayoga?"</p> + +<p>"The spy was angry, angry that his effort, made at +such great risk, should have failed through the mere +chance of your coming into the room at that particular +time. He was angry, too, that he had bruised his hand +so badly that it bled, and continued to bleed. So, his +disappointment made him grind his heel against the rail +and break the splinter."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad he felt that way. A man in his trade ought +to suffer many disappointments."</p> + +<p>"When he had satisfied himself that no pursuit was +in sight, he jumped to the ground. Here are deep imprints +made by his descending weight, and now he +becomes less careful. Albany is behind us, and he thinks +all danger of pursuit has passed. I see a little brook +ahead, and it is safe to say that he will kneel at it and +drink."</p> + +<p>"And also to bathe his wounded hand."</p> + +<p>"Even so, Dagaeoga. Lo, it is as we said! Here are +the imprints of his knees, showing that he refreshed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +himself with water after his hurried flight. The ground +on the other side of the brook is soft and we shall be +able to find his imprints there, even if it were pitch +dark. Now I think they will turn very soon toward the +river."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're curving. Here they go, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>The trail led across a field, over a hill, and then +through a little wood, where Tayoga was compelled to +go slowly, hunting about like a hound, trying to trace a +scent. But wherever he lost it he finally picked it up +again, and, when they emerged from the trees, they saw +the river not far ahead.</p> + +<p>"Our trail will end at the stream," said Tayoga confidently.</p> + +<p>As he had predicted, the imprints led directly to the +river, and there ended their pursuit also. The Hudson +flowed on in silence. There was nothing on its bosom.</p> + +<p>"The slaver in a boat was waiting for him here," said +Tayoga. "I think we can soon find proof of it."</p> + +<p>A brief examination of the bank showed traces where +the prow had rested.</p> + +<p>"It was probably a boat with oars for two," he said. +"The slaver sat in it most of the time, but he grew +impatient at last and leaving the boat walked up the bank +a little distance. Here go his steps, showing very plainly +in the soft earth in the moonlight, and here come those +of Garay to meet him. They stood at the top of the +bank under this oak, and the spy told how he had failed. +Doubtless, the slaver was much disappointed, but he did +not venture to upbraid Garay, because the spy is as necessary +to him as he is to the spy. After they talked it +over they walked down the bank together—see their +trails going side by side—entered the boat and rowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +away. I wish the water would leave a trail, too, that we +might follow them, but it does not."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they'll dare go back to Albany?"</p> + +<p>"The slaver will. What proof of any kind about anything +have we? Down! Dagaeoga, down!"</p> + +<p>Fitting the action to the word, the Onondaga seized +Robert by the shoulders suddenly and dragged him to +the earth, falling with him. As he did so a bullet +whistled where Robert's head had been and a little puff +of smoke rose from a clump of bushes on the opposite +shore.</p> + +<p>"They're there in their boat among the bushes that +grow on the water's edge!" exclaimed Tayoga. "I ought +to have thought of it, but I did see a movement among +the bushes in time! I cannot see their faces or the boat, +either, but I know it is Garay and the slaver."</p> + +<p>"I have no weapon," said Robert. "It did not occur +to me that I would need one."</p> + +<p>"I have a pistol in my tunic. I always carry one when +I am in the white man's country. It is wise."</p> + +<p>"Under the circumstances, I think we'd better slip +away and leave the spy and the slaver to enjoy the river +as they please, for to-night at least."</p> + +<p>He was about to rise, but Tayoga pulled him down a +second time and a report heavier than the first came +from the far shore. Another bullet passed over their +heads and struck with a sough in the trunk of a big tree +beyond them.</p> + +<p>"That was from a rifle. The other was from a pistol," +said Tayoga. "It is the slaver, of course, who has the +rifle, and they mean to make it very warm for us. Perhaps +an unexpected chance gives them hope to do here +what they expected to achieve later on."</p> + +<p>"Meaning a final disposition of me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was in my mind, Dagaeoga. I think it is you +at whom they will shoot and you would better creep +away. Lie almost flat and edge along until you come +to the trees, which are about twenty yards behind us. +There, you will be safe."</p> + +<p>"And leave you alone, Tayoga! What have I ever +done to make you think I'd do such a thing?"</p> + +<p>"It is not Tayoga whom they want. It is Dagaeoga. +I cannot go without taking a shot at them, else my pistol +would burn me inside my tunic. Be wise as I am, +Dagaeoga. Always carry a pistol when you are in the +white man's towns. Life is reasonably safe only in the +red man's forest."</p> + +<p>"It looks as if you were right, Tayoga, but remember +that I stay here with you as long as you stay."</p> + +<p>"Then keep close to the earth. Roll back a bit and +you will be sheltered better by that little rise."</p> + +<p>Robert obeyed, and it was well that he did so, as the +heavy rifle cracked a second time, and a plowing bullet +caused fine particles of earth to fly over him. Tayoga +leveled his pistol at the flash and smoke, but did not pull +the trigger.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you fire, Tayoga?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"I could not see well enough. They and their boat +are still hidden by the bushes in which they remain, because +from there they can command the bank where +we lie."</p> + +<p>"Then it looks as if each side held the other. If they +come out of the bushes you use your pistol on 'em, and +if we retreat farther they use their rifle on us. You'll +notice, Tayoga, that we're in a little dip, and if we go +out of it on our far side in retreat we'll make a target +of ourselves. If they leave the bushes on their far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +side to climb their own bank they come into view. It's +checkmate for both."</p> + +<p>"It is so, Dagaeoga. It is a difficult position for you, +but not for me. We of the red races learn to have +patience, because we are not in such a hurry to consume +time as you white people are."</p> + +<p>"That is true, but it is not a moment for a discussion +of the relative merits of white and red."</p> + +<p>"We are likely to have plenty of leisure for it, since +I think we are doomed to a long wait."</p> + +<p>"I think you're happy over it, Tayoga. Your voice +has a pleased ring."</p> + +<p>"I'm not unhappy. I see a chance to gratify a curiosity +that I have long had. I wish to see whether the white +race, even in great danger, where it is most needed, has +as much patience as the red. Ah, Dagaeoga, you were +incautious! Do not raise your head again. You, at +least, do not have as much patience as the occasion +requires."</p> + +<p>The third bullet had passed so near Robert that cold +shivers raced over his body and he resolved not to raise +his head again a single inch, no matter what the temptation.</p> + +<p>"Remember that it is you whom they want," said +Tayoga in his precise, book English. "Having the rifle +they can afford to try shots at longer range, but with the +pistol I must wait until I can see them clearly. Well, +Dagaeoga, it is a fine evening, not too cold, we need fresh +air after a big supper, and perhaps one could not find a +pleasanter place in which to pass the night."</p> + +<p>"You mean that we may lie here until day?"</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga speaks as if that would be remarkable. My +father waited once three days and three nights beside a +run to obtain a deer. He neither ate nor drank during<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +that time, but he went home with the deer. If he could +wait so long for something to eat, cannot we wait as +long when our lives are at stake?"</p> + +<p>"According to the laws of proportion we should be +willing to stay here a week, at least. Can you see anything +moving in the bushes over there, Tayoga?"</p> + +<p>"Not a thing. They too are patient men, the slaver +and the spy, and having missed several times with the +rifle they will bide a while, hoping that we will expose +ourselves."</p> + +<p>The Onondaga settled himself comfortably against the +earth, his pistol lying on the little rise in front of him, +over which his eyes watched the clump of bushes into +which the boat had gone. If the slaver and the spy made +any attempt to slip forth, whether on the water or up +the bank, he would certainly see them, and he would not +withhold the pressure of his finger on the trigger.</p> + +<p>The full moon still shone down, clothing the world in +a beautiful silver light. The stars in myriads danced in +a sky of soft, velvety blue. The river flowed in an +illuminated, molten mass. A light wind hummed a +pleasant song among the brown leaves. Robert had a +curious feeling of rest and safety. He was quite sure +that neither the slaver nor the spy could hit him while +he lay in the dip, and no movement of theirs would +escape the observation of Tayoga, the incomparable +sentinel. He relaxed, and, for a few moments, his +faculties seemed to fall into a dreamy state.</p> + +<p>"If I should go to sleep, Tayoga," he said, "wake me +up when you need me."</p> + +<p>"You will not go to sleep."</p> + +<p>"How do you know? I feel a lot like it."</p> + +<p>"It is because the worry you felt a little while ago has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +passed. You believe that in this duel of patience we shall +conquer."</p> + +<p>"I know that we'll conquer, Tayoga, because you are +here."</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga's flattery is not subtle."</p> + +<p>"It's not flattery. It's my real belief."</p> + +<p>The night wore on. The breeze that rustled the leaves +was warm and soothing, and Robert's sleepiness increased. +But he fought against it. He used his will and +brought his body roughly to task, shaking himself violently. +He also told himself over and over again that +they were in a position of great danger, that he must be +on guard, that he must not leave the duty to the Onondaga +alone. Such violent efforts gradually drove sleep +away, and raising his head a few inches he looked over +the rise.</p> + +<p>The whole surface of the river still showed clearly in +the moonlight, as it flowed slowly and peacefully on, +silver in tint most of the time, but now and then disclosing +shades of deep blue. Directly opposite was the clump +of bushes in which the slaver and the spy had pushed +their boat. An easy shot for a rifle, but a hard one for +a pistol.</p> + +<p>Robert studied the bushes very closely, trying to discern +their enemies among them, but he saw nothing there +save a slight movement of the leaves before the wind. +It was possible that his foes had slipped away, going +up the other bank in some manner unseen. Since he +could discover no trace of them he began to believe +that it was true, and he raised his head another inch +for a better look.</p> + +<p>Crack! went the rifle, and the bullet sang so close to +his face that at first he thought he was hit. He stared +for a moment at the puff of smoke rising from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +bushes, his faculties in a daze. Then he came to himself +all at once and dropped back abruptly, feeling his head +gingerly to see that it was sound everywhere. But he +was certain that the slaver and the spy were there.</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga was rash," said the Onondaga.</p> + +<p>"I know now I was. Still, I feel much relief because +I've settled a problem that was troubling me."</p> + +<p>"What was it?"</p> + +<p>"I wasn't sure that our enemies were still there. Now +I am."</p> + +<p>"If you feel like it yet, I think you may go to sleep. +Nothing is likely to happen for a long time, and I can +awaken you at any moment."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Tayoga, but I've banished the wish. I +know I can't do anything without a weapon, but I can +give you moral help. They're bound to try something +sometime or other, because when the day comes other +people may arrive—we're not so far from Albany—and +they're guilty, we're not. We don't mind being seen."</p> + +<p>"It is so, Dagaeoga. You talk almost like a man. At +times you reason well. Finding that we are as patient as +they are they will make a movement in an hour or two, +though I think we are not likely to see it."</p> + +<p>"An hour or two? Then I think I'd better make myself +comfortable again."</p> + +<p>He settled his body against the brown turf which was +soft and soothing, and, in spite of himself, the wish for +sleep returned. It was so quiet that one was really +invited to go away to slumberland, and then he had eaten +much at the big supper. After a long time, he was +sinking into a doze when he was dragged back abruptly +from it by a report almost at his ear that sounded like +the roar of a cannon. He sat up convulsively, and saw +Tayoga holding in his hand a smoking pistol.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you hit anything?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I saw a stir in the bushes over there," replied the +Onondaga, "and fired into them. I do not think my +bullet found its target, but we will wait. I have ammunition +in my pocket, and meanwhile I will reload."</p> + +<p>He put in the powder and ball, still keeping an eye on +the bushes. He waited a full half hour and then he +handed the pistol to Robert.</p> + +<p>"Watch, and use it if need be," he said, "while I swim +over and get the boat."</p> + +<p>"Get the boat! What are you talking about, Tayoga? +Has the moon struck you with a madness?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Dagaeoga. The slaver and the spy are +gone, leaving behind them the boat which they could not +take with them, and we might as well have it."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of what you are saying?"</p> + +<p>"Quite sure, Dagaeoga. But for precaution's sake you +can watch well with the pistol and cover my approach."</p> + +<p>He thrust the weapon into Robert's hand, quickly +threw off his clothing and sprang into the water, swimming +with strong strokes toward the dense, high bushes +that lined the opposite shore. Robert watched the lithe, +brown figure cleave the water, disappear in the bushes +and then reappear a moment or two later, rowing a boat. +All had fallen out as the Onondaga had said, and he +quickly came back to the western side.</p> + +<p>"It is a good boat," he said, "a trophy of our victory, +and we will use it. Take the oars, Dagaeoga, while I +put on my clothes again. Our long wait is over."</p> + +<p>Robert sprang into the boat, while Tayoga, standing +upon the bank, shook himself, making the drops fly from +him in a shower.</p> + +<p>"Which way did they go?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"They crept down the stream among the bushes be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>tween +the water and the cliff. They could force their +bodies that way but not the boat. I felt sure they had +gone after my pistol shot, because I saw some of the +bushes moving a little against the wind farther down the +stream. It was proof. Besides, they had to go, knowing +that day would soon be here."</p> + +<p>He reclothed himself and stepped back into the boat, +taking up the second pair of oars.</p> + +<p>"Let us return to Albany in triumph by the river," he +said.</p> + +<p>"You think there is no danger of our being fired upon +from ambush?"</p> + +<p>"None at all. The slaver and spy will be anxious to +get away and escape observation. They would be glad +enough to shoot at us, but they would never dare to +risk it."</p> + +<p>"And so ours has been the triumph. Once more we've +been victorious over our enemies, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>"But they will strike again, and Dagaeoga must beware."</p> + +<p>They rowed into the middle of the river and dropped +slowly down the stream. Robert had so much confidence +in the Onondaga that he felt quite safe for the present +at least. It seemed to his sanguine temperament that +as they had escaped every danger in the past so they +would escape every one in the future. He was naturally +a child of hope, in which he was fortunate.</p> + +<p>The gray skies broke away in the east, and the dawn +was unrolled, a blaze of rose and gold. The surface of +the river glittered in the morning sun. The houses of +Albany stood out sharp and clear in the first light of the +morning.</p> + +<p>"They'll be anxious about us at Mr. Huysman's," said +Robert.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So they will," said Tayoga. "As I have said to you +before, Dagaeoga, it will be wise for us to return to the +wilderness as soon as we can. The red man's forest +still seems to be safer than the white man's town."</p> + +<p>They reached Albany, tied up the boat, and walked in +the early dawn to the house of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, +where Caterina met them at the door with a cry +of joy. Master Jacobus appeared in a few moments, his +face showing great relief.</p> + +<p>"Where have you lads been?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"We have been in much danger," replied Robert soberly, +"but we're out of it now, and here we are."</p> + +<p>The others, all of whom had lain down fully dressed, +came soon, and Robert told the story of the night, beginning +with the spy's attempt upon the third drawer +in the chest of drawers. Mr. Huysman and Mr. Hardy +exchanged glances.</p> + +<p>"That drawer does contain papers of value," said Mr. +Huysman, "but I'll see that they're put to-day in a place +into which no thief can break."</p> + +<p>"And it would perhaps be well for young Mr. Lennox +also to keep himself in a safe place," said Mr. Hervey, +who had spent the night too in Mr. Huysman's house. +"It seems that a most determined effort is being made +against him."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir, for your interest in me," said Robert, +"and I'll do my best to be cautious."</p> + +<p>He ate a hearty breakfast and then, on the insistence +of Master Jacobus, lay down. Declaring that he would +not sleep, he fell asleep nevertheless in ten minutes, and +did not awake until the afternoon. He learned then that +Albany was feeling better. Many of the rumors that +Montcalm was advancing had been quieted. Scouts +brought word that he was yet at Lake Champlain, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +that he had not given any sign of marching upon +Albany.</p> + +<p>Robert learned also that the council in Mr. Huysman's +house had been to take measures of offense as well as +defense. Alan Hervey spoke for the leading men of +New York and he was to tell Albany for them that they +would make a mighty effort. A campaign had been lost, +but another would be undertaken at once, and it would +be won. They had no doubt that Boston, Baltimore and +Charleston were doing the same. The strong men of +the Colonies intended to assure England of their staunch +support, and the English-speaking race not dreaming +perhaps even then that it was to become such a mighty +factor in the world, would fight to the bitter end for +victory.</p> + +<p>"I go back by sloop to New York to-morrow," said +Mr. Hardy to him, "and of course Jonathan Pillsbury +goes with me. There are important affairs of which I +must speak to you some day, Robert, and believe me, my +lad, I do not speak of them to you now because the +reasons are excellent. I know you've borne yourself +bravely in many dangers, and I know you will be as +strong of heart in others to come. I'm sorry I have to +go away without seeing Willet, but you could not be in +safer hands than his."</p> + +<p>"And I know, too," said Robert earnestly, "that I +could have no better friend than you, Mr. Hardy, nor +you, Mr. Pillsbury."</p> + +<p>He spoke with the frank sincerity that always made +such an appeal to everybody, and Mr. Hardy patted him +approvingly on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"And don't forget me, Mr. Lennox," said Mr. Hervey. +"I want you to be my guest in New York some day. We +live in tremendous times, and so guard yourself well."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>They left with a favoring breeze and the swift sloop +that bore them was soon out of sight. Robert, Tayoga, +Mr. Huysman and Master McLean, who had seen them +off, walked slowly back up the hill to Mr. Huysman's +house.</p> + +<p>"I feel that they brought us new courage," said Master +Jacobus. "New York iss a great town, a full equal to +Boston, though they are very unlike, and do not forget, +Robert, that the merchants and financiers have much to +say in a vast war like this which is vexing the world +to-day."</p> + +<p>"I do not forget it, sir," said Robert. "I have seen +New York and its wealth and power. They say that +it has nearly twenty thousand inhabitants—and some day +I hope to see London too. Lieutenant Grosvenor is +coming. Can we stop and speak to him?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, my lad, but Master Alexander and I have +pressing business and you will pardon us if we go on. +If Lieutenant Grosvenor will come to my house as my +guest bring him, and tell him to stay as long as he will."</p> + +<p>"That I will, sir, and gladly," said Robert, as he and +Tayoga turned aside to meet the young Englishman.</p> + +<p>The meeting had all the warmth of youth and of real +liking. Grosvenor was fully restored now and his intense +interest in everything that was happening was +undiminished. They strolled on together. Robert and +Tayoga did not say anything for the present about +their adventure of the preceding night with the slaver +and the spy, but Robert delivered the invitation of +Master Jacobus.</p> + +<p>"If you can get leave come and stay a while with us +in the house of Mr. Huysman," he said. "He bids me +give you a most hospitable welcome, and when he says +a thing he means not only what he says but a good deal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +more, too. You'll have a fine bed and you may have to +eat more than you can well stand."</p> + +<p>"It appeals to me," said Grosvenor, "and I'd come, but +I'm leaving Albany in a day or two."</p> + +<p>"Leaving Albany! I suppose I shouldn't ask where +you're going."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you without the asking. I'm going with some +other officers to Boston, where we're to await orders. +Between you and me, Lennox, I think we shall take a +sea voyage from Boston, maybe to Nova Scotia."</p> + +<p>"And that, I think, indicates a new expedition from +England and a new attack upon Canada and the French, +but from another point. It's like the shadow of great +events."</p> + +<p>"It seems so to me, too. Come with us, Lennox. All +your friends have got into the Royal Americans, and I +think they too are going east. We could raise enough +influence to secure you a lieutenant's commission."</p> + +<p>Robert's heart swelled, but he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"You tempt me, Grosvenor," he said. "I'd like to go. +I think you and the others will be in the thick of great +events, but I could never desert Tayoga and Willet. I +feel that my business, whatever it is, is here. But we +may meet on the front again, though we'll come by different +routes."</p> + +<p>"If you can't you can't, and that's an end of it, but +I'm glad, Lennox, that I've known you and Tayoga and +Willet, and that we've shared perils. I'm to meet the +Philadelphians and the Virginians at the George Inn +again. Will you two come on?"</p> + +<p>"Gladly," said Robert.</p> + +<p>They found that the others had already arrived, and +they were full of jubilation. Colden, Wilton and Carson +were leaving their troop with regret, but the Royal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +Americans raised in the Colonies were a picked regiment +ranking with the best of the British regulars. Stuart and +Cabell, coming from the south, which was now more +remote from the scene of war, were delighted at the +thought that they would be in the heart of the conflict. +They, too, were insistent that Robert come with them, +but again he refused. When he and Tayoga left them +and walked back to the house of Mr. Huysman the Onondaga +said:</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga was right to stay. His world is centered +here."</p> + +<p>"That's so. I feel it in every bone of me. Besides, +I'm thinking that we'll yet have to deal with Garay and +that slaver. I'll be glad though when Willet comes. +Then we can decide upon our next step."</p> + +<p>Robert was too active to stay quietly at the house of +Mr. Huysman. Only their host, Tayoga and he were +present at their supper that evening, and, as the man +was rather silent, the lads respected his preoccupation, +believing that he was concerned with the great affairs in +which he was having a part. After supper Tayoga left +for the camp on the flats to see an Onondaga runner +who had arrived that day, and Mr. Huysman, still immersed +in his thoughts, withdrew into the room containing +the great chest of drawers.</p> + +<p>Robert spent a little while in the chamber that he and +Tayoga had used, looking at the old, familiar things, +and then he wandered restlessly outside, where he stood, +glancing down at the lights of the town. He felt lonely +for the moment. Everybody else was doing something, +and he liked to be with people. Perhaps some of his +friends had come to the George Inn. A light was burning +there and he would go and see.</p> + +<p>There was a numerous company at the inn, but it in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>cluded +nobody that Robert knew, and contenting himself +with a look from the doorway, he turned back. Then +the masts and spars in the river, standing up a black +tracery against the clear, moonlit sky, interested him, +and he walked casually to the bank. Some activity was +still visible on the vessels, but tiring of them soon he +turned away.</p> + +<p>It was dark on the shore, but Robert started violently. +If fancy were not playing tricks with him he saw the +shadow of Garay once more. The figure had appeared +about twenty yards ahead of him and then it was gone. +Robert was filled with fierce anger that the man should +show such brazen effrontery, and impulsively he pursued. +Profiting by his experience with the spy, he now had a +pistol in his pocket, and clutching the butt of it he hurried +after the elusive shadow.</p> + +<p>He caught a second glimpse. It was surely Garay, +and he was running along the shore, up the stream.</p> + +<p>Robert's anger rose by leaps. The spy's presumption +was beyond all endurance, but he would make him pay +for it this time. He drew his pistol that he might be +ready should Garay turn and attack, though he did not +believe that he would do so, and sped after him. But +always the shadow flitted on before, and the distance +between them did not seem to diminish.</p> + +<p>They soon left all houses behind, although Robert, in +his excitement, did not notice it, and then he saw that +at last he was gaining.</p> + +<p>"Stop, Garay! Stop, or I shoot!" he cried.</p> + +<p>The spy halted, and Robert, covering him with his +pistol, was about to approach when he heard a step +behind him. He whirled, but it was too late. A stunning +weight crashed down upon his head, and he fell into +oblivion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>OUT TO SEA</h3> + + +<p>When Robert came back from the far country in +which he had been dwelling, for a little space, +he looked into a long face, with eyes set close +and a curved nose. He was dimly conscious that it was +a familiar countenance, but he could not yet remember +where he had seen it before, because he could not concentrate +his thoughts. His head was heavy and aching. +He knew that he lived, but he did not know much more.</p> + +<p>The staring face was distinctly unpleasant and menacing. +He gazed into it, trying to recall the owner, but +the effort was still too great. Then he became conscious +that he was lying upon his back and that he was moving. +Trees on his right and trees on his left, some distance +away, were filing past. Two men on each side were +pulling hard on oars, and then it slowly entered his mind +that he was in a boat.</p> + +<p>He made another and stronger effort to gather up his +wandering faculties and then he realized with a jerk that +the face looking into his was that of the slaver. Making +a supreme effort he sat up. The slaver laughed.</p> + +<p>"So, Peter Smith," he said, "you've decided to come +back a second time. I knew that you couldn't stay away +always from such a good, kind captain as I am. I saw +the light of welcome in your eyes when we met so +unexpectedly at the George Inn, and I decided that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +was only a question of time until you came into my +service again."</p> + +<p>Robert stared at him. His mind, which would not +work hitherto, recovered its power with great suddenness. +All his faculties were keen and alert, and they +coördinated smoothly and perfectly. He had been +trapped. He had been struck from behind, while he +pursued Garay with such eagerness. He had been careless, +and once more he was in the power of the slaver. +And there was the spy, too, in the prow of the boat, with +his back to him, but that very back seemed to express +insolent triumph. He felt a great sinking of the heart, +but in a few moments recalled his courage. His was a +spirit that could not be crushed. His head still ached +and he was a prisoner, but his courage was invincible, +and he put on a light manner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I've come back," he said. "You see, Captain, +there are some things concerning you of which I'm not +sure, and I couldn't part from you permanently until I +learned them."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of it, Peter. You've an inquiring mind, I +know, and you'll have plenty of opportunity to learn +everything about me. We're likely to be together for +quite a while."</p> + +<p>Robert looked around. He was in a long boat, and +there were four oarsmen, stout fellows, rough of looks +and with hangers and pistols in their belts. Garay and +the captain completed the party, and both the slaver and +the spy were armed heavily. He saw that he had no +earthly chance of escape at present, and he resigned himself +for the moment. The slaver read his look.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad, Peter," he said, "that you've given up the +thought of leaving us that was flitting around in your +head a minute or two ago. You're in a better state of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +mind now, and it was not possible anyway. Nor will +there be any storm to send you away from me again. A +chance like that wouldn't happen once in a hundred +times. I suppose you understand where you are."</p> + +<p>"I'm in a boat a few miles above Albany, and I think +that before long you'll turn and go back down the +stream."</p> + +<p>"Why, Peter?"</p> + +<p>"Because there's nothing for you to go to up the +stream. If you kept on you'd arrive in the Indian country, +and I doubt whether that's any part of your plan."</p> + +<p>"Clever, Peter, clever! and well reasoned. I see that +your intellect's as good as ever. You must rise above the +place of a common seaman. When you're a little older +there's a mate's berth for you."</p> + +<p>Garay turned for the first time, and his malignant look +of triumph was not veiled at all.</p> + +<p>"You and Willet and the Indian thought you were very +clever there in the forest when you compelled me to tell +where the paper was hid," he said, "but you forgot that +I might make repayment. We've taken you out of Albany +from the very center of your friends, and you'll +never see them again."</p> + +<p>"Theatricals! theatricals!" said Robert, preserving his +gay manner, though his heart was low within him. "A +cat has nine lives, but I have ten. I've been twice a +prisoner of the French, and my presence here is proof +that I escaped both times. When I tire of your society +and that of the captain I'll leave you."</p> + +<p>"No quarreling! no quarreling!" said the slaver. "I +never allow it among my men. And now, Peter, I must +insure your silence for a little while."</p> + +<p>Two of the men who were rowing dropped their oars, +seized him, bound and gagged him. He struggled at first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +against the indignity, but, soon realizing its futility, lay +inert on the bottom of the boat.</p> + +<p>"Good judgment, Peter," said the slaver, looking down +at him. "It's never wise to struggle against a certainty. +You've the makings of a fine officer in you."</p> + +<p>The two resumed their oars, and the boat, turning +abruptly, as Robert had surmised it would, went +down the stream. The men ceased to talk and the lad +on his back looked up at the sky in which but few stars +twinkled. Heavy clouds floated past the moon, and the +night was darkening rapidly. Once more his heart sank +to the uttermost depths, and it had full cause to do so. +For some reason he had been pursued with singular +malice and cunning, and now it seemed that his enemies +were triumphant. Tayoga could trail him anywhere on +land, but water left no trail. He was sure that his captors +would keep to the river.</p> + +<p>The speed of the boat increased with the efforts of the +rowers and the favor of the current. Soon it was opposite +Albany and then the men rowed directly to a small +schooner that lay at anchor, having come up the stream +the day before. Robert was lifted on board and carried +into the depths of the vessel, where they took out the +gag and put him on the floor. The captain held a lantern +over him and said:</p> + +<p>"Garay is telling you good-bye, Peter. He's sorry he +can't go with us, but he'll be having business on the +Canadian frontier. He feels that the score is about even +with you for that business of the letter in the forest, and +that later on he'll attend also to the hunter and the +Onondaga."</p> + +<p>"And I wish you a pleasant life on the West Indian +plantations," said Garay. "They still buy white labor +there in both the French and British islands. It does not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +matter to me to which the captain sells you, for in either +case it means a life of hard labor in the sugar cane. Few +ever escape, and you never will."</p> + +<p>Robert turned quite sick. So this was the plan. To +sell him into slavery in the West Indies. Kidnapping +was not at all uncommon then in both the Old World and +the New, and they seemed to have laid their plans well. +As the slaver had said, there was not one chance in a +hundred of another storm. Again the captain read his +mind.</p> + +<p>"You don't like the prospect," he said, "and I'll admit +myself that it's not a cheerful one. I've changed my +opinion of you, Peter. I thought you'd make a fine +sailor and that you might become a mate some day, but +I've seen a light. You're not a good sailor at all. The +stuff's not in you. But you're strong and hearty and +you'll do well in the sugar cane. If the sun's too hot and +your back bends too much just reflect that for a white +man it's not a long life and your troubles will be over, +some day."</p> + +<p>Robert's old indomitable spirit flamed up.</p> + +<p>"I never expect to see a West Indian plantation, not +on this journey, at least," he said. "You and that miserable +spy boast that you took me out of the very center of +my friends, and I tell you in reply that if I have enemies +who follow me I also have friends who are truer in their +friendship than you are in your hate, and they'll come +for me."</p> + +<p>"That's the spirit. I never heard another lad sling +words in the noble fashion you do. You'll live a deal +longer on the plantations than most of 'em. Now, Garay, +I think you can go. It will be the last farewell for you +two."</p> + +<p>The exulting spy left the close little place, and Robert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +felt that a breath of hate went with him. His feet disappeared +up a narrow little stair, and the slaver cut the +cords that bound Robert.</p> + +<p>"You'll be locked in here," he said, "and it's not worth +while to damage good property by keeping it tied up too +long."</p> + +<p>"That's so," said Robert, trying to preserve a light +manner. "You want to keep me strong and active for +the work on the plantations. A white slave like a black +one ought to be in good health."</p> + +<p>The captain laughed. He was in high humor. Robert +knew that he felt intense satisfaction because he was +taking revenge for his mortification when he was defeated +in the duel with swords before his own men by a mere +boy. Evidently that would rankle long with one of the +slaver's type.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to see you recognize facts so well, Peter," +he said. "I see that you've an ambition to excel on the +plantations, perhaps to be the best worker. Now, Garay, +telling me of that little adventure of his in the forest with +the hunter, the Indian and you, wanted me to be very +careful about your rations, to put you on a sparing diet, +so to speak. He thought it would be best not to let you +have anything to eat for two or three days. His idea +rather appealed to me, too, but, on the other hand, I +couldn't impair your value, and so I decided against him."</p> + +<p>"I'm not hungry," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"No, but you will be. You're young and strong, and +that wound on your head where I had to hit you with +the butt of my pistol doesn't amount to much."</p> + +<p>Robert put up his hands, felt of the back of his head, +where the ache was, and found that the hair was matted +together by congealed blood. But he could tell that the +hurt was not deep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll leave you now," said the slaver in the same satisfied +tone, "and I hope you'll enjoy the voyage down the +river. There's a good wind blowing and we start in a +half hour."</p> + +<p>He went out, taking the lantern with him, and bolted +the door heavily behind him. Then Robert felt despair +for a while. It was much worse to be a prisoner on the +ship than in the French camp or in the village of the +partisan, Langlade. There he had been treated with consideration +and the fresh winds of heaven blew about him, +but here he was shut up in a close little hole, and his +captors rejoiced in his misery.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark in the tiny galley, and the only air +that entered came from a small porthole high over a +bunk. He stood upon the bank and brought his face +level with the opening. It was not more than four inches +across, but he was able to inhale a pure and invigorating +breeze that blew from the north, and he felt better. The +pain in his head was dying down also, and his courage, +according to its habit, rose fast. In a character that nature +had compounded of optimistic materials hope was +always a predominant factor.</p> + +<p>He could see nothing through the porthole save a dark +blur, but he heard the creaking of cordage and the slatting +of sails. He did not doubt that the slaver had told +the truth when he said the schooner would soon start, +and there was no possibility of escaping before then. +Nevertheless, he tried the door, but could not shake it. +Then he went back to the porthole for the sake of the air, +and, because, if he could not have freedom for himself, +he could at least see a little way into the open world.</p> + +<p>The creaking of cordage and slatting of sails increased, +he felt the schooner heave and roll beneath him, and then +he knew that they were leaving Albany. It was the bit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>terest +moment of his life. To be carried away in that +ignominious manner, from the very center of his friends, +from a town in which he had lived, and that he knew so +well was a terrible blow to his pride. For the moment +apprehension about the future was drowned in mortification.</p> + +<p>He heard heavy footsteps overhead, and the sound of +commands, and the schooner began to move. He continued +to stand on the bunk, with his eyes at the porthole. +He was able to see a dark shore, moving past, +slowly at first and then faster. The dim outlines of +houses showed and he would have shouted for help, but +he knew that it was impossible to make any one hear, +and pride restrained.</p> + +<p>The blurred outlines of the houses ceased and Albany +was gone. Doubtless the schooner had appeared as an +innocent trader with the proper licenses, and the slaver, +having awaited its arrival, had come on ahead to the +town. He was compelled to admit the thoroughness of +the plan, and the skill with which it had been carried +out, but he wondered anew why so much trouble had +been taken in regard to him, a mere lad.</p> + +<p>He stood at the porthole a long time, and the wind out +of the north rose steadily. He heard its whistle and he +also heard the singing of men above him. He knew +that the schooner was making great speed down the +stream and that Albany and his friends were now far +behind. As the wise generally do, he resigned himself +to inevitable fate, wasting no strength in impossible +struggles, but waiting patiently for a better time. There +was a single blanket on the hard bunk, and, lying down +on it, he fell asleep.</p> + +<p>When he awoke, day shining through the porthole +threw a slender bar of light across the floor, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +heaved and slanted, telling that the wind out of the north +still blew strong and true. An hour later the door was +opened and a sailor brought a rude breakfast on a tin +plate. While he was eating it, and hunger made everything +good, the slaver came in.</p> + +<p>"You'll see, Peter, that I did not put you on the diet +suggested by Garay," he said. "I'm at least a kind man +and you ought to thank me for all I'm doing for you."</p> + +<p>"For any kindness of yours to me I'm grateful," said +Robert. "We're apt to do unto people as they do unto +us."</p> + +<p>"Quite a young philosopher, I see. You'll find such a +spirit useful on the West India plantations. My heart +really warms to you, Peter. I'd let you go on deck as +we're running through good scenery now, but it's scarcely +prudent. We'll have to wait for that until we pass New +York and put out to sea. I hope you don't expect it of +me, Peter?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't look for it. But if you don't mind I'd +like to have a little more breakfast."</p> + +<p>"A fine, healthy young animal, so you are! And you +shall have it, too."</p> + +<p>He called the sailor who brought a second helping and +Robert fell to. He was really very hungry and he was +resolved also to put the best possible face on the matter. +He knew he would need every ounce of his strength, +and he meant to nurse it sedulously.</p> + +<p>"When do you expect to reach New York?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow some time, if the wind holds fair, but +we won't stay there long. A few hours only to comply +with the port regulations, and then ho! for the West Indies! +It's a grand voyage down! And splendid islands! +Green mountains that seem to rise straight up out of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +sea! While you're working in the cane fields you can +enjoy the beautiful scenery, Peter."</p> + +<p>Robert was silent. The man's malice filled him with +disgust. Undoubtedly the slaver had felt intense chagrin +because of his former failure and his defeat in the duel +of swords before his own men, but then one should not +exult over a foe who was beaten for the time. He felt +a bitter and intense hatred of the slaver, and, his breakfast +finished, he leaned back, closing his eyes.</p> + +<p>"So you do not wish to talk, but would meditate," said +the man. "Perhaps you're right, but, at any rate, you'll +have plenty of time for it."</p> + +<p>When he went out Robert heard the heavy lock of the +tiny room shove into place again, and he wasted no further +effort in a new attempt upon it. Instead, he lay +down on the bunk, closed his eyes and tried to reconcile +himself, body and mind, to his present situation. He +knew that it was best to keep quiet, to restrain any mental +flutterings or physical quivers. Absolute calm, if he +could command it, was good for the soul, placed as he +was, and the mere act of lying still helped toward that. +It was what Tayoga would do if he were in his place, +and, spurred by a noble emulation, he resolved that he +would not be inferior to the Onondaga.</p> + +<p>An hour, two hours passed and he did not stir. His +stillness made his hearing more acute. The trampling of +feet over his head came to him with great distinctness. +He heard the singing of wind at the porthole, and, now +and then, the swish of waters as they swept past the +schooner. He wondered what Tayoga was doing and +what would Willet think when he came back to Albany +and found him gone. It gave him a stab of agony. His +pride was hurt, too, that he had been trapped so thoroughly. +Then his resolution returned to his aid. Mak<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>ing +a supreme effort of his will, he dismissed the thought, +concentrating his mind on hope. Would Tayoga's Manitou +help him? Would Tododaho on his remote star look +down upon him with kindness? The Onondaga in his +place would put his faith in them, and the Manitou of +the Indian after all was but another name for his own +Christian God. Resolving to hope he did hope. He refused +to believe that the slaver could make him vanish +from the face of the earth like a mist before the wind.</p> + +<p>The air in the little cabin was dense and heavy already, +but after a while he felt it grow thicker and +warmer. He was conscious, too, of a certain sultriness +in it. The tokens were for a storm. He thought with a +leap of the heart of the earlier storm that had rescued +him, but that was at sea; this, if it came, would be on a +river, and so shrewd a captain as the slaver would not +let himself be wrecked in the Hudson.</p> + +<p>The heat and sultriness increased. Then he stood on +the bunk and looked through the porthole. He caught +glimpses of lofty shores, trees at the summit, and +stretches of a dark and angry sky. Low thunder muttered, +rolling up from the west. Then came flashes of +lightning, and the thunder grew louder. By and by the +wind blew heavily, making the schooner reel before it, +and when it died somewhat rain fell in sheets.</p> + +<p>Although he felt it rather than saw it, Robert really +enjoyed the storm. It seemed a tonic to him, and the +wilder it was the steadier grew his own spirit. The +breath of the rain as it entered the porthole was refreshing, +and the air in the cabin became clear and cool again. +Then followed the dark, and his second night in the +schooner.</p> + +<p>A sailor brought him his supper, the slaver failing to +reappear, and soon afterward he fell asleep. He made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +no surmise where they were the next morning, as he had +no way of gauging their speed during the night, but he +was allowed to go about under guard below decks for an +hour or two. The slaver came down the ladder and gave +him the greetings of the day.</p> + +<p>"You will see, Peter," he said, "that I'm a much kinder +man than Garay. He would restrict your food, but I not +only give you plenty of it, I also allow you exercise, very +necessary and refreshing to youth. I'm sorry I'll have to +shut you up again soon, but in the afternoon we'll reach +New York, and I must keep you away from the temptations +of the great town."</p> + +<p>Robert would have given much to be allowed upon the +deck and to look at the high shores, but he could not +sink his pride enough to ask for the privilege, and, when +the time came for him to return to his cell of a cabin he +made no protest.</p> + +<p>He felt the schooner stop late in the afternoon and he +was sure that they had reached New York. He heard the +dropping of the anchor, and then the sounds became +much dimmer. The light in the cabin was suddenly shut +off, and he realized that the porthole had been closed from +the outside. They were taking no chances of a call for +help, and he tried to resign himself.</p> + +<p>But will could not control feelings now. To know +that he was in New York and yet was absolutely helpless +was more than he could bear. He had never really believed +that the schooner could pass the port and put out +to sea with him a prisoner. It had seemed incredible, +one of the things not to be contemplated, but here was +the event coming to pass. Mind lost control of the body. +He threw himself upon the door, pulled at it, and beat it. +It did not move an inch. Then he shouted again and +again for help. There was no response.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>Gradually his panic passed, and ashamed of it he threw +himself once more upon the bunk, where he tried to consider +whatever facts were in his favor. It was certain +they were not trying to take his life; had they wished +they could have done that long ago, and while one lived +one was never wholly lost. It was a fact that he would +remember through everything and he would pin his faith +to it.</p> + +<p>He slept, after a while, and he always thought afterwards +that the foul, dense air of the cabin added a kind +of stupor to sleep. When he came out of it late the next +day he was conscious of an immense heaviness in the +head and of a dull, apathetic feeling. He sat up slowly +and painfully as if he were an old man. Then he noticed +that the porthole was open again, but, judging from +the quality of the air in the cabin, it had not been open +long.</p> + +<p>So the slaver had been successful. He had stopped in +the port of New York and had then put out to sea. +Doubtless he had done so without any trouble. He was +having his revenge in measure full and heaped over. +Robert was bound to admit it, but he bore in mind that +his own life was still in his body. He would never give +up, he would never allow himself to be crushed.</p> + +<p>He stood upon the bunk and put his eyes to the porthole, +catching a view of blue water below and blue sky +above, and the sea as it raced past showed that the vessel +was moving swiftly. He heard, too, the hum of the +strong wind in the rigging and the groaning timbers. It +was enough to tell him that they were fast leaving New +York behind, and that now the chances of his rescue upon +a lone ocean were, in truth, very small. But once more +he refused to despair.</p> + +<p>He did not believe the slaver would keep him shut up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +in the cabin, since they were no longer where he could +be seen by friends or those who might suspect, and his +opinion was soon justified. In a half hour the door was +opened by the man himself, who stood upon the threshold, +jaunty, assured and triumphant.</p> + +<p>"You can come on deck now, Peter," he said. "We've +kept you below long enough, and, as I want to deliver +you to the plantations strong and hearty, fresh air and +exercise will do you good."</p> + +<p>"I'll come willingly enough," said Robert, resolved to +be jaunty too. "Lead the way."</p> + +<p>The captain went up the ladder just outside the door +and Robert followed him, standing at first in silence on +the swaying deck and content to look at sky and ocean. +How beautiful they were! How beautiful the world was +to one who had been shut up for days in a close little +room! How keen and sweet was the wind! And what a +pleasant song the creaking of the ropes and the slatting +of the sails made!</p> + +<p>It was a brilliant day. The sun shone with dazzling +clearness. The sea was the bluest of the blue. The wind +blew steady and strong. Far behind them was a low line +of land, showing but dimly on the horizon, and before +them was the world of waters. Robert balanced himself +on the swaying deck, and, for a minute or two, he +enjoyed too much the sensation of at least qualified freedom +to think of his own plight. While he stood there, +breathing deeply, his lungs expanding and his heart leaping, +the slaver who had gone away, reappeared, saluting +him with much politeness.</p> + +<p>"Look back, Peter," he said, "and you can get your +last glimpse of your native soil. The black line that just +shows under the sky is Sandy Hook. We won't see any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +more land for days, and you'll have a fine, uninterrupted +voyage with me and my crew."</p> + +<p>Robert in this desperate crisis of his life resolved at +once upon a course of action. He would not show despair, +he would not sulk, he would so bear himself and +with such cheerfulness and easy good nature that the +watch upon him might be relaxed somewhat, and the conditions +of his captivity might become less hard. It was +perhaps easier for him than for another, with his highly +optimistic nature and his disposition to be friendly. He +kissed his hand to the black line on the horizon and said:</p> + +<p>"I'm going now, but I'll come back. I always come +back."</p> + +<p>"That's the right spirit, Peter," said the slaver. "Be +pleasant. Always be pleasant, say I, and you'll get +along much better in the world. Things will just melt +away before you."</p> + +<p>Robert looked over the schooner. He did not know +much about ships, but she seemed to him a trim and +strong craft, carrying, as he judged, about thirty men. +A long eighteen-pound cannon was mounted in her stern, +but that was to be expected in war, and was common in +peace also when one sailed into that nest of pirates, the +West Indies. The slaver carried pistol and dirk in his +belt, and those of the crew whom he could see were +sturdy, hardy men. The slaver read his eyes:</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's a fine craft," he said. "Able to fight anything +of her size we're likely to meet, and fast enough to +run away from them that's too big for her. You can see +as much of her as you want to. So long as we've no +neighbor on the ocean you've the run of the craft. But +if you should want to leave you needn't try to tempt any +of my men to help you. They wouldn't dare do it, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +they wouldn't want to anyhow. All their interests are +with me. I'm something of a deity to them."</p> + +<p>The slaver went away and Robert walked about the +narrow deck, standing at last by the rail, where he remained +a long time. No one seemed to pay any attention +to him. He was free to come and go as he pleased +within the narrow confines of the schooner. But he +watched the black line of land behind them until it was +gone, and then it seemed to him that he was cut off absolutely +from all the life that he had lived. Tayoga, +Willet, Master Jacobus, all the good friends of his youth +had disappeared over the horizon with the lost land.</p> + +<p>It had been so sudden, so complete that it seemed to +him it must have been done with a purpose. To what +end had he been wrenched away from the war and sent +upon the unknown ocean? His wilderness had been that +of the woods and not of the waters. He had imbibed +much of Tayoga's philosophy and at times, at least, he +believed that everything moved forward to an appointed +end. What was it now?</p> + +<p>He left the low rail at last, and finding a stool sat down +upon the deck. The schooner was going almost due +south, and she was making great speed. The slaver's +boast that she could run away from anything too strong +for her was probably true, and Robert judged also that +she carried plenty of arms besides the eighteen-pounder. +Most of the crew seemed to him to be foreigners, that is, +they were chiefly of the races around the Mediterranean. +Dark of complexion, short and broad, some of them wore +earrings, and, without exception, they carried dirks and +now and then both pistols and dirks in their belts. He +sought among them for the face of one who might be a +friend, but found none. They were all hardened and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +sinister, and he believed that at the best they were +smugglers, at the worst pirates.</p> + +<p>A heavy dark fellow whom Robert took to be a Spaniard +was mate and directed the task of working the vessel, +the captain himself taking no part in the commands, +but casting an occasional keen glance at the sailors as he +strolled about. Robert judged that he was an expert +sailor and a leader of men. In truth, he had never +doubted his ability from the first, only his scruples, or, +rather, he felt sure that he had none at all.</p> + +<p>The policy of ignoring the prisoner, evidently by order, +was carried out by the men. For all save the captain he +did not exist, apparently, and the slaver himself took no +further notice of him for several hours. Then, continuing +his old vein, he spoke to him lightly, as if he were a +guest rather than a captive.</p> + +<p>"I see that you're improving in both mind and body, +Peter," he said. "You've a splendid color in your cheeks +and you look fine and hearty. The sea air is good for +anybody and it's better for you to be here than in a town +like Albany."</p> + +<p>"Since I'm here," said Robert, "I'll enjoy myself as +much as I can. I always try to make the best of everything."</p> + +<p>"That's philosophical, and 'tis a surprisingly good policy +for one so young."</p> + +<p>Robert looked at him closely. His accent was that of +an educated man, and he did not speak ungrammatically.</p> + +<p>"I've never heard your name, captain," he said, "and +as you know mine, I ought to know yours."</p> + +<p>"We needn't mind about that now. Three-fourths of +my men don't know my name, just calling me 'Captain.' +And, at any rate, if I were to give it to you it wouldn't +be the right one."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I suspected as much. People who change their names +usually do so for good reasons."</p> + +<p>Color came into the man's sun-browned cheeks.</p> + +<p>"You're a bold lad, Peter," he said, "but I'll admit +you're telling the truth. I rather fancy you in some ways. +If I felt sure of you I might take you with me on a +voyage that will not be without profit, instead of selling +you to a plantation in the Indies. But to go with me I +must have your absolute faith, and you must agree to +share in all our perils and achievements."</p> + +<p>His meaning was quite plain, and might have tempted +many another, thinking, in any event, to use it as a plan +for escape, but Robert never faltered for a moment. His +own instincts were always for the right, and long comradeship +with Willet and Tayoga made his will to obey +those instincts all the stronger.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Captain," he replied, "but I judge that +your cruises are all outside the law, and I cannot go +with you on them, at least, not willingly."</p> + +<p>The slaver shrugged his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"'Tis just as well that you declined," he said. "'Twas +but a passing whim of mine, and ten minutes later I'd +have been sorry for it had you accepted."</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders again, took a turn about +the deck and then went down to his cabin. Robert, notified +by a sailor, the first man on the schooner outside of +the slaver to speak to him, ate supper with him there. +The food was good, but the captain was now silent, +speaking only a few times, and mostly in monosyllables. +Near the end he said:</p> + +<p>"You're to sleep in the room you've been occupying. +The door will not be bolted on you, but I don't think +you'll leave the ship. The nearest land is sixty or seventy +miles away, and that's a long swim."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I won't chance it," said Robert. "Just now I prefer +solid timber beneath my feet."</p> + +<p>"A wise decision, Peter."</p> + +<p>After supper the slaver went about his duties, whatever +they were, and Robert, utterly free so far as the +schooner was concerned, went on deck. It was quite +dark and the wind was blowing strong, but the ship was +steady, and her swift keel cut the waters. All around +him curved the darkness, and the loneliness of the sea +was immense at that moment. It was in very truth a +long swim to the land, and just then the thought of escape +was far from him. He shivered, and going down to +the little cabin that had been a prison, he soon fell +asleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>MUSIC IN THE MOONLIGHT</h3> + + +<p>Several days passed and from the standpoint of +the schooner the voyage was successful. The wind +continued fresh and strong, and it came out of the +right quarter. The days were clear, the sea was a dazzling +color, shifting as the sky over it shifted. The +slaver was in high good humor. His crew seemed to be +under perfect control and went about their work mostly +in silence. They rarely sang, as sailors sing, but Robert, +watching them on spar or mast, although he knew little +about ships, knew that they were good sailors. He realized, +too, that the crew was very large for a vessel of its +size, and he believed that he understood the reason.</p> + +<p>As for himself, he felt a vast loneliness. It was incredible, +but he was there on the schooner far from all +he had known. The forest, in which he had lived and the +war that had concerned the whole world had sunk out +of sight beyond the horizon. And on the schooner he had +made no acquaintance save the slaver. He knew that the +mate was called Carlos, but he had not yet spoken to him. +He tried his best to be cheerful, but there were times +when despair assailed him in spite of all his courage and +natural buoyancy.</p> + +<p>"Better reconsider," said the slaver one day, catching +the look upon his face. "As I've told you, Peter, the life +on the plantations is hard and they don't last long, no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +matter how strong they are. There's peril in the life I +lead, I'll admit, but at least there's freedom also. Sport's +to be found among the islands, and along the Spanish +Main."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't think of it," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's the second time I've made you the offer, +and the last. I perceive you're bent on a life in the sugar +cane, and you'll have your wish."</p> + +<p>Robert, seeing no chance of escape from the ship now, +began to hope for rescue from without. It was a time of +war and all vessels were more than commonly wary, but +one might come at last, and, in some way he would give a +signal for help. How he did not know, but the character +of the schooner was more than doubtful, and he might be +able, in some way, yet unsuggested, to say so to any new +ship that came.</p> + +<p>But the surface of the sea, so far as their own particular +circle of it was concerned, was untroubled by any +keel save their own. It was as lone and desolate as if +they were the first vessel to come there. They fell into a +calm and the schooner rocked in low swells but made no +progress. The sun shone down, brassy and hot, and +Robert, standing upon the deck, looked at the sails flapping +idly above. Although it carried him farther and +farther away from all for which he cared, he wished that +the wind would rise. Nothing was more tedious than to +hang there upon the surface of the languid ocean. The +slaver read his face.</p> + +<p>"You want us to go on," he said, "and so do I. For +once we are in agreement. I'd like to make a port that I +know of much sooner than I shall. The war has brought +privateersmen into these seas, and there are other craft +that any ship can give a wide berth."</p> + +<p>"If the privateer should be British, or out of one of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +American ports why should you fear her?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"I'm answering no such questions except to say that +in some parts of the world you're safer alone, and this +is one of the parts."</p> + +<p>The dead calm lasted two days and two nights, and it +was like forever to Robert. When the breeze came at +last, and the sails began to fill, new life flowed into his +own veins, and hope came back. Better any kind of action +than none at all, and he drew long breaths of relief +when the schooner once more left her trailing wake in +the blue sea. The wind blew straight and strong for a +day and night, then shifted and a long period of tacking +followed. It was very wearisome, but Robert, clinging +to his resolution, made the best of it. He even joined +in some of the labor, helping to polish the metal work, +especially the eighteen-pounder in the stern, a fine bronze +gun. The men tolerated him, but when he tried to talk +with them he found that most of them had little or no +English, and he made scant progress with them in that +particular. The big first mate, Carlos, rebuffed him repeatedly, +but he persisted, and in time the rebuffs became +less brusque. He also noticed a certain softening of the +sailors toward him. His own charm of manner was so +great that it was hard to resist it when it was continuously +exerted, and sailors, like other men, appreciate help +when it is given to them continuously. The number of +frowns for him decreased visibly.</p> + +<p>He still ate at the captain's table, why he knew not, +but the man seemed to fancy his company; perhaps there +was no other on the schooner who was on a similar intellectual +level, and he made the most of the opportunity +to talk.</p> + +<p>"Peter," he said, "you seem to have ingratiated your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>self +to a certain extent with my crew. I'm bound to admit +that you're a personable young rascal, with the best +manners I've met in a long time, but I warn you that +you can't go far. You'll never win 'em over to your side, +and be able to lead a mutiny which will dethrone me, +and put you in command."</p> + +<p>"I've no such plan in my mind," said Robert laughing. +"I don't know enough about sailing to take command of +the ship, and I'd have to leave everything to Carlos, +whom I'd trust, on the whole, less than I do you."</p> + +<p>"You're justified in that. Carlos is a Spaniard out of +Malaga, where he was too handy with the knife, just as +he has been elsewhere. Whatever I am, you're safer with +me than you would be with Carlos, although he's a fine +sailor and loyal to me."</p> + +<p>"How long will it be before we make any of the islands?"</p> + +<p>"It's all with the wind, but in any event it will be +quite a while yet. It's a long run from New York down +to the West Indies. Moreover, we may be blown out of +our course at any time."</p> + +<p>"Are we in the stormy latitudes?"</p> + +<p>"We are. Hurricanes appear here with great suddenness. +You noticed how hot it was to-day. We're to have +another calm, and the still, intense heat is a great breeder +of storms. I think one will come soon, but don't put +any faith in its helping you, Peter. To be saved that +way once is all the luck you can expect. If we were +wrecked here you'd surely go down; it's too far from +land."</p> + +<p>"I'm not expecting another wreck, nor am I hoping +for it," said Robert. "I'm thinking the land will be better +for me. I'll make good my escape there. I've been +uncommonly favored in that way. Once I escaped from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +you and twice from the French and Indians, so I think +my future will hold good."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it will, Peter. As resolute an optimist as you +ought to succeed. If you escape after I deliver you to +the plantation 'twill be no concern to me at all. On the +whole I'm inclined to hope you will, for I'm rather beginning +to like you, spite of all the trouble you've caused +me and that time you beat me with the swords before +my own men."</p> + +<p>Robert's heart leaped up. Could the man be induced +to relent in his plan, whatever it was? But his hope fell +the next moment, when the slaver said:</p> + +<p>"Though I tell you, Peter, I'm going to stick to my +task. You'll be handed over to the plantation, whatever +comes. After that, it's for others to watch you, and +I rather hope you'll get the better of 'em."</p> + +<p>The storm predicted by the slaver arrived within six +hours, and it was a fearful thing. It came roaring down +upon them, and the wind blew with such frightful violence +that Robert did not see how they could live through +it, but live they did. Both the captain and mate revealed +great seamanship, and the schooner was handled +so well and behaved so handsomely that she drove +through it without losing a stick.</p> + +<p>When the hurricane passed on the sea resumed its +usual blue color, and, the dead, heavy heat gone, the air +was keen and fresh. Robert, although he did not suffer +from seasickness, had been made dizzy by the storm, and +he felt intense relief when it was over.</p> + +<p>"You'll observe, Peter," said the slaver, "that we're +coming into regions of violence both on land and sea. +You've heard many a tale of the West Indies. Well, +they're all true, whatever they are, earthquakes, hurricanes, +smugglers, pirates, wild Englishmen, Frenchmen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +Americans, Spaniards, Portuguese, deeds by night that +the day won't own, and the prize for the strongest. It's +a great life, Peter, for those that can live it."</p> + +<p>The close-set eyes flashed, and the nostrils dilated. Despite +the apparent liking that the slaver had shown for +him, Robert never doubted his character. Here was a +man to whom the violent contrasts and violent life of +the West Indian seas appealed. He wondered what was +the present mission of the schooner, and he thought of +the bronze eighteen-pounder, and of the dirks and pistols +in the belts of the crew.</p> + +<p>"I prefer the north," he said. "It's cooler there and +people are more nearly even, in temper and life."</p> + +<p>"Your life there has been in peril many times from +the Indians."</p> + +<p>"That's true, but I understand the Indians. Those who +are my friends are my friends, and those who are my +enemies are my enemies. I take it that in the West Indies +you never know what change is coming."</p> + +<p>"Correct, Peter, but it's all a matter of temperament. +You like what you like, because you're made that way, +and you can't alter it, but the West Indies have seen +rare deeds. Did you ever hear of Morgan, the great +buccaneer?"</p> + +<p>"Who hasn't?"</p> + +<p>"There was a man for you! No law but his own! +Willing to sack the biggest and strongest cities on the +Spanish Main and did it, too! Ah, Peter, 'twould have +been a fine thing to have lived in his day and to have +done what he did."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't care to be a pirate, no matter how powerful, +and no matter how great the reward."</p> + +<p>"Again it's just a matter of temperament. I'm not +trying to change you, and you couldn't change me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>Came another calm, longer than the first. They hung +about for days and nights on a hot sea, and captain and +crew alike showed anxiety and impatience. The captain +was continually watching the horizon with his glasses, +and he talked to Robert less than usual. It was obvious +that he felt anxiety.</p> + +<p>The calm was broken just before nightfall. Dark had +come with the suddenness of the tropic seas. There was +a puff of wind, followed by a steady breeze, and the +schooner once more sped southward. Robert, anxious to +breathe the invigorating air, came upon deck, and standing +near the mainmast watched the sea rushing by. The +captain paused near him and said to Robert in a satisfied +tone:</p> + +<p>"It won't be long now, Peter, until we're among the +islands, and it may be, too, that we'll see another ship before +long. We've been on a lone sea all the way down, +but you'll find craft among the islands."</p> + +<p>"It might be a hostile vessel, a privateer," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"It's not privateers of which I'm thinking."</p> + +<p>The light was dim, but Robert plainly saw the questing +look in his eyes, the look of a hunter, and he drew +back a pace. This man was no mere smuggler. He +would not content himself with such a trade. But he +said in his best manner:</p> + +<p>"I should think, captain, it was a time to avoid company, +and that you would be better pleased with a lone +sea."</p> + +<p>"One never knows what is coming in these waters," +said the slaver. "It may be that we shall have to run +away, and I must not be caught off my guard."</p> + +<p>But the look in the man's eyes did not seem to Robert +to be that of one who wished to run away. It was far +more the look of the hunter, and when the hulking mate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +Carlos, passed near him his face bore a kindred expression. +The sailors, too, were eager, attentive, watching +the horizon, as if they expected something to appear +there.</p> + +<p>No attention was paid to Robert, and he remained on +the deck, feeling a strong premonition that they were at +the edge of a striking event, one that had a great bearing +upon his own fate, no matter what its character might be.</p> + +<p>The wind rose again, but it did not become a gale. It +was merely what a swift vessel would wish, to show her +utmost grace and best speed. The moon came out and +made a silver sea. The long white wake showed clearly +across the waters. The captain never left the deck, but +continued to examine the horizon with his powerful +glasses.</p> + +<p>Robert, quick to deduce, believed that they were in +some part of the sea frequented by ships in ordinary +times and that the captain must be reckoning on the probability +of seeing a vessel in the course of the +night. His whole manner showed it, and the lad's own interest became +so great that he lost all thought of going down +to his cabin. Unless force intervened he would stay +there and see what was going to happen, because he felt +in every fiber that something would surely occur.</p> + +<p>An hour, two hours passed. The schooner went swiftly +on toward the south, the wind singing merrily through +the ropes and among the sails. The captain walked back +and forth in a narrow space, circling the entire horizon +with his glasses at intervals seldom more than five minutes +apart. It was about ten o'clock at night when he +made a sharp, decisive movement, and a look of satisfaction +came over his face. He had been gazing into the +west and the lad felt sure that he had seen there that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +for which he was seeking, but his own eyes, without artificial +help, were not yet able to tell him what it was.</p> + +<p>The captain called the mate, speaking to him briefly +and rapidly, and the sullen face of the Spaniard became +alive. An order to the steersman and the course of the +schooner was shifted more toward the west. It was evident +to Robert that they were not running away from +whatever it was out there. The slaver for the first time +in a long while took notice of Robert.</p> + +<p>"There's another craft in the west, Peter," he said, +"and we must have a look at her. Curiosity is a good +thing at sea, whatever it may be on shore. When you +know what is near you you may be able to protect yourself +from danger."</p> + +<p>His cynical, indifferent air had disappeared. He was +gay, anticipatory, as if he were going to something that +he liked very much. The close-set eyes were full of light, +and the thin lips curved into a smile.</p> + +<p>"You don't seem to expect danger," said Robert. "It +appears to me that you're thinking of just the opposite."</p> + +<p>"It's because I've so much confidence in the schooner. +If it's a wicked ship over there we'll just show her the +fastest pair of heels in the West Indies."</p> + +<p>He did not speak again for a full quarter of an hour, +but he used the glasses often, always looking at the same +spot on the western horizon. Robert was at last able to +see a black dot there with his unassisted eyes, and he +knew that it must be a ship.</p> + +<p>"She's going almost due south," said the captain, "and +in two hours we should overhaul her."</p> + +<p>"Why do you wish to overhaul her?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"She may be a privateer, a Frenchman, or even a +pirate, and if so we must give the alarm to other peaceful +craft like ourselves in these waters."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>He raised the glasses again and did not take them down +for a full five minutes. Meantime the strange ship came +nearer. It was evident to Robert that the two vessels +were going down the sides of a triangle, and if each continued +on its course they would meet at the point.</p> + +<p>The night was steadily growing brighter. The moon +was at its fullest, and troops of new stars were coming +out. Robert saw almost as well as by day. He was soon +able to distinguish the masts and sails of the stranger, +and to turn what had been a black blur into the shape and +parts of a ship. He was able, too, to tell that the +stranger was keeping steadily on her course, but the +schooner, obeying her tiller, was drawing toward her +more and more.</p> + +<p>"They don't appear to be interested in us," he said +to the captain.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the man, "but they should be. They +show a lack of that curiosity which I told you is necessary +at sea, and it is my duty to overtake them and tell +them so. We must not have any incautious ships sailing +in these strange waters."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later he called the mate and gave a command. +Cutlasses and muskets with powder and ball were +put at convenient points. Every man carried at least one +pistol and a dirk in his belt. The captain himself took +two pistols and a cutlass.</p> + +<p>"Merely a wise precaution, Peter," he said, "in case +our peaceful neighbor, to whom we wish to give a useful +warning, should turn out to be a pirate."</p> + +<p>Robert in the moonlight saw his eyes gleam and his +lips curve once more into a smile. He had seen enough +of men in crucial moments to know that the slaver was +happy, that he was rejoicing in some great triumph that +he expected to achieve. In spite of himself he shivered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +and looked at the stranger. The tracery of masts and +spars was growing clearer and the dim figures of men +were visible on her decks.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll meet later," said the captain exultantly. +"Don't deceive yourself about that. There is a swift +wind behind us and the speed of both ships is increasing."</p> + +<p>Robert looked over the side. The sea was running in +white caps and above his head the wind was whistling. +The schooner rolled and his footing grew unsteady, but +it was only a fine breeze to the sailors, just what they +loved. Suddenly the captain burst into a great laugh.</p> + +<p>"The fools! the fools!" he exclaimed. "As I live, +they're pleasuring here in the most dangerous seas in the +world! Music in the moonlight!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Robert, astonished.</p> + +<p>"Just what I say! A madness hath o'ercome 'em! +Take a look through the glasses, Peter, and see a noble +sight, but a strange one at such a time."</p> + +<p>He clapped the glasses to Robert's eyes. The other +ship, suddenly came near to them, and grew fourfold in +size. Every detail of her stood out sharp and vivid in +the moonlight, a stout craft with all sails set to catch the +good wind, a fine merchantman by every token, nearing +the end of a profitable voyage. Discipline was not to +say somewhat relaxed, but at least kindly, the visible evidence +of it an old sailor sitting with his back against +the mast playing vigorously upon a violin, while a dozen +other men stood around listening.</p> + +<p>"Look at 'em, Peter. Look at 'em," laughed the captain. +"It's a most noble sight! Watch the old fellow +playing the fiddle, and I'll lay my eyes that in a half +minute or so you'll have some of the sailormen dancing."</p> + +<p>Robert shuddered again. The glee in the slaver's voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +was wicked. The cynical jesting tone was gone and in +its place was only unholy malice. But Robert was held +by the scene upon the deck of the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Yes, two of the sailors have begun to dance," he said. +"They're young men and clasping each other about the +shoulders, they're doing a hornpipe. I can see the others +clapping their hands and the old fellow plays harder +than ever."</p> + +<p>"Ah, idyllic! Most idyllic, I vow!" exclaimed the captain. +"Who would have thought, Peter, to have beheld +such a sight in these seas! 'Tis a childhood dream come +back again! 'Tis like the lads and maids sporting on the +village green! Ah, the lambs! the innocents! There is +no war for them. It does my soul good, Peter, to behold +once more such innocent trust in human nature."</p> + +<p>The shudder, more violent than ever, swept over Robert +again. He felt that he was in the presence of something +unclean, something that exhaled the foul odor of +the pit. The man had become wholly evil, and he shrank +away.</p> + +<p>"Steady, Peter," said the slaver. "Why shouldn't you +rejoice with the happy lads on yon ship? Think of your +pleasant fortune to witness such a play in the West Indian +seas, the merry sailormen dancing to the music in +the moonlight, the ship sailing on without care, and we +in our schooner bearing down on 'em to secure our rightful +share in the festival. Ah, Peter, we must go on +board, you and I and Carlos and more stout fellows and +sing and dance with 'em!"</p> + +<p>Robert drew back again. It may have been partly +the effect of the moonlight, and partly the mirror of +his own mind through which he looked, but the captain's +face had become wholly that of a demon. +The close-set eyes seemed to draw closer together than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +ever, and they were flashing. His hand, sinewy and +strong, settled upon the butt of a pistol in his belt, but, +in a moment, he raised it again and took the glasses from +Robert. After a long look he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"They dream on! They fiddle and dance with their +whole souls, Peter, my lad, and such trusting natures +shall be rewarded!"</p> + +<p>Robert could see very well now without the aid of the +glasses. The sailor who sat on a coil of rope with his +back against a mast, playing the violin, was an old man, +his head bare, his long white hair flying. It was yet too +far away for his face to be disclosed, but Robert knew +that his expression must be rapt, because his attitude +showed that his soul was in his music. The two young +sailors, with their arms about the shoulders of each +other, were still dancing, and two more had joined them.</p> + +<p>The crowd of spectators had thickened. Evidently it +was a ship with a numerous crew, perhaps a rich merchantman +out of Bristol or Boston. No flag was flying +over her. That, however, was not unusual in those seas, +and in times of war when a man waited to see the colors +of his neighbor before showing his own. But Robert +was surprised at the laxity of discipline on the stranger. +They should be up and watching, inquiring into the nature +of the schooner that was drawing so near.</p> + +<p>"And now, Peter," said the captain, more exultant +than ever, "you shall see an unveiling! It is not often +given to a lad like you, a landsman, to behold such a dramatic +act at sea, a scene so powerful and complete that +it might have been devised by one of the great Elizabethans! +Ho, Carlos, make ready!"</p> + +<p>He gave swift commands and the mate repeated them +as swiftly to the men. The two ships were rapidly drawing +nearer, but to Robert's amazement the festival upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +the deck of the stranger did not cease. Above the creaking +of the spars the wailing strains of the violin came to +him across the waters. If they were conscious there of +the presence of the schooner they cared little about it. +For the moment it occurred to Robert that it must be the +<i>Flying Dutchman</i>, or some other old phantom ship out +of the dim and legendary past.</p> + +<p>"And now, Carlos!" exclaimed the captain in a full, +triumphant voice, "we'll wake 'em up! Break out the +flag and show 'em what we are!"</p> + +<p>A coiled piece of cloth, dark and menacing, ran up +the mainmast of the schooner, reached the top, and then +burst out, streaming at full length in the strong wind, +dark as death and heavy with threat. Robert looked up +and shuddered violently. Over the schooner floated the +black flag, exultant and merciless.</p> + +<p>The tarpaulin was lifted and the long bronze gun in +the stern was uncovered. Beside her stood the gunners, +ready for action. The boatswain's whistle blew and the +dark crew stood forth, armed to the teeth, eager for action, +and spoil. Carlos, a heavy cutlass in hand, awaited +his master's orders. The captain laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"So you see, Peter, what we are!" he exclaimed. "And +it's not too late for you to seize a cutlass and have your +share. Now, my lads, we'll board her and take her in +the good old way."</p> + +<p>The mate shouted to the steersman, and the schooner +yawed. Robert, filled with horror, scarcely knew what +he was doing; in truth, he had no conscious will to do +anything, and so he ended by doing nothing. But he +heard the fierce low words of the pirates, and he saw +them leaning forward, as if making ready to leap on the +deck of the stranger and cut down every one of her +crew.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he looked at the other ship. The old man who +had been playing the violin suddenly dropped it and +snatched up a musket from behind the coil of rope on +which he had been sitting. The dancers ceased to dance, +sprang away, and returned in an instant with muskets +also. Heavy pistols leaped from the shirts and blouses +of the spectators, and up from the inside of the ship +poured a swarm of men armed to the teeth. A piece of +cloth swiftly climbed the mainmast of the stranger also, +reached the top, broke out there triumphantly, and the +flag of England, over against the black flag, blew out +steady and true in the strong breeze.</p> + +<p>"God! A sloop of war!" exclaimed the captain. "About, +Carlos! Put her about!"</p> + +<p>But the sloop yawed quickly, her portholes opened, +bronze muzzles appeared, tampions fell away, and a tremendous +voice shouted:</p> + +<p>"Fire!"</p> + +<p>Robert saw a sheet of flame spring from the side of +the sloop, there was a terrific crash, a dizzying column +of smoke and the schooner seemed fairly to leap from +the water, as the broadside swept her decks and tore her +timbers. The surly mate was cut squarely in two by a +round shot, men screaming in rage and pain went down +and the captain staggered, but recovered himself. Then +he shouted to the steersman to put the schooner about +and rushing among the sailors he ordered them to another +task than that of boarding.</p> + +<p>"It was a trick, and it trapped us most damnably!" he +cried. "A fool I was! Fools we must all have been to +have been caught by it! They lured us on! But now, +you rascals, to your work, and it's for your lives! We +escape together or we hang together!"</p> + +<p>The night had darkened much, clouds trailing before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +the moon and stars, but Robert clearly saw the slaver's +face. It was transformed by chagrin and wrath, though +it expressed fierce energy, too. Blood was running from +his shoulder down his left arm, but drawing his sword +he fairly herded the men to the sails; that is, to those +that were left. The helmsman put the shattered schooner +about and she drove rapidly on a new course. But the +sloop of war, tacking, let go her other broadside.</p> + +<p>Robert anticipated the second discharge, and by impulse +rather than reason threw himself flat upon the deck, +where he heard the heavy shot whistling over his head +and the cries of those who were struck down. Spars and +rigging, too, came clattering to the deck, but the masts +stood and the schooner, though hit hard, still made way.</p> + +<p>"Steady! Keep her steady, my boys!" shouted the captain. +"We've still a clean pair of heels, and with a little +luck we'll lose the sloop in the darkness!"</p> + +<p>He was a superb seaman and the rising wind helped +him. The wounded schooner had gained so much that +the third broadside did but little damage and killed only +one man. Robert stood up again and looked back at the +pursuing vessel, her decks covered with men in uniform, +the gunners loading rapidly while over the sloop the flag +of England that was then the flag of his own country too, +streamed straight out in the wind, proud and defiant.</p> + +<p>He felt a throb of intense, overwhelming pride. The +black flag had been overmatched by the good flag. In +the last resort, those who lived right had proved themselves +more than equal to those who lived wrong. Law +and order were superior to piracy and chaos. Forgetful +of his own safety, he hoped that the sloop would overtake +the schooner, and obeying his impulse he uttered a shout +of triumph. The captain turned upon him fiercely.</p> + +<p>"You cheer the wrong ship," he said. "If they over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>take +us, you being with us, I'll swear that you were one +of the hardiest men in my crew!"</p> + +<p>Robert laughed, he could not help it, though the act +was more or less hysterical, and replied:</p> + +<p>"I'll chance it! But, Captain, didn't you have the surprise +of your whole life, and you so cunning, too!"</p> + +<p>The man raised his cutlass, but dropped it quickly.</p> + +<p>"Don't try me that way again," he said. "It was my +impulse to cut you down, and the next time I'd do it. But +you're right. It was a surprise, though we'll escape 'em +yet, and we'll let 'em know we're not just a hunted rabbit, +either!"</p> + +<p>The Long Tom in the stern of the schooner opened fire. +The first shot splashed to the right of the sloop, and +the second to the left, but the third struck on board, and +two men were seen to go down. The captain laughed.</p> + +<p>"That's a taste of their own medicine," he said.</p> + +<p>A big gun on the sloop thundered, and a round shot +cut away one of the schooner's spars. Another flashed +and a load of grape hissed over the decks. Two men +were killed and three more wounded. The captain shouted +in anger and made the others crack on all the sail they +could. She was a staunch schooner, and though hurt +grievously she still made speed. Swifter than the sloop, +despite her injuries, she gradually widened the gap between +them, while the wind rose fast, and the trailing +blackness spread over the sea.</p> + +<p>Although still close at hand, the outline of the pursuing +sloop became dim. Robert was no longer able to +trace the human figures on her deck, but the banner of +law and right flying from her topmast yet showed in +the dusk. Forgetful as before of his own danger, he +began to have a fear that the pirate would escape. Under +his breath he entreated the avenging sloop to come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +on, to sail faster and faster, he begged her gunners to +aim aright despite the darkness, to rake the decks of the +schooner with grape and to send the heavy round shot +into her vitals.</p> + +<p>The sloop kept up a continuous fire with her bow guns. +The heavy reports crashed through the darkness, the +sounds rolling sullenly away, and not every shot went +wild. There was a tearing of sails, a splintering of spars, +a shattering of wood, and now and then the fall of a +man. Under the insistent and continuous urgence of the +captain the men on the schooner replied with the Long +Tom in her stern, and, when one of the shots swept the +deck of the sloop, the fierce, dark sailors shouted in joy. +Robert saw with a sinking of the heart that the gap between +the two vessels was still widening, while almost the +last star was gone from the heavens, and it was now so +dark that everything was hidden a few hundred yards +away.</p> + +<p>"We'll lose her! We'll lose her yet!" cried the captain. +"Winds and the night fight for us. See you, Peter, +we must be the chosen children of fortune, for this can +hardly be chance!"</p> + +<p>Robert said nothing, because it seemed for the time +at least that the captain's words were true. A sudden +and tremendous gust of wind caught the schooner and +drove her on, ragged and smashed though she was, at +increased speed, while the same narrow belt of wind +seemed to miss the sloop. The result was apparent at +once. The gap between them became a gulf. The flag +flying so proudly on the topmast of the sloop was gone +in the dusk. Her spars and sails faded away, she showed +only a dim, low hulk on the water from which her guns +flashed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>The schooner tacked again. A new bank of blackness +poured down over the sea, and the sloop was gone.</p> + +<p>"It was a trap and we sailed straight into it," exclaimed +the captain, "but it couldn't hold us. We've escaped!"</p> + +<p>He spoke the truth. They drove steadily on a long +time, and saw no more of the sloop of war.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE ISLAND</h3> + + +<p>Robert came out of his benumbed state. It had +all seemed a fantastic dream, but he had only to +look around him to know that it was reality. Three +or four battle lanterns were shining and they threw a +ghostly light over the deck of the schooner, which was +littered with spars and sails, and the bodies of men who +had fallen before the fire of the sloop. Streams of blood +flowed everywhere. He sickened and shuddered again +and again.</p> + +<p>The captain, a savage figure, stained with blood, +showed ruthless energy. Driving the men who remained +unwounded, he compelled them to cut away the wreckage +and to throw the dead overboard. Garrulous, possessed +by some demon, he boasted to them of many prizes +they would yet take, and he pointed to the black flag +which still floated overhead, unharmed through all the +battle. He boasted of it as a good omen and succeeded +in infusing into them some of his own spirit.</p> + +<p>Robert was still unnoticed and at first he wandered +about his strait territory. Then he lent a helping hand +with the wreckage. His own life was at stake as well as +theirs, and whether they wished it or not he could not +continue to stand by an idler. Circumstance and the sea +forced him into comradeship with men of evil, and as +long as it lasted he must make the best of it. So he fell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +to with such a will that it drew the attention of the captain.</p> + +<p>"Good boy, Peter!" he cried. "You'll be one of us yet +in spite of yourself! Our good fortune is yours, too! +You as well as we have escaped a merry hanging! I'll +warrant you that the feel of the rope around the neck +is not pleasant, and it's well to keep one's head out of the +noose, eh, Peter?"</p> + +<p>Robert did not answer, but tugged at a rope that two +other men were trying to reeve. He knew now that +while they had escaped the sloop of war their danger +was yet great and imminent. The wind was still rising, +and now it was a howling gale. The schooner had been +raked heavily. Most of her rigging was gone, huge holes +had been smashed in her hull, half of her crew had been +killed and half of the rest were wounded, there were not +enough men to work her even were she whole and the +weather the best. As the crest of every wave passed she +wallowed in the trough of the sea, and shipped water +steadily. The exultant look passed from the captain's +eyes.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you're a lad of ill omen, Peter," he said +to Robert. "I had you on board another ship once and +she went to pieces. It looks now as if my good schooner +were headed the same way."</p> + +<p>A dark sailor standing near heard him, and nodded in +approval, but Robert said:</p> + +<p>"Blame the sloop of war, not me. You would lay +her aboard, and see what has happened!"</p> + +<p>The captain frowned and turned away. For a long +time he paid no further attention to Robert, all his skill +and energy concentrated upon the effort to save his ship. +But it became evident even to Robert's inexperienced +eye that the schooner was stricken mortally. The guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +of the sloop had not raked and slashed her in vain. A +pirate she had been, but a pirate she would be no more. +She rolled more heavily all the time, and Robert noticed +that she was deeper in the water. Beyond a doubt +she was leaking fast.</p> + +<p>The captain conferred with the second mate, a tall, +thin man whom he called Stubbs. Then the two, standing +together near the mast, watched the ship for a while +and Robert, a little distance away, watched them. He +was now keenly alive to his own fate. Young and vital, +he did not want to die. He had never known a time when +he was more anxious to live. He was not going to be +sold into slavery on a West India plantation. Fortune +had saved him from that fate, and it might save him +from new perils. In a storm on a sinking vessel he was +nevertheless instinct with hope. Somewhere beyond the +clouds Tayoga's Tododaho on his great star was watching +him. The captain spoke to him presently.</p> + +<p>"Peter," he said, "I think it will be necessary for us +to leave the ship soon. That cursed sloop has done for +the staunchest schooner that ever sailed these seas. I left +you on board a sinking vessel the other time, but as it +seemed to bring you good luck then, I won't do it now. +Besides, I'm tempted to keep you with me. You bore +yourself bravely during the battle. I will say that for +you."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for taking me, and for the compliment, too," +said Robert. "I've no mind to be left here alone in the +middle of the ocean on a sinking ship."</p> + +<p>"'Tis no pleasant prospect, nor have we an easy path +before us in the boats, either. On the whole, the chances +are against us. There's land not far away to starboard, +but whether we'll make it in so rough a sea is another +matter. Are you handy with an oar?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Fairly so. I've had experience on lakes and rivers, +but none on the sea."</p> + +<p>"'Twill serve. We'll launch three boats. Hooker, the +boatswain, takes one, Stubbs has the other, and I command +the last. You go with me."</p> + +<p>"It would have been my choice."</p> + +<p>"I'm flattered, Peter. I may get a chance yet to sell +you to one of the plantations."</p> + +<p>"I think not, Captain. The stars in their courses have +said 'no.'"</p> + +<p>"Come! Come! Don't be Biblical here."</p> + +<p>"The truth is the truth anywhere. But I'm glad +enough to go with you."</p> + +<p>One of the boats was launched with great difficulty, +and the boatswain, Hooker, and six men, two of whom +were wounded, were lowered into it. It capsized almost +immediately, and all on board were lost. Those destined +for the other two boats hung back a while, but it became +increasingly necessary for them to make the trial, no +matter what the risk. The schooner rolled and pitched +terribly, and a sailor, sent to see, reported that the water +was rising in her steadily.</p> + +<p>The captain showed himself a true seaman and leader. +He had been wounded in the shoulder, but the hurt had +been bound up hastily and he saw to everything. Each +of the boats contained kegs of water, arms, ammunition +and food. A second was launched and Stubbs and his +crew were lowered into it. A great wave caught it and +carried it upon its crest, and Robert, watching, expected +to see it turn over like the first, but the mate and the +crew managed to restore the balance, and they disappeared +in the darkness, still afloat.</p> + +<p>"There, lads," exclaimed the captain, "you see it can +be done. Now we'll go too, and the day will soon come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +when we'll have a new ship, and then, ho! once more for +the rover's free and gorgeous life!"</p> + +<p>The unwounded men raised a faint cheer. The long +boat was launched with infinite care, and Robert lent a +hand. The pressure of circumstances made his feeling +of comradeship with these men return. For the time +at least his life was bound up with theirs. Two wounded +sailors were lowered first into the boat.</p> + +<p>"Now, Peter, you go," said the captain. "As I told +you, I may have a chance yet to sell you to a plantation, +and I must preserve my property."</p> + +<p>Robert slid down the rope. The captain and the others +followed, and they cast loose. They were eight in the +boat, three of whom were wounded, though not badly. +The lad looked back at the schooner. He saw a dim +hulk, with the black flag still floating over it, and then +she passed from sight in the darkness and driving storm.</p> + +<p>He took up an oar, resolved to do his best in the common +struggle for life, and with the others fought the sea +for a long time. The captain set their course south by +west, apparently for some island of which he knew, and +meanwhile the men strove not so much to make distance +as to keep the boat right side up. Often Robert thought +they were gone. They rode dizzily upon high waves, +and they sloped at appalling angles, but always they righted +and kept afloat. The water sprayed them continuously +and the wind made it sting like small shot, but that was a +trifle to men in their situation who were straining merely +to keep the breath in their bodies.</p> + +<p>After a while—Robert had no idea how long the time +had been—the violence of the wind seemed to abate somewhat, +and their immense peril of sinking decreased. Robert +sought an easier position at the oar, and tried to see +something reassuring, but it was still almost as dark as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +pitch, and there was only the black and terrible sea +around them. But the captain seemed cheerful.</p> + +<p>"We'll make it, lads, before morning," he said. "The +storm is sinking, as you can see, and the island is there +waiting for us."</p> + +<p>In another hour the sea became so much calmer that +there was no longer any danger of the boat overturning. +Half of the men who had been rowing rested an hour, +and then the other half took their turn. Robert was in +the second relay, and when he put down his oar he realized +for the first time that his hands were sore and his +bones aching.</p> + +<p>"You've done well, Peter," said the captain. "You've +become one of us, whether or no, and we'll make you an +honored inhabitant of our island when we come to it."</p> + +<p>Robert said nothing, but lay back, drawing long +breaths of relief. The danger of death by drowning had +passed for the moment and he had a sense of triumph +over nature. Despite his weariness and soreness, he was +as anxious as ever to live, and he began to wonder about +this island of which the captain spoke. It must be tropical, +and hence in his imagination beautiful, but by whom +was it peopled? He did not doubt that they would reach +it, and that he, as usual, would escape all perils.</p> + +<p>Always invincible, his greatest characteristic was flaming +up within him. He seemed to have won, in a way, +the regard of the captain, and he did not fear the men. +They would be castaways together, and on the land opportunities +to escape would come. On the whole he preferred +the hazards of the land to those of the sea. He +knew better how to deal with them. He was more at +home in the wilderness than on salt water. Yet a brave +heart was alike in either place.</p> + +<p>"We'd better take it very easy, lads," said the captain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +"Not much rowing now, and save our strength for the +later hours of the night."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"Because the storm, although it has gone, is still hanging +about in the south and may conclude to come back, +assailing us again. A shift in the wind is going on now, +and if it hit us before we reached the island, finding us +worn out, we might go down before it."</p> + +<p>It was a good enough reason and bye and bye only two +men kept at the oars, the rest lying on the bottom of the +boat or falling asleep in their seats. The captain kept a +sharp watch for the other boat, which had gone away in +the dark, but beheld no sign of it, although the moon and +stars were now out, and they could see a long distance.</p> + +<p>"Stubbs knows where the island is," said the captain, +"and if they've lived they'll make for it. We can't turn +aside to search all over the sea for 'em."</p> + +<p>Robert after a while fell asleep also in his seat, and +despite his extraordinary situation slept soundly, though +it was rather an unconsciousness that came from extreme +exhaustion, both bodily and mental. He awoke some +time later to find that the darkness had come back and +that the wind was rising again.</p> + +<p>"You can take a hand at the oar once more, Peter," +said the captain. "I let you sleep because I knew that it +would refresh you and we need the strength of everybody. +The storm, as I predicted, is returning, not as +strong as it was at first, perhaps, but strong enough."</p> + +<p>He wakened the other men who were sleeping, and +all took to the oars. The waves were running high, and +the boat began to ship water. Several of the men, under +instructions from the captain, dropped their oars and +bailed it out with their caps or one or two small tin vessels +that they had stored aboard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Luckily the wind is blowing in the right direction," +said the captain. "It comes out of the northeast, and +that carries us toward the island. Now, lads, all we +have to do is to keep the boat steady, and not let it ship +too much water. The wind itself will carry us on our +way."</p> + +<p>But the wind rose yet more, and it required intense +labor and vigilance to fight the waves that threatened +every moment to sink their craft. Robert pulled on the +oar until his arms ached. Everybody toiled except the +captain, who directed, and Robert saw that he had all +the qualities to make him a leader of slavers or pirates. +In extreme danger he was the boldest and most confident +of them all, and he stood by his men. They could see +that he would not desert them, that their fortune was his +fortune. He was wounded, Robert did not yet know +how badly, but he never yielded to his hurt. He was a +figure of strength in the boat, and the men drew courage +from him to struggle for life against the overmastering +sea. Somehow, for the time at least, Robert looked upon +him as his own leader, obeying his commands, willingly +and without question.</p> + +<p>He was drenched anew with the salt water, but as they +were in warm seas he never thought of it. Now and +then he rested from his oar and helped bail the water +from the boat.</p> + +<p>A pale dawn showed at last through the driving +clouds, but it was not encouraging. The sea was running +higher than ever, and there was no sign of land. +One of the men, much worse wounded than they had +thought, lay down in the bottom of the boat and died. +They tossed his body unceremoniously overboard. Robert +knew that it was necessary, but it horrified him just +the same. Another man, made light of head by dangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +and excessive hardships, insisted that there was no island, +that either they would be drowned or would drift on in +the boat until they died of thirst and starvation. The +captain drew a pistol and looking him straight in the +eye said:</p> + +<p>"Another word of that kind from you, Waters, and +you'll eat lead. You know me well enough to know that +I keep my word."</p> + +<p>The man cowered away and Robert saw that it was +no vain threat. Waters devoted his whole attention to +an oar, and did not speak again.</p> + +<p>"We'll strike the island in two or three hours," the captain +said with great confidence.</p> + +<p>The dawn continued to struggle with the stormy sky, +but its progress was not promising. It was only a sullen +gray dome over a gray and ghastly sea, depressing to the +last degree to men worn as they were. But in about two +hours the captain, using glasses that he had taken from +his coat, raised the cry:</p> + +<p>"Land ho!"</p> + +<p>He kept the glasses to his eyes a full two minutes, and +when he took them down he repeated with certainty:</p> + +<p>"Land ho! I can see it distinctly there under the horizon +in the west, and it's the island we've been making +for. Now, lads, keep her steady and we'll be there in an +hour."</p> + +<p>All the men were vitalized into new life, but the storm +rose at the same time, and spray and foam dashed over +them. All but two or three were compelled to work hard, +keeping the water out of the boat, while the others +steadied her with the oars. Robert saw the captain's face +grow anxious, and he began to wonder if they would +reach the island in time. He wondered also how they +would land in case they reached it, as he knew from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +reading and travelers' tales that most of the little islands +in these warm seas were surrounded by reefs.</p> + +<p>The wind drove them on and the island rose out of the +ocean, a dark, low line, just a blur, but surely land, and +the drooping men plucked up their spirits.</p> + +<p>"We'll make it, lads! Don't be down-hearted!" cried +the captain. "Keep the boat above water a half hour +longer, and we'll tread the soil of mother earth again! +Well done, Peter! You handle a good oar! You're the +youngest in the boat, but you've set an example for the +others! There's good stuff in you, Peter."</p> + +<p>Robert, to his own surprise, found his spirit responding +to this man's praise, slaver and pirate though he was, +and he threw more strength into his swing. Soon they +drew near to the island, and he heard such a roaring of +the surf that he shuddered. He saw an unbroken line of +white and he knew that behind it lay the cruel teeth of +the rocks, ready to crunch any boat that came. Every +one looked anxiously at the captain.</p> + +<p>"There's a rift in the rocks to the right," he said, "and +when we pass through it we'll find calm water inside. +Now, lads, all of you to the oars and take heed that you +do as I say on the instant or we'll be on the reef!"</p> + +<p>They swung to the right, and so powerful were wind +and wave that it seemed to Robert they fairly flew toward +the island. The roaring of the surf grew and the long +white line rose before them like a wall. He saw no opening, +but the captain showed no signs of fear and gave +quick, sharp commands. The boat drove with increased +speed toward the island, rising on the crests of great +waves, then sinking with sickening speed into the trough +of the sea, to rise dizzily on another wave. Robert saw +the rocks, black, sharp and cruel, reaching out their long, +savage teeth, and the roar of wind and surf together was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +now so loud that he could no longer hear the captain's +commands. He was conscious that the boat was nearly +full of water, and when he was not blinded by the flying +surf he saw looks of despair on the faces of the men.</p> + +<p>An opening in the line of reefs disclosed itself, and +the boat shot toward it. He heard the captain shout, but +did not understand what he said, then they were +wrenched violently to the left by a powerful current. He +saw the black rocks frowning directly over him, and felt +the boat scrape against them. The whole side of it was +cut away, and they were all hurled into the sea.</p> + +<p>Robert was not conscious of what he did. He acted +wholly from impulse and the instinctive love of life that +is in every one. He felt the water pour over him, and fill +eye, ear and nostril, but he was not hurled against rock. +He struck out violently, but was borne swiftly away, not +knowing in which direction he was taken.</p> + +<p>He became conscious presently that the force driving +him on was not so great and he cleared the water from +his eyes enough to see that he had been carried through +the opening and toward a sandy beach. His mind became +active and strong in an instant. Chance had brought +him life, if he only had the presence of mind to take it. +He struck out for the land with all his vigor, hoping to +reach it before he could be carried back by a returning +wave.</p> + +<p>The wave caught him, but it was not as powerful as +he had feared, and, when he had yielded a little, he was +able to go forward again. Then he saw a head bobbing +upon the crest of the next retreating wave and being carried +out to sea. It was the captain, and reaching out a +strong arm Robert seized him. The shock caused him to +thrust down his feet, and to his surprise he touched bot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>tom. +Grasping the captain with both hands he dragged +him with all his might and ran inland.</p> + +<p>It was partly an instinctive impulse to save and partly +genuine feeling that caused him to seize the slaver when +he was being swept helpless out to sea. The man, even +though in a malicious, jeering way, had done him some +kindnesses on the schooner and in the boat, and he could +not see him drown before his eyes. So he settled his +grasp upon his collar, held his head above the water and +strove with all his might to get beyond the reach of the +cruel sea. Had he been alone he could have reached +the land with ease, but the slaver pulled upon him almost +a dead weight.</p> + +<p>Another returning wave caught him and made him +stagger, but he settled his feet firmly in the sand, held +on to the unconscious man, and when it had passed made +a great effort to get beyond the reach of any other. He +was forced half to lift, half to drag the slaver's body, +but he caught the crest of the next incoming wave, one +of unusual height and strength, and the two were carried +far up the beach. When it died in foam and spray +he lifted the man wholly and ran until he fell exhausted +on the sand. When another wave roared inland it did +not reach him, and no others came near. As if knowing +they were baffled, they gave up a useless pursuit.</p> + +<p>Robert lay a full half hour, supine, completely relaxed, +only half conscious. Yet he was devoutly thankful. The +precious gift of life had been saved, the life that was so +young, so strong and so buoyant in him. The sea, immense, +immeasurable and savage might leap for him, but +it could no longer reach him. He was aware of that +emotion, and he was thankful too that an Infinite Hand +had been stretched out to save him in his moment of +direst peril.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>He came out of his cataleptic state, which was both +a mental and physical effect, and stood up. The air was +still dim with heavy clouds and the wind continuously +whistled its anger. He noticed for the first time that it +was raining, but it was a trifle to him, as he had already +been thoroughly soaked by the sea.</p> + +<p>The sea itself was as wild as ever. Wave after wave +roared upon the land to break there, and then rush back +in masses of foam. As far as Robert could see the surface +of the water, lashed by the storm, was wild and +desolate to the last degree. It was almost as if he had +been cast away on another planet. A feeling of irrepressible, +awful loneliness overpowered him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Peter, we're here."</p> + +<p>It was a feeble voice, but it was a human one, the +voice of one of his own kind, and, in that dreary wilderness +of the ocean, it gave welcome relief as it struck +upon his ear. He looked down. The slaver, returned to +consciousness, had drawn himself into a sitting position +and was looking out at the gray waters.</p> + +<p>"I've a notion, Peter," he said, "that you've saved my +life. The last I remember was being engulfed in a very +large and very angry ocean. It was kind of you, Peter, +after I kidnapped you away from your friends, meaning +to sell you into slavery on a West India plantation."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't let you drown before my eyes."</p> + +<p>"Most men in your place would have let me go, and +even would have helped me along."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I felt the need of company. 'Twould have +been terrible to be alone here."</p> + +<p>"There may be something in that. But at any rate, +you saved me. I'm thinking that you and I are all that's +left. I was a fool, Peter, ever to have mixed in your +business. I can see it now. When I carried you away<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +from New York I lost my ship. I kidnap you away +again from Albany, and I lose my ship and all my crew. +I would have lost my own life, too, if it had not been +for you. It was never intended by the fates that I should +have been successful in my attempts on you. The first +time should have been enough. That was a warning. +Well, I've paid the price of my folly. All fools do."</p> + +<p>He tried to stand up, but fresh blood came from his +shoulder and he quickly sat down again. It was obvious +that he was very weak.</p> + +<p>"I'll do the best I can for us both," said Robert, "but +I don't know the nature of this land upon which we're +cast. I suppose it's an island, of course. I can see trees +inland, but that's all I can discover at present."</p> + +<p>"I know a deal more," said the slaver. "That's why +I had the boat steered for this point, hoping to make the +little bay into which the opening through the reefs leads. +It's an island, as you say, seven or eight miles long, half +as broad and covered thickly with trees and brush. +There's a hut about half a mile inland, and if you help +me there we'll both find shelter. I'll show the way. As +trying too steadily to do you evil brought me bad luck +I'll now try to do you good. You can put it down to +logic, and not to any sudden piety in me."</p> + +<p>Yet Robert in his heart did not ascribe it wholly to +logic. He was willing to believe in a kindly impulse or +two in everybody, there was a little good hidden somewhere +deep down even in Tandakora, though it might +have to struggle uncommonly hard for expression. He +promptly put his arm under the man's and helped him +to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Give me the direction," he said, "and I'll see that we +reach the hut."</p> + +<p>"Bear toward the high hill ahead and to the right.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +And between you and me, Peter, I'm glad it's inland. +I've had enough of the sea for a while and I don't want +to look at it. How is it behaving now?"</p> + +<p>Robert, looking back, saw a great wave rushing upon +the beach as if it thought it could overtake them, and it +gave him an actual thrill of delight to know the effort +would be in vain.</p> + +<p>"It's as wild, as desolate and as angry as ever," he +said, "and we're well away from it for the present."</p> + +<p>"Then go on. I fear I shall have to lean upon you +rather hard. A bit of grape shot from that cursed sloop +has bitten pretty deep into my shoulder. I've been +doubly a fool, Peter, in kidnapping you a second time +after the first warning, and in allowing myself to be +tolled up under the broadside of that sloop. It's the last +that hurts me most. I behaved like any youngster on his +first cruise."</p> + +<p>Robert said nothing, but did his best to support the +wounded man, who was now bearing upon him very +heavily. His own strength was largely factitious, coming +from the hope that they would soon find shelter and +a real place in which to rest, but such as it was it was +sufficient for the time being.</p> + +<p>He did not look back again. Like the slaver, he wanted +to shut out the sea for the present. It was a raging, +cruel element, and he felt better with it unseen. But he +became conscious, instead, of the rain which was driving +hard. He suddenly realized that he was cold, and he +shivered so violently that the slaver noticed it.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Peter," he said. "We're going to a +palace, or at least 'twill seem a palace by power of contrast. +There you'll be snug and warm."</p> + +<p>"And you can bind up your wound again and get +back your strength."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Aye, we can bind it up again, but it's not so sure +about my getting back my strength. I tell you again, lad, +that the grape bit deep. It hurts me all the time to think +I was lured under those guns by a silly old fiddler and +a couple of silly sailors dancing to his silly tune. You're +a good lad, Peter, I give you credit for it, and since, beside +myself, only one on board the schooner was saved, +I'm glad it was you and not a member of the crew."</p> + +<p>"We don't know that others were not saved. We +haven't had time yet to see."</p> + +<p>"I know they weren't. It's only a miracle that we two +came through the reefs. Miracles may happen, Peter, +but they don't happen often. Nobody else will appear +on the island. Keep steering for the hill. I'll be glad +when we get there, because, between you and me, Peter, +it will be just about as far as I can go and I'll need a +long, long rest."</p> + +<p>He bore so heavily upon Robert now that their +progress was very slow, and the lad himself began to +grow weak. It was impossible for any one, no matter +how hardy of body and soul, to endure long, after going +through what he had suffered. He too staggered.</p> + +<p>"I'm leaning hard on you, Peter," said the slaver. "I +know it, but I can't help it. What a difference a whiff +of grapeshot makes!"</p> + +<p>Robert steadied himself, made a mighty effort, and +they went on. The wind shifted now and the rain drove +directly in his face. It was cold to him, but it seemed +to whip a little increase of vigor and strength into his +blood, and he was able to go somewhat faster. As he +pulled along with his burden he looked curiously at the +region through which he was traveling. The ground +was rough, often with layers of coral, and he saw on +all sides of him dense groves of bushes, among which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +he recognized the banana by the fruit. It gave him a +thrill of relief. At all events here was food of a kind, +and they would not starve to death. It was the first time +he had thought of food. Hitherto he had been occupied +wholly with the struggle for immediate life.</p> + +<p>A belt of tall trees shut out the hill toward which he +had been steering, and he was uncertain. But the man +gave him guidance.</p> + +<p>"More to the right, Peter," he said. "I won't let you +go astray, and it's full lucky for us both that I know this +island."</p> + +<p>A half hour of painful struggle and Robert saw the +dark shape of a small house in the lee of a hill.</p> + +<p>"It's the hut, Peter," said the slaver, "and you've done +well to bring us here. You're not only a good lad, but +you're strong and brave, too. You needn't knock at the +door. No one will answer. Push it open and enter. It +really belongs to me."</p> + +<p>Robert obeyed while the man steadied himself sufficiently +to stand alone. He thrust his hand against the +door, which swung inward, revealing a dark interior. A +musty odor entered his nostrils, but the hut, whatever its +character, was dry. That was evident, and so it was +welcome. He went in, helping the wounded man along +with him, and standing there a moment or two everything +became clear.</p> + +<p>It was more than a hut. He was in a room of some +size, containing articles of furniture, obviously brought +across the sea, and clothing hanging from the wall on +hooks. A couch was beside one wall, and two doors +seemed to lead to larger chambers or to small closets. +The captain staggered across the room and lay down on +the couch.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, how do you like it, Peter?" he asked. "'Twill +serve in a storm, will it not?"</p> + +<p>"It will serve grandly," replied Robert. "How does +it come to be here?"</p> + +<p>"I had it built. The islands all the way from the Bahamas +to South America and the waters around them +are the great hunting ground for people in my trade, and +naturally we need places of refuge, secluded little harbors, +so to speak, where we can commune with ourselves and +refresh our minds and bodies. Even rovers must have +periods of relaxation, and you'll find a lot of such places +scattered about the islands, or, rather, you won't find 'em +because they're too well hidden. I had this built myself, +but I never dreamed that I should come back to it in the +way I have."</p> + +<p>"It's a palace just now," said Robert, "yes, it's more +than a palace, it's a home. I see clothing here on the +wall, and, by your leave, I'll change you and then myself +into some of those dry garments."</p> + +<p>"You're lord of the manor, Peter, by right of strength. +I'm in no condition to resist you, even had I the wish, +which I haven't."</p> + +<p>Assisted by the man himself, he removed the captain's +garments and put him in dry clothing, first looking at the +wound in his shoulder, which his experience told him +was very serious. The piece of grapeshot had gone entirely +through, but the loss of blood had been large, and +there was inflammation.</p> + +<p>"I must bathe that with fresh water a little later and +devise some kind of dressing," said Robert. "I've had +much experience in the wilderness with wounds."</p> + +<p>"You're a good lad, Peter," said the slaver. "I've told +you that before, but I repeat it now."</p> + +<p>Robert then arrayed himself in dry garments. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +was strangely and wonderfully attired in a shirt of fine +linen with lace ruffles, a short, embroidered jacket of +purple velvet, purple velvet knee-breeches, silk stockings +and pumps, or low shoes, with large silver buckles. It +was very gorgeous, and, just then, very comfortable.</p> + +<p>"You look the dandy to the full, Peter," said the slaver. +"The clothes have hung here more than a year. They +came from a young Spaniard who had the misfortune +to resist too much when we took the ship that carried +him. They've come to a good use again."</p> + +<p>Robert shuddered, but in a moment or two he forgot +the origin of his new raiment. He had become too much +inured to deadly peril to be excessively fastidious. Besides, +he was feeling far better. Warmth returned to his +body and the beat of the rain outside the house increased +the comfort within.</p> + +<p>"I think, Peter," said the slaver, "that you'd better go +to sleep. You've been through a lot, and you don't realize +how near exhaustion you are."</p> + +<p>Without giving a thought to the question of food, +which must present itself before long, Robert lay down +on the floor and fell almost at once into a sound +slumber.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE PIRATE'S WARNING</h3> + + +<p>When the lad awoke it was quite dark in the +house, but there was no sound of rain. He went +to the door and looked out upon a fairly clear +night. The storm was gone and he heard only a light +wind rustling through palms. There was no thunder of +beating surf in the distance. It was a quiet sky and a +quiet island.</p> + +<p>He went back and looked at the slaver. The man was +asleep on his couch, but he was stirring a little, and he +was hot with fever. Robert felt pity for him, cruel and +blood-stained though he knew him to be. Besides, he was +the only human companion he had, and he did not wish +to be left alone there. But he did not know what to do +just then, and, lying down on the floor, he went to sleep +again.</p> + +<p>When he awoke the second time day had come, and the +slaver too was awake, though looking very weak.</p> + +<p>"I've been watching you quite a while, Peter," he said. +"You must have slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Youth +has a wonderful capacity for slumber and restoration. I +dare say you're now as good as ever, and wondering +where you'll find your breakfast. Well, when I built this +house I didn't neglect the plenishings of it. Open the +door next to you and you'll find boucan inside. 'Boucan,' +as you doubtless know, is dried beef, and from it we got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +our name the buccaneers, because in the beginning we +lived so much upon dried beef. Enough is in that closet +to last us a month, and there are herds of wild cattle on +the island, an inexhaustible larder."</p> + +<p>"But we can't catch wild cattle with our hands," said +Robert.</p> + +<p>The slaver laughed.</p> + +<p>"You don't think, Peter," he said, "that when I built +a house here and furnished it I neglected some of the +most necessary articles. In the other closet you'll find +weapons and ammunition. But deal first with the +boucan."</p> + +<p>Robert opened the closet and found the boucan packed +away in sheets or layers on shelves, and at once he became +ravenously hungry.</p> + +<p>"On a lower shelf," said the slaver, "you'll find flint +and steel, and with them it shouldn't be hard for a wilderness +lad like you to start a fire. There are also kettles, +skillets and pans, and I think you know how to do the +rest."</p> + +<p>Robert went to work on a fire. The wood, which was +abundant outside, was still damp, but he had a strong +clasp knife and he whittled a pile of dry shavings which +he succeeded in igniting with the flint and steel, though +it was no light task, requiring both patience and skill. But +the fire was burning at last and he managed to make in +one of the kettles some soup of the dried beef, which he +gave to the captain. The man had no appetite, but he +ate a little and declared that he felt stronger. Then Robert +broiled many strips for himself over the coals and ate +ravenously. He would have preferred a greater variety +of food, but it was better than a castaway had a right to +expect.</p> + +<p>His breakfast finished, he continued his examination of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +the house, which was furnished with many things, evidently +captured from ships. He found in one of the +closets a fine fowling piece, a hunting rifle, two excellent +muskets, several pistols, ammunition for all the fire-arms +and a number of edged weapons.</p> + +<p>"You see, Peter, you're fitted for quite an active defense +should enemies come," said the slaver. "You'll +admit, I think, that I've been a good housekeeper."</p> + +<p>"Good enough," said Peter. "Are there any medicines?"</p> + +<p>"You'll find some salves and ointments on the top shelf +in the second closet, and you can make a poultice for this +hurt of mine. Between you and me, Peter, I've less pain, +but much more weakness, which is a bad sign."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll be well in a few days," said Robert cheerfully. +"One wound won't carry off a man as strong as +you are."</p> + +<p>"One wound always suffices, provided it goes in deep +enough, but I thank you for your rosy predictions, Peter. +I think your good wishes are genuinely sincere."</p> + +<p>Robert realized that they were so, in truth. In addition +to the call of humanity, he had an intense horror of being +left alone on the island, and he would fight hard to save +the slaver's life. He compounded the poultice with no +mean skill, and, after bathing the wound carefully with +fresh water from a little spring behind the hut, he applied it.</p> + +<p>"It's cooling, Peter, and I know it's healing, too," said +the man, "but I think I'll try to go to sleep again. As +long as I'm fastened to a couch that's about the only way +I can pass the time. Little did I think when I built this +house that I'd come here without a ship and without a +crew to pass some helpless days."</p> + +<p>He shut his eyes. After a while, Robert, not knowing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +whether he was asleep or not, took down the rifle, loaded +it, and went out feeling that it was high time he should +explore his new domain.</p> + +<p>In the sunlight the island did not look forbidding. On +the contrary, it was beautiful. From the crest of the hill +near the house he saw a considerable expanse, but the +western half of the island was cut off from view by a +higher range of hills. It was all in dark green foliage, +although he caught the sheen of a little lake about two +miles away. As far as he could see a line of reefs +stretched around the coast, and the white surf was breaking +on them freely.</p> + +<p>From the hill he went back to the point at which he +and the captain had been swept ashore, and, as he +searched along the beach he found the bodies of all those +who had been in the boat with them. He had been quite +sure that none of them could possibly have escaped, but it +gave him a shock nevertheless to secure the absolute proof +that they were dead. He resolved if he could find a way +to bury them in the sand beyond the reach of the waves, +but, for the present, he could do nothing, and he continued +along the shore several miles, finding its character +everywhere the same, a gentle slope, a stretch of +water, and beyond that the line of reefs on which the +white surf was continually breaking, reefs with terrible +teeth as he well knew.</p> + +<p>But it was all very peaceful now. The sea stretched +away into infinity the bluest of the blue, and a breeze +both warm and stimulating came out of the west. Robert, +however, looked mostly toward the north. Albany +and his friends now seemed a world away. He had been +wrenched out of his old life by a sudden and unimaginable +catastrophe. What were Tayoga and Willet doing +now? How was the war going? For him so far as real<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +life was concerned the war simply did not exist. He was +on a lost island with only a wounded man for company +and the struggle to survive and escape would consume all +his energies.</p> + +<p>Presently he came to what was left of their boat. It +was smashed badly and half buried in the sand. At first +he thought he might be able to use it again, but a critical +examination showed that it was damaged beyond any +power of his to repair it, and with a sigh he abandoned +the thought of escape that way.</p> + +<p>He continued his explorations toward the south, and +saw groves of wild banana, the bushes or shrubs fifteen +or twenty feet high, some of them with ripe fruit hanging +from them. He ate one and found it good, though he +was glad to know that he would not have to depend upon +bananas wholly for food.</p> + +<p>A mile to the south and he turned inland, crossing a +range of low hills, covered with dense vegetation. As +he passed among the bushes he kept his rifle ready, not +knowing whether or not dangerous wild animals were to +be found there. He had an idea they were lacking in +both the Bahamas and the West Indies, but not being +sure, he meant to be on his guard.</p> + +<p>Before he reached the bottom of the slope he heard a +puff, and then the sound of heavy feet. All his wilderness +caution was alive in a moment, and, drawing back, +he cocked the rifle. Then he crept forward, conscious +that some large wild beast was near. A few steps more +and he realized that there were more than one. He heard +several puffs and the heavy feet seemed to be moving +about in an aimless fashion.</p> + +<p>He came to the edge of the bushes, and, parting them, +he looked cautiously from their cover. Then his apprehensions +disappeared. Before him stretched a wide,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +grassy savanna and upon it was grazing a herd of wild +cattle, at least fifty in number, stocky beasts with long +horns. Robert looked at them with satisfaction. Here +was enough food on the hoof to last him for years. They +might be tough, but he had experience enough to make +them tender when it came to fire and the spit.</p> + +<p>"Graze on in peace until I need you," he said, and +crossing the savanna he found beyond, hidden at first +from view by a fringe of forest, the lake that he had seen +from the crest of the hill beside the house. It covered +about half a square mile and was blue and deep. He surmised +that it contained fish good to eat, but, for the present +he was content to let them remain in the water. They, +like the wild cattle, could wait.</p> + +<p>Feeling that he had been gone long enough, he went +back to the house and found the slaver asleep or in a +stupor, and, when he looked at him closely, he was convinced +that it was more stupor than sleep. He was very +pale and much wasted. It occurred suddenly to Robert +that the man would die and the thought gave him a great +shock. Then, in very truth, he would be alone. He sat +by him and watched anxiously, but the slaver did not +come back to the world for a full two hours.</p> + +<p>"Aye, Peter, you're there," he said. "As I've told you +several times, you're a good lad."</p> + +<p>"Can I make you some more of the beef broth?" asked +Robert.</p> + +<p>"I can take a little I think, though I've no appetite +at all."</p> + +<p>"And I'd like to dress your wound again."</p> + +<p>"If it's any relief to you, Peter, to do so, go ahead, +though I think 'tis of little use."</p> + +<p>"It will help a great deal. You'll be well again in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +week or two. It isn't so bad here. With a good house +and food it's just the place for a wounded man."</p> + +<p>"Plenty of quiet, eh Peter? No people to disturb me +in my period of convalescence."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a help."</p> + +<p>Robert dressed the wound afresh, but he noticed during +his ministrations that the slaver's weakness had increased, +and his heart sank. It was a singular fact, but +he began to feel a sort of attachment for the man who +had done him so much ill. They had been comrades in a +great hazard, and were yet. Moreover, the fear of being +left alone in a tremendous solitude was recurrent and +keen. These motives and that of humanity made him do +his best.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Peter," said the wounded man. "You're +standing by me in noble fashion. On the whole, I'm +lucky in being cast away with you instead of one of my +own men. But it hurts me more than my wound does to +think that I should have been tricked, that a man of experience +such as I am should have been lured under the +broadside of the sloop of war by an old fellow playing a +fiddle and a couple of sailors dancing. My mind keeps +coming back to it. My brain must have gone soft for +the time being, and so I've paid the price."</p> + +<p>Robert said nothing, but finished his surgeon's task. +Then he made a further examination of the house, finding +more boucan stored in a small, low attic, also clothing, +both outer and inner garments, nautical instruments, +including a compass, a pair of glasses of power, and +bottles of medicine, the use of some of which he knew.</p> + +<p>Then he loaded the fowling piece and went back +toward the lake, hoping he might find ducks there. Beef, +whether smoked or fresh, as an exclusive diet, would become +tiresome, and since they might be in for a long stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +on the island he meant to fill their larder as best he could. +On his way he kept a sharp watch for game, but saw only +a small coney, a sort of rabbit, which he left in peace. +He found at a marshy edge of the lake a number of +ducks, three of which he shot, and which he dressed and +cooked later on, finding them to be excellent.</p> + +<p>Robert made himself a comfortable bed on the floor +with blankets from one of the closets and slept soundly +through the next night. The following morning he found +the slaver weaker than ever and out of his head at times. +He made beef broth for him once more, but the man was +able to take but little.</p> + +<p>"'Tis no use, Peter," he said in a lucid interval. "I'm +sped. I think there's no doubt of it. When that sloop +of war lured us under her guns she finished her task; +she did not leave a single thing undone. My schooner is +gone, my crew is gone, and now I'm going."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Robert. "You'll be better to-morrow."</p> + +<p>The man said nothing, but seemed to sink back into a +lethargic state. Robert tried his pulse, but could hardly +feel its beat. In a half hour he roused himself a little.</p> + +<p>"Peter," he said. "You're a good lad. I tell you so +once more. You saved me from the sea, and you're +standing by me now. I owe you for it, and I might tell +you something, now that my time's at hand. It's really +come true that when I built this house I was building the +place in which I am to die, though I didn't dream of it +then."</p> + +<p>Robert was silent, waiting to hear what he would tell +him. But he closed his eyes and did not speak for five +minutes more. The lad tried his pulse a second time. It +was barely discernible. The man at length opened his +eyes and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Peter, if you go back to the province of New York +beware of Adrian Van Zoon."</p> + +<p>"Beware of Van Zoon! Why?"</p> + +<p>"He wants to get rid of you. I was to put you out of +the way for him, at a price, and a great price, too. But +it was not intended, so it seems, that I should do so."</p> + +<p>"Why does Adrian Van Zoon want me put out of the +way?"</p> + +<p>"That I don't know, Peter, but when you escape from +the island you must find out."</p> + +<p>His eyelids drooped and closed once more, and when +Robert felt for his pulse a third time there was none. +The slaver and pirate was gone, and the lad was alone.</p> + +<p>Robert felt an immense desolation. Whatever the man +was he had striven to keep him alive, and at the last the +captain had shown desire to undo some of the evil that he +had done to him. And so it was Adrian Van Zoon who +wished to put him out of the way. He had suspected +that before, in fact he had been convinced of it, and now +the truth of it had been told to him by another. But, +why? The mystery was as deep as ever.</p> + +<p>Robert had buried the bodies of the sailors in the sand +in graves dug with an old bayonet that he had found in +the house, and he interred the captain in the same manner, +only much deeper. Then he went back to the house +and rested a long time. The awful loneliness that he had +feared came upon him, and he wrestled with it for hours. +That night it became worse than ever, but it was so acute +that it exhausted itself, and the next morning he felt +better.</p> + +<p>Resolved not to mope, he took down the rifle, put +some of the smoked beef in his pocket, and started on a +long exploration, meaning to cross the high hills that ran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +down the center of the island, and see what the other +half was like.</p> + +<p>In the brilliant sunshine his spirits took another rise. +After all, he could be much worse off. He had a good +house, arms and food, and in time a ship would come. A +ship must come, and, with his usual optimism, he was +sure that it would come soon.</p> + +<p>He passed by the lakes and noted the marshy spot +where he had shot the ducks. Others had come back and +were feeding there now on the water grasses. Doubtless +they had never seen man before and did not know his +full destructiveness, but Robert resolved to have duck +for his table whenever he wanted it.</p> + +<p>A mile or two farther and he saw another but much +smaller lake, around the edge of which duck also were +feeding, showing him that the supply was practically unlimited. +Just beyond the second lake lay the range of +hills that constituted the backbone of the island, and although +the sun was hot he climbed them, their height being +about a thousand feet. From the crest he had a view +of the entire island, finding the new half much like the +old, low, hilly, covered with forest, and surrounded with +a line of reefs on which the surf was breaking.</p> + +<p>His eyes followed the long curve of the reefs, and then +stopped at a dark spot that broke their white continuity. +His blood leaped and instantly he put to his eyes the +strong glasses that he had found in the house and that +fortunately he had brought with him. Here he found his +first impression to be correct. The dark spot was a ship!</p> + +<p>But it was no longer a ship that sailed the seas. Instead +it was a wrecked and shattered ship, with her bow +driven into the sand, and her stern impaled on the sharp +teeth of the breakers. Then his heart leaped again. A +second long look through the glasses told him that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +lines of the ship, bruised and battered though she was, +were familiar.</p> + +<p>It was the schooner. The storm had brought her to +the island also, though to the opposite shore, and there +she lay a wreck held by the sand and rocks. He descended +the hills, and, after a long walk, reached the +beach. The schooner was not broken up as much as he +had thought, and as she could be reached easily he +decided to board her.</p> + +<p>The vessel was tipped partly over on her side, and all +her spars and sails were gone. She swayed a little with +the swell, but she was held fast by sand and rocks. Robert, +laying his clothes and rifle on the beach, waded out +to her, and, without much difficulty, climbed aboard, +where he made his way cautiously over the slanting and +slippery deck.</p> + +<p>His first motive in boarding the wreck was curiosity, +but it now occurred to him that there was much treasure +to be had, treasure of the kind that was most precious to +a castaway. A long stay on the island had not entered +into his calculations hitherto, but he knew now that he +might have to reckon on it, and it was well to be prepared +for any event.</p> + +<p>He searched first the cabins of the captain and mates, +taking from them what he thought might be of use, and +heaping the store upon the beach. He soon had there a +pair of fine double-barreled pistols with plenty of ammunition +to fit, another rifle, one that had been the captain's +own, with supplies of powder and ball, a half +dozen blankets, a medicine chest, well supplied, and a +cutlass, which he took without any particular thought +of use.</p> + +<p>Then he invaded the carpenter's domain, and there he +helped himself very freely, taking out two axes, two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +hatchets, two saws, a hammer, two chisels, several augers, +and many other tools, all of which he heaped with great +labor upon the beach.</p> + +<p>Then he explored the cook's galley, gleaning three large +bags of flour, supplies of salt and pepper, five cured +hams, four big cheeses, several bottles of cordial and +other supplies such as were carried on any well-found +ship. It required great skill and caution to get all his +treasures safely ashore, but his enthusiasm rose as he +worked, and he toiled at his task until midnight. Then +he slept beside the precious heap until the next day.</p> + +<p>He lighted a fire with his flint and steel, which he made +a point to carry with him always, and cooked a breakfast +of slices from one of the hams. Then he planned a further +attack upon the schooner, which had not altered her +position in the night.</p> + +<p>Robert now felt like a miser who never hoards +enough. Moreover, his source of supply once gone, it +was not likely that he would find another, and there was +the ship. The sea was in almost a dead calm, and it was +easier than ever to approach her. So he decided to board +again and take off more treasure.</p> + +<p>He added to the heap upon the beach another rifle, +two muskets, several pistols, a small sword and a second +cutlass, clothing, a considerable supply of provisions and +a large tarpaulin which he meant to spread over his supplies +while they lay on the sand. Then he launched a +dinghy which he found upon the ship with the oars inside.</p> + +<p>The dinghy gave him great pleasure. He knew that it +would be an arduous task to carry all his supplies on his +back across the island to the house, and it would lighten +the labor greatly to make trips around in the boat. So he +loaded into the dinghy as much of the most precious of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +his belongings as he thought it would hold, and began +the journey by water that very day, leaving the rest of +the goods covered with the tarpaulin in the event of rain.</p> + +<p>It was a long journey, and he had to be careful about +the breakers, but fortunately the sea remained calm. He +was caught in currents several times, but he came at +last to the opening in the rocks through which he and +the captain had entered and he rowed in joyfully. He +slept that night in the house and started back in the +morning for another load. One trip a day in the dinghy +he found to be all that he could manage, but he stuck to +his work until his precious store was brought from the +beach to the house.</p> + +<p>He could not make up his mind even then to abandon +the schooner entirely. There might never be another +magazine of supply, and he ransacked her thoroughly, +taking off more tools, weapons, clothing and ammunition. +Even then he left on board much that might be useful +in case of emergency, such as cordage, sails, and clothing +that had belonged to the sailors. There was also a large +quantity of ammunition for the Long Tom which he did +not disturb. The gun itself was still on board the ship, +dismounted and wedged into the woodwork, but practically +as good as ever. Robert, with an eye for the picturesque, +thought it would have been fine to have taken +it ashore and to have mounted it before the house, but +that, of course, was impossible. He must leave it to find +its grave in the ocean, and that, perhaps, was the best +end to a gun used as the Long Tom had been.</p> + +<p>Part of his new treasures he took across the island on +his back, and part he carried around it in the boat, which +he found to be invaluable, and of which he took the utmost +care, drawing it upon the beach at night, beyond the +reach of tide or storm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>More than two weeks passed in these labors, and he +was so busy, mind and body, that he was seldom lonely +except at night. Then the feeling was almost overpowering, +but whenever he was assailed by it he would +resolutely tell himself that he might be in far worse case. +He had shelter, food and arms in plenty, and it would not +be long before he was taken off the island. Exerting his +will so strongly, the periods of depression became fewer +and shorter.</p> + +<p>But the silence and the utter absence of his own kind +produced a marked effect upon his character. He became +graver, he thought more deeply upon serious things +than his years warranted. The problem of his own identity +was often before him. Who was he? He was sure +that Benjamin Hardy knew. Jacobus Huysman must +know, too, and beyond a doubt Adrian Van Zoon did, +else he would not try so hard to put him out of the way. +And St. Luc must have something to do with this coil. +Why had the Frenchman really pointed out to him the +way of escape when he was a prisoner at Ticonderoga? +He turned these questions over and over and over in his +mind, though always the answer evaded him. But he +resolved to solve the problem when he got back to the +colonies and as soon as the great war was over. It was +perhaps typical of him that he should want his own personal +fortunes to wait upon the issue of the mighty struggle +in which he was so deeply absorbed.</p> + +<p>Then his thoughts turned with renewed concentration +to the war. Standing far off in both mind and body, he +was able to contemplate it as a whole and also to see it in +all its parts. And the more he looked at it the surer he +was that England and her colonies would succeed. Distance +and perspective gave him confidence. The French +generals and French soldiers had done wonders, nobody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +could be braver or more skilful than they, but they could +not prevail always against superior might and invincible +tenacity.</p> + +<p>Sitting on the ground and looking at the white surf +breaking on the rocks, he ended the war in the way he +wished. The French and Canada were conquered completely +and his own flag was victorious everywhere. +Braddock's defeat and Ticonderoga were but incidents +which could delay but which could not prevent.</p> + +<p>But he did not spend too much time in reflection. He +was too young for that, and his years in the wilderness +helped him to bear the burden of being alone. Rifle on +shoulder, he explored every part of the island, finding +that his domain presented no great variety. There was +much forest, and several kinds of tropical fruits were +for his taking, but quadruped life was limited, nothing +larger than small rodents. Well-armed as he was, he +would have preferred plenty of big game. It would have +added spice to his life, much of which had been spent +in hunting with Willet and Tayoga. Excitement might +have been found in following bear or deer, but he knew +too well ever to have expected them on an island in +summer seas.</p> + +<p>There was some sport in fishing. Plenty of tackle had +been found among the ship's stores, and he caught good +fish in the larger lake. He also tried deep sea fishing +from the dinghy, but the big fellows bit so fast that it +soon ceased to be of interest. The fish, though, added +freshness and variety to his larder, and he also found +shellfish, good and wholesome when eaten in small quantities, +along the shore.</p> + +<p>He went often to the highest hill in the center of the +island, where he would spend long periods, examining +the sea from horizon to horizon with his strong glasses,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +searching vainly for a sail. He thought once of keeping +a mighty bonfire burning every night, but he reconsidered +it when he reflected on the character of the ship that it +might draw.</p> + +<p>Both the Bahamas and the West Indies—he did not +know in which group he was—swarmed then with lawless +craft. For nearly two hundred years piracy had +been common, and in a time of war especially the chances +were against a ship being a friend. He decided that on +the whole he would prefer a look at the rescuer before +permitting himself to be rescued.</p> + +<p>The weather remained beautiful. He had been a +month on the island, and the sea had not been vexed by +another storm since his arrival. The schooner was still +wedged in the sand and on the rocks, and he made several +more trips to her, taking off many more articles, which, +however, he left in a heap well back of the beach covered +with a tarpaulin and the remains of sails. He felt that +they could lie there awaiting his need. Perhaps he would +never need them at all.</p> + +<p>His later visits to the schooner were more from curiosity +than from any other motive. He had a strong desire +to learn more about the captain and his ship. There +was no name anywhere upon the vessel, nor could he find +any ship's log or manifest or any kind of writing to indicate +it. Neither was the name of the slaver known +to him, nor was there any letter nor any kind of paper to +disclose it. It was likely that it would always remain +hidden from him unless some day he should wrench it +from Adrian Van Zoon.</p> + +<p>Robert went into the sea nearly every morning. As +he was a powerful swimmer and the weather remained +calm, he was in the habit of going out beyond the reefs, +but one day he noticed a fin cutting the water and com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>ing +toward him. Instantly he swam with all his might +toward the reefs, shivering as he went. When he drew +himself up on the slippery rocks he did not see the +formidable fin. He was quite willing to utter devout +thanks aloud. It might not have been a shark, but it +made him remember they were to be expected in those +waters. After that he took no chances, bathing inside +the reefs and going outside in the dinghy only.</p> + +<p>A few days later he was upon his highest hill watching +the horizon when he saw a dark spot appear in the +southwest. At first he was hopeful that it was a sail, but +as he saw it grow he knew it to be a cloud. Then he +hurried toward the house, quite sure a storm was coming. +Knowing how the southern seas were swept by hurricanes, +it was surprising that none had come sooner, and +he ran as fast as he could for the shelter of the house.</p> + +<p>Robert made the door just in time. Then the day +had turned almost as dark as night and, with a rush and +a roar, wind and rain were upon him. Evidently the +slaver had known those regions, and so he had built a +house of great strength, which, though it quivered and +rattled under the sweep of the hurricane, nevertheless +stood up against it.</p> + +<p>The building had several small windows, closed with +strong shutters, but as wind and rain were driving from +the west he was able to open one on the eastern side and +watch the storm. It was just such a hurricane as that +which had wrecked the shattered schooner. It became +very dark, there were tremendous displays of thunder +and lightning, which ceased, after a while, as the wind +grew stronger, and then through the dark he saw trees +and bushes go down. Fragments struck against the +house, but the stout walls held.</p> + +<p>The wind kept up a continuous screaming, as full of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +menace as the crash of a battle. Part of the time it swept +straight ahead, cutting wide swathes, and then, turning +into balls of compressed air, it whirled with frightful +velocity, smashing everything level with the ground as if +it had been cut down by a giant sword.</p> + +<p>Robert had seen more than one hurricane in the great +northern woods and he watched it without alarm. Although +the house continued to rattle and shake, and now +and then a bough, wrenched from its trunk, struck it a +heavy blow, he knew that it would hold. There was a +certain comfort in sitting there, dry and secure, while +the storm raged without in all its violence. There was +pleasure too in the knowledge that he was on the land +and not the sea. He remembered the frightful passage +that he and the slaver had made through the breakers, +and he knew that his escape then had depended upon the +slimmest of chances. He shuddered as he recalled the +rocks thrusting out their savage teeth.</p> + +<p>The storm, after a while, sank into a steady rain, and +the wind blew but little. The air was now quite cold for +that region, and Robert, lying down on the couch, covered +himself with a blanket. He soon fell asleep and slept so +long, lulled by the beat of the rain, that he did not awaken +until the next day.</p> + +<p>Then he took the dinghy and rowed around to the +other side of the island. As he had expected, the +schooner was gone. The storm had broken her up, and +he found many of her timbers scattered along the beach, +where they had been brought in by the waves. He felt +genuine sadness at the ship's destruction and disappearance. +It was like losing a living friend.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, the tarpaulin and heavy sails with which +he had covered his heap of stores high up the beach, +weighting them down afterward with huge stones, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +held. Some water had entered at the edges, but, as the +goods were of a kind that could not be damaged much, +little harm was done. Again he resolved to preserve all +that he had accumulated there, although he did not know +that he would have any need of them.</p> + +<p>When he rowed back in the dinghy he saw a formidable +fin cutting the water again, and, laying down the +oars, he took up the rifle which he always carried with +him. He watched until the shark was almost on the surface +of the water, and then he sent a bullet into it. There +was a great splashing, followed by a disappearance, and +he did not know just then the effect of his shot, but a +little later, when the huge body of the slain fish floated +to the surface he felt intense satisfaction, as he believed +that it would have been a man-eater had it the chance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>MAKING THE BEST OF IT</h3> + + +<p>After his return in the dinghy Robert decided that +he would have some fresh beef and also a little +sport. Although the island contained no indigenous +wild animals of any size, there were the wild cattle, and +he had seen they were both long of horn and fierce. If +he courted peril he might find it in hunting them, and in +truth he rather wanted a little risk. There was such an +absence of variety in his life, owing to the lack of human +companionship, that an attack by a maddened bull, for +instance, would add spice to it. The rifle would protect +him from any extreme danger.</p> + +<p>He knew he was likely to find cattle near the larger +lake, and, as he had expected, he saw a herd of almost +fifty grazing there on a flat at the eastern edge. Two +fierce old bulls with very long, sharp horns were on the +outskirts, as if they were mounting guard, while the +cows and calves were on the inside near the lake.</p> + +<p>Robert felt sure that the animals, although unharried +by man, would prove wary. For the sake of sport he +hoped that it would be so, and, using all the skill that +he had learned in his long association with Willet and +Tayoga, he crept down through the woods. The bulls +would be too tough, and as he wanted a fat young cow +it would be necessary for him to go to the very edge of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +the thickets that hemmed in the little savanna on which +they were grazing.</p> + +<p>The wind was blowing from him toward the herd and +the bulls very soon took alarm, holding up their heads, +sniffing and occasionally shaking their formidable horns. +Robert picked a fat young cow in the grass almost at the +water's edge as his target, but stopped a little while in +order to disarm the suspicion of the wary old guards. +When the two went back to their pleasant task of grazing +he resumed his cautious advance, keeping the fat young +cow always in view.</p> + +<p>Now that he had decided to secure fresh beef, he +wanted it very badly, and it seemed to him that the cow +would fulfill all his wants. A long experience in the +wilderness would show him how to prepare juicy and +tender steaks. Eager to replenish his larder in so welcome +a way, he rose and crept forward once more in +the thicket.</p> + +<p>The two bulls became suspicious again, the one on the +right, which was the larger, refusing to have his apprehension +quieted, and advancing part of the way toward +the bushes, where he stood, thrusting forward angry +horns. His attitude served as a warning for the whole +herd, which, becoming alarmed, began to move.</p> + +<p>Robert was in fear lest they rush away in a panic, and +so he took a long shot at the cow, bringing her down, but +failing to kill her, as she rose after falling and began to +make off. Eager now to secure his game he drew the +heavy pistol that he carried at his belt, and, dropping his +rifle, rushed forward from the thicket for a second shot.</p> + +<p>The cow was not running fast. Evidently the wound +was serious, but Robert had no mind for her to escape +him in the thickets, and he pursued her until he could secure +good aim with the pistol. Then he fired and had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +satisfaction of seeing the cow fall again, apparently to +stay down this time.</p> + +<p>But his satisfaction was short. He heard a heavy +tread and an angry snort beside him. He caught the +gleam of a long horn, and as he whirled the big bull was +upon him. He leaped aside instinctively and escaped the +thrust of the horn, but the bull whirled also, and the animal's +heavy shoulder struck him with such force that he +was knocked senseless.</p> + +<p>When Robert came to himself he was conscious of an +aching body and an aching head, but he recalled little +else at first. Then he remembered the fierce thrusts of +the angry old bull, and he was glad that he was alive. He +felt of himself to see if one of those sharp horns had +entered him anywhere, and he was intensely relieved to +find that he had suffered no wound. Evidently it had +been a collision in which he had been the sufferer, and +that he had fallen flat had been a lucky thing for him, as +the fierce bull had charged past him and had then +gone on.</p> + +<p>Robert was compelled to smile sourly at himself. He +had wanted the element of danger as a spice for his hunting, +and he had most certainly found it. He had been +near death often, but never nearer than when the old bull +plunged against him. He rose slowly and painfully, +shook himself several times to throw off as well as he +could the effect of his heavy jolt, then picked up his +rifle at one point and his pistol at another.</p> + +<p>The herd was gone, but the cow that he had chosen +lay dead, and, as her condition showed him that he had +been unconscious not more than five minutes, there was +his fresh beef after all. As his strength was fast returning, +he cut up and dressed the cow, an achievement in +which a long experience in hunting had made him an ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>pert. +He hung the quarters in a dense thicket of tall +bushes where vultures or buzzards could not get at them, +and took some of the tenderest steaks home with him.</p> + +<p>He broiled the steaks over a fine bed of coals in front +of the house and ate them with bread that he baked himself +from the ship's flour. He enjoyed his dinner and he +was devoutly grateful for his escape. But how much +pleasanter it would have been if Willet and Tayoga, +those faithful comrades of many perils, were there with +him to share it! He wondered what they were doing. +Doubtless they had hunted for him long, and they had +suspected and sought to trace Garay, but the cunning spy +doubtless had fled from Albany immediately after his +capture. Willet and Tayoga, failing to find him, would +join in the great campaign which the British and Americans +would certainly organize anew against Canada.</p> + +<p>It was this thought of the campaign that was most +bitter to Robert. He was heart and soul in the war, in +which he believed mighty issues to be involved, and he +had seen so much of it already that he wanted to be in it +to the finish. When these feelings were strong upon +him it was almost intolerable to be there upon the island, +alone and helpless. All the world's great events were +passing him by as if he did not exist. But the periods +of gloom would not last long. Despite his new gravity, +his cheerful, optimistic spirit remained, and it always +pulled him away from the edge of despair.</p> + +<p>Although he had an abundance of fresh meat, he went +on a second hunt of the wild cattle in order to keep +mind and body occupied. He wanted particularly to find +the big bull that had knocked him down, and he knew +that he would recognize him when he found him. He +saw a herd grazing on the same little savanna by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +lake, but when he had stalked it with great care he found +that it was not the one he wanted.</p> + +<p>A search deeper into the hills revealed another herd, +but still the wrong one. A second day's search disclosed +the right group grazing in a snug little valley, and there +was the big bull who had hurt so sorely his body and his +pride. A half hour of creeping in the marsh grass and +thickets and he was within easy range. Then he carefully +picked out that spot on the bull's body beneath +which his heart lay, cocked his rifle, took sure aim, and +put his finger to the trigger.</p> + +<p>But Robert did not pull that trigger. He merely wished +to show to himself and to any invisible powers that might +be looking on that he could lay the bull in the dust if he +wished. If he wanted revenge for grievous personal injury +it was his for the taking. But he did not want it. +The bull was not to blame. He had merely been defending +his own from a dangerous intruder and so was wholly +within his rights.</p> + +<p>"Now that I've held you under my muzzle you're safe +from me, old fellow," were Robert's unspoken words.</p> + +<p>He felt that his dignity was restored and that, at the +same time, his sense of right had been maintained. +Elated, he went back to the house and busied himself, +arranging his possessions. They were so numerous that +he was rather crowded, but he was not willing to give up +anything. One becomes very jealous over his treasures +when he knows the source of supplies may have been cut +off forever. So he rearranged them, trying to secure for +himself better method and more room, and he also gave +them a more minute examination.</p> + +<p>In a small chest which he had not opened before he +found, to his great delight, a number of books, all the +plays of Shakespeare, several by Beaumont and Fletcher,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +others by Congreve and Marlowe, Monsieur Rollin's Ancient +History, a copy of Telemachus, translations of the +Iliad and Odyssey, Ovid, Horace, Virgil and other classics. +Most of the books looked as if they had been read +and he thought they might have belonged to the captain, +but there was no inscription in any of them, and, +on the other hand, they might have been taken from a +captured ship.</p> + +<p>With plenty of leisure and a mind driven in upon itself, +Robert now read a great deal, and, as little choice +was left to him, he read books that he might have ignored +otherwise. Moreover, he thought well upon what he +read. It seemed to him as he went over his Homer +again and again that the gods were cruel. Men were +made weak and fallible, and then they were punished because +they failed or erred. The gods themselves were +not at all exempt from the sins, or, rather, mistakes for +which they punished men. He felt this with a special +force when he read his Ovid. He thought, looking +at it in a direct and straight manner, that Niobe had a +right to be proud of her children, and for Apollo to +slay them because of that pride was monstrous.</p> + +<p>His mind also rebelled at his Virgil. He did not care +much for the elderly lover, Æneas, who fled from Carthage +and Dido, and when Æneas and his band came to +Italy his sympathies were largely with Turnus, who tried +to keep his country and the girl that really belonged to +him. He was quite sure that something had been wrong +in the mind of Virgil and that he ought to have chosen +another kind of hero.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare, whom he had been compelled to read at +school, he now read of his own accord, and he felt his +romance and poetry. But he lingered longer over the +somewhat prosy ancient history of Monsieur Rollin. His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +imaginative mind did not need much of a hint to attempt +the reconstruction of old empires. But he felt that +always in them too much depended upon one man. When +an emperor fell an empire fell, when a king was killed a +kingdom went down.</p> + +<p>He applied many of the lessons from those old, old +wars to the great war that was now raging, and he was +confirmed in his belief that England and her colonies +would surely triumph. The French monarchy, to judge +from all that he had heard, was now in the state of one +of those old oriental monarchies, decayed and rotten, +spreading corruption from a poisoned center to all parts +of the body. However brave and tenacious the French +people might be, and he knew that none were more so, +he was sure they could not prevail over the strength of +free peoples like those who fought under the British +flag, free to grow, whatever their faults might be. So, +old Monsieur Rollin, who had brought tedium to many, +brought refreshment and courage to Robert.</p> + +<p>But he did not bury himself in books. He had been a +creature of action too long for that. He hunted the wild +cattle over the hills, and, now and then, taking the dinghy +he hunted the sharks also. Whenever he found one he +did not spare the bullets. His finger did not stop at the +trigger, but pulled hard, and he rarely missed.</p> + +<p>But in spite of reading and action, time dragged heavily. +The old loneliness and desolation would return and +they were hard to dispel. He could not keep from crying +aloud at the cruelty of fate. He was young, so vital, so +intensely alive, so anxious to be in the middle of things, +that it was torture to be held there. Yet he was absolutely +helpless. It would be folly to attempt escape in the +little dinghy, and he must wait until a ship came. He +would spend hours every day on the highest hill, watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>ing +the horizon through his glasses for a ship, and then, +bitter with disappointment, he would refuse to look again +for a long time.</p> + +<p>Whether his mind was up or down its essential healthiness +and sanity held true. He always came back to the +normal. Had he sought purposely to divest himself of +hope he could not have done it. The ship was coming. +Its coming was as certain as the rolling in of the tide, +only one had to wait longer for it.</p> + +<p>Yet time passed, and there was no sign of a sail on the +horizon. His island was as lonely as if it were in the +South Seas instead of the Atlantic. He began to suspect +that it was not really a member of any group, but +was a far flung outpost visited but rarely. Perhaps the +war and its doubling the usual dangers of the sea would +keep a ship of any kind whatever from visiting it. He +refused to let the thought remain with him, suppressing +it resolutely, and insisting to himself that such a pleasant +little island was bound to have callers some time or other, +some day.</p> + +<p>But the weeks dragged by, and he was absolutely alone +in his world. He had acquired so many stores from the +schooner that life was comfortable. It even had a touch +of luxury, and the struggle for existence was far from +consuming all his hours. He found himself as time went +on driven more and more upon his books, and he read +them, as few have ever read anything, trying to penetrate +everything and to draw from them the best lessons.</p> + +<p>As a student, in a very real sense of the term, Robert +became more reconciled to his isolation. His mind was +broadening and deepening, and he felt that it was so. +Many things that had before seemed a puzzle to him now +became plain. He was compelled, despite his youth, to +meditate upon life, and he resolved that when he took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +up its thread again among his kind he would put his +new knowledge to the best of uses.</p> + +<p>He noted a growth of the body as well as of the mind. +An abundant and varied diet and plenty of rest gave him +a great physical stimulus. It seemed to him that he was +taller, and he was certainly heavier. Wishing to profit to +the utmost, and, having a natural neatness, he looked +after himself with great care, bathing inside the reefs +once every day, and, whether there was work to be done +or not, taking plenty of exercise.</p> + +<p>He lost count of the days, but he knew that he was +far into the autumn, that in truth winter must have come +in his own and distant north. That thought at times was +almost maddening. Doubtless the snow was already falling +on the peaks that had seen so many gallant exploits +by his comrades and himself, and on George and Champlain, +the lakes so beautiful and majestic under any aspect. +Those were the regions he loved. When would he +see them again? But such thoughts, too, he crushed and +saw only the ship that was to take him back to his own.</p> + +<p>Some change in the weather came, and he was aware +that the winter of the south was at hand. Yet it was not +cold. There was merely a fresh sparkle in the air, a new +touch of crispness. Low, gray skies were a relief, after +so much blazing sunshine, and the cool winds whipped +his blood to new life. The house had a fireplace and +chimney and often he built a low fire, not so much for +the sake of warmth as for the cheer that the sparkling +blaze gave. Then he could imagine that he was back +in his beloved province of New York. Now the snow +was certainly pouring down there. The lofty peaks were +hidden in clouds of white, and the ice was forming +around the edges of Andiatarocte and Oneadatote. Perhaps +Willet and Tayoga were scouting in the snowy for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>ests, +but they must often hang over the blazing fires, too.</p> + +<p>The coldness without, the blaze on the hearth, and the +warmth within increased his taste for reading and his +comprehension seemed to grow also. He found new +meanings in the classics and he became saturated also +with style. His were the gifts of an orator, and it was +often said in after years, when he became truly great, +that his speech, in words, in metaphor and in illustration +followed, or at least were influenced, by the best models. +Some people found in him traces of Shakespeare, the +lofty imagery and poetry and the deep and wide knowledge +of human emotions, of life itself. Others detected +the mighty surge of Homer, or the flow of Virgil, and a +few discerning minds found the wit shown in the comedies +of the Restoration, from which he had unconsciously +plucked the good, leaving the bad.</p> + +<p>It is but a truth to say that every day he lived in these +days he lived a week or maybe a month. The stillness, +the utter absence of his kind, drove his mind inward with +extraordinary force. He gained a breadth of vision and +a power of penetration of which he had not dreamed. He +acquired toleration, too. Looking over the recent events +in his perilous life, he failed to find hate for anybody. +Perhaps untoward events had turned the slaver into his +evil career, and at the last he had shown some good. +The French were surely fighting for what they thought +was their own, and they struck in order that they might +not be struck. Tandakora himself was the creature of +his circumstances. He hated the people of the English +colonies, because they were spreading over the land and +driving away the game. He was cruel because it was +the Ojibway nature to be cruel. He would have to fight +Tandakora, but it was because conditions had made it +necessary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>His absorption as a student now made him forget often +that he was alone, and there were long periods when he +was not unhappy, especially when he was trying to solve +some abstruse mental problem. He regretted sometimes +that he did not have any book on mathematics, but perhaps +it was as well for him that he did not. His mind +turned more to the other side of life, to style, to poetry, +to the imagination, and, now, as he was moving along +the line of least resistance, under singularly favorable +circumstances, he made extraordinary progress.</p> + +<p>Heavy winds came and Robert liked them. He had +plenty of warm clothing and it pleased him to walk on +the beach, his face whipped by the gale, and to watch the +great waves come in. It made him stronger to fight the +storm. The response to its challenge rose in his blood. +It was curious, but at such times his hope was highest. +He stood up, defying the lash of wind and rain, and felt +his courage rise with the contest. Often, he ran up and +down the beach until he was soaked through, letting the +fierce waves sweep almost to his feet, then he would go +back to the house, change to dry clothing, and sleep without +dreams.</p> + +<p>There was no snow, although he longed for it, as do +those who are born in northern regions. Once, when he +stood on the crest of the tallest hill on the island, he +thought he saw a few tiny flakes floating in the air over +his head, but they were swept away by the wind, as if +they were down, and he never knew whether it was an +illusion or reality. But he was glad that it had happened. +It gave him a fleeting touch of home, and he could +imagine once more, and, for a few seconds, that he was +not alone on the island, but back in his province of New +York, with his friends not far away.</p> + +<p>Then came several days of fierce and continuous cold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +rain, but he put on an oilskin coat that he found among +the stores and spent much of the time out of doors, +hunting ducks along the edges of the larger lake, walking +now and then for the sake of walking, and, on rare occasions, +seeking the wild cattle for fresh meat. The +herds were in the timber most of the time for shelter, +but he was invariably able to secure a tender cow or a +yearling for his larder. He saw the big bull often, and, +although he was charged by him once again, he refused +to pull trigger on the old fellow. He preferred to +look upon him as a friend whom he had met once in +worthy combat, but with whom he was now at peace. +When the bull charged him he dodged him easily among +the bushes and called out whimsically:</p> + +<p>"Let it be the last time! I don't mean you any harm!"</p> + +<p>The fierce leader went peacefully back to his grazing, +and it seemed to Robert that he had been taken at his +word. The old bull apparently realized at last that he +was in no danger from the human being who came to +look at him at times, and he also was willing to call a +truce. Robert saw him often after that, and invariably +hailed him with words of friendship, though at a respectful +distance. The old fellow would look up, shake his +big head once or twice in a manner not at all hostile, and +then go on peacefully with his grazing. It pleased Robert +to think that in the absence of his own kind he had +a friend here, and—still at a respectful distance—he confided +to him some of his opinions upon matters of importance. +He laughed at himself for doing so, but he was +aware that he found in it a certain relief, and he continued +the practice.</p> + +<p>The dinghy became one of his most precious possessions. +A little farther to the north he had found a creek +that flowed down from the center of the island, rising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +among the hills. It was narrow and shallow, except near +the mouth, but there it had sufficient depth for the boat, +and he made of it a safe anchorage and port during the +winter storms. He slept more easily now, as he knew +that however hard the wind might blow there was no +danger of its being carried out to sea. He thought several +times of rigging a mast and sails for it and trying to +make some other island, but he gave up the idea, owing +to the smallness of the boat, and his own inexperience as +a sailor. He was at least safe and comfortable where he +was, and a voyage of discovery or escape meant almost +certain death.</p> + +<p>But he used the dinghy in calm weather for bringing +back some of the stores that he had left on the other side +of the island. The lighter articles he brought by land. +There was not room for all of them in the house, but he +built a shed under which he placed those not of a perishable +nature, and covered them over with the tarpaulin +and sails. He still had the feeling that he must not lose +or waste anything, because he knew that in the back of +his head lay an apprehension lest his time on the island +should be long, very long.</p> + +<p>He kept in iron health. His life in the wilderness +had taught him how to take care of himself, and, with +an abundant and varied diet and plenty of exercise, he +never knew a touch of illness. He did not forget to be +grateful for it. A long association with Tayoga had +taught him to remember these things. It might be true +that he was being guarded by good spirits. The white +man's religion and the red man's differed only in name. +His God and Tayoga's Manitou were the same, and the +spirits of the Onondaga were the same as his angels of +divine power and mercy.</p> + +<p>Often in the moonlight he looked up at the great star<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +upon which Tayoga said that Tododaho dwelled, that +wise Onondaga chieftain who had gone away to the skies +four hundred years before. Once or twice he thought +he could see the face of Tododaho with the wise snakes, +coil on coil in his hair, but, without his full faith, it was +not given to him to have the full vision of Tayoga. He +found comfort, however, in the effort. It gave new +strength to the spirit, and, situated as he was, it was his +soul, not his body, that needed fortifying.</p> + +<p>He decided that Christmas was near at hand, and he +decided to celebrate it. With the count of time lost it +was impossible for him to know the exact day, but he +fixed upon one in his mind, and resolved to use it whether +right or wrong in date. The mere fact that he celebrated +it would make it right in spirit. It might be the 20th or +the 30th of December, but if he chose to call it the 25th, +the 25th it would be. Endowed so liberally with fancy +and with such a power of projecting the mind, it was +easy for him to make believe, to turn imagination into +reality. And this power was heightened by his loneliness +and isolation, and by the turning in of his mind so tremendously +upon itself.</p> + +<p>After the thought of a Christmas dinner was struck +out by his fancy it grew fast, and he made elaborate +preparations. Ducks were shot, a yearling from the wild +cattle was killed, the stores from the ship were drawn +upon liberally, and he even found among them a pudding +which could yet be made savory. Long experience had +made him an excellent cook and he attended to every +detail in the most thorough manner.</p> + +<p>The dinner set, he arrayed himself in the finest clothes +to be found in his stock, and then, when all was ready, +he sat down to his improvised board. But there was not +one plate alone, there were four, one for Willet opposite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +him, one for Tayoga at his right hand and one for Grosvenor +at his left. And for every thing he ate he placed +at least a small portion on every plate, while with unspoken +words he talked with these three friends of his.</p> + +<p>It was a dark day, very cold and raw for the island, +and while there was no Christmas snow there was a +cold rain lashing the windows that could very well take +its place. A larger fire than usual, crackling and cheerful, +was blazing on the hearth, throwing the red light of +its flames over the table, and the three places where his +invisible friends sat.</p> + +<p>His power of evocation was so vivid and intense that +he could very well say that he saw his comrades around +the table. There was Willet big, grave and wise, but +with the lurking humor in the corner of his eye, there +was Tayoga, lean, calm, inscrutable, the young philosopher +of the woods and the greatest trailer in the world, +and there was Grosvenor, ruddy, frank, tenacious, eager +to learn all the lore of the woods. Yes, he could see +them and he was glad that he was serving Christmas +food to them as well as to himself. Willet loved wild +duck and so he gave him an extra portion. Tayoga was +very partial to cakes of flour and so he gave him a +double number, and Grosvenor, being an Englishman, +must love beef, so he helped him often to steak.</p> + +<p>It was fancy, but fancy breeds other and stronger +fancies, and the feeling that it was all reality grew upon +him. Dreams are of thin and fragile texture, but they +are very vivid while they last. Of course Willet, Tayoga +and Grosvenor were there, and when the food was all +served, course by course, he filled four glasses, one at +each plate, from a bottle of the old cordial that he had +saved from the ship, lifted his own to his lips, tasted it +and said aloud:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!"</p> + +<p>Then he shut his eyes and when he shut them he saw +the three tasting their own glasses, and he heard them +say with him:</p> + +<p>"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE VOICE IN THE AIR</h3> + + +<p>Robert slept long and peacefully the night after +his Christmas dinner, and, when he rose the next +morning, he felt more buoyant and hopeful than +for days past. The celebration had been a sort of anchor +to his spirit, keeping him firm against any tide of depression +that in his situation might well have swept him +toward despair. As he recalled it the day after, Tayoga, +Willet and Grosvenor were very vivid figures at his table, +sitting opposite him, and to right and left. They had +responded to his toast, he had seen the flash in their +eyes, and their tones were resonant with hope and confidence. +It was clear they had meant to tell him that +rescue was coming.</p> + +<p>He accepted these voices out of the distance as definite +and real. It could not be long until he saw the hunter, +the Onondaga and the young Englishman once more. +His lonely life caused him, despite himself, to lend a +greater belief to signs and omens. Tayoga was right +when he peopled the air with spirits, and most of the +spirits on that island must be good spirits, since all +things, except escape, had been made easy for him, house, +clothes, food and safety.</p> + +<p>The day itself was singularly crisp and bright, inciting +to further cheerfulness. It was also the coldest he had +yet felt on the island, having a northern tang that stirred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +his blood. He could shut his eyes and see the great +forests, not in winter, but as they were in autumn, glowing +in many colors, and with an air that was the very +breath of life. The sea also sang a pleasant song as it +rolled in and broke on the rocks, and Robert, looking +around at his island, felt that he could have fared far +worse.</p> + +<p>Rifle on shoulder he went off for a long and brisk walk, +and his steps unconsciously took him, as they often did, +toward the high hill in the center of the island, a crest +that he used as a lookout. On his way he passed his +friend, the old bull, grazing in a meadow, and, watching +his herd, like the faithful guardian he was. Robert +called to him cheerfully. The big fellow looked up, +shook his horns, not in hostile fashion but in the manner +of comrade saluting comrade, and then went back, +with a whole and confident heart, to his task of nipping +the grass. Robert was pleased. It was certain that the +bull no longer regarded him with either fear or apprehension, +and he wanted to be liked.</p> + +<p>It was nearly noon when he reached his summit, and +as he was warm from exercise he sat down on a rock, +staying there a long time and scouring the horizon now +and then through the glasses. The sea was a circle of +blazing blue, and the light wind sang from the southwest.</p> + +<p>He had brought food with him and in the middle of +the day he ate it. With nothing in particular to do he +thought he would spend the afternoon there, and, making +himself comfortable, he waited, still taking occasional +glances through the glasses. While he sat, idling +more than anything else, his mind became occupied with +Tayoga's theory of spirits in the air—less a theory however +than the religious belief of the Indians.</p> + +<p>He wanted to believe that Tayoga was right, and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +imagination was so vivid and intense that what he wished +to believe he usually ended by believing. He shut his +eyes and tested his power of evocation. He knew that +he could create feeling in any part of his body merely +by concentrating his mind upon that particular part of +it and by continuing to think of it. Physical sensation +even came from will. So he would imagine that he +heard spirits in the air all about him, not anything weird +or hostile, but just kindly people of the clouds and +winds, such as those created by the old Greeks.</p> + +<p>Fancying that he heard whispers about him and resolved +to hear them, he heard them. If a powerful imagination +wanted to create whispers it could create them. +The spirits of the air, Tayoga's spirits, the spirits of old +Hellas, were singing in either ear, and the song, like that +of the sea, like the flavor breathed out by his Christmas +celebration, was full of courage, alive with hope.</p> + +<p>He had kept his eyes closed a full half hour, because, +with sight shut off, the other senses became much more +acute for the time. The power that had been in the eyes +was poured into their allies. Imagination, in particular, +leaped into a sudden luxuriant growth. It was true, of +course it was quite true, that those friendly spirits of the +air were singing all about him. They were singing in +unison a gay and brilliant song, very pleasant to hear, +until he was startled by a new note that came into it, a +note not in harmony with the others, the voice of Cassandra +herself. He listened and he was sure. Beyond a +doubt it was a note of warning.</p> + +<p>Robert opened his eyes and everything went away. +There was the pleasant, green island, and there was the +deep blue sea all about it. He laughed to himself. He +was letting imagination go too far. One could make +believe too much. He sat idly a few minutes and then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +putting the glasses to his eyes, took another survey of +the far horizon where blue sky and blue water met. He +moved the focus slowly around the circle, and when he +came to a point in the east he started violently, then +sprang to his feet, every pulse leaping.</p> + +<p>He had seen a tiny black dot upon the water, one that +broke the continuity of the horizon line, and, for a little +while, he was too excited to look again. He stood, the +glasses in his trembling fingers and stared with naked +eyes that he knew could not see. After a while he put +the glasses back and then followed the horizon. He was +afraid that it was an illusion, that his imagination had +become too vivid, creating for him the thing that was not, +and now that he was a little calmer he meant to put it +to the proof.</p> + +<p>He moved the glasses slowly from north to east, following +the line where sky and water met, and then the +hands that held them trembled again. There was the +black spot, a trifle larger now, and, forcing his nerves +to be calm, he stared at it a long time, how long he never +knew, but long enough for him to see it grow and take +form and shape, for the infinitesimal but definite outline +of mast, sails and hull to emerge, and then for a +complete ship to be disclosed.</p> + +<p>The ship was coming toward the island. The increase +in size told him that. It was no will-o'-the-wisp on the +water, appearing a moment, then gone, foully cheating +his hopes. If she kept her course, and there was no +reason why she should not, she would make the island. +He had no doubt from the first that a landing there was +its definite purpose, most likely for water.</p> + +<p>When he took the glasses from his eyes the second +time he gave way to joy. Rescue was at hand. The +ship, wherever she went, would take him to some place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +where human beings lived, and he could go thence to his +own country. He would yet be in time to take part in +the great campaign against Quebec, sharing the dangers +and glory with Willet, Tayoga, Grosvenor and the others. +The spirits in the air had sung to him a true song, when +his eyes were shut, and, in his leaping exultation, he +forgot the warning note that had appeared in their song, +faint, almost buried, but nevertheless there.</p> + +<p>He put the glasses to his eyes a third time. The ship +was tacking, but that was necessary, and it was just as +certain as ever that her destination was the island. +Owing to the shifts and flaws in the wind it would be +night before she arrived, but that did not matter to him. +Having waited months he could wait a few hours longer. +Likely as not she was an English ship out of the Barbadoes, +bound for the Carolinas. He must be somewhere +near just such a course. Or, maybe she was a +colonial schooner, one of those bold craft from Boston. +There was a certain luxury in speculating on it, and +in prolonging a doubt which would certainly be solved +by midnight, and to his satisfaction. It was not often +that in real life one looked at a play bound to develop +within a given time to a dramatic and satisfying finish.</p> + +<p>He remained on the crest until late in the afternoon, +watching the ship as she tacked with the varying winds, +but, in the end, always bearing toward the island. He +was quite sure now that her arrival would be after dark. +She would come through the opening in the reefs that he +and the slaver had made so hardly in the storm, but on +the night bound to follow such a day it would be as +easy as entering a drawing room, with the doors held +open, and the guest made welcome. He would be there +to give the welcome.</p> + +<p>He was able to see more of the ship now. As he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +surmised, she was a schooner, apparently very trim and +handled well. Doubtless she was fast. The faster the +better, because he was eager to get back to the province +of New York.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, he left the hill and went swiftly +back to his house, where he ate an early supper in order +that he might be on the beach to give welcome to the +guest, and perhaps lend some helpful advice about making +port. There was none better fitted than he. He was +the oldest resident of the island. Nobody could be +jealous of his position as adviser to the arriving vessel.</p> + +<p>This was to be a great event in his life, and it must +be carried out in the proper manner with every attention +to detail. He put on the uniform of an English naval +officer that he had found on the ship, and then rifle on +shoulder and small sword in belt went through the forest +toward the inlet.</p> + +<p>The night was bright and beautiful, just fitted for a +rescue, and an escape from an island. All the stars had +come out to see it, and, with his head very high, he trod +lightly as he passed among the trees, approaching the +quiet beach. Before he left the wood he saw the top of +the schooner's mast showing over a fringe of bushes. +Evidently she had anchored outside the reefs and was +sending in a boat to look further. Well, that was fit +and proper, and his advice and assistance would be most +timely.</p> + +<p>The wind rose a little and it sang a lilting melody +among the leaves. His imagination, alive and leaping, +turned it into the song of a troubadour, gay and welcoming. +Tayoga's spirits were abroad again, filling the +air in the dusk, their favorite time, and he rejoiced, until +he suddenly heard once more that faint note of warn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>ing, +buried under the volume of the other, but nevertheless +there.</p> + +<p>Alone, driven in upon himself for so many months, he +was a creature of mysticism that night. What he imagined +he believed, and, obedient to the warning, he drew +back. All the caution of the northern wilderness returned +suddenly to him. He was no longer rushing forward +to make a welcome for guests awaited eagerly. He +would see what manner of people came before he opened +the door. Putting the rifle in the hollow of his arm he +crept forward through the bushes.</p> + +<p>A large boat was coming in from the schooner, and +the bright moonlight enabled him to see at first glance +that the six men who sat in it were not men of Boston. +Nor were they men of England. They were too dark, +and three of them had rings in their ears.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the schooner was a French privateer, wishing +to make a secret landing, and, if so, he had done well to +hold back. He had no mind to be taken a prisoner to +France. The French were brave, and he would not be +ill-treated, but he had other things to do. He withdrew +a little farther into the undergrowth. The door of welcome +was open now only a few inches, and he was +peering out at the crack, every faculty alive and ready +to take the alarm.</p> + +<p>The boat drew closer, grounded on the beach, and the +men, leaping out, dragged it beyond the reach of the +low waves that were coming in. Then, in a close group, +they walked toward the forest, looking about curiously. +They were armed heavily, and every one of them had a +drawn weapon in his hand, sword or pistol. Their +actions seemed to Robert those of men who expected a +stranger, as a matter of course, to be an enemy. Hence, +they were men whose hands were against other men,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +and so also against young Robert Lennox, who had been +alone so long, and who craved so much the companionship +of his kind.</p> + +<p>He drew yet deeper into the undergrowth and taking +the rifle out of the hollow of his arm held it in both +hands, ready for instant use. The men came nearer, +looking along the edge of the forest, perhaps for water, +and, as he saw them better, he liked them less. The +apparent leader was a short, broad fellow of middle +years, and sinister face, with huge gold rings in his ears. +All of them were seamed and scarred and to Robert +their looks were distinctly evil.</p> + +<p>The door of welcome suddenly shut with a snap, and +he meant to bar it on the inside if he could. His instinct +gave him an insistent warning. These men must not +penetrate the forest. They must not find his house and +treasures. Fortunately the dinghy was up the creek, +hidden under overhanging boughs. But the event depended +upon chance. If they found quickly the water +for which they must be looking, they might take it and +leave with the schooner before morning. He devoutly +hoped that it would be so. The lad who had been so +lonely and desolate an hour or two before, longing for +the arrival of human beings, was equally eager, now that +they had come, that they should go away.</p> + +<p>The men began to talk in some foreign tongue, Spanish +or Portuguese or a Levantine jargon, perhaps, and +searched assiduously along the edges of the forest. Robert, +lurking in the undergrowth, caught the word "aqua" +or "agua," which he knew meant water, and so he was +right in his surmise about their errand. There was a +fine spring about two hundred yards farther on, and he +hoped they would soon stumble upon it.</p> + +<p>All his skill as a trailer, though disused now for many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +months, came back to him. He was able to steal through +the grass and bushes without making any noise and to +creep near enough to hear the words they said. They +went half way to the spring, then stopped and began to +talk. Robert was in fear lest they turn back, and a wider +search elsewhere would surely take them to his house. +But the men were now using English.</p> + +<p>"There should be water ahead," said the swart leader. +"We're going down into a dip, and that's just the place +where springs are found."</p> + +<p>Another man, also short and dark, urged that they +turn back, but the leader prevailed.</p> + +<p>"There must be water farther on," he said. "I was +never on this island before, neither were you, José, but +it's not likely the trees and bushes would grow so thick +down there if plenty of water didn't soak their roots."</p> + +<p>He had his way and they went on, with Robert stalking +them on a parallel line in the undergrowth, and now he +knew they would find the water. The spirit of the island +was watching over its own, and, by giving them what +they wanted at once, would send these evil characters +away. The leader uttered a shout of triumph when he +saw the water gleaming through the trees.</p> + +<p>"I told you it was here, didn't I, José?" he said. +"Trust me, a sailor though I am, to read the lay of the +land."</p> + +<p>The spring as it ran from under a rock formed a little +pool, and all of the men knelt down, drinking with noise +and gurglings. Then the leader walked back toward the +beach, and fired both shots from a double-barreled pistol +into the air. Robert judged that it was a signal, probably +to indicate that they had found water. Presently +a second and larger boat, containing at least a dozen men, +put out from the schooner. A third soon followed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +both brought casks which were filled at the spring and +which they carried back to the ship.</p> + +<p>Robert, still and well hidden, watched everything, and +he was glad that he had obeyed his instinct not to trust +them. He had never seen a crew more sinister in looks, +not even on the slaver, and they were probably pirates. +They were a jumble of all nations, and that increased +his suspicion. So mixed a company, in a time of war, +could be brought together only for evil purposes.</p> + +<p>It was hard for him to tell who was the captain, but +the leader who had first come ashore seemed to have the +most authority, although nearly all did about as they +pleased to the accompaniment of much talk and many +oaths. Still they worked well at filling the water casks, +and Robert hoped they would soon be gone. Near midnight, +however, one of the boats came back, loaded with +food, and kegs and bottles of spirits. His heart sank. +They were going to have a feast or an orgie on the +beach and the day would be sure to find them there. +Then they might conclude to explore the island, or at +least far enough to find his house.</p> + +<p>They dragged up wood, lighted a fire, warmed their +food and ate and drank, talking much, and now and then +singing wild songs. Robert knew with absolute certainty +that this was another pirate ship, a rover of the +Gulf or the Caribbean, hiding among the islands and +preying upon anything not strong enough to resist her.</p> + +<p>The men filled him with horror and loathing. The +light of the flames fell on their faces and heightened +the evil in them, if that were possible. Several of them, +drinking heavily of the spirits, were already in a bestial +state, and were quarreling with one another. The others +paid no attention to them. There was no discipline.</p> + +<p>Apparently they were going to make a night of it, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +Robert watched, fascinated by the first sight of his own +kind in many months, but repelled by their savagery +when they had come. Some of the men fell down before +the fires and went to sleep. The others did not +awaken them, which he took to be clear proof that they +would remain until the next day.</p> + +<p>A drop of water fell on his face and he looked up. +He had been there so long, and he was so much absorbed +in what was passing before his eyes that he had not noted +the great change in the nature of the night. Moon and +stars were gone. Heavy clouds were sailing low. Thunder +muttered on the western horizon, and there were +flashes of distant lightning.</p> + +<p>Hope sprang up in Robert's heart. Perhaps the fear +of a storm would drive them to the shelter of the ship, +but they did not stir. Either they did not dread rain, +or they were more weatherwise than he. The orgie +deepened. Two of the men who were quarreling drew +pistols, but the swart leader struck them aside, and +spoke to them so fiercely that they put back their weapons, +and, a minute later, Robert saw them drinking together +in friendship.</p> + +<p>The storm did not break. The wind blew, and, now +and then, drops of rain fell, but it did not seem able to +get beyond the stage of thunder and lightning. Yet +it tried hard, and it became, even to Robert, used to the +vagaries of nature, a grim and sinister night. The +thunder, in its steady growling, was full of menace, and +the lightning, reddish in color, smelled of sulphur. It +pleased Robert to think that the island was resenting +the evil presence of the men from the schooner.</p> + +<p>The ruffians, however, seemed to take no notice of the +change. It was likely that they had not been ashore for +a long time before, and they were making the most of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +They continued to eat and the bottles of spirits were +passed continuously from one to another. Robert had +heard many a dark tale of piracy on the Spanish Main +and among the islands, but he had never dreamed he +would come into such close contact with it as he was +now doing for the second time.</p> + +<p>He knew it was lucky for the men that the storm did +not break. The schooner in her position would be almost +sure to drag her anchor and then would drive on +the rocks, but they seemed to have no apprehensions, +and, it was quite evident now, that they were not going +back to the vessel until the next day. The ghastly quality +of the night increased, however. The lightning flared so +much and it was so red that it was uncanny, it even had +a supernatural tinge, and the sullen rumbling of the distant +thunder added to it.</p> + +<p>The effect upon Robert, situated as he was and alone +for many months, was very great. Something weird, +something wild and in touch with the storm that threatened +but did not break, crept into his own blood. He was +filled with hatred and contempt of the men who caroused +there. He wondered what crimes they had committed +on those seas, and he had not the least doubt that the +list was long and terrible. He ought to be an avenging +spirit. He wished intensely that Tayoga was with him +in the bush. The Onondaga would be sure to devise +some plan to punish them or to fill them with fear. He +felt at that moment as if he belonged to a superior race +or order, and would like to stretch forth his hand and +strike down those who disgraced their kind.</p> + +<p>The swart leader at last took note of the skies and +their sinister aspect. Robert saw him walking back and +forth and looking up. More than half of his men were +stretched full length, either asleep or in a stupor, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +some of the others stood, and glanced at the skies. +Robert thought he saw apprehension in their eyes, or at +least his imagination put it there.</p> + +<p>A wild and fantastic impulse seized him. These men +were children of the sea, superstitious, firm believers in +omens, and witchcraft, ready to see the ghosts of the +slain, all the more so because they were stained with +every crime, then committed so freely under the black +flag. He had many advantages, too. He was a master +of woodcraft, only their wilderness was that of the +waters.</p> + +<p>He gave forth the long, melancholy hoot of the owl, +and he did it so well that he was surprised at his own +skill. The note, full of desolation and menace, seemed +to come back in many echoes. He saw the swart leader +and the men with him start and look fearfully toward the +forest that curved so near. Then he saw them talking +together and gazing at the point from which the sound +had come. Perhaps they were trying to persuade themselves +the note was only fancy.</p> + +<p>Robert laughed softly to himself. He was pleased, +immensely pleased with his experiment. His fantastic +mood grew. He was a spirit of the woods himself; one +of those old fauns of the Greeks, and he was really there +to punish the evil invaders of his island. His body +seemed to grow light with his spirit and he slid away +among the trees with astonishing ease, as sure of foot and +as noiseless as Tayoga himself. Then the owl gave forth +his long, lonely cry with increased volume and fervor. +It was a note filled with complaint and mourning, and it +told of the desolation that overspread a desolate world.</p> + +<p>Robert knew now that the leader and his men were +disturbed. He could tell it by the anxious way in which +they watched the woods, and, gliding farther around the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +circle, he sent forth the cry a third time. He was quite +sure that he had made a further increase in its desolation +and menace, and he saw the swart leader and his +men draw together as if they were afraid.</p> + +<p>The owl was not the only trick in Robert's trade. His +ambition took a wide sweep and fancy was fertile. He +had aroused in these men the fear of the supernatural, a +dread that the ghosts of those whom they had murdered +had come back to haunt or punish them. He had been +an apt pupil of Tayoga before the slaver came to Albany, +and now he meant to show the ruffians that the owl was +not the only spirit of fate hovering over them.</p> + +<p>The deep growl of a bear came from the thicket, not +the growl of an ordinary black bear, comedian of the +forest, but the angry rumble of some great ursine beast +of which the black bear was only a dwarf cousin. Then +he moved swiftly to another point and repeated it.</p> + +<p>He heard the leader cursing and trying to calm the +fears of the men while it was evident that his own too +were aroused. The fellow suddenly drew a pistol and +fired a bullet into the forest. Robert heard it cutting the +leaves near him. But he merely lay down and laughed. +His fantastic impulse was succeeding in more brilliant +fashion than he had hoped.</p> + +<p>Imitating their leader, six or eight of the men snatched +out pistols and fired at random into the woods. The cry +of a panther, drawn out, long, full of ferocity and woe, +plaintive on its last note, like the haunting lament of a +woman, was their answer. He heard a gasp of fear from +the men, but the leader, of stauncher stuff, cowed them +with his curses.</p> + +<p>Robert moved back on his course, and then gave forth +the shrill, fierce yelp of the hungry wolf, dying into an +angry snarl. It was, perhaps, a more menacing note<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +than that of the larger animals, and he plainly saw the +ruffians shiver. He was creating in them the state of +mind that he wanted, and his spirits flamed yet higher. +All things seemed possible to him in his present mood.</p> + +<p>He moved once more and then lay flat in the dense +bushes. He fancied that the pirates would presently fire +another volley into the shadows, and, in a moment of +desperate courage, might even come into the forest. His +first thought was correct, as the leader told off the steadier +men, and, walking up and down in front of the forest, +they raked it for a considerable distance with pistol shots. +All of them, of course, passed well over Robert's head, +and as soon as they finished he went back to his beginnings, +giving forth the owl's lament.</p> + +<p>He heard the leader curse more fiercely than ever before, +and he saw several of the men who had been pulling +trigger retreat to the fire. It was evident to him that the +terror of the thing was entering their souls. The night +itself, as if admiring his plan, was lending him the greatest +possible aid. The crimson lightning never ceased to +quiver and the sullen rumble of the distant thunder was +increasing. It was easy enough for men, a natural prey +to superstition, and, with the memories of many crimes, +to believe that the island was haunted, that the ghosts of +those they had slain were riding the lightning, and that +demons, taking the forms of animals, were waiting for +them in the bushes.</p> + +<p>But the swart leader was a man of courage and he +still held his ruffians together. He cursed them fiercely, +told them to stand firm, to reload their pistols and to be +ready for any danger. Those who still slumbered by the +fire were kicked until they awoke, and, with something +of a commander's skill, the man drew up his besotted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +band against the mystic dangers that threatened so +closely.</p> + +<p>But Robert produced a new menace. He was like one +inspired that night. The dramatic always appealed to +him and his success stimulated him to new histrionic efforts. +He had planted in their minds the terror of animals, +now he would sow the yet greater terror of human +beings, knowing well that man's worst and most dreaded +enemy was man.</p> + +<p>He uttered a deep groan, a penetrating, terrible groan, +the wail of a soul condemned to wander between the here +and the hereafter, a cry from one who had been murdered, +a cry that would doubtless appeal to every one +of the ruffians as the cry of his own particular victim. +The effect was startling. The men uttered a yell of +fright, and started in a panic run for the boats, but the +leader threatened them with his leveled pistol and +stopped them, although the frightful groan came a second +time.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing in the bush!" Robert heard him say. +"There can't be! The place has no people and we know +there are no big wild animals on the islands in these +seas! It's some freak of the wind playing tricks with +us!"</p> + +<p>He held his men, though they were still frightened, and +to encourage them and to prove that no enemy, natural +or supernatural, was near, he plunged suddenly into the +bushes to see the origin of the terrifying sounds. His +action was wholly unexpected, and chance brought him +to the very point where Robert was. The lad leaped +to his feet and the pirate sprang back aghast, thinking +perhaps that he had come face to face with a ghost. +Then with a snarl of malignant anger he leveled the +pistol that he held in his hand. But Robert struck in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>stantly +with his clubbed rifle, and his instinctive impulse +was so great that he smote with tremendous force. The +man was caught full and fair on the head, and, reeling +back from the edge of the bushes in which they stood, +fell dead in the open, where all his men could see.</p> + +<p>It was enough. The demons, the ghosts that haunted +them for their crimes, were not very vocal, but they +struck with fearful power. They had smitten down the +man who tried to keep them on their island, and they +were not going to stay one second longer. There was a +combined yell of horror, the rush of frightened feet, and, +reaching their boats, they rowed with all speed for the +schooner, leaving behind them the body of their dead +comrade.</p> + +<p>Robert, awed a little by his own success in demonology, +watched until they climbed on board the ship, +drawing the boats after them. Then they hoisted the +anchor, made sail, and presently he saw the schooner +tacking in the wind, obviously intending to leave in all +haste that terrible place.</p> + +<p>She became a ghost ship, a companion to the <i>Flying +Dutchman</i>, outlined in red by the crimson lightning that +still played at swift intervals. Now she turned to the +color of blood, and the sea on which she swam was a sea +of blood. Robert watched her until at last, a dim, red +haze, she passed out of sight. Then he turned and +looked at the body of the man whom he had slain.</p> + +<p>He shuddered. He had never intended to take the +leader's life. Five minutes before it occurred he would +have said such a thing was impossible. It was merely +the powerful impulse of self-protection that had caused +him to strike with such deadly effect, and he was sorry. +The man, beyond all doubt, was a robber and murderer +who had forfeited his life a dozen times, and still he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +sorry. It was a tragedy to him to take the life of any +one, no matter how evil the fallen might be.</p> + +<p>He went back to the house, brought a shovel, one of +the numerous ship's stores, and buried the body at once +high up the beach where the greatest waves could not +reach it and wash it away. He did his task to the rumble +of thunder and the flash of lightning, but, when he finished +it, dawn came and then the storm that had threatened +but that had never burst passed away. He felt, +though, that it had not menaced him. To him it was a +good storm, kindly and protecting, and giving sufficient +help in his purpose that had succeeded so well.</p> + +<p>It was a beautiful day, the air crisp with as much +winter as the island ever knew, and shot with the beams +from a brilliant sun, but Robert was exhausted. He had +passed through a night of intense emotions, various, +every one of them poignant, and he had made physical +and mental efforts of his own that fairly consumed the +nerves. He felt as if he could lie down and sleep for a +year, that it would take at least that long to build up his +body and mind as they were yesterday.</p> + +<p>He dragged himself through the woods, forced his +unwilling muscles to cook a breakfast which he ate. +Then he laid himself down on his bed, his nerves now +quiet, and fell asleep at once. When he awoke it was +night and he lay giving thanks for his great escape until +he slept again. When he awoke a second time day had +returned, and, rising, he went about his usual tasks with +a light heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE SLOOP OF WAR</h3> + + +<p>Robert ate a light breakfast and went out to look +at his domain, now unsullied. What a fine, trim, +clean island it was! And how desirable to be +alone on it, when the Gulf and the Caribbean produced +only such visitors as those who had come two nights +before! He looked toward the little bay, fearing to see +the topmast of the schooner showing its tip over the +trees, but the sky there, an unbroken blue, was fouled +by no such presence. He was rid of the pirates—and +forever he hoped.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him that he had passed through an epic +time, one of the great periods of his life. He wondered +now how he had been able to carry out such a plan, how +he had managed to summon up courage and resources +enough, and he felt that the good spirits of earth and air +and water must have been on his side. They had fought +for him and they had won for him the victory.</p> + +<p>He shouldered his rifle and strolled through the woods +toward the beach. He had never noticed before what +a fine forest it was. The trees were not as magnificent as +those of the northern wilderness, but they had a beauty +very peculiarly their own, and they were his. There was +not a single other claimant to them anywhere in the +world.</p> + +<p>It was a noble beach too, smooth, sloping, piled with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +white sand, gleaming now in the sun, and the little frothy +waves that ran up it and lapped at his feet, like puppies +nibbling, were just the friendliest frothy little waves in +the world. But there were the remains of the fire left +by the ruffians to defile it, and broken bottles and broken +food were scattered about. The litter hurt his eyes so +much that he gathered up every fragment, one by one, +and threw them into the sea. When the last vestige of +the foul invasion was cleared away he felt that he had his +lonely, clean island back again, and he was happy.</p> + +<p>He strolled up and down the glistening beach, feeling +a great content. After a while, he threw off his clothes +and swam in the invigorating sea, keeping well inside the +white line of the breakers, in those waters into which the +sharks did not come. When he had sunned himself again +on the sand he went to the creek, took his dinghy from +the bushes, where it had been so well hidden, and rowed +out to sea, partly to feel the spring of the muscles in his +arms, and partly to sit off at a distance and look at his +island. Surely if one had to be cast away that was the +very island on which he would choose to be cast! Not +too big! Not too hot! And not too cold! Without +savage man or savage beasts, but with plenty of wild +cattle for the taking, and good fish in the lakes, and in +the seas about it. Plenty of stores of all kinds from the +slaver's schooner, even books to read. So far from being +unfortunate he was one of the lucky. A period of retirement +from the companionship of his own kind might be +trying on the spirit, but it also meant meditation and +mental growth.</p> + +<p>His joy over the departure of the pirates was so great +and his temperament was such that he felt a mighty +revulsion of the spirits. He had a period of extravagant +elation. He took off his cap and saluted his island. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +made little speeches of glowing compliment to it, he +called it the pearl of its kind, the choicest gem of the +Gulf or the Caribbean, and, if pirates came again while +he was there, he would drive them away once more with +the aid of the good spirits.</p> + +<p>He rowed back, hid his boat in the old covert among +the bushes at the edge of the creek, and, rifle on shoulder, +started through the forest toward his peak of observation. +On the way, he passed the lake and saw the herd of +wild cattle grazing there, the old bull at its head. The +big fellow, assured now by use and long immunity, +cocked his head on one side and regarded him with a +friendly eye. But the bull had a terrible surprise. He +heard the sharp ping of a rifle and a fearful yell. Then +he saw a figure capering in wild gyrations, and thinking +that this human being whom he had learned to trust must +have gone mad, he forgot to be angry, but was very much +frightened. Enemies he could fight, but mad creatures +he dreaded, and, bellowing hoarsely to his convoy, as a +signal, he took flight, all of them following him, their +tails streaming straight out behind them, so fast they ran.</p> + +<p>Robert leaped and danced as long as one of them was +in sight. When the last streaming tail had disappeared in +the bushes he sobered down. He realized that he had +given his friend, the bull, a great shock. In a way, he +had been guilty of a breach of faith, and he resolved to +apologize to him in some fashion the next time they met. +Yet he had been so exultant that it was impossible not to +show it, and he was only a lad in years.</p> + +<p>When he reached the crest of his peak he scanned the +sea on all sides. Eagerly as he had looked before for a +sail he now looked to see that there was none. Around +and around the circle of the horizon his eyes traveled, +and when he assured himself that no blur broke the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +bright line of sea and sky his heart swelled with relief.</p> + +<p>In a day or so, his mind became calm and his thoughts +grew sober. Then he settled down to his studies. The +battle of life occupied only a small portion of his time, +and he resolved to put the hours to the best use. He +pored much over Shakespeare, the other Elizabethans +and the King James Bible, a copy of which was among +the books. It was his intention to become a lawyer, an +orator, and if possible a statesman. He knew that he had +the gift of speech. His mind was full of thoughts and +words always crowded to his lips. It was easy enough +for him to speak, but he must speak right. The thoughts +he wished to utter must be clothed in the right kind of +words arranged in the right way, and he resolved that +it should be so.</p> + +<p>The way in which men thought and the way in which +their thoughts were put in the Bible and the great Elizabethans +fascinated him. That was the way in which he +would try to think, and the way in which he would try +to put his thoughts. So he recited the noble passages +over and over again, he memorized many of them, and +he listened carefully to himself as he spoke them, alike +for the sense and the music and power of the words.</p> + +<p>It was then perhaps that he formed the great style +for which he was so famous in after years. His vocabulary +became remarkable for its range, flexibility and +power, and he developed the art of selection. His rivals +even were used to say of him that he always chose the +best word. He learned there on the island that language +was not given to man merely that he might make a noise, +but that he might use it as a great marksman uses a rifle.</p> + +<p>Work and study together filled his days. They kept +far from him also any feeling of despair. He had an +abiding faith that a ship of the right kind would come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +in time and take him away. He must not worry about it. +It was his task now to fit himself for the return, to prove +to his friends when he saw them once more that all the +splendid opportunities offered to him on the island had +not been wasted.</p> + +<p>Almost unconsciously, he began to reason more deeply, +to look further into the causes of things, and his mind +turned particularly to the present war. The more he +thought about it the greater became his conviction that +England and the colonies were bound to win. Courage +and numbers, resources and tenacity must prevail even +over great initial mistakes. Duquesne and Ticonderoga +would be brushed away as mere events that had no control +over destiny.</p> + +<p>He remembered Bigot's ball in Quebec that Willet and +Tayoga and he had attended. It came before him again +almost as vivid as reality. He realized now in the light +of greater age and experience how it typified decadence. +A power that was rotten at the top, where the brain +should be, could never defeat one that was full of youthful +ardor and strength, sound through and through, awkward +and ill directed though that strength might be. The +young French leaders and their soldiers were valiant, +skillful and enduring—they had proved it again and +again on sanguinary fields—but they could not prevail +when they had to receive orders from a corrupt and +reckless court at Versailles, and, above all when they had +to look to that court for help that never came.</p> + +<p>His reading of the books in the slaver's chest told him +that folly and crime invariably paid the penalty, if not +in one way then in another, and he remembered too some +of the ancient Greek plays, over which he had toiled +under the stern guidance of Master Alexander McLean. +Their burden was the certainty of fate. You could never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +escape, no matter how you writhed, from what you did, +and those old writers must have told the truth, else men +would not be reading and studying them two thousand +years after they were dead. Only truth could last twenty +centuries. Bigot, Cadet, Péan, and the others, stealing +from France and Canada and spending the money in +debauchery, could not be victorious, despite all the valor +of Montcalm and St. Luc and De Levis and their comrades.</p> + +<p>He remembered, too, the great contrast between Quebec +and New York that had struck him when he arrived +at the port at the mouth of the Hudson with the hunter +and the Onondaga. The French capital in Canada was +all of the state; it was its creature. If the state declined, +it declined, there was little strength at the roots, little that +sprang from the soil, but in New York, which men already +forecast as the metropolis of the New World, there +was strength everywhere. It might be a sprawling town. +There might be no courtliness to equal the courtliness at +the heart of Quebec, but there was vigor, vigor everywhere. +The people were eager, restless, curious, always +they worked and looked ahead.</p> + +<p>He saw all these things very clearly. Silence, loneliness +and distance gave a magnificent perspective. Facts +that were obscured when he was near at hand, now stood +out sharp and true. His thoughts in this period were +often those of a man double his age. His iron health too +remained. His was most emphatically the sound mind +in the sound body, each helping the other, each stimulating +the other to greater growth.</p> + +<p>It was a fact, however, that the Onondaga belief, peopling +the air and all sorts of inanimate objects with +spirits, grew upon him; perhaps it is better to say that it +was a feeling rather than a belief. According to Tayoga<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +the good spirits fought with the bad, and on his island the +good had prevailed. They had told him that a ship was +coming, and then they had warned him that it would be +a ship of pirates. They had shown him how to drive +away the ruffians. His inspiration had not been his own, +it had come from them and he thankfully acknowledged +it.</p> + +<p>He told himself now as he went about his island that +he heard the good spirits singing among the leaves and +he told it to himself so often that he ended by believing it. +It was such a pleasant and consoling belief too. He listened +to hear them say that he would leave the island +when the time was ripe and his imagination was now +so extraordinarily vivid that what he expected to hear +he heard. The spirits assured him that when the time +came to go he would go. They did not tell him exactly +when he would go, but that could not be asked. No one +must anticipate a complete unveiling of the future. It +was sufficient that intimations came out of it now and +then.</p> + +<p>It was this feeling, amounting to a conviction, that +bore him up on a shield of steel. It soothed the natural +impatience of his youth and temperament. Why grieve +over not going when he knew that he would go? Yet, a +long time passed and there was no sail upon the sea, +though the fact failed to shake his faith. Often he +climbed his peak of observation and studied the circling +horizon through the glasses, only to find nothing, but he +was never discouraged. There was never any fall of the +spirits. No ship showed, but the ship that was coming +might even then be on the way. She had left some port, +probably one in England, not dreaming that it was a +most important destiny and duty of hers to pick up a lone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +lad cast away on an island in the Gulf or the Caribbean—at +least it was most important to him.</p> + +<p>Now came a time of storms that seemed to him to +portend a change in the seasons. The island was swept +by wind and rain, but he liked to be lashed by both. He +even went out in the dinghy in storms, though he kept +inside the reefs, and fought with wave and undertow and +swell, until, pleasantly exhausted, he retreated to the +beach, drawing his little boat after him, where he watched +the sea, vainly struggling to reach the one who had defied +it. It was after such contests that he felt strongest +of the spirit, ready to challenge anything.</p> + +<p>He plunged deeper and deeper into his studies, striving +to understand everything. The intensity of his application +was possible only because he was alone. Forced +to probe, to examine and to ponder, his mind acquired +new strength. Many things which otherwise would have +been obscure to him became plain. Looking back upon +his own eventful life since that meeting with St. Luc and +Tandakora in the forest, he was better able to read +motives and to understand men. The reason why Adrian +Van Zoon wished him to vanish must be money, because +only money could be powerful enough to make such a +man risk a terrible crime. Well, he would have a great +score to settle with Van Zoon. He did not yet know just +how he would settle it, but he did not doubt that the day +of reckoning would come.</p> + +<p>A cask of oil and several lanterns were among his +treasures from the ship, and, making use of them, he +frequently read late at night, often with the rain beating +hard on walls and roof. Then it seemed to him that his +mind was clearest, and he resolved again and again that +when he returned to his own he would make full use +of what he learned on the island. It seemed to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +sometimes that his being cast away was a piece of luck +and not a misfortune.</p> + +<p>A clear day came, and, taking his rifle, he strolled +toward his peak of observation, passing on the way the +herd of wild cattle with the old bull at its head. The big +fellow looked at him suspiciously, as if fearing that his +friend might be suffering from one of his mad spells +again. But Robert's conduct was quite correct. He +walked by in a quiet and dignified manner, and, reassured, +the bull went back to his task of reducing the visible +grass supply.</p> + +<p>He saw nothing from the peak except the green island +and the blue sea all about it, but there was a singing wind +among the leaves and it was easy for him to sit down +on a rock and fall into a dreaming state. The good +spirits were abroad, and it was their voices that he heard +among the leaves. Their chant too was full of courage, +hope and promise, and his spirits lifted as he listened. +They were watching over him, guarding him from evil, +and he felt, at last, that they were telling him something.</p> + +<p>It is not always easy to know the exact burden of a +song, even if it is uplifting, and Robert listened a long +time, trying to decipher exactly what the good spirits +were saying to him. It was just such a song as they +sang to him before the pirate ship came, saving one +strain and that was most important. There was no +underlying note of warning. Hunt for it as he would, +with his fullest power of hearing, he could detect no +trace of it. Then he became convinced. Another ship +was coming, and this time it was no pirate craft.</p> + +<p>He roused himself from his dreaming state and shook +his head, but the vision did not depart. The ship was +coming and it was for him to receive it. The news of it +had been written too deeply upon the sensitive plate of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +his brain to be effaced, and, as he walked back toward +the house, it seemed to grow more vivid. He was too +much excited to study that day, and he spent the time +building a great heap of wood upon the beach. Even +if one were helped by good spirits he must do his own +part. They might bring the ship to the horizon's rim, +but it was for him to summon it from there, and he +would have a great bonfire ready.</p> + +<p>The brilliance of the day departed in the afternoon, +and it became apparent that the season of rain and storm +was not yet over. Clouds marched up in grim battalions +from the south and west, rain came in swift puffs and +then in long, heavy showers, the sea heaved, breaking +into great waves and the surf dashed fiercely on the +sharp teeth of the rocks.</p> + +<p>Robert's spirits fell. This was not the way in which +a rescuing ship should come, under a somber sky and +before driving winds. Perhaps he had read the voices +of the spirits wrong, or at least the ship, instead of coming +now, was coming at some later time, a month or two +months away maybe. He watched through the rest of +the afternoon, hoping that the clouds would leave, but +they only thickened, and, long before the time of sunset, +it was almost as dark as night. He was compelled to +remain in the shelter of the house, and, in a state of deep +depression, he ate his supper without appetite.</p> + +<p>The storm was one of the fiercest he had seen while +on the island. The rain drove in sheets, beating upon +the walls and roof of the house like hail, and the wind +kept up a continuous whistling and screaming. All the +while the house trembled over him. Nor was there any +human voice in the wind. The good spirits, if such +existed, would not dare the storm, but had retreated +to cover. All the illusion was gone, he was just a lonely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +boy on a lonely island, listening to the wrath of a hurricane, +a ship might or might not come, most probably +never, or if it did it would be another pirate.</p> + +<p>The storm did not seem to abate as the evening went +on, perhaps it was the climax of the season. Tired of +hearing its noise he lay down on his couch and at last +fell asleep. He was awakened from slumber by an +impact upon the drum of his ear like a light blow, but, +sitting up, he realized that it was a sound. The storm +had not abated. He heard the beat of wind and rain +as before, but he knew it was something else that had +aroused him. The noise of the storm was regular, it was +going on when he fell asleep, and it had never ceased +while he slept. This was something irregular, something +out of tune with it, and rising above it. He listened intently, +every nerve and pulse alive, body and mind at +the high pitch of excitement, and then the sound came +again, low but distinct, and rising above the steady crash +of the storm.</p> + +<p>He knew the note. He had heard it often, too often +on that terrible day at Ticonderoga. It could be but one +thing. It was the boom of a cannon, and it could come +only from a ship, a ship in danger, a ship driven by the +storm, knowing nothing of either sea or island, sending +forth her signal of distress which was also a cry for help.</p> + +<p>It was his ship! The ship of rescue! But he must +first rescue <i>it</i>! Now he heard the voices of the good +spirits, the voices that had been silent all through the +afternoon and evening, singing through the storm, calling +to him, summoning him to action. He had not taken +off his clothes and he leaped from the couch, snatched +up a lighted lantern, stuffed flint and steel in his pocket, +and ran out into the wind and rain, of which he was now +scarcely conscious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>The boom came to his ears a second time, off to the +east, and now distinctly the report of a cannon. He +waited a little, watching, and, when the report came a +third time, he saw dimly the flash of the gun, but it was +too dark for him to see anything of the ship. She was +outside the reefs, how far he could not tell, but he +knew by the difference in the three reports that she was +driving toward the island.</p> + +<p>It was for him to save the unknown vessel that was to +save him, and in the darkness and storm he felt equal +to the task. His soul leaped within him. His whole body +seemed to expand. He knew what to do, and, quick as +lightning, he did it. He ran at full speed through the +woods, his lighted lantern swinging on his arm, and +twice on the way he heard the boom of the cannon, each +time a little nearer. The reports merely made him run +faster. Time was precious, and in the moment of utmost +need he was not willing to lose a second.</p> + +<p>He reached the great heap of wood that he had built +up on the beach, worked frantically with flint and steel, +shielding the shavings at the bottom with his body, and +quickly set fire to them. The blaze crackled, leaped and +grew. He had built his pyramid so well, and he had +selected such inflammable material, that he knew, if the +flames once took hold, the wind would fan them so +fiercely the rain could not put them out.</p> + +<p>Higher sprang the blaze, running to the crest of the +pyramid, roaring in the wind and then sending out defiant +hissing tongues at the rain. The boom of the +cannon came once more, and, then by the light of his +splendid bonfire, he looked. There was the ship outside +the reefs which his great pyramid of flame now enabled +her to see. He shouted in his joy, and threw on more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +wood. If he could only build that pyramid high enough +they would see the opening too and make for it.</p> + +<p>He worked frantically, throwing on driftwood, the +accumulation of many years, and the flames biting into +every fresh log, roared and leaped higher. The ship +ceased to fire her signal guns, and now he saw, with a +great surge of joy, that she was beating up in the storm +and trying for the opening in the reef, her only chance, +the chance that he had given her. He had done his part +and he could do no more but feed the fire.</p> + +<p>As he threw on wood he watched. His pyramid of +flame roared and threw out sparks in myriads. The +ship, a sloop, was having a desperate struggle with wind +and wave, but his beacon was always there, showing her +the way, and he never doubted for a moment that she +would make the haven. He was sure of it. It was a +terrible storm, and there was a fierce sea beating on the +reefs, but a master mind was on the sloop, the mind of a +great sailor, and that mind, responding to his signal of +the fire, the only one that could have been made, was +steering the ship straight for the opening in the reef.</p> + +<p>His glasses were always in his pocket, and, remembering +them now for the first time, he clapped them to his +eyes. The sloop and her tracery of mast and spars became +distinct. He saw guns on the deck and men, men +in uniform, and he could see well enough, a moment or +two later, to tell that they wore the uniform of Britain. +His heart gave a wild throb. The spirits in the air were +good spirits, and the storm had never been able to drive +them away. They had been calling to him when he +thought they were silent, only he had not been able to +hear them.</p> + +<p>He gave a wild shout of joy that could be heard above +the crash of the storm. Triumph was assured. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +rescuing, and he would be rescued. He did not realize +until that instant how eager he was to be taken from the +island, how he longed, with all his soul, to rejoin his +own kind, to see his friends again and to take a part in +the great events that were shaking the world. He uttered +his wild shout over and over, and, in between, he +laughed, laughed with a joy that he could not control.</p> + +<p>The sloop entered the opening. It seemed to him that +the rocks, those fearful sharks' teeth, almost grazed her +on either side, and his heart stood still, but she went +safely past them, drew into the little harbor where she +was safe from the wildest storm that ever blew, dropped +anchor, and was at rest.</p> + +<p>Robert in his exultation had never permitted his fire +to die down an inch. Rather he had made it grow higher +and higher until it was a vast core of light, throwing a red +glare over the beach and the adjacent waves, and sending +off vast showers of sparks. But when the ship cast +anchor in her port he stood still before it, a dark figure, +a perfect silhouette outlined against a blazing background, +and watched, while a boat was launched from +the sloop.</p> + +<p>He saw five figures descend into the boat. Four were +sailors and one an officer in uniform, and he knew well +that they were coming to see him, the human being by +the fire who had saved them. Pride was mingled with his +joy. If he had not been there the sloop and probably +all on board of her would have perished. It was touch +and go, only a brief opportunity to save had been allowed +him, but he had used it. So he raised himself to his +full height, straightened his clothes, for which he always +had respect despite the storm, and waited on. He had a +full sense of drama, and he felt that this was one of the +most dramatic moments of his life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>The boat came up the beach on a wave, the men sprang +out, held it as the wave retreated, and then dragged it +after them until it was beyond the reach of invading +water. Robert meanwhile never stirred, and the great +fire behind him enlarged his figure to heroic proportions.</p> + +<p>The officer, young, handsome, in the British naval +uniform, walked forward, with the four sailors following +in a close group behind, but he stopped again, and +looked at the strange figure before him. Evidently something +in its pose, in its whole appearance, in truth, made +an extraordinary impression upon him. He passed his +hands before his eyes as if to make sure that it was +no blur of the vision, and then he went forward again, +the sailors keeping close behind, as if they were in fear +lest the figure prove to be supernatural.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" called the young officer.</p> + +<p>"Robert Lennox, of Albany, the Province of New +York, and the wilderness," replied Robert. "Welcome +to my island."</p> + +<p>His sense of drama was still strong upon him, and he +replied in his fullest and clearest voice. The officer +stared, and then said:</p> + +<p>"You've saved the ship and all our lives."</p> + +<p>"I think that's what I was here for, though it's likely +that you've saved me, too. What ship it that?"</p> + +<p>"His Majesty's sloop of war, <i>Hawk</i>, Captain Stuart +Whyte, from Bridgetown in the Barbadoes, for Boston."</p> + +<p>Robert thrilled when he heard the word "Boston." It +was not New York, but it was a port for home, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" continued the officer, on fire with +curiosity. "You've told me your name, but what are you? +and where are the other people of the island?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There are no other people. It's my island. I'm sole +lord of the isle, and you're most welcome."</p> + +<p>"You heard our signal guns?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, I heard 'em, but I knew before you fired a shot +that you were coming."</p> + +<p>"'Tis impossible!"</p> + +<p>"It's not! I knew it, though I can't explain how to +you. Behold my bonfire! Do you think I could have +built such a pyramid of wood between the firing of your +first shot and your coming into my harbor? No, I was +ready and waiting for you."</p> + +<p>"That's convincing."</p> + +<p>"I repeat that I welcome you to Lennox Island. My +house is but a short distance inland in a beautiful forest. +I should like to receive Captain Whyte there as an honored +guest, and you, too."</p> + +<p>"Your house?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, my house. And it's well built and well furnished. +You'd be surprised to know how much comfort +it can offer."</p> + +<p>The officer—a lieutenant—and the men, coming closer, +inspected Robert with the most minute curiosity. Lone +men on desert islands were likely to go insane, and it +was a momentary thought of the officer that he was dealing +with some such unhappy creature, but Robert's sentences +were too crisp, and his figure too erect and trim +for the thought to endure more than a few seconds.</p> + +<p>"It's raining heavily," he said, "and Captain Whyte +will be glad to be a guest at your home later. I'll admit +that for a moment I doubted the existence of your +house, but I don't now. Are you willing to go on board +the <i>Hawk</i> with us and meet Captain Whyte?"</p> + +<p>"Gladly," replied Robert, who felt that his dramatic +moment was being prolonged. "The storm is dying now.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> +<p>Having done its worst against you, and, having failed, +it seems willing to pass away."</p> + +<p>"But we don't forget that you saved us," said the +officer. "My name is Lanham, John Lanham, and I'm a +lieutenant on the <i>Hawk</i>."</p> + +<p>The storm was, in truth, whistling away to the westward +and its rage, so far as Robert's island was concerned, +was fully spent. The waves were sinking and the +night was lightening fast. The sloop of war, heaving at +her anchorage, stood up sharp and clear, and it seemed +to Robert that there was something familiar in her lines. +As he looked he was sure. Coincidence now and then +stretches forth her long arm, and she had stretched it +now.</p> + +<p>The sailors, when the sea died yet more, relaunched the +boat. Lanham and Robert sprang in, and the men bent +to the oars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>BACK TO THE WORLD</h3> + + +<p>Captain Stuart Whyte of His Majesty's +gallant sloop of war, the <i>Hawk</i>, was standing on +his own quarterdeck, looking curiously at the scene +about him, and, taking it in, as well as he could, by the +light of a great bonfire blazing on the beach some distance +away. He was a young officer and his immense +relief predominated over his curiosity. The <i>Hawk</i> was +a fine sloop, and he loved her, but there had been a +terrible time that night when he thought she was lost +and her crew and himself with her.</p> + +<p>He had seen more than one storm in these sudden +seas, but this was perhaps the worst. All bearings were +gone, and then the signs showed breakers. He was a +brave man and he had brave officers, but every one of +them had despaired, until suddenly a light, a pillar of +fire, rose in the darkness and the storm, almost from the +heart of the ocean, as if it had been evoked by his own +signal guns. Then, by this marvelous beacon, they had +scraped between the rocks and into safety. Clearly it +was a miracle, and young Captain Whyte felt a deep +and devout gratitude. He had then sent one of his best +officers ashore to see the man who had saved them, and, +meanwhile, he had stood by, watching through his +glasses.</p> + +<p>He saw the man of the island get into the boat with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +Lanham and approach the sloop. The storm had now +sunk much, and it was not difficult to come aboard, but +Captain Whyte, still intensely curious, but with a proper +sense of his own dignity, withdrew to his cabin where he +might receive the lord of the isle in state.</p> + +<p>He rose politely, and then stared at the tall youth +who came in with Lieutenant Lanham, the water running +from his clothes. Yet the stranger had a dignity fully +equal to his own, and there was also something very +uncommon about him, a look of strength and confidence +extraordinary in one so young.</p> + +<p>"Won't you sit down?" said Captain Whyte.</p> + +<p>Robert glanced at his clothes.</p> + +<p>"I bring the storm with me," he said—he often spoke +in the language that he had unconsciously imbibed in +much reading of the Elizabethans.</p> + +<p>"Never mind that. Water won't hurt my cabin, and +if it did you're welcome just the same. I suppose you +represent the people of the island, to whom my crew +and I owe so much."</p> + +<p>"I am the people of the island."</p> + +<p>"You mean that you're here alone?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly that. But tell me, before we go any further, +Captain, what month this is."</p> + +<p>"May."</p> + +<p>"And the year?"</p> + +<p>"1759."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to be sure. I see that I've been on the island +eight or nine months, but I lost all count of time, and, +now and then it seemed like eight or nine years. As I've +already told Lieutenant Lanham, I'm Robert Lennox, of +Albany, the Province of New York, and the wilderness. +I was kidnapped at Albany and carried down the Hudson +and out to sea by a slaver and pirate."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Tis an extraordinary tale, Mr. Lennox."</p> + +<p>"But a true one, Captain Whyte."</p> + +<p>"I meant no insinuation that it wasn't. Extraordinary +things happen in the world, and have been happening in +these seas, ever since Columbus first came into them."</p> + +<p>"Still mine is such an unusual story that it needs +proof, and I give it. Did you not last autumn pretend +that yours was a merchant ship, have a sailor play the +violin on deck while others danced about, and lure under +your guns a pirate with the black flag at her masthead?"</p> + +<p>Captain Whyte stared in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Did you not shatter the pirate ship with your broadsides +but lose her afterwards in a great storm that came +up suddenly?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, so I did, and I've been looking for her many a +time since then."</p> + +<p>"You'll never find her, Captain. Your guns were +aimed well enough, and they took the life out of her. +She couldn't weather the storm. Of all the people who +were aboard her then I'm the only survivor. Her captain +escaped with me to this island, but he died of +wounds and I buried him. I can show you his grave."</p> + +<p>"How do I know that you, too, are not one of the +pirates?"</p> + +<p>"By taking me back on your ship to the colonies, and +proving my tale. If you don't find that every word I tell +you is true you can hang me to your own yardarm."</p> + +<p>Captain Whyte laughed. It was a fair and frank offer, +but he was a reader of men, and he felt quite sure that +the strange youth was telling the absolute truth.</p> + +<p>"He's given me, sir, quite correct accounts of events +that happened in the colonies last year," said Lanham.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +"He was at Ticonderoga and his narrative of the battle +agrees fully with the accounts that we received."</p> + +<p>And just at that moment coincidence stretched out her +long arm again, as she does so often.</p> + +<p>"I had a cousin at Ticonderoga," said Captain Whyte. +"A splendid young fellow, name of Grosvenor. I've seen +a letter from him in which he says 'twas a terrible fight, +but that we threw away our chances before we went upon +the field."</p> + +<p>"Grosvenor! Grosvenor!" exclaimed Robert eagerly. +"Why, I knew him! He was a friend of mine! We were +in the forest together, in combat and escape. His first +name was Alfred. Did he say nothing in his letter of +Robert Lennox?"</p> + +<p>"Of course he did! I was so much interested in you +that I paid little attention to your name, and it glided +past me as if I'd not heard it. He told of a friend of +his, name of yours, who had been lost, murdered they +all believed by some spy."</p> + +<p>"And did he say nothing also of Tayoga, a wonderful +Onondaga Indian, and of David Willet, a great hunter?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, so he did. I recall those names too. Said the +Indian was the most marvelous trailer the world had ever +known, could trace the flight of a bird through the air, +and a lot more that must have been pure romance."</p> + +<p>"It's all true! every word of it. I'll see that you meet +Tayoga, and then you'll believe, and you must know +Willet, too, one of the grandest men that ever lived, soul +of honor, true as steel, all those things."</p> + +<p>"I believe you! Every word you say! But I can't +keep you talking here with the water dripping from you. +We really couldn't question your truth, either, after +you'd saved our ship and all our lives. I see you have a +naval uniform of ours. Well, we'll give you a dry one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +in its place. See that the best the <i>Hawk</i> has is his, +Lanham."</p> + +<p>Robert was taken to a small cabin that was vacant and +he exchanged into dry clothing. He went back a little +later to the captain's room with Lanham, where they +insisted upon his taking refreshment, and then Captain +Whyte sent him to bed.</p> + +<p>"I've a million questions to ask you, Mr. Lennox," he +said, "but I won't ask 'em until to-morrow. You must +sleep."</p> + +<p>Robert's manner had been calm, but he found when he +lay down that he was surcharged with excitement. It +was inside him and wanted to get it out, but he kept it +bottled up, and after an hour spent in quieting his nerves +he fell asleep. When he awoke, dressed and went on +deck, all trace of the storm had gone. The <i>Hawk</i> swung +quietly at anchor and to him she seemed the very finest +ship that had ever sailed on any sea from the day of +the galley to the day of the three-decker. He noticed +with pleasure how trim everything was, how clean was +the wood, how polished the brass, and how the flag of +Britain snapped in the breeze overhead. He noticed too +the eighteen pounders and he knew these were what had +done the business for the slaver and pirate. Lanham +gave him a hearty welcome.</p> + +<p>"It's half way to noon," he said, "and you slept long +and well, as you had a right to do, after saving His +Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop, <i>Hawk</i>, from the rocks. +We had a boat's crew ashore this morning, not because +we doubted your word, but to see that everything was +trim and snug on your island, and they found your +house. On my word, quite a little castle, and well furnished. +We didn't disturb a thing. It's yours, you +know."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I merely inherited it," said Robert. "The slaver and +pirate who kidnapped me built it as a place for a refuge +or a holiday, and he came back here to die. He furnished +it partly, and the rest came from his wrecked ship."</p> + +<p>After breakfast Robert went ashore also with the captain +and Lanham, and he showed them about the island. +They even saw the old bull at the head of his herd, and +Robert waved him a friendly farewell. The house and +its contents they decided to leave exactly as they were.</p> + +<p>"They may shelter some other castaway," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"We'll even leave the guns and ammunition," said +Captain Whyte. "We don't need 'em. You rescued 'em +from the ship and they belong to you. The <i>Hawk</i> has +no claim on 'em."</p> + +<p>"I'd like for 'em to stay here," said Robert. "Nobody +may ever be cast away on this island again, and on the +other hand it might happen next week. You can't tell. +But it's been a good island to me, and, though I say farewell, +I won't forget it."</p> + +<p>"You take the right view of it," said Captain Whyte, +"and even if I didn't feel your way about it, although I +do, I'd be bound to give you your wish since you saved +us. You've also taken quite a burden off my mind. It's +always been a source of grief to me that the pirate eluded +us in the storm, but since you've shown me that we were +really responsible for her sinking I feel a lot better +about it."</p> + +<p>On the <i>Hawk</i> Lanham told him what had been passing +in the world.</p> + +<p>"There's a great expedition out from England under +that young general, Wolfe, who distinguished himself at +Louisbourg," he said. "It aims at the taking of Quebec, +and we're very hopeful. The rendezvous is Louisbourg,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +on Cape Breton Island and army and navy, I suppose, +are already there. Your own Royal Americans will be +in it, and what we lost at Ticonderoga we propose to +regain—and more—before Quebec. The <i>Hawk</i> is bound +for Louisbourg to join the fleet, but she puts in at Boston +first. If you choose to go on to Louisbourg with us you +won't fare ill, because the captain has taken a great +fancy for you."</p> + +<p>"I thank you much," said Robert, gratefully. "I'm +almost tempted to join the great expedition from Louisbourg +into the St. Lawrence, but I feel that I must leave +the ship at Boston. I'm bound to hunt up Willet and +Tayoga, and we'll come by land. We'll meet you before +the heights of Quebec."</p> + +<p>Everything seemed to favor the northward voyage of +the <i>Hawk</i>. Good winds drove her on, and Robert's +heart leaped within him at the thought that he would +soon be back in his own country. Yet he made little +outward show of it. The gravity of mind and manner +that he had acquired on the island remained with him. +Habits that he had formed there were still very powerful. +It was difficult for him to grow used to the presence +of other people, and at times he longed to go out on his +peak of observation, where he might sit alone for hours, +with only the rustling of the wind among the leaves in +his ears. The sound of the human voice was often +strange and harsh, and now and then only his will kept +him from starting when he heard it, as one jumps at +the snarl of a wild animal in the bush.</p> + +<p>But the friendship between him, Captain Whyte, Lieutenant +Lanham and the other young officers grew. People +instinctively liked Robert Lennox. Whether in his +gay mood or his grave he had a charm of manner that +few could resist, and his story was so strange, so pic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>turesque +that it invested him with compelling romance. +He told all about his kidnapping and his life upon the +island, but he said nothing of Adrian Van Zoon. He +let it be thought that the motive of the slaver in seizing +him was merely to get a likely lad for sale on a West +India plantation. But his anger against Van Zoon grew. +He was not one to cherish wrath, but on this point it +was concentrated, and he intended to have a settlement. +It was not meant that he should be lost, it was not meant +that Adrian Van Zoon should triumph. He had been +seized and carried away twice, and each time, when +escape seemed impossible, a hand mightier than that of +man had intervened in his favor.</p> + +<p>He spoke a little of his thought once or twice when he +stood on the deck of the <i>Hawk</i> on moonlight nights with +Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham.</p> + +<p>"You can't live with the Indians as much as I have," +he said, "especially with such a high type of Indian as +the Iroquois, without acquiring some of their beliefs +which, after all, are about the same as our own Christian +religion. The difference is only in name. They fill the +air with spirits, good and evil, and have 'em contending +for the mastery. Now, I felt when I was on the island +and even before that I was protected by the good spirits +of the Iroquois, and that they were always fighting for +me with the bad."</p> + +<p>"I take it," said Captain Whyte, "that the Indian beliefs, +as you tell them, are more like the mythology of +the old Greeks and Romans. I'm a little rusty on my +classics, but they had spirits around everywhere, good +and bad, always struggling with one another, and their +gods themselves were mixtures of good and evil, just +like human beings. But I'm not prepared to say, Mr. +Lennox, that you weren't watched over. It seems<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +strange that of all the human beings on the slaver you +should have been the only one saved and you the only +one not stained with crime. It's a fact I don't undertake +to account for. And you never found out the name of +the pirate captain?"</p> + +<p>"Neither his nor that of his ship. It had been effaced +carefully from the schooner and all her boats."</p> + +<p>"I suppose it will remain one of the mysteries of the +sea. But tell me more about my cousin, Grosvenor. He +was really becoming a trailer, a forest runner?"</p> + +<p>"He was making wonderful progress. I never saw +anybody more keen or eager."</p> + +<p>"A fine lad, one of our best. I'm glad that you two +met. I'd like to meet too that Frenchman, St. Luc, of +whom you've spoken so often. We Englishmen and +Frenchmen have been fighting one another for a thousand +years, and it seems odd, doesn't it, Mr. Lennox, +that it should be so? Why, the two countries can see +each other across the Channel on clear days, and neighbors +ought to be the best of friends, instead of the most +deadly enemies. It seems that the farther a nation is +from another the better they get along together. What +is there in propinquity, Mr. Lennox, to cause hostility?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but I suppose it's rivalry, the idea that +if your neighbor grows he grows at your expense. Your +hostility carries over to us in America also. We're your +children and we imitate our parents. The French in +Canada hate the English in the Provinces and the English +in the Provinces hate the French in Canada, when +there's so much of the country of each that they're lost +in it."</p> + +<p>"It's a queer world, Mr. Lennox. In spite of what +you say and which I endorse, I'm going with an eager +heart in the great expedition against Quebec, and so will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +you. I'll be filled with joy if it succeeds and so will +you."</p> + +<p>Robert admitted the fact.</p> + +<p>"And I'd be delighted if we could meet a French sloop +of about our own size and armament," continued the +captain. "Every man on board the <i>Hawk</i> would go into +battle with her eagerly, and yet I don't hate the French +individually. They're a brave and gallant nation, and +this St. Luc, of whom you speak, seems to be the very +flower of chivalry."</p> + +<p>The captain's wish to meet a French sloop of war of +his own size was not granted. He had high hopes the +fourth day when they saw a sail, but it proved to be a +schooner out of Newport returning from Jamaica with +a cargo of sugar and molasses. The <i>Hawk</i> showed her +heels in disgust, and pursued her way northward.</p> + +<p>As the time to reach Boston drew near, Robert's heart +filled again. He would be back in his own land, and his +world would be before him once more. He had already +decided that he would go at once to Albany and there +pick up the thread of his old life. He was consumed, +too, by curiosity. What had happened since he was +gone? His feeling that he had been in the island eight +or nine years instead of eight or nine months remained. +While it was his own world to which he was returning, +it was also a new world.</p> + +<p>Came the day when the harbor lights of the port of +Boston showed through a haze and Robert, standing +on the deck of the <i>Hawk</i>, watched the city rise out of the +sea. He was dressed in a good suit of civilian clothing +that he had found on the island, and he had some money +that had never been taken from him when he was kidnapped, +enough to pay his way from Boston to Albany.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +His kindly English friends wanted to lend him more, +but he declined it.</p> + +<p>"You can pay us back in Quebec," said White.</p> + +<p>"I don't need it," replied Robert, "but I'll keep the rendezvous +there with you both."</p> + +<p>As the <i>Hawk</i> was to stay two or three days in port in +order to take on supplies, they went ashore together, and +the three were full of curiosity when they entered, for +the first time, the town of which they had heard so much. +Boston had already made such impress upon the imagination +that all the English colonists were generally known +to the French in Canada as Bostonnais. In England it +had a great name, and there were often apprehensions +about it. It was the heart and soul of the expedition +when the New Englanders surprised the world by taking +the great French fortress of Louisbourg, and it had an +individuality and a personality which it has never lost.</p> + +<p>"I don't know how I'm going to like it," said Captain +Whyte, as they left the sloop. "I hear that they're very +superior here, and consider us English a rather backward +lot. Don't you think you'd better reconsider, Lennox, +and go on with us to Louisbourg?"</p> + +<p>Robert laughed.</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid of the Bostonians," he said. "I met +some very competent ones on the shores of Lake George. +There was one Elihu Strong, a colonel of Massachusetts +infantry, whom I like to remember. In truth, Captain, +what I see here arouses my admiration. You noticed the +amount of shipping in the port. The Bostonians are very +keen traders, and they say there are sharp differences in +character between them and the people of our southern +provinces, but as I come from a middle province, New +York, I am, in a sense, neutral. The New Englanders +have a great stake in the present war. Their country has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +been ravaged for more than a century by French and +Indians from Canada, and this province of Massachusetts +is sending to it nearly every man, and nearly every +dollar it has."</p> + +<p>"We know of their valor and tenacity in England," +said Captain Whyte, "but we know also that they're men +of their own minds."</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't they be? That's why they're English."</p> + +<p>"Since you put it that way, you're right. But here +we are."</p> + +<p>The town, about the size of New York, looked +like a great city to Robert. He had come from a +land that contained only one inhabitant, himself, and +it was hard for him now to realize there were so many +people in the world. The contrast put crowds everywhere, +and, at times, it was very confusing, though it +was always interesting. The men were mostly tall, thin, +and with keen but composed eyes. They were of purer +British blood than those in New York, but it seemed +to Robert that they had departed something from type. +They were more strenuous than the English of Old +England, and the New Yorkers, in character if not in +blood and appearance, were more nearly English than the +Bostonians. He also thought, and he was not judging +now so much from a glimpse of Boston as from the New +England men whom he had met, that they were critical +both of themselves and others, and that they were a +people who meant to have their way at any cost.</p> + +<p>But his attempts to estimate character and type were +soon lost in his huge delight at being back in his own +country. Robert's mind was a mirror. It always reflected +his surroundings. Quickly adaptable, he usually +perceived the best of everything, and now busy and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +prosperous Boston in its thin, crisp air, delighted him +immeasurably. His feelings were much as they had been +when he visited New York. Here was a great city, +that is, great for his country and time, and it was destined +to be much greater.</p> + +<p>As usual with sailors Captain Whyte and Lieutenant +Lanham wished to go to a coffee house, and Robert, +nothing loath, accompanied them to one of good quality +to which they were directed near the water front. Here +they found numerous guests in the great common room +and much talk going forward, mostly talk of the war, +as was natural. There was much criticism of the British +Government, not restrained at all, rather increased, +by the uniforms of the two naval officers.</p> + +<p>"'Tis reported that the new expedition gathered at +Louisbourg will go the way of the one that was repulsed +at Ticonderoga," said a thin, elderly man. "I hear +'tis commanded by young Wolfe, who is sickly and much +given to complaint. Abercrombie, who led us at Ticonderoga, +was fat, old and slothful, and now Wolfe, who +leads the new force is young, sickly and fretful. It seems +that England can't choose a middle course. Why doesn't +she send us a man?"</p> + +<p>"That I can't tell you, Master Carver," said the man +whom he was addressing, "but I do know that if England +would consult Massachusetts more we'd fare better in +this war. We should have marched over the French +army at Ticonderoga. I can't understand to this day how +we lost that battle."</p> + +<p>"It seems that in very truth we lacked something +there."</p> + +<p>Robert was sitting not ten feet from them and their +tone being so very critical, he could not restrain a word +or two.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Your pardon, if I interrupt," he said, "but hearing +you speak in a somewhat slighting manner of Ticonderoga +I'm bound to advise you that you're wrong, since +I was there. The English and Scotch troops, with our +own Americans, showed the very greatest valor on that +sad occasion. 'Twas no fault of theirs. Our defeat was +due to the lack of artillery, the very skillful arrangements +of the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, +and the extreme courage of the French army."</p> + +<p>The two, who seemed to be merchants or shipping +men, regarded him with interest but with no appearance +of resentment because of his interference in their conversation. +Apparently the criticism that they permitted +so freely to themselves they were willing also to allow +to others.</p> + +<p>"But you are English," said the first who had spoken, +"and 'tis most natural for you to defend the generals +who are sent out from the home country."</p> + +<p>"I am not English. I am a native of the Province of +New York, and being a colonial like yourselves, I think +we allow too little credit to the old country in the war. +I speak as one who through the force of circumstances +has been an eye witness to many of the facts. My name +is Robert Lennox, sir, and my companions are Captain +Stuart Whyte and Lieutenant John Lanham of His +Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop of war <i>Hawk</i>, now in +Boston harbor."</p> + +<p>"And I, sir," responded the thin man with much courtesy, +"am Samuel Carver, wholesale dealer in cloth and +leather, and my friend is Lemuel Mason, owner of shipping +plying principally to the West Indies. We're pleased +to meet His Majesty's officers and also you, Mr. Lennox, +who we can see is very young to have had so much +experience in the wars. We trust that all of you will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +pardon our freedom of criticism, but we're at the heart +of affairs here, and we see very clearly. It's not a freedom +that we'll give up."</p> + +<p>Captain Whyte laughed easily.</p> + +<p>"If what we hear in England of Boston is true," he +said, "'tis a privilege that nothing can make you give +up. Perhaps 'tis as well. I'm all for free speech myself. +Through it affairs are well threshed out. But I +assure you you're wrong about General Wolfe. 'Tis +true that he's young and that he's sickly, but he's been +chosen by Mr. Pitt for most solid reasons. He has a +great gift for arms. I've been fortunate enough to +meet him once or twice, and I can assure you that he +makes a most favorable impression. Moreover, the fact +that he's been chosen by Mr. Pitt is proof of his worth. +Mr. Pitt is a very great man and he has that highest +of all talents, the ability to know other men and to direct +them."</p> + +<p>Captain Whyte spoke with much warmth and his words +carried conviction.</p> + +<p>"I can well believe you, sir, when you speak so highly +of Mr. Pitt," said Mr. Carver. "'Tis evident that he has +the honor and glory of England at heart and 'tis evident, +too, that he does not mean to neglect the interests +of the colonies, a matter of the utmost importance. 'Tis +only Mr. Pitt among the home statesmen who have recognized +our greatness on this side of the ocean."</p> + +<p>"Believe me, sir, I'm not blind to the growth and prosperity +of the colonies," said Captain Whyte. "I've seen +your cities and I know how much the Americans have +done in the present war."</p> + +<p>"Then 'tis a pity that England also doesn't know it," +said Mr. Mason somewhat sharply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Captain Whyte refused to be either angry or disconcerted.</p> + +<p>"The width of our ocean always promotes ignorance, +and misunderstandings," he said. "And 'tis true too that +the closest of kin will quarrel, but families usually unite +against an alien foe."</p> + +<p>"'Tis so," admitted Mr. Mason, "and 'tis the business +of statesmanship to smooth down the quarrels that arise +between the different parts of a great kingdom. I trust +that ours will always be equal to the task."</p> + +<p>"Do you know a merchant of this city, Elihu Strong, +who is also a colonel of the Massachusetts infantry?" +asked Robert. "I met him in a strenuous business before +Ticonderoga, where he also had a gallant part."</p> + +<p>"We could scarce be Bostonians and not know Elihu +Strong," said Mr. Carver. "One of the most active of +our merchants, he has ships of his own that ply between +here and England, and he has also taken a very zealous +part in the war. The regiment that he commanded +was equipped partly at his expense."</p> + +<p>"Commanded?" exclaimed Robert.</p> + +<p>"I used the past tense, not because he has fallen, my +young friend, but Elihu was unfortunate enough to receive +a severe wound in the leg some months after Ticonderoga, +and he is now recuperating at his own home +here near the Common. 'Tis not dangerous. He will +not lose the leg, but he will not be able to walk on it for +some months yet. A great pity, say I, that Elihu Strong +is out of active service for a while, as His Majesty's government +might profit greatly by his advice and leadership +in the field."</p> + +<p>"I've no doubt of it," said Captain Whyte with the +greatest sincerity. "I'm all for coöperation with the experienced +men of the colonies, and so is a far greater<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +than I, the illustrious Mr. Pitt. They're on the ground, +they've lived their lives here and they ought to know."</p> + +<p>"Our hope is in Mr. Pitt," said Mr. Carver. "You +speak well of him, Captain Whyte, and 'tis pleasing to +our ears to hear you, because you cannot know how +his name inspires confidence in the colonies. Why, sir, +we look upon him as almost the half of England!"</p> + +<p>It was so. And it was destined to remain so. Whatever +happened between England and America, the name +of the elder Pitt, the great Englishman, kept and keeps +its place in the hearts of Americans, who in some respects +are the most sentimental and idealistic of all +peoples.</p> + +<p>Robert saw that the two young English officers and +the two middle aged Boston merchants were arriving at +an understanding, that good relations were established +already, and he thought it wise to leave them together.</p> + +<p>"I think," he said, "that I will visit Colonel Strong at +his house, and as my time in Boston must be short 'twill +be best for me to go now."</p> + +<p>Both Mr. Carver and Mr. Mason urged him to spend +the night at their houses, and Captain Whyte and Lieutenant +Lanham were zealous for his return with them +to the <i>Hawk</i>, but he declined the offer, though saying +he would certainly visit the sloop before he left Boston. +He judged that it would be wise to leave the four together, +in the coffee-house, and, after receiving careful +instructions how to reach the mansion of that most respectable +and worthy Bostonian, Colonel Elihu Strong, +he went into the street.</p> + +<p>He found the Strong home to be a goodly house, one +of the best in the city, partly of brick and partly of +wood, with columns in front, all very spacious and pleas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>ing. +He knocked with a heavy brass knocker and a trim +colored maid responded.</p> + +<p>"Is Colonel Strong at home?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"He is, sir," she responded in English as good as his +own, "though confined to his chair with a wound in the +leg which makes his temper a trifle short at times."</p> + +<p>"Naturally. So would mine be if I couldn't walk. I +wish to see him."</p> + +<p>"What name, sir, shall I say?"</p> + +<p>"Tell him 'tis one who served with him in wilderness +fighting, on the eve of Ticonderoga."</p> + +<p>She looked at him doubtfully, but her face cleared in +a moment. Robert's frank, open gaze invited everybody's +confidence.</p> + +<p>"Come into the hall, sir," she said, and then led the +way from the hall into a large room opening upon a +lawn, well-shaded by many fine, large trees. Elihu +Strong sat in a chair before one of the windows, and his +wounded leg, swathed heavily, reposed in another chair.</p> + +<p>Robert paused, and his heart beat rather hard. This +was the first friend of his old life that he had seen. Now, +he was coming in reality back to his world. He stood a +few moments, irresolute, and then advancing lightly he +said:</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Colonel Strong!"</p> + +<p>The wounded man wheeled in his chair and looked at +him, inquiry in his face. Robert did not know what +changes his life on the island had made in his appearance, +his expression rather, but he saw that Colonel +Strong did not know him, and it pleased him to play +for a minute or so with the fact.</p> + +<p>"You did not receive this bullet, sir, when you saved us +from St. Luc," he said. "It must have been much later,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +but I know it was a bad moment for the Province of +Massachusetts when the hostile lead struck you."</p> + +<p>Colonel Strong stared.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"There was a battle on the shores of Lake George, at +a point where our men had been building boats. They +were besieged by a mixed force of French and Indians, +commanded by the great French partisan leader, St. Luc. +They beat off the attacks, but they would have been +overcome in time, if you had not hurried to their relief, +with a strong force and two brass cannon."</p> + +<p>"That is true and if the Governor and Legislature of +Massachusetts had done their full duty we'd have had +twice as many men and four, six, or even eight cannon +in place of two. But what do you know about those +things?"</p> + +<p>"There were two boys, one Indian and one white, who +came on the lake, telling you of the plight of the boat +builders. The Indian was Tayoga of the Clan of the +Bear, of the Nation Onondaga, of the Great League of +the Hodenosaunee, the finest trailer in the world. The +white boy was Robert Lennox, of the Province of New +York."</p> + +<p>"Aye, you speak truly. Full well do I remember them. +How could I forget them? Tayoga is back there now +with the hunter Willet, doing some great service in the +war, what I know not, but it is something surely great. +The white boy, Robert Lennox, is dead. A great loss, +too! A fine and gallant lad."</p> + +<p>"How do you know he is dead?"</p> + +<p>"I had it in a letter from Master Benjamin Hardy +of New York, with whom I often transact affairs of +business, and he, in turn, had it from one Jacobus Huysman, +a burgher of Albany in most excellent standing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +Parts of the matter are obscure, but the result is certain. +It seems that the lad was stalked by a spy, one Garay, +and was murdered by him. His body, they think, was +thrown into the Hudson and was carried away. At least +it was never found. A most tragic business. I could +have loved that lad as if he had been my own son. It +caused great grief to both Hardy and Huysman,—and +to me, too."</p> + +<p>A lump came into Robert's throat. He did have +friends, many and powerful, and they mourned him. He +seemed to have the faculty of inspiring liking wherever +he went. He had been standing in the shadow, while +the wounded man sat where the sunlight from the windows +poured upon him. He moved a little nearer where +he could be more clearly seen, and said:</p> + +<p>"But what if I tell you that Robert Lennox is not +dead, that he survived a most nefarious plot against +him, that he was, in truth, kidnapped and carried far +away to sea, but was rescued in a most remarkable +manner and has come back to his own land."</p> + +<p>"'Tis impossible! 'Tis a wild tale, though God knows +I wish it were true, because he was a fine and gallant +lad."</p> + +<p>"'Tis a wild tale, sir, that I confess, but 'tis not impossible, +for it has happened. I am that Robert Lennox +who came with Tayoga, the Onondaga, in the canoe, +through the fog on Lake George, to you, asking that you +hurry to the relief of the boat builders! You will remember, +sir, the fight at the ford, when they sought to +ambush us, and how we routed them with the cannon. +You'll recall how St. Luc drew off when we reached +the boat builders. I've been away a long time, where +every month counted as a year, and perhaps I've changed +greatly, but I'm that same Robert Lennox to whom you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +said more than once that if the Governor and Legislature +of the Province of Massachusetts had done their full +duty your force would have been three or four times as +strong."</p> + +<p>"What? What? No stranger could know as much +as you know! Come farther into the light, boy! The +voice is nearly the same as I remember it, but the face +has changed. You're older, graver, and there's a new +look! But the eyes are like his! On my soul I believe +it's Robert Lennox! Aye, I know 'tis Robert! Come, +lad, and shake hands with me! I would go to you but +this wretched wound holds me in my chair! Aye, boy, +yours is the grasp of a strong and honest hand, and +when I look into your eyes I know 'tis you, Robert, your +very self. Sit you down and tell me how you have risen +from the grave, and why you've come to comfort an +old man with this most sudden and welcome news!"</p> + +<p>The moisture rose in Robert's eyes. Truly he had +friends, and not least among them was this thin, shrewd +Bostonian. He drew a chair close to the colonel and +spun the wonderful tale of his kidnapping, the sea fight, +the wreck, the island and his rescue by the <i>Hawk</i>. Colonel +Strong listened intently and seldom interrupted, but +when Robert had finished he said:</p> + +<p>"'Tis clear, lad, that your belief in the good spirits +was well placed. We lose nothing by borrowing a little +from the Iroquois beliefs. Their good spirits are our +angels. 'Tis all the same in the essence, only the names +are different. 'Tis clear, too, that they were watching +over you. And now this house is your home so long as +you stay in Boston. We're full of the great war, as +you'll soon learn. Mr. Pitt has sent over a new commander +and a mighty attempt will be made on Quebec, +though if the King and Parliament of Britain did their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +full duty, the expedition would be three times as large, +and, if the Legislature and Governor of Massachusetts +also did their full duty, they would give three times +as much help."</p> + +<p>"I'll stay gladly with you to-night, sir, but I must go +in the morning. I wish to reach Albany as soon as possible +and show that I'm not dead. You're the first, sir, +of all my friends, to learn it. I must tell my comrades +of the <i>Hawk</i> good-bye too. They've been very good to +me, and their ship is in your harbor."</p> + +<p>"But you spend the night here. That's promised, and +I can give you news of some of your friends, those gallant +lads who were with us in the great adventure by +the lake. The young Englishman, Grosvenor, the Philadelphians, +Colden, Wilton and Carson, and the Virginians, +Stuart and Cabell, have all been to see me. Grosvenor +joins a regiment with Wolfe, the Grenadiers, I +think, and the Philadelphians and Virginians are transferred +to the Royal Americans, for the term of the war, +at least."</p> + +<p>"I hope to see them all, sir, under the walls of Quebec. +Captain Whyte of the <i>Hawk</i> offered to take me in his +ship to the rendezvous at Louisbourg, but I felt that I +must go first to Albany and then join Willet and Tayoga. +We'll go by land and meet the army and fleet coming +down the St. Lawrence."</p> + +<p>"A proper plan, and a proper ambition, my lad. I +would that I could be with you, but this wound may +hold me here. As for going to Albany, I may assist +you in that matter. A company of Boston merchants +are sending a despatch, that is, a stage, to Albany to-morrow. +I am one of that company and I can provide +a place for you."</p> + +<p>"My very great thanks are yours, sir."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Say no more about it. 'Tis just what I ought to do. +'Tis a long journey, but 'tis a fine time of the year, and +you'll have a pleasant trip. Would that I had your youth +and your unwounded leg and I'd be with you under the +walls of Quebec, whether we take the city or not."</p> + +<p>His eyes sparkled and his thin cheeks flushed with +his intense fire. Robert knew that there was no more +valiant soldier than the shrewd Boston merchant, and +he appreciated his intense earnestness.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, sir," he said, "your recovery will be in full +time for the campaign."</p> + +<p>"I fear not, I'm sure not, Mr. Lennox, and yet I wish +with all my soul to be there. I foresee victory, because +I think victory is due. 'Tis not in nature for the French +in Canada, who are few and who receive but little help +from their own country, to hold back forever the whole +might of Britain and her colonies. They have achieved +the impossible already in stemming the flood so long, and +because it's about time for the weight, in spite of +everything, to break over the dam, I think that victory is +at hand. And then, Britain will be supreme on the North +American continent from the Spanish domains northward +to the Pole."</p> + +<p>"And that means a tremendous future, sir, for England +and her colonies!"</p> + +<p>The face of Elihu Strong clouded.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," he cried. "I hope so, and yet, at +times, I fear not. You think only of united hearts in +England and America and a long future under one flag. +I repeat that I wish it could be so and yet the old always +regard the new with patronage, and the new always +look upon the old with resentment. There are already +differences between the English and Americans, questions +of army rank, disputes about credit in the field,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +different points of view, created by the width of an +ocean."</p> + +<p>"But if we are victorious and overrun Canada, they +will be settled."</p> + +<p>"There lies the greatest danger, my lad. 'Tis the +common peril that holds us together for the time. When +this shadow in the north which has overhung us so long, +is removed, the differences will grow the greater, and +each side will assert itself. 'Tis in our common blood. +The English are a free people and freedom brings diversities, +differing opinions and a strenuous expression +of them. I see already great issues between the colonies +and the mother country, and I pray that temperate +men may have the handling of them. The wrong +will not be all on one side, nor the right either. But +enough of an old man's forebodings! Why should I +poison your happy return from an adventure, in which +your chance of escape was not one in ten?"</p> + +<p>Robert talked with him a while longer, and then he +suggested that he go to the <i>Hawk</i> and tell his friends +there good-bye, as they had probably returned to the +ship by this time.</p> + +<p>"But be sure you're back here by nightfall," said Colonel +Strong. "You favor me, lad, by coming. It refreshes +me to see you and to talk with one who had a +share with me in an eventful campaign. And have you +money enough for this trip to Albany? I take it that +you were not accumulating much treasure while you +were on the island, and a loan may be timely."</p> + +<p>Robert thanked him, but said he had enough for his +needs. He promised also to be back by nightfall, and, +having said farewell to the officers of the sloop, he returned +to Colonel Strong's mansion at the appointed time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE WILDERNESS AGAIN</h3> + + +<p>The full hospitality of Colonel Strong's house was +for Robert, and he sat late that night, listening +to the talk of his host, merchant and warrior, and +politician too. There were many like him in the colonies, +keen men who had a vision for world affairs and who +looked far into the future. He was so engrossed in +these matters that he did not notice that he was doing +nearly all the talking, but Robert was content to listen.</p> + +<p>As Robert sat with Colonel Strong he felt to the full +the reality of his own world to which he had returned, +and his long life on the island became for the time a +dream, something detached, that might have happened +on another planet. Yet its effects remained. His manner +was grave, and his thoughts were those of one much +beyond his years. But mingled with his gravity were +an elation and a sanguine belief in his future. He had +survived so much that coming dangers could not daunt +him.</p> + +<p>The special coach departed the next morning and Robert +sat upon the seat with the driver. All things were +auspicious. The company in the coach was good, the +driver was genial and the weather fine. It was a long +trip and they slept several nights in inns by the way, +but Robert always had pleasant memories of that journey. +He was seeing his country under the most favor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>able +conditions, well cultivated, trim and in the full +freshness of spring.</p> + +<p>They reached Albany and his heart beat hard once +more. He realized now that he was one risen from the +dead. His reception by Colonel Strong had shown him +that, but he believed the joy of his friends would be +great when they saw him. The coach drew up at the +George Inn, and, leaving it there, he started through the +streets, taking no baggage.</p> + +<p>It was the same busy little city with its thrifty Dutch +burghers. The tide of war had brought added prosperity +to Albany, and he saw about him all the old signs of +military preparations. It was yet a base for the great +campaigns to the northward. Evidently the fear of an +attack by Montcalm had passed, as he did not see apprehension +or depression in the faces of the people.</p> + +<p>He went directly to the house of Master Jacobus Huysman, +that staunch friend of his and Tayoga's, and the +solid red brick building with its trim lawns and gardens +looked as neat and comfortable as ever. It was hard +to believe that he had gone away, that he had been so +long on an island. Nothing had been changed except +himself and he felt different, much older.</p> + +<p>He lifted the heavy brass knocker, and struck thrice. +The sound of footsteps came from within, and he knew +at once that they were Caterina's. Middle-aged, phlegmatic +and solid she had loved both him and Tayoga, +despite tricks and teasing, but he knew her very phlegm +would keep her from being startled too much. Only an +earthquake could shake the poise of Caterina.</p> + +<p>The door swung slowly open. The nature of Caterina +was cautious and she never opened a door quickly.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Caterina," said Robert. "Is Master +Jacobus in? I stayed away a bit longer than I intended,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +and I wish to make my apologies to him, if I've caused +him any inconvenience."</p> + +<p>The mouth of Caterina, a wide cleft, opened full as +slowly as the door and full as steadily, and her eyes +seemed to swell at the same time. But she did not utter +a word. Words might be forming in her throat, though +they were not able to pass her lips. But Robert saw +amazement and joy in her eyes. She knew him. That +was evident. It was equally evident that she had been +struck dumb, so he grasped her large and muscular hand +and said:</p> + +<p>"I've come back, Caterina, a trifle late 'tis true, but +as you see I'm here. It's not my fault that I've been +delayed a little. I hope that Master Jacobus is well. I +know he's in his study as the odor of his pipe comes floating +to me, a pleasant odor too, Caterina; I've missed it."</p> + +<p>"Aye! Aye!" said Caterina. It was all she could manage +to say, but suddenly she seized his hand, and fell to +kissing it.</p> + +<p>"Don't do that, Caterina!" exclaimed Robert, pulling +his hand away. "You're glad to see me and I'm glad to +see you. I'm no ghost. I'm solid and substantial, at +least ten pounds heavier than I was when I went away +suddenly at the invitation of others. And now, Caterina, +since you've lost your voice I'll go in and have a talk with +Master Jacobus."</p> + +<p>Caterina's mouth and eyes were still opening wider +and wider, but as Robert gave her an affectionate pat +on the shoulder she managed to gasp:</p> + +<p>"You haf come back! you wass dead, but you wouldn't +stay dead."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's it, Caterina, I wouldn't stay dead, or +rather I was lost, but I wouldn't stay lost. I'll go in now +and see Master Jacobus."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>He walked past her toward the odor of the pipe that +came from the study and library of Mr. Huysman, and +Caterina stood by the door, still staring at him, her mouth +opening wider and wider. No such extraordinary thing +had ever happened before in the life of Caterina, and +yet it was a happy marvel, one that filled her with gratitude.</p> + +<p>The door of Mr. Huysman's room was open and Robert +saw him very clearly before he entered, seated in a +great chair of mahogany and hair cloth, smoking his long +hooked pipe and looking thoughtfully now and then at +some closely written sheets of foolscap that he held in his +hand. He was a solid man of the most solid Dutch ancestry, +solid physically and mentally, and he looked it. +Nothing could shake his calm soul, and it was a waste of +time to try to break anything to him gently. Good news +or bad news, it was well to be out with it, and Robert +knew it. So he stepped into the room, sat down in a +chair near that of Mr. Huysman and said:</p> + +<p>"I hope, sir, that I've not caused you any inconvenience. +I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long."</p> + +<p>Master Jacobus turned and regarded him thoughtfully. +Then he took one long puff at his pipe, removed it from +his mouth, and blew the smoke in spirals towards the +ceiling.</p> + +<p>"Robert," he said, after an inspection of a full minute, +"why were you in such a hurry about coming back? +Are you sure you did everything you should before you +came? You wass sometimes a hasty lad."</p> + +<p>"I can't recall, sir, anything that I've neglected. Also, +I wiped my shoes on the porch and I shut the door when +I came in, as Caterina used to bid me do."</p> + +<p>"It iss well. It shows that you are learning at last.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +Caterina and I haf had much trouble teaching manners to +you and that young Onondaga scamp, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>"As we grow older, sir, we have more desire to learn. +We're better able to perceive the value of good advice."</p> + +<p>Master Jacobus Huysman put the stem of his long +pipe back in his mouth, took the very longest draught +upon it that he had ever drawn, removed it again, sent +the smoke rushing in another beautiful spear of spirals +toward the ceiling, and, then, for the first and last time +in his life, he lost all control over himself. Springing +to his feet he seized Robert by both hands and nearly +wrung them off.</p> + +<p>"Robert, my lost lad!" he exclaimed. "It iss you! +it iss really you! I knew that you wass dead, and, yet +when you walked into the room, I knew that it wass you +alive! Your face iss changed! your look iss changed! +your manner iss changed! you are older, but I would +have known you anywhere and at the first glance! You +do not understand how much you took out of my life +when you went, and you do not know how much you +have brought back when you come again! I do not ask +why you left or where you have been, you can tell it all +when you are ready! It iss enough that you are here!"</p> + +<p>Tears rose in Robert's eyes and he was not ashamed +of them. He knew that his welcome would be warm, but +it had been even warmer than he had expected.</p> + +<p>"I did not go away of my own accord, sir," he said. +"I could not have been so heartless as that. I've a wonderful +tale to tell, and, as soon as you give me all the +news about my friends, I'll tell it."</p> + +<p>"Take your time, Robert, take your time. Maybe you +are hungry. The kitchen iss full of good things. Let +me call Caterina, and she will bring you food."</p> + +<p>The invitation of the good Mynheer Jacobus, a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +natural thought with him, eased the tension. Robert +laughed.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, sir," he said, "but I cannot eat now. +Later I'll show you that I haven't lost my ability at the +trencher, but I'd like to hear now about Tayoga and +Dave."</p> + +<p>"They're gone into the northern forests to take part +in the great expedition that's now arranging against +Quebec. We hunted long, but we could discover no trace +of you, not a sign, and then there was no conclusion left +but the river. You had been murdered and thrown into +the Hudson. Your body could not disappear in any other +way, and we wass sure it must have been the spy Garay +who did the foul deed. Only Tayoga kept any hope. +He said that you wass watched over by Manitou and by +his own patron saint, Tododaho, and though you might +be gone long, Manitou and Tododaho would bring you +back again. But we thought it wass only a way he had +of trying to console himself for the loss of his friend. +Willet had no hope. I wass sorry, sorry in my soul for +David. He loved you as a son, Robert, and the blow +wass one from which he could never have recovered. +When all hope wass gone he and Tayoga plunged into +the forest, partly I think to forget, and I suppose they +have been risking the hair on their heads every day in +battle with the French and Indians."</p> + +<p>"It is certain that they won't shirk any combat," said +Robert. "Valiant and true! No one was ever more +valiant and true than they are!"</p> + +<p>"It iss so, and there wass another who took it hard, +very hard. I speak of Benjamin Hardy of New York. +I wrote him the letter telling him all that we knew, and +I had a reply full of grief. He took it as hard as Willet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was almost worth it to be lost a while to discover +what good and powerful friends I have."</p> + +<p>"You have them! You have them! And now I think, +Robert, that the time draws nigh for you to know who +you are. No, not now! You must wait yet a little +longer. Believe me, Robert, it iss for good reasons."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Mr. Huysman! I know it must be so! +But I know also there is one who will not rejoice because +I've come back! I mean Adrian Van Zoon!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Robert, what do you know of Adrian Van +Zoon?"</p> + +<p>"I was told by a dying man to beware of him, and I've +always heard that dying men speak the truth. And this +was a dying man who was in a position to know. I'm +sure his advice was meant well and was based on knowledge. +I think, Mr. Huysman, that I shall have a large +score to settle with Adrian Van Zoon."</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe you have. But tell me, lad, how you +were lost and how you came back."</p> + +<p>So, Robert told the long story again, as he had told +it to Elihu Strong, though he knew that he was telling +it now to one who took a deeper and more personal interest +in him than Colonel Strong, good friend though +the latter was. Jacobus Huysman had settled back into +his usual calm, smoking his long pipe, and interrupting +at rare intervals with a short question or two.</p> + +<p>"It iss a wonderful story," he said, when Robert finished, +"and I can see that your time on the island wass +not wholly lost. You gained something there, Robert, +my lad. I cannot tell just what it iss, but I can see it in +you."</p> + +<p>"I feel that way myself, sir."</p> + +<p>"No time iss ever lost by the right kind of a man. We +can put every hour to some profit, even if it iss not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +kind of profit we first intended. But I will not preach +to one who hass just risen from the dead. Are you sure, +Robert, you will not have a dinner now? We have +some splendid fish and venison and sausage and beef! +Just a plate of each! It will do you good!"</p> + +<p>Robert declined again, but his heart was very full. He +knew that Master Jacobus felt deep emotion, despite his +calmness of manner, and this was a way he had of giving +welcome. To offer food and to offer it often was +one of the highest tributes he could pay.</p> + +<p>"I could wish," he said, "that you would go to New +York and stay with Benjamin Hardy, but as you will +not do it, I will not ask it. I know that nothing on earth +can keep you from going into the woods and joining +Willet and Tayoga, and so I will help you to find them. +Robert Rogers, the ranger leader, will be here to-morrow, +and he starts the next day into the north with a force +of his. He can find Willet and Tayoga, and you can +go with him."</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be better, sir. I know him well. We've +fought side by side in the forest. Is he going to lead +his rangers against Quebec?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Maybe so, and maybe he will have +some other duty, but in any event he goes up by the +lakes, and you're pretty sure to find Tayoga and Willet +in that direction. I know that you will go, Robert, but +I wish you would stay."</p> + +<p>"I must go, and if you'll pardon me for saying it, sir, +you won't wish in your heart that I would stay. You'd +be ashamed of me, if I were to do so."</p> + +<p>Mr. Huysman made no answer, but puffed a little +harder on his pipe. Very soon he sent for Master Alexander +McLean, and that thin dry man, coming at once, +shook hands with Robert, released his hand, seized and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +shook it a second and a third time with more energy than +ever. Mr. McLean, an undemonstrative man, had never +been known to do such a thing before, and he was never +known to do it again. Master Jacobus regarded him with +staring eyes.</p> + +<p>"Alexander iss stirred! He iss stirred mightily to +make such a display of emotion," he said under his +breath.</p> + +<p>"Robert hass been away on an island all by himself, +eight or nine months or more," he added, aloud.</p> + +<p>"And of course," said Master McLean, who had recovered +his usual calm, "he forgot all his classical learning +while he was there. I do not know where his island is, +but desert islands are not conducive to a noble education."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, sir," said Robert, "I learned more +about good literature when I was there than I ever did +anywhere else, save when I sat under you."</p> + +<p>"'Tis clearly impossible. In such a place you could +make no advancement in learning save by communing +with yourself."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, sir, happy chance gave me a supply +of splendid books. I had Shakespeare, Marlowe, Beaumont +and Fletcher, translations of Homer and of other +great Greeks and Latins."</p> + +<p>Mr. McLean's frosty eyes beamed.</p> + +<p>"What a wonderful opportunity!" he said. "Eight or +nine months on a desert island with the best of the +classics, and nobody to disturb you! No such chance +will ever come to me, I fear. Which book of the Iliad is +the finest, Robert?"</p> + +<p>"The first, I think. 'Tis the noble opening, the solemn +note of tragedy that enchains the attention of us all."</p> + +<p>"Well answered. But I wish to make a confession to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +you and Jacobus, one that would shock nearly all scholars, +yet I think that I must speak it out, to you two at +least, before I die. There are times when my heart +warms to the Odyssey more than it does to the Iliad. +The personal appeal is stronger in the Odyssey. There +is more romance, more charm. The interest is concentrated +in Ulysses and does not scatter as it does in the +Iliad, where Hector is undoubtedly the most sympathetic +figure. And the coming home of Ulysses arouses emotion +more than anything in the Iliad. Now, I have made +my confession—I suppose there is something in the life +of every man that he ought to hide—but be the consequences +what they may I am glad I have made it."</p> + +<p>Mr. McLean rose from his chair and then sat down +again. Twice that day he had been shaken by emotion +as never before, once by the return of the lad whom he +loved, risen from the dead, and once by the confession +of a terrible secret that had haunted him for years.</p> + +<p>"When I was on the island I reread both books in +excellent translations," said Robert, the utmost sympathy +showing in his voice, "and I confess, sir, though my +opinion is a poor one, that it agrees with yours. Moreover, +sir, you have said it ahead of me. I shall maintain +it, whenever and wherever it is challenged."</p> + +<p>Mr. McLean's frosty blue eyes gleamed again, and his +sharp strong chin set itself at a firm defiant angle. It +was clear that he was relieved greatly.</p> + +<p>"Have a pipe, Alexander," said Master Jacobus. "A +good pipe is a splendid fortifier of both body and soul, +after a great crisis."</p> + +<p>Mr. McLean accepted a pipe and smoked it with methodical +calm. Robert saw that a great content was +settling upon both him and Mr. Huysman, and, presently, +the burgher began to tell him news of vital importance,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +news that they had not known even in Boston when he +left. It seemed that the Albany men had channels +through Canada itself, by which they learned quickly of +great events in the enemy's camp.</p> + +<p>"Wolfe with his fleet and army will be in the Gulf of +St. Lawrence very soon," said Master Jacobus, "and by +autumn they will certainly appear before Quebec. Whatever +happens there it will not be another Duquesne, nor +yet a Ticonderoga. You must know, Robert, that the +great merchants of the great ports get the best of information +from England and from France too, because it is +to their interest to do so. Mr. Pitt iss a great minister, +the greatest that England hass had in centuries, a very +great man."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Strong said the same, sir."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Strong hass the same information that we +have. He iss one of our group. And the new general, +Wolfe, iss a great man too. Young and sickly though he +may be, he hass the fire, the genius, the will to conquer, +to overcome everything that a successful general must +have. I feel sure that he will be more than a match for +Montcalm, and so does Alexander. As you know, Robert, +Wolfe iss not untried. He was the soul of the Louisbourg +attack last year. People said the taking of the +place was due mostly to him, and they've called him the +'Hero of Louisbourg.'"</p> + +<p>"You almost make me wish, sir, that I had accepted +the offer of Captain Whyte and had gone on to Louisbourg."</p> + +<p>"Do not worry yourself. If you find Willet and +Tayoga, as you will, you can reach Quebec long before +Wolfe can achieve much. He hass yet to gather his +forces and go up the St. Lawrence. Armies and fleets +are not moved in a day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know what Rogers' immediate duties are?"</p> + +<p>"I do not, but I think he iss to help the movement that +General Amherst is going to conduct with a strong force +against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Oh, Mr. Pitt hass +a great plan as becomes a great man, and Canada will be +assailed on all sides. I hear talk too that Rogers will +also be sent to punish the St. Francis Indians who have +ravaged the border."</p> + +<p>They talked a while longer, and Robert listened, intent, +eager. The burgher and the schoolmaster had the +vision of statesmen. They were confident that England +and the colonies would achieve complete success, +that all defeats and humiliations would be wiped away +by an overwhelming triumph. Their confidence in Pitt +was wonderful. That sanguine and mighty mind had +sent waves of energy and enthusiasm to the farthest +limits of the British body politic, whether on one side of +the Atlantic or the other, and it was a singular, but true, +fact, that the wisest were those who believed in him +most.</p> + +<p>Mr. McLean went away, after a while, and Robert took +a walk in the town, renewing old acquaintances and +showing to them how one could really rise from the dead, +a very pleasant task. Yet he longed with all his soul for +the forest, and his comrades of the trail. His condition +of life on the island had been mostly mental. It had +been easy there to subsist. His physical activities had +not been great, save when he chose to make them so, and +now he swung to the other extreme. He wished to think +less and to act more, and he shared with Mr. Huysman +and Mr. McLean the belief that the coming campaign +would win for England and her colonies a complete +triumph.</p> + +<p>He too thrilled at the name of Pitt. The very sound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +of the four letters seemed to carry magic everywhere, +with the young English officers on the ship, in Boston, +in Albany, and he had noticed too that it inspired the +same confidence at the little towns at which they stopped +on their way across Massachusetts. Like a blast on the +horn of the mighty Roland, the call of Pitt was summoning +the English-speaking world to arms. Robert little +dreamed then, despite the words of Colonel Strong, that +the great cleavage would come, and that the call would +not be repeated until more than a century and a half had +passed, though then it would sound around the world +summoning new English-speaking nations not then born.</p> + +<p>Rogers, the famous ranger, upon whom Tayoga had +bestowed the name Mountain Wolf, arrived the next +day, bringing with him fifty men whom he supplied with +ammunition for one of his great raids. The rest of his +band was waiting for him near the southern end of Lake +George, and he could stay only a few hours in Albany. +He gave Robert a warm welcome.</p> + +<p>"I remember you well, Mr. Lennox," he said. "We've +had some hard fighting together around Lake George +against St. Luc, Tandakora and the others, but I think +the battle line will shift far northward now. Amherst +is going to swoop down on Ticonderoga and Crown +Point, and Sir William Johnson, well of his wound, is +to march against Niagara. I'll punish the St. Regis +Indians for all their barbarities. Oh, it's to be a great +campaign, and I'll tell you a secret too."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"We're to have St. Luc against us near the lakes once +more. Could you ask for a better antagonist?"</p> + +<p>Robert smiled at the man's eagerness, but his heart +throbbed, as always, at the mention of the great French +chevalier's name.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He'll give us all we can do," he said.</p> + +<p>"That's why I want to meet him," said Rogers. "The +whole northern frontier is going to be ablaze."</p> + +<p>Robert left that very day with Rogers and his men. +Mr. Huysman purchased for him a splendid equipment +which he forced him to accept, and he and Mr. McLean +bade him good-by, while Caterina wept in her apron.</p> + +<p>"Don't fear for me," said Robert, who was much +moved. "Mr. Pitt will bring us all victory. His first +efforts failed at Ticonderoga, as we know, but now he +has all his forces moving on all fronts, and he's bound +to succeed. You've said that yourselves."</p> + +<p>"So we have, Robert," said Mr. Huysman, "and we +shall watch for your return, confident that you'll come."</p> + +<p>The next day the rangers, Robert with them, were far +to the north of Albany, and then they plunged into the +deep woods. Robert rejoiced at the breath of the forest +now in its freshest green, not yet faded by summer heats. +He had grown to love his island, but it was not like the +mighty wilderness of North America, in which he had +spent so much of his life. He kept at the head of the +column, side by side with the Mountain Wolf, and his +step was so strong and elastic that Rogers took approving +notice.</p> + +<p>"You like the woods, Robert," he said. "Well, so +do I. It's the only place where a man can live a free +life."</p> + +<p>"I like the woods and the towns too," said Robert. +"Each in its place. Where do we camp to-night?"</p> + +<p>"By a little lake, a few miles farther on, and as we're +not yet in the Indian country we'll make it a fire camp."</p> + +<p>The lake covered only two or three acres, but it was +set in high hills, and it was as clear as crystal. A great +fire was built near the shore, two or three of the rangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +caught plenty of fish for all, and they were broiled over +the coals. Game had become so plentiful, owing to +the ravages of the war, that a fat deer was shot near the +water, and, when they added coffee and samp from their +own stores, they had a feast.</p> + +<p>Robert ate with a tremendous appetite, and then, wrapping +himself in his blanket, lay down under a tree. But +he did not go to sleep for a long time. He was full of +excitement. All the omens and signs told him that he +was coming into the thick of events once more, and he +felt also that he would soon see Willet and Tayoga again. +He would encounter many perils, but for the present +at least he did not fear them. Much of his vivid youth +was returning to him.</p> + +<p>He saw the surface of the lake from where he lay, +a beautiful silver in the clear moonlight, and he could +even perceive wild fowl swimming at the far edge, unfrightened +by the presence of man, or by the fires that he +built. The skies were a great silver curve, in which +floated a magnificent moon and noble stars in myriads. +There was the one on which Tayoga's Tododaho lived, +and so powerful was Robert's fancy that he believed he +could see the great Onondaga sage with the wise snakes +in his hair. And there too was the star upon which +Hayowentha lived and the Onondaga and the Mohawk +undoubtedly talked across space as they looked down on +their people.</p> + +<p>Out of the forest came the calls of night birds, and +Robert saw one shoot down upon the lake and then rise +with a fish in its talons. He almost expected to see the +dusky figure of Tandakora creep from the bush, and he +knew at least that the Ojibway chief would be somewhere +near the lakes. Beyond a doubt they would encounter +him and his warriors as they pressed into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +north. Rogers, noticing that he was not asleep, sat down +beside him and said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Mr. Lennox, when you find Tayoga and +Willet that you'll go with Amherst's army against Ticonderoga +and Crown Point. A great force has gathered +to take those places."</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure," said Robert, "I think it depends +largely upon what Tayoga and Dave have planned, but I +want to go against Quebec, and I think they will too. +Still, I'd like to see our defeat at Ticonderoga atoned for. +It's a place that we ought to have, and Crown Point too."</p> + +<p>"A scout that I sent out has come in," said Rogers, +"and he says he's seen an Indian trail, not big enough to +be of any danger to us, but it shows we'll have 'em to deal +with before long, though this is south of their usual +range. I hear an owl hooting now, and if I didn't know +it was a real owl I could think it was Tandakora himself."</p> + +<p>"I hear it too," said Robert, "and I'm not so sure that +it's a real owl. Do you think that any band will try to +cut us off before we reach Amherst and the lake?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say, but my faith in the owl, Robert, is beginning +to shake too. It may be an Indian belonging to +the band that the scout told about, but I still don't think +we're in any danger of attack. We're in too small force +to try it down here, but they might cut off a straggler."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to help keep the watch."</p> + +<p>"We won't need you to-night, but I may call on you +to-morrow night, so it's my advice to you to sleep now."</p> + +<p>The Mountain Wolf walked away to look at his outposts—he +was not one ever to neglect any precaution—and +Robert, knowing that his advice was good, closed +his eyes, trying to sleep. But his hearing then became +more acute, and the long, lonesome note of the owl came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +with startling dreams. Its cry was in the west, and after +a while another owl in the north answered it. Robert +wished that Tayoga was with him. He would know, but +as for himself he could not tell whether or no the owls +were real. They might be Indians, and if so they would +probably, when they gathered sufficient force, throw +themselves across the path of the rangers and offer battle. +This presence too indicated that Tayoga and Willet +might be near, because it was against just such bands +that they guarded, and once more his heart beat fast.</p> + +<p>He opened his eyes to find that the beauty of the night +had deepened, if that were possible. The little lake was +molten silver, and the forest seemed silver too under +silver skies. The moon, large and benignant, smiled +down on the earth, not meant, so Robert thought, for +battle. But the two owls were still calling to each other, +and now he was convinced that they were Indians and +not owls. He was really back in the wilderness, where +there was no such thing as peace, the wilderness that +had seldom ever known peace. But believing with Rogers +that the force was too strong to be attacked he fell asleep, +at last, and awoke to another bright summer day.</p> + +<p>They resumed the advance with great caution. Rogers +did not go directly toward the force of Amherst, but +bore more toward the west, thinking it likely that he +would have to meet the force of Sir William Johnson +who was to coöperate with Prideaux in the attack on +Niagara.</p> + +<p>"Sir William has entirely recovered from the wound +he received at the Battle of Lake George," Rogers said +to Robert, "and he's again taking a big part in the war. +We have Louisbourg and Duquesne, and now, if we take +Niagara and Ticonderoga and Crown Point, we can +advance in great force on Quebec and Montreal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So we can," said Robert, "but there are those owls +again, hooting in the daytime, and I'm quite sure now +they're Indians."</p> + +<p>"I think so too, and it begins to look as if they meant +an attack. Every mile here brings us rapidly nearer to +dangerous country. I'll send out two more scouts."</p> + +<p>Two of his best men were dispatched, one on either +flank, but both came in very soon with reports of imminent +danger. Trails were seen, and they had grown in +size. One found the trace of a gigantic moccasin, and +it was believed to be that of Tandakora. Many scouts +knew his footstep. There was no other so large in the +north. Rogers' face was grave.</p> + +<p>"I think they're going to try to cut us off before we +reach the bigger part of my force," he said. "If so, +we'll give 'em a fight. You'll be in the thick of it much +earlier than you expected, Robert."</p> + +<p>Robert also was inclined to that opinion, but he was +still confident they could not be menaced by any very +large party, and he remained in that belief the next night, +when they made their camp on a little hill, covered with +bushes, but with open country on every side, an excellent +site for defense. They ate another plentiful supper, +then put out their fire, posted sentinels and waited.</p> + +<p>Robert was among the sentinels, and Rogers, who had +made him second in command until he was reunited with +his main force, stood by him in the first hour while they +waited. There was again a splendid moon and plenty of +fine stars, shedding a brilliant glow over the forest, and +they believed they could see any enemy who tried to +approach, especially as the hill was surrounded on all +sides by a stretch of open.</p> + +<p>"It's a good place for a camp," said the Mountain Wolf,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +looking around with approval. "I believe they'll scarce +venture to attack us here."</p> + +<p>"But there are the owls," said Robert. "They're at +least thinking about it."</p> + +<p>The long mournful cry came from the depths of the +forest, and then it was repeated a second and a third time +at other points.</p> + +<p>"The owls that send forth those calls," said Robert, +"don't sit on the boughs of trees."</p> + +<p>"No," said Rogers; "it's the warriors, not a doubt of +it, and they'll be stealing in on us before long."</p> + +<p>But several hours passed before there was any stir in +the forest beyond the open. Then a rifle cracked there, +but no one heard the impact of the bullet. Rogers +laughed scornfully.</p> + +<p>"Their lead fell short," he said. "How could they +expect to hit any of us at such a range, and they not the +best of marksmen even in the daylight. They can't hope +to do any more than to keep us awake."</p> + +<p>The rangers made no reply to the shot, they would +not deign it with such notice, but the guard was doubled, +while the others remained in their blankets. A half hour +more passed, and a second shot came, but from a point +much nearer.</p> + +<p>"They're trying to steal forward through the grass that +grows tall down there," said Rogers. "They're more bent +on battle than I thought they'd be. It seems that they +mean to stalk us, so we'll just stalk 'em back."</p> + +<p>Four of the rangers, fine sharpshooters, edged their +way along the slope, and, when the warriors among the +trees fired, pulled trigger by the flash of their rifles. It +was difficult to hit any one in such a manner, and more +than twenty shots were fired by the two sides, before a +death shout was uttered. Then it came from the forest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +and Robert knew that one warrior was gone. He was +taking no present part in the battle himself, held like +the bulk of the force in reserve, but he was an intent +observer. Rogers, the daring leader of the rangers, still +standing by his side, took it all as a part of his daily work, +which in truth it was.</p> + +<p>"I think it was Thayer who brought down that warrior," +he said. "Thayer is one of the bravest men I +ever saw, and a great scout and trailer. He'd be worthy +to go with Willet and Tayoga and you. Ah, there goes +a second death shout! Any one who seeks a brush with +these boys of mine does it at his own risk."</p> + +<p>He spoke proudly, but one of his own men came creeping +back presently with a wound in his shoulder. Rogers +himself bound it up and the man lay down in his blanket, +confident that in a week he could resume his place in the +campaign. Those who lived the life he did had, of necessity, +bodies as hard as iron.</p> + +<p>The deadly skirmishing died down repeatedly, but, +after a little while, it was always renewed. Though the +warriors were getting the worst of it, they persisted in the +attack, and Robert knew they must have some motive, +not yet evident.</p> + +<p>"Either they hope to frighten us back, or they mean +to hold us until a much bigger force comes up," he said.</p> + +<p>"One or the other," said Rogers, "but I don't believe +any big band would venture down here. The hope to +frighten us seems the more likely."</p> + +<p>The combat, drawn out long and with so little result, +annoyed Robert intensely. As he saw it, it could have +no decisive effect upon anything and was more than +futile, it was insensate folly. The original time set for +his watch was over long since and he wanted to roll himself +in his blanket and find slumber, but those ferocious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +warriors would not let him. Despite their losses, they +still hung around the hill, and, giving up the attempt to +stalk the defenders through the grass, fired long shots +from the cover of the forest. Another ranger was +wounded by a chance bullet, but Rogers, skillful and +cautious, refused to be drawn from the shelter of the +bushes on the hill.</p> + +<p>Thus the fitful and distant combat was waged until +dawn. But with the rise of a brilliant sun, throwing a +clear light over the whole wilderness, the warriors drew +off and the rangers resumed their march.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE REUNION</h3> + + +<p>Willet, the hunter, and Tayoga, the great young +Onondaga trailer, were walking through the +northern woods, examining forest and bush +very cautiously as they advanced, knowing that the danger +from ambushed warriors was always present. Willet +was sadder and sterner than of old, while the countenance +of the Onondaga was as grave and inscrutable as ever, +though he looked older, more mature, more the mighty +forest runner.</p> + +<p>"Think you, Tayoga," said the hunter, "that Tandakora +and his men have dared to come into this region again?"</p> + +<p>"Tandakora will dare much," replied the Onondaga. +"Though he is full of evil, we know that well. The +French still hold Ticonderoga, and he can use it as a +base for bands much farther south."</p> + +<p>"True, but I don't think they'll have Ticonderoga, or +Crown Point, either, long. Amherst is gathering too big +an army and there is no Montcalm to defend them. The +Marquis will have his hands full and overflowing, +defending Quebec against Wolfe. We've held both +Duquesne and Louisbourg a long while now. We've +smashed the French line at both ends, and Mr. Pitt is +going to see that it's cut in the center too. How I wish +that Robert were alive to see the taking of Ticonderoga!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +He saw all the great defeat there and he was entitled to +this recompense."</p> + +<p>He sighed deeply.</p> + +<p>"It may be, Great Bear," said Tayoga, "that Dagaeoga +will see the taking of Ticonderoga. No one has ever +looked upon his dead body. How then do we know that +he is dead?"</p> + +<p>Willet shook his head.</p> + +<p>"'Tis no use, Tayoga," he said. "The lad was murdered +by Garay and the river took his body away. Why, +it will be a year this coming autumn since he disappeared, +and think you if he were alive he couldn't have come back +in that time! 'Tis the part of youth to hope, and it does +you credit, but the matter is past hope now. We've all +given up except you."</p> + +<p>"When only one hopes, Great Bear, though all others +have failed, there is still hope left. Last night I saw +Tododaho on his star very clearly. He looked down at +me, smiled and seemed to speak. I could not hear his +words, but at the time I was thinking of Dagaeoga. Since +Tododaho sits with the great gods, and is one of them, +he knew my thoughts, and, if he smiled when I was +thinking of Dagaeoga, he meant to give me hope."</p> + +<p>The hunter again shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>"You thought you saw it, because you wished it so +much," he said, "or maybe the promise of Tododaho was +for the future, the hereafter."</p> + +<p>"For the hereafter we need no special promise, Great +Bear. That has always been made to all of us by Manitou +himself, but I was thinking of Dagaeoga alive, present +with us in this life, when Tododaho smiled down on +me. I hold it in my heart, Great Bear, as a sign, a +promise."</p> + +<p>Willet shook his head for the third time, and with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +increasing sadness, but said nothing more. If Tayoga +cherished such a hope it was a consolation, a beautiful +thing, and he was not one to destroy anybody's faith.</p> + +<p>"Do you know this region?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I was through here once with the Mohawk chief, +Daganoweda," replied Tayoga. "It is mostly in heavy +forest, and, since the war has gone on so long and the +settlers have gone away, there has been a great increase in +the game."</p> + +<p>"Aye, I know there'll be no trouble on that point. If +our own supplies give out it won't take long to find a +deer or a bear. It's a grand country in here, Tayoga, and +sometimes it seems a pity to one that it should ever be +settled by white people, or, for that matter, by red either. +Let it remain a wilderness, and let men come in, just a +little while every year, to hunt."</p> + +<p>"Great Bear talks wisdom, but it will not be done his +way. Men have been coming here a long time now to +fight and not to hunt. See, Great Bear, here is a footprint +now to show that some one has passed!"</p> + +<p>"'Twas made by the moccasin of a warrior. A chance +hunter."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we follow it, Great Bear. It is our business +to keep guard and carry word to Amherst."</p> + +<p>"Good enough. Lead and I'll follow."</p> + +<p>"It is not the step of a warrior hunting," said Tayoga, +as they pursued the traces. "The paces are even, regular +and long. He goes swiftly, not looking for anything as +he goes, but because he wishes to reach a destination as +soon as possible. Ah, now he stopped and he leaned +against this bush, two of the stems of which are broken! +I do not know what he stopped for, Great Bear, but it +may have been to give a signal, though that is but a surmise. +Now he goes on, again walking straight and swift.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +Ah, another trail coming from the west joining his and +the two warriors walk together!"</p> + +<p>The two followed the double trail a mile or more in +silence, and then it was joined by the traces of three more +warriors. The five evidently had stood there, talking a +little while, after which they had scattered.</p> + +<p>"Now, what does that mean?" exclaimed the hunter.</p> + +<p>"I think if we follow every one of the five trails," said +Tayoga, "we will find that the men lay down in the bush. +It is certain in my mind, Great Bear, that they were preparing +for a battle, and they were but a part of a much +larger force hidden in these thickets."</p> + +<p>"Now, that's interesting, Tayoga. Let's look around +and see if we can find where more of the warriors lay."</p> + +<p>They circled to the right, and presently they came upon +traces where three men had knelt behind bushes. The +imprints of both knees and toes were plain.</p> + +<p>"They were here a long time," said Tayoga, "because +they have moved about much within a little space. In +places the ground is kneaded by their knees. And lo! +Great Bear, here on the bush several of the young leaves +are burned. Now, you and I know well what alone would +do that at such a time."</p> + +<p>"It was done by the flash from a big musket, such a +musket as those French Indians carry."</p> + +<p>"It could have been nothing else. I think if we go still +farther around the curve we will find other bushes behind +which other warriors kneeled and fired, and maybe +other leaves scorched by the flash of big muskets."</p> + +<p>A hundred yards more and they saw that for which +they looked. The signs were just the same as at the +other places.</p> + +<p>"Now, it is quite clear to you and me, Great Bear," said +the Onondaga, "that these men, posted along a curving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +line, were firing at something. They were here a long +time, as the numerous and crowded footprints at every +place show. They could not have been firing at game, +because there were too many of them, and the game +would not have stayed to be fired at so long. Therefore, +Great Bear, and you know it as well as I, they must have +been in battle. All the points of ambush to which we +have come are at an almost equal distance from some +other point."</p> + +<p>"Which, Tayoga, is that hill yonder, crowned with +bushes, but with bare slopes, a good place for a defense, +and just about a long rifle or musket shot from the forest +here."</p> + +<p>"So it is, Great Bear. It could be nothing else. The +defenders lay among the bushes on top of the hill, and the +battle was fought in the night, because those who attacked +were not numerous enough to push a combat in +the day. The defenders must have been white men, as +we know from the footprints here that the assailants were +warriors. Ah, here are other traces, Great Bear, and +here are more, all trodden about in the same manner, +indicating a long stay, and all at about an equal distance +from the hill! I think the warriors lay in the forest all +night firing upon the hill, and probably doing little damage. +But they suffered more hurt themselves. See, +here are faint traces of blood, yet staining the grass, and +here is a trail leading out of the bushes and into the grass +that lines the slopes of the hill. The trail goes forward, +and then it comes back. It is quite clear to both of us, +Dagaeoga, that a warrior, creeping through the long +grass, tried to stalk the hill, but met a bullet instead. +Those who lay upon the hill and defended themselves +were not asleep. They could detect warriors who tried +to steal forward and secure good shots at them. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +they could fire at long range and hit their targets. Now, +soldiers know too little of the forest to do that, and so +it must have been scouts or rangers."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps some of the rangers belonging to Rogers. +We know that he's operating in this region."</p> + +<p>"It was in my thought too, Great Bear, that the rangers +of the Mountain Wolf lay on the hill. See, here is a +second trace of blood, and it also came from a warrior +who tried to stalk the hill, but who had to come back +again after he had been kissed by a bullet. The men up +there among the bushes never slept, and they allowed no +one of their enemies to come near enough for a good +shot with a musket. The chances are ninety-nine out +of a hundred that they were rangers, Great Bear, and +we may speak of them as rangers. Now, we come to a +spot where at least a dozen warriors lay, and, since their +largest force was here, it is probable that their chief +stayed at this spot. See, the small bones of the deer +picked clean are lying among the bushes. I draw from +it the opinion, and so do you, Great Bear, that the warriors +kept up the siege of the hill until dawn, because +at dawn they would be most likely to eat their breakfast, +and these little bones of the deer prove that they +did eat this breakfast here. Now, it is very probable +that they went away, since they could win nothing from +the defenders of the hill."</p> + +<p>"Here's their broad trail leading directly from the +hill."</p> + +<p>They followed the trail a little distance, finding those +of other warriors joining, until the total was about +forty. Willet laughed with quiet satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"They had all they wanted of the hill," he said, "and +they're off swiftly to see if they can't find easier prey +elsewhere."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And you and I, Great Bear, will go back and see +what happened on the hill, besides discovering somewhat +more about the identity of the defenders."</p> + +<p>"Long words, Tayoga, but good ones upon which we +can act. I'm anxious about the top of that hill myself."</p> + +<p>They went back and walked slowly up the hill. They +knew quite well that nobody was there now. The entire +forest scene had vanished, so far as the actors were concerned, +but few things disappear completely. The actors +could go, but they could not do so without leaving traces +which the two great scouts were able to read.</p> + +<p>"How long ago do you think all this happened, +Tayoga?" asked Willet.</p> + +<p>"Not many hours since," replied the Onondaga. "It +is mid-morning now, and we know that the warriors +departed at dawn. The people on the hill would stay +but a little while after their enemies had gone, and since +they were rangers they would not long remain blind to +the fact that they had gone."</p> + +<p>They pushed into the bushes, and were soon among +the traces left by the defenders.</p> + +<p>"Here is where the guard knelt," said Tayoga, as they +walked around the circle of the bushes, "and behind them +is where the men slept in their blankets. That is farther +proof that they were rangers. They had so much experience, +and they felt so little alarm that most of them slept +placidly, although they knew warriors were watching +below seeking to shoot them down. The character of the +footprints indicates that all of the defenders were white +men. Here is a trail that I have seen many times before, +so many times that I would know it anywhere. It is that +of the Mountain Wolf. He probably had a small part of +his rangers here and was on his way to join his main<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +force, to act either with Amherst or Waraiyageh (Sir +William Johnson). Of course he would depart with +speed as soon as his enemy was beaten off."</p> + +<p>"Altogether reasonable, Tayoga, and I'm glad Rogers +is in these parts again with his rangers. Our generals +will need him."</p> + +<p>"The Mountain Wolf stood here a long time," said +Tayoga. "He walked now and then to the right, and also +to the left, but he always came back to this place. He +stood here, because it is a little knoll, and from it he +could see better than from anywhere else into the forest +that hid the enemy below. The Mountain Wolf is a +wise man, a great forest fighter, and a great trailer, but +he was not alone when he stood here."</p> + +<p>"I suppose he had a lieutenant of course, a good man +whom he could trust. Every leader has such a helper."</p> + +<p>The Onondaga knelt and examined the traces minutely. +When he rose his eyes were blazing.</p> + +<p>"He did have a good helper, an able assistant, O Great +Bear!" he said. "He had one whom he trusted, one +whom I could trust, one whom you could trust. The +Mountain Wolf stood by this bush and talked often with +one whom we shall be very glad to see, O Great Bear, one +whom the Mountain Wolf himself was both surprised +and glad to see."</p> + +<p>"Your meaning is beyond me, Tayoga."</p> + +<p>"It will not be beyond you very long, O Great Bear! +When Tododaho, reading my thoughts, looked down on +me last night from the great star on which he has lived +four hundred years, and smiled upon me, his smile meant +what it said. The Hodenosaunee are the children of +Todohado and Hayowentha, and they never make sport +of them, nor of any one of them."</p> + +<p>"I'm still in the dark of the matter, Tayoga!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Does not Great Bear remember what I was thinking +about when Todohado smiled? What I said and always +believed is true, O Great Bear! I believed it against all +the world and I was right. Look at the traces beside +those of the Mountain Wolf! They are light and faint, +but look well at them, O Great Bear! I would know +them anywhere! I have seen them thousands of times, +and so has the Great Bear! Dagaeoga has come back! +He stood here beside the Mountain Wolf! He was on +this hill among the bushes all through the night, while +the rangers fought the warriors among the trees below! +He and the Mountain Wolf talked together and consulted +while they looked at the forest! Lo! my brother +Dagaeoga has come back out of the mists and vapors +into which he went nearly a year ago, for he is my +brother, though my skin is red and his is white, and he +has been my brother ever since we were little children +together! Lo! Great Bear, Dagaeoga has come back as +I told you, as I alone told you he would, and my heart +sings a song of joy within me, because I have loved my +brother! Look! look, Great Bear, and see where the living +Dagaeoga has walked, not six hours since!"</p> + +<p>Willet knelt and examined the traces. He too was a +great trailer, but he did not possess the superhuman instinct +that had come down through the generations to the +Onondaga. He merely saw traces, lighter than those +made by Rogers. But if his eyes could not, his mind did +tell him that Tayoga was right. The ring of conviction +was so strong in the voice of the Onondaga that Willet's +faith was carried with it.</p> + +<p>"It must be as you tell me, Tayoga," he said. "I do not +doubt it. Robert has been here with Rogers. He has +come back out of the mists and vapors that you tell +about, and he walked this hill in the living flesh only a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +few hours ago. Where could he have been? How has +it happened?"</p> + +<p>"That does not concern us just now, Great Bear. It +is enough to know that he is alive, and we rejoice in it. +Before many hours we shall speak with him, and then he +can tell his tale. I know it will be a strange and wonderful +one, and unless Degaeoga has lost his gift of +words, which I think impossible, it will lose no color in +the telling."</p> + +<p>"Let him spin what yarn he pleases, I care not. All +I ask is to put eyes on the lad again. It seems, when I +think of it in cold blood, that it can scarce be true, +Tayoga. You're sure you made no mistake about the +footsteps?"</p> + +<p>"None, Great Bear. It is impossible. I know as truly +that the living Dagaeoga stood on this hill six hours ago +as I know that you stand before me now."</p> + +<p>"Then lead on, Tayoga, and we'll follow the trail of +the rangers. We ought to overtake 'em by noon or soon +after."</p> + +<p>The broad path, left by the rangers, was like the trail +of an army to Tayoga, and they followed it at great +speed, keeping a wary eye for a possible ambush on either +side. The traces grew fresher and fresher, and Tayoga +read them with an eager eye.</p> + +<p>"The Mountain Wolf, Dagaeoga and the rangers are +walking rapidly," he said. "I think it likely that they +are going to join Amherst in his advance on Ticonderoga +or Crown Point, or maybe they will turn west and help +Waraiyageh, but, in either case, they do not feel any +alarm about the warriors with whom they fought last +night. Now and then the trail of a scout branches off +from their main trail, but it soon comes back again. +They feel quite sure that the warriors were only a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +roving band, and will not attack them again. The Mountain +Wolf and Dagaeoga walk side by side, and we can +surmise, Great Bear, that they talk much together. Perhaps +Dagaeoga was telling the Mountain Wolf where +he has been these many months, why he went away, +and why he chose to come back when he did out of the +mists and vapors. Dagaeoga is strong and well. Look +how his footprints show the length of his stride and how +steady and even it is! He walks stride for stride with +the Mountain Wolf, who as we know is six feet tall. +Dagaeoga has grown since he went away. He was strong +before he left, but he is stronger now. I think we shall +find, Great Bear, that while Dagaeoga was absent his +time was not lost. It may be that he gained by it."</p> + +<p>"I'm not thinking whether he has or not, Tayoga. +I'm glad enough to get the lad back on any terms. We're +making great speed now, and I think we ought to overtake +'em before long. The trail appears to grow a lot +fresher."</p> + +<p>"In an hour, Great Bear, we can signal to them. It +will be best to send forth a call, since one does not approach +in the forest, in war, without sending word ahead +that he is a friend, else he may be met by a bullet."</p> + +<p>"That's good and solid truth, Tayoga. We couldn't +have our meeting with Robert spoiled at the last moment +by a shot. But it's much too early yet to send out a +call."</p> + +<p>"So it is, Great Bear. I think, too, the rangers have +increased their speed. Their stride has lengthened, but, +as before, the Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga keep together. +They are great friends. You will recall that +they fought side by side on the shores of Andiatarocte."</p> + +<p>"I remember it well enough, Tayoga. Nobody could +keep from liking Robert. 'Tis a gallant spirit he has."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is so, Great Bear. He carries light wherever he +goes. Such as he are needed among us. Because of that +I never believed that Manitou had yet taken him to himself. +The rangers stopped here, sat on these fallen logs, +and ate food at noonday. There are little bones that they +threw away, and the birds, seeking shreds of food, are +still hopping about."</p> + +<p>"That's clear, Tayoga, and since they would probably +stay about fifteen minutes we ought to come within earshot +of them in another half hour."</p> + +<p>They pressed on at speed, and, within the appointed +time, they sank down in a dense clump of bushes, where +Tayoga sent forth the mellow, beautiful song of a bird, a +note that penetrated a remarkable distance in the still +day.</p> + +<p>"It is a call that Dagaeoga knows," he said. "We +have used it often in the forest."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the reply, exactly the same, faint +but clear, came back from the north. When the sound +died away, Tayoga imitated the bird again, and the second +reply came as before.</p> + +<p>"Now we will go forward and shake the hand of +Dagaeoga," said the Onondaga.</p> + +<p>Rising from the bush, the two walked boldly in the +direction whence the reply had come, and they found +a tall, straight young figure advancing to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Willet.</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga!" said the Onondaga.</p> + +<p>Each seized a hand of Robert and shook it. Their +meeting was not especially demonstrative, but their emotions +were very deep. They were bound together by +no common ties.</p> + +<p>"You've changed, Robert," said Willet, merely as a +sort of relief to his feelings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And you haven't, Dave," said Robert, with the same +purpose in view. "And you, Tayoga, you're the great +Onondaga chief you always were."</p> + +<p>"I hope to be a chief some day," said Tayoga simply, +"and then, when I am old enough, to be a sachem too, but +that rests with Tododaho and Manitou. Dagaeoga has +been away a long time, and we do not know where he +went, but since he has come back out of the mists and +vapors, it is well."</p> + +<p>"I understood your call at once," said Robert, "and as +you know I gave the reply. I came from Albany with +Rogers to find you, and I found you quicker than I had +hoped. We had a meeting with hostile warriors last +night, but we beat 'em off, and we've been pushing on +since then."</p> + +<p>"Your encounter last night was what enabled us to +find you so quickly," said Willet. "Tayoga read on the +ground the whole story of the combat. He understood +every trace. He recognized the footprints of Rogers and +then your own. He always believed that you'd come +back, but nobody else did. He was right, and everybody +else was wrong. You're bigger, Robert, and you're +graver than you were when you went away."</p> + +<p>"I've been where I had a chance to become both, Dave. +I'll tell you all about it later, for here's Rogers now, +waiting to shake hands with you too."</p> + +<p>"Welcome, old friend," said Rogers, grasping the +hunter's powerful hand in his own, almost as powerful, +"and you too Tayoga. If there's a finer lad in the wilderness +anywhere, I don't know it."</p> + +<p>They said little more at present, joining the group of +rangers and going on steadily until nightfall. On the +way Robert gave Willet and Tayoga an outline of what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +had happened to him, not neglecting the dying words of +the slaver.</p> + +<p>"It was the hand of Van Zoon," he said.</p> + +<p>"Aye, it was Van Zoon," said the hunter. "It was his +hand too that was raised against you that time in New +York. I've feared him on your account, Robert. It's +one reason why we've been so much in the forest. You +wonder why Huysman or Hardy or I don't tell you about +him, but all in good time. If we don't tell you now it's +for powerful reasons."</p> + +<p>"The others have told me so too," said Robert, "and +I'm not asking to know anything I oughtn't to know +now. If you put off such knowledge, Dave, I'm sure it +ought to be put off."</p> + +<p>They overtook the main body of the rangers that night, +and Rogers now had a force of more than two hundred +men, but information from his second in command decided +him to join in the great movement of Sir William +Johnson and Prideaux against Niagara. The duties of +Willet and Tayoga called them to Amherst, and of course +Robert went with them. So the next morning they parted +from Rogers.</p> + +<p>"I think there'll be big things to tell the next time we +meet," said Willet to Rogers. "Mr. Pitt doesn't make his +plans for nothing. He not only makes big plans, but he +prepares big armies and fleets to carry 'em out."</p> + +<p>"We have faith in him everywhere here," said Rogers, +"and I hear they've the same faith in him on the other +side of the Atlantic. The failure before Ticonderoga +didn't seem to weaken it a particle. Take care of yourselves, +my friends."</p> + +<p>It was a sincere farewell on both sides, but quickly +over, and the three pressed on to Amherst's camp, in the +valley near the head of Lake George, that had already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +seen so many warlike gatherings. Here a numerous and +powerful army, bent upon taking Ticonderoga and Crown +Point, was being trained already, and Robert, after visiting +it, looked once more and with emotion upon the +shores of Andiatarocte.</p> + +<p>Fate was continually calling him back to this lake +and Champlain, around which so much of American +story is wrapped. The mighty drama known as the Seven +Years' War, that involved nearly all the civilized world, +found many of its springs and also much of its culmination +here. The efforts made by the young British +colonies, and by the mother country, England, were +colossal, and the battles were great for the time. To +the colonies, and to those in Canada as well, the campaigns +were a matter of life or death. For the English +colonies the war, despite valor and heroic endurance, had +been going badly in the main, but now almost all felt +that a change was coming, and it seemed to be due +chiefly to one man, Pitt. It was Napoleon who said later +that "Men are nothing, a man is everything," but America, +as well as England, knew that in the Seven Years' +War Pitt, in himself, was more than an army—he was a +host. And America as well as England has known ever +since that there was never a greater Englishman, and +that he was an architect who built mightily for both.</p> + +<p>The future was not wholly veiled to Robert as he +looked down anew upon the glittering waters of Andiatarocte. +He had come in contact with the great forces +that were at work, he had vision anew and greater vision, +and he knew the gigantic character of the stakes for +which men played. If the French triumphed here in +America, then the old Bourbon monarchy, which Willet +told him was so diseased and corrupt, would appear triumphant +to all the world. It would invent new tyran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>nies, +the cause of liberty and growth would be set back +generations, and nobody would be trodden under the +heel more than the French people themselves. Robert +liked the French, and sometimes the thought occurred to +him that the English and Americans were fighting not +only their own battle but that of the French as well.</p> + +<p>He knew as he stood with Willet and Tayoga looking +at Lake George that the great crisis of the war was at +hand. All that had gone before was mere preparation. +He had felt the difference at once when he came back +from his island. The old indecision, doubt and despondency +were gone; now there was a mighty upward +surge. Everybody was full of hope, and the evidence +of one's own eyes showed that the Anglo-American line +was moving forward at all points. A great army would +soon be converging on Ticonderoga, where a great army +had been defeated the year before, but now there would +be no Montcalm to meet. He must be in Quebec to defend +the very citadel and heart of New France against +the army and fleet of Wolfe. The French in Canada +were being assailed on all sides, and the decaying Bourbon +monarchy could or would send no help. Robert's +occasional thought, that the English and Americans might +be fighting for the French as well as themselves, did not +project itself far enough to foresee that out of the ashes +left by the fall of Canada might spring another and far +stronger France.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I'm back here to join in the new advance +on Ticonderoga," said Robert. "As I was with Montcalm +and saw our army defeated when it ought not to +have been, I think it only a just decree of fate that I +should be here when it wins."</p> + +<p>"We'll take Ticonderoga this time, Robert. Never +fear," said Willet. "We'll advance with our artillery,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +and the French have no force there that can stop us. +Amherst is building a fort that he calls Edward, but +we'll never need it. He's very cautious, but it's as well, +our curse in this war has been the lack of caution, lack +of caution by both English and Americans. Still, that +over-confidence has a certain strength in it. You've +noticed how we endure disaster. We've had heavy defeats, +but we rise after every fall, and go into the combat +once more, stronger than we went before."</p> + +<p>The three spent some time with Amherst, and saw his +great force continue its preparation and drilling, until +at last the general thought they were fit to cope with anything +that lay before them. Then, a year lacking but +a few days after Abercrombie embarked with his great +army for the conquest of Ticonderoga, Amherst with +another army, mostly Americans, embarked upon the +same waters, and upon the same errand.</p> + +<p>Robert, Tayoga and Willet were in a canoe in the +van of the fleet. They were roving scouts, held by the +orders of nobody, and they could do as they pleased, but +for the present they pleased to go forward with the army. +Robert and Tayoga were paddling with powerful strokes, +while Willet watched the shores, the lake and the long +procession. The sun was brilliant, but there was a +strong wind off the mountains and the boats rocked heavily +in the waves. Nevertheless, the fleet, carrying its +artillery with it, bore steadily on.</p> + +<p>"The French have as big a force at Ticonderoga as +they had when Montcalm defeated Abercrombie," said +the hunter, "and it's commanded by Bourlamaque."</p> + +<p>"A brave and skillful man," said Robert. "I saw him +when I was a prisoner of the French."</p> + +<p>"But he knows Amherst will not make the mistake +Abercrombie did," said Willet. "Our big guns will talk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +for us, and they'll say things that wooden walls can't +listen to long. I'm thinking that Bourlamaque won't +stand. I've heard that he'll retreat to the outlet of Lake +Champlain and make a last desperate defense at Isle-aux-noix. +If he's wise, and I think he is, he'll do it."</p> + +<p>"Do you know whether St. Luc is with him or if he +has gone to Quebec with Montcalm?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"I haven't heard, but I think it's likely that he's here, +because he has so much influence with the Indians, who +are far more useful in the woods than in a fortress like +Quebec. It's probable that we'll hear from him in the +morning when we try a landing."</p> + +<p>"You mean we'll spend the night on the lake?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, lad. It's blowing harder, and we've a rough +sea here, though 'tis a mountain lake. We make way but +slowly, and we must be full of caution, or risk a shipwreck, +with land in sight on both sides of us."</p> + +<p>Night drew on, dark and blowy, with the army still +on the water, as Willet had predicted, and much of it +seasick. The lofty shores, green by day, were clothed in +mists and vapor, and the three saw no trace of the +French or the Indians, but they were quite sure they +were watching from the high forests. Robert believed +now that St. Luc was there, and that once again they +would come into conflict.</p> + +<p>"Do you think we'd better try the shore to-night?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>Willet shook his head.</p> + +<p>"'Twould be too risky," he replied, "and, even if we +succeeded, 'twould do no good. We'll find out in the +morning all we want to know."</p> + +<p>They tied their canoe to one of the long boats, and, +going on board the latter, slept a little. But slumber +could not claim Robert long. All about, it was a battle-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>ground +to him, whether land or water. Armies had been +passing and repassing, and fighting here from the beginning. +It was the center of the world to him, and in the +morning they would be in battle again. If St. Luc held +the shore they would not land unscorched. He tried to +see signals on the mountain, but the French did not have +to talk to one another. They and their red allies lay +silent and unseen in the dark woods and waited.</p> + +<p>Dawn came, and the three were back in their canoe. +The wind had died, and the fleet, bearing the army, moved +forward to the landing. Officers searched the woods +with their strongest glasses, while the scouts in their +canoes, daring every peril, shot forward and leaped upon +the shore. Then a sheet of musketry and rifle fire burst +from the woods. Men fell from the boats into the water, +but others held on to the land that they had gained.</p> + +<p>Robert, Tayoga and Willet among the first fired at +dusky figures in the woods, and once or twice they caught +the gleam of French uniforms.</p> + +<p>"It is surely St. Luc," said Robert, when he heard the +notes of a silver whistle, "but he can't keep us from +landing."</p> + +<p>"Aye, it's he," said Willet, "and he's making a game +fight of it against overwhelming forces."</p> + +<p>Cannon from the boats also swept the forest with +grape and round shot, and the troops began to debark. +It was evident that the French and Indians were not +in sufficient numbers to hold them back. Not all the +skill of St. Luc could avail. The three soon had evidence +that the formidable Ojibway chief was there also. +Tayoga saw a huge trace in the earth, and called the +attention of Willet and Robert to it.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora is in the bush," he said. "Sharp Sword +does not like him, but Manitou has willed that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +must often be allies. Now the battle thickens, but the +end is sure."</p> + +<p>The shores of Lake George, so often the scene of +fierce strife, blazed with the fury of the combat. The +mountains gave back the thunder of guns on the big +boats, and muskets and rifles crackled in the forest. Now +and then the shouts of the French and the Indian yell +rose, but the triumphant American cheer always replied. +The troops poured ashore and the odds against St. Luc +rose steadily.</p> + +<p>"The Chevalier can't hold us back many minutes +longer," said Willet. "If he doesn't give ground, he'll be +destroyed."</p> + +<p>A few minutes more of resolute fighting and they +heard the long, clear call of the silver whistle. Then the +forces in front of them vanished suddenly, and not a +rifle replied to their fire. French, Canadians and Indians +were gone, as completely as if they had never +been, but, when the Americans advanced a little farther, +they saw the dead, whom St. Luc had not found time +to take away. Although the combat had been short, it +had been resolute and fierce, and it left its proofs behind.</p> + +<p>"Here went Tandakora," said Tayoga. "His great +footsteps are far apart, which shows that he was running. +Perhaps he hopes to lay an ambush later on. The +heart of the Ojibway was full of rage because he could +not withstand us."</p> + +<p>"And I imagine that the heart of the Chevalier de +St. Luc is also heavy," said Robert. "He knows that +General Amherst is bringing his artillery with him. +When I was at Ticonderoga last year and General Abercrombie +advanced, the French, considering the smallness +of their forces, were in doubt a long time about +standing, and I know from what I heard that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +finally decided to defend the place because we did not +bring up our guns. We're making no such mistake +now; we're not underrating the enemy in that way. +It's glorious, Dave, to come back over the ground where +you were beaten and retrieve your errors."</p> + +<p>"So it is, Robert. We'll soon see this famous Ticonderoga +again."</p> + +<p>Robert's heart beat hard once more. All the country +about him was familiar. So much had been concentrated +here, and now it seemed to him that the climax was +approaching. Many of the actors in last year's great +drama were now on another stage, but Bourlamaque and +St. Luc were at hand, and Tandakora had come too with +his savages. He looked around it the splendid landscape +of lake and mountain and green forest, and the +pulses in his temples throbbed fast.</p> + +<p>"Aye, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, who was looking at +him, "it is a great day that has come."</p> + +<p>"I think so," said Robert, "and what pleases me most +is the sight of the big guns. Look how they come off +the boats! They'll smash down that wooden wall against +which so many good men hurled themselves to death +last year. We've got a general who may not be the +greatest genius in the world, but he'll have neither a +Braddock's defeat nor a Ticonderoga disaster."</p> + +<p>Caution, supreme caution, was evident to them all +as they moved slowly forward, with the bristling guns +at the front. Robert's faith in the cannon was supreme. +He looked upon them as their protectors. They were +to be the match for Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>On they went, winding through the forest and valleys, +but they met nothing. The green woods were +silent and deserted, though much was there for Tayoga +to read.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here still goes Tandakora," he said, "and his heart +is as angry as ever. He is bitter against the French, too, +because he fears now that he has taken the wrong +side. He sees the power of his enemies growing and +growing, and Montcalm is not here to lead the French. +I do not think Tandakora will go into the fort with +St. Luc and Bourlamaque. His place is not inside the +walls. He wants the great forest to roam in."</p> + +<p>"In that Tandakora is right," said Willet; "he acts +according to his lights. A fortress is no place for an +Indian."</p> + +<p>"Tandakora is now going more slowly," resumed the +Onondaga. "His paces shorten. It may be that he +will stop to talk with some one. Ah! he does, and it is +no less a man than Sharp Sword himself. I have looked +upon Sharp Sword's footprints so often that I know +them at a glance. He and Tandakora stood here, facing +each other, and talked. Neither moved from his +tracks while he spoke, and so I think it was not a +friendly conference. It is likely that the Ojibway spoke +of the defeat of the French, and Sharp Sword replied +that in defeat as well as victory true allies stand together. +Moreover, he said that defeat might be followed +by victory and one must always hope. But Tandakora +was not convinced. It is the custom of the +Indian to run away when he knows that his enemy is too +strong for him, and it may be wise. Now Tandakora +turns from the course and goes toward the west. And, +lo! his warriors all fall in behind him! Here is their +great trail. Sharp Sword heads in another direction. +He is going with the French and Canadians to the +fortress."</p> + +<p>The army, under the shadow of its great guns, moved +slowly on, and presently they came upon the terrible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +field of the year before. Before them lay the wall, +stronger than ever with earth and logs, but not a man +held it. The French and Canadians were in the fortress, +and the Americans and English were free to use the +intrenchments as a shelter for themselves if they chose.</p> + +<p>"It's going to be a siege," said Willet.</p> + +<p>The cannon of Ticonderoga soon opened, and Amherst's +guns replied, the cautious general moving his +great force forward in a manner that betokened a sure +triumph, though it might be slow. But on the following +night the whole French army, save a few hundred men +under Hebecourt, left to make a last desperate stand, +stole away and made for Isle-aux-Noix. Hebecourt +replied to Amherst's artillery with the numerous guns +of the fort for three days. Amherst still would not +allow his army to move forward for the assault, having +in mind the terrible losses of last year and knowing +that he was bound to win.</p> + +<p>The brave Hebecourt and his soldiers also left the +fort at last, escaping in boats, and leaving a match burning +in the magazine. One of the bastions of Ticonderoga +blew up with a tremendous explosion, and then +the victorious army marched in. Ticonderoga, such a +looming and tremendous name in America, a fortress +for which so much blood had been shed, had fallen at +last. Robert did not dream that in another war, less +than twenty years away, it would change hands three +times.</p> + +<p>They found, a little later, that Crown Point, the great +fortress upon which the French king had spent untold +millions, had been abandoned also and was there for the +Anglo-American army to take whenever it chose. Then +Amherst talked of going on into Canada and coöperating +with Wolfe, but, true to his cautious soul, he began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +to build forts and arrange for the mastery of Lake +Champlain.</p> + +<p>Robert, Tayoga and Willet grew impatient as the days +passed. The news came that Prideaux had been killed +before Niagara, but Sir William Johnson, the Waraiyageh +of the Mohawks, assuming command in his stead, +had taken the place, winning a great victory. After the +long night the dawn had come. Everything seemed to +favor the English and Americans, and now the eyes of +the three turned upon Quebec. It was evident that the +war would be won or lost there, and they could bear the +delays no longer. Saying farewell to their comrades of +Amherst's army, they plunged into the northern wilderness, +taking an almost direct course for Quebec.</p> + +<p>They were entering a region haunted by warriors, and +still ranged by daring French partisans, but they had no +fear. Robert believed that the surpassing woodcraft of +the hunter and the Onondaga would carry them safely +through, and he longed for Quebec, upon which the eyes +of both the New World and the Old now turned. They +had heard that Wolfe had suffered a defeat at the Montmorency +River, due largely to the impetuosity of his +men, but that he was hanging on and controlled most of +the country about Quebec. But Montcalm on the great +rock was as defiant as ever, and it seemed impossible +to get at him.</p> + +<p>"We'll be there in ample time to see the result, whatever +it is," said Willet.</p> + +<p>"And we may find the trail of Sharp Sword and Tandakora +who go ahead of us," said Tayoga.</p> + +<p>"But the Ojibway turned away at Ticonderoga," said +Robert. "Why do you think he'll go to Quebec?"</p> + +<p>"Because he thinks he will get profit out of it, whatever +the event. If our army is defeated, he may have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +a great scalping, such as there was at Fort William +Henry; if the French are beaten, it will be easy enough +for him to get away in time. But as long as the issue +hangs in the balance, Tandakora means to be present."</p> + +<p>"Sound reasoning," said the hunter, "and we'll watch +for the trail of both St. Luc and the Ojibway. And now, +lads, with eyes and ears open, we'll make speed."</p> + +<p>And northward they went at a great rate, watching +on all sides for the perils that were never absent from +the woods and peaks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>BEFORE QUEBEC</h3> + + +<p>True to the predictions of Tayoga, they struck +the trail of St. Luc and Tandakora far up in the +province of New York and west of Lake Champlain. +Ever since the white man came, hostile forces +had been going north or south along well-defined passes +in these regions, and, doubtless, bands of Indians had +been traveling the same course from time immemorial; +so it was not hard for them to come upon the traces +of French and Indians going to Quebec to make the +great stand against Wolfe and his fleet.</p> + +<p>"It is a broad trail because many Frenchmen and +Indians make it," said the Onondaga. "As I have said, +Sharp Sword and Tandakora do not like each other, +but circumstances make them allies. They have rejoined +and they go together to Quebec. Here is the trail of +at least three hundred men, perhaps two hundred Frenchmen +and a hundred warriors. The footsteps of Sharp +Sword are unmistakable, and so are those of Tandakora. +Behold their great size, Dagaeoga; and here are the +prints of boots which belong to De Courcelles and +Jumonville. I have seen them often before, Dagaeoga. +How could you believe they might have been left by +somebody else?"</p> + +<p>"I see nothing but some faint traces in the earth,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +said Robert. "If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't be even +sure that they were made by a man."</p> + +<p>"But they are plain to us who were born in the woods, +and whose ancestors have lived in the woods since the +beginning of the world. It is where we are superior to +the white man, much as the white man thinks of his +wisdom, though there be those, like the Great Bear, +the Mountain Wolf and Black Rifle, who know much. +But the feet of the two Frenchmen who love not Dagaeoga +have passed here."</p> + +<p>"It is true they do not love me, Tayoga. I wounded +one of them last year, shortly before Ticonderoga, as +you know, and I fancy that I'd receive short shrift from +either if I fell into his hands."</p> + +<p>"That is so. But Dagaeoga will not let himself be +captured again. He has been captured often enough +now."</p> + +<p>"I don't seem to be any the worse for it," said Robert, +laughing. "You're right, though, Tayoga. For me to +be captured once more would be once too much. As St. +Luc doesn't like Tandakora, I imagine you don't see him +walking with them."</p> + +<p>"I do not, Dagaeoga. Sharp Sword keeps by himself, +and now De Courcelles and Jumonville walk with the +Ojibway chief. Here are their three trails, that of +Tandakora between the other two. Doubtless the two +Frenchmen are trying to make him their friend, and +it is equally sure that they speak ill to him of St. Luc. +But Sharp Sword does not care. He expects little from +Tandakora and his warriors. He is thinking of Quebec +and the great fight that Montcalm must make there +against Wolfe. He is eager to arrive at Stadacona, +which you call Quebec, and help Montcalm. He knows +that it is all over here on Andiatarocte and Oneadatote,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +that Ticonderoga is lost forever, that Crown Point is +lost forever, and that Isle-aux-Noix must go in time, +but he hopes for Stadacona. Yet Sharp Sword is depressed. +He does not walk with his usual spring and +courage. His paces are shorter, and they are shorter +because his footsteps drag. Truly, it was a dagger in +the heart of Sharp Sword to give up Ticonderoga and +Crown Point."</p> + +<p>"I can believe you, Tayoga," said Willet. "It's bitter +to lose such lakes and such a land, and the French +have fought well for them. Do you think there's any +danger of our running into an ambush? It would be +like Tandakora to lie in wait for pursuers."</p> + +<p>"I am not sure, Great Bear. He, like the Frenchman, +is in a great hurry to reach Stadacona."</p> + +<p>An hour or two later they came to a dead campfire of +St. Luc's force, and, a little farther on, a new trail, coming +from the west, joined the Chevalier's. They surmised +that it had been made by a band from Niagara or +some other fallen French fort in that direction, and that +everywhere along the border Montcalm was drawing in +his lines that he might concentrate his full strength at +Quebec to meet the daring challenge of Wolfe.</p> + +<p>"But I take it that the drawing in of the French won't +keep down scalping parties of the warriors," said Willet. +"If they can find anything on the border to raid, they'll +raid it."</p> + +<p>"It is so," said Tayoga. "It may be that Tandakora +and his warriors will turn aside soon to see if they +cannot ambush somebody."</p> + +<p>"In that case it will be wise for us to watch out for +ourselves. You think Tandakora may leave St. Luc and +lie in wait, perhaps, for us?"</p> + +<p>"For any one who may come. He does not yet know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +that it is the Great Bear, Dagaeoga and I who follow. +Suppose we go on a while longer and see if he leaves +the main trail. Is it the wish of Great Bear and +Dagaeoga?"</p> + +<p>"It is," they replied together.</p> + +<p>They advanced several hours, and then the great trail +split, or rather it threw off a stem that curved to the +west.</p> + +<p>"It is made by about twenty warriors," said Tayoga, +"and here are the huge footsteps of Tandakora in the +very center of it. I think they will go northwest +a while, and then come back toward the main trail, +hoping to trap any one who may be rash enough to follow +Sharp Sword. But, if the Great Bear and Dagaeoga +wish it, we will pursue Tandakora himself and ambush +him when he is expecting to ambush others."</p> + +<p>The dark eyes of the Onondaga gleamed.</p> + +<p>"I can see, Tayoga, that you're hoping for a chance +to settle that score between you and the Ojibway," said +the hunter. "Maybe you'll get it this time, and maybe +you won't, but I'm willing to take the trail after him, +and so is Robert here. We may stop a lot of mischief."</p> + +<p>It was then about two o'clock in the afternoon, and, +as Tayoga said that Tandakora's trail was not more than +a few hours old, they pushed on rapidly, hoping to stalk +his camp that very night. The traces soon curved back +toward St. Luc's and they knew they were right in their +surmise that an ambush was being laid by the Ojibway. +He and his warriors would halt in the dense bush beside +the great trail and shoot down any who followed.</p> + +<p>"We'll shatter his innocent little plan," said Willet, +his spirits mounting at the prospect.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora will not build a fire to-night," said +Tayoga. "He will wait in the darkness beside Sharp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +Sword's path, hoping that some one will come. He will +lie in the forest like a panther waiting to spring on its +prey."</p> + +<p>"And we'll just disturb that panther a little," said +Robert, appreciating the merit of their enterprise, which +now seemed to all three a kind of great game.</p> + +<p>"Aye, we'll make Tandakora think all the spirits of +earth and air are after him," said Willet.</p> + +<p>They now moved with great caution as the trail was +growing quite fresh.</p> + +<p>"We will soon be back to Sharp Sword's line of +march," said Tayoga, "and I think we will find Tandakora +and his warriors lying in the bushes not more +than a mile ahead."</p> + +<p>They redoubled their caution, and, when they approached +a dense thicket, Robert and Willet lay down +and Tayoga went on, creeping on hands and knees. In +a half hour he came back and said that Tandakora and +his band were in the thicket watching the great trail +left by St. Luc.</p> + +<p>"The Ojibway does not dream that he himself is +being watched," said the Onondaga, "and now I think +we would better eat a little food from our knapsacks +and wait until the dark night that is promised has +fully come."</p> + +<p>Tayoga's report was wholly true. Tandakora and +twenty fierce warriors lay in the thicket, waiting to fall +upon those who might follow the trail of St. Luc. He +had no doubt that a force of some kind would come. +The Bostonnais and the English always followed a retreating +enemy, and experience never kept them from +walking into an ambush. Tandakora was already counting +the scalps he would take, and his savage heart was +filled with delight. He had been aghast when Bourla<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>maque +abandoned Ticonderoga and Crown Point. +Throughout the region over which he had been roaming +for three or four years the Bostonnais would be triumphant. +Andiatarocte and Oneadatote would pass into +their possession forever. The Ojibway chief belonged +far to the westward, to the west of the Great Lakes, +but the great war had called him, like so many others +of the savage tribes, into the east, and he had been there +so long that he had grown to look upon the country +as his own, or at least held by him and his like in partnership +with the French, a belief confirmed by the great +victories at Duquesne and Oswego, William Henry and +Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>Now Tandakora's whole world was overthrown. The +French were withdrawing into Canada. St. Luc, whom +he did not like, but whom he knew to be a great warrior, +was retreating in haste, and the invincible Montcalm +was beleaguered in Quebec. He would have to +go too, but he meant to take scalps with him. Bostonnais +were sure to appear on the trail, and they would +come in the night, pursuing St. Luc. It was a good +night for such work as his, heavy with clouds and very +dark. He would creep close and strike before his presence +was even suspected.</p> + +<p>Tandakora lay quiet with his warriors, while night +came and its darkness grew, and he listened for the sound +of men on the trail. Instead he heard the weird, desolate +cry of an owl to his left, and then the equally lone +and desolate cry of another to his right. But the warriors +still lay quiet. They had heard owls often and +were not afraid of them. Then the cry came from the +north, and now it was repeated from the south. There +was a surfeit of owls, very much too many of them, and +they called to one another too much. Tandakora did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +like it. It was almost like a visitation of evil spirits. +Those weird, long-drawn cries, singularly piercing on a +still night, were bad omens. Some of his warriors stirred +and became uneasy, but Tandakora quieted them sternly +and promised that the Bostonnais would soon be along. +Hope aroused again, the men plucked up courage and +resumed their patient waiting.</p> + +<p>Then the cry of the panther, long drawn, wailing like +the shriek of a woman, came from the east and the +west, and presently from the north and the south also, +followed soon by the dreadful hooting of the owls, and +then by the fierce growls of the bear. Tandakora, in +spite of himself, in spite of his undoubted courage, in +spite of his vast experience in the forest, shuddered. +The darkness was certainly full of wicked spirits, and +they were seeking prey. So many owls and bears +and panthers could not be abroad at once in a circle +about him. But Tandakora shook himself and resolved +to stand fast. He encouraged his warriors, who were +already showing signs of fright, and refused to let any +one go.</p> + +<p>But the forest chorus grew. Tandakora heard the +gobble of the wild turkey as he used to hear it in his +native west, only he was sure that the gobble now was +made by a spirit and not by a real turkey. Then the +owl hooted, the panther shrieked and the bear growled. +The cry of a moose, not any moose at all, as Tandakora +well knew, but the foul emanation of a wicked +spirit, came, merely to be succeeded by the weird cries +of night birds which the Ojibway chief had never seen, +and of which he had never dreamed. He knew, though, +that they must be hideous, misshapen creatures. But +he still stood fast, although all of his warriors were +eager to go, and the demon chorus came nearer and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +nearer, multiplying its cries, and adding to the strange +notes of birds the equally strange notes of animals, +worse even than the growl of bear or shriek of panther.</p> + +<p>Tandakora knew now that the wicked spirits of earth +and air were abroad in greater numbers than he had +ever known before. They fairly swarmed all about him +and his warriors, continually coming closer and closer +and making dire threats. The night was particularly +suited to them. The heavy black clouds floating before +the moon and stars were met by thick mists and +vapors that fairly oozed out of the damp earth. It was +an evil night, full of spells and magic, and the moment +came when the chief wished he was in his own hunting +grounds far to the west by the greatest of the Great +Lakes.</p> + +<p>The darkness was not too great for him to see several +of his warriors trembling and he rebuked them fiercely, +though his own nerves, tough as they were, were becoming +frayed and uneasy. He forgot to watch the +trail and listen for the sound of footsteps. All his +attention was centered upon that horrible and circling +chorus of sound. The Bostonnais might come and pass +and he would not see them. He went into the forest +a little way, trying to persuade himself that they were +really persecuted by animals. He would find one of +these annoying panthers or bears and shoot it, or he +would not even hesitate to send a bullet through an +owl on a bough, but he saw nothing, and, as he went +back to his warriors, a hideous snapping and barking of +wolves followed him.</p> + +<p>The note of the wolf had not been present hitherto +in the demon chorus, but now it predominated. What +it lacked in the earliness of coming it made up in the vigor +of arrival. It had in it all the human qualities, that is,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +the wicked or menacing ones—hunger, derision, revenge, +desire for blood and threat of death. Tandakora, +veteran of a hundred battles, one of the fiercest warriors +that ever ranged the woods, shook. His blood +turned to water, ice water at that, and the bones of his +gigantic frame seemed to crumble. He knew, as all +the Indians knew, that the souls of dead warriors, usually +those who had been wicked in life, dwelled for a +while in the bodies of animals, preferably those of +wolves, and the wolves about him were certainly inhabited +by the worst warriors that had ever lived. In +every growl and snap and bark there was a threat. He +could hear it, and he knew it was meant for him. But +what he feared most of all was the deadly whine with +which growl, snap and bark alike ended. Perspiration +stood out on his face, but he could not afford to show +fear to his men, and, retreating slowly, he rejoined them. +He would make no more explorations in the haunted +wood that lay all about them.</p> + +<p>As the chief went back to his men the snarling and +snapping of the demon wolves distinctly expressed +laughter, derision of the most sinister kind. They were +not only threatening him, they were laughing at him, +and his bones continued to crumble through sheer weakness +and fear. It was not worth while for him to +fire at any of the sounds. The bullet might go through +a wolf, but it would not hurt him, it would merely increase +his ferocity and make him all the more hungry +for the blood of Tandakora.</p> + +<p>The band pressed close together as the wolves growled +and snapped all about them, but the warriors still saw +nothing. How could they see anything when such +wolves had the power of making themselves invisible? +But their claws would tear and their teeth would rend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +just the same when they sprang upon their victims, and +now they were coming so close that they might make +a spring, the prodigious kind of spring that a demon +wolf could make.</p> + +<p>It was more than Tandakora and his warriors could +stand. Human beings, white or red, they would fight, +but not the wicked and powerful spirits of earth and +air which were now closing down upon them. The chief +could resist no longer. He uttered a great howl of +fear, which was taken up and repeated in a huge chorus +by his warriors. Then, and by the same impulse, they +burst from the thicket, rushed into St. Luc's trail and +sped northward at an amazing pace.</p> + +<p>Tayoga, Willet and Robert emerged from the woods, +lay down in the trail and panted for breath.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's the easiest victory we ever gained," said +Robert. "Even easier than one somewhat like it that I +won on the island."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," gasped Willet. "It's hard +work being an owl and a bear and a panther and a wolf +and trying, too, to be in three or four places at the same +time. I worked hardest as a wolf toward the last; +every muscle in me is tired, and I think my throat is the +most tired of all. I must lie by for a day."</p> + +<p>"Great Bear is a splendid animal," said Tayoga in his +precise, book English, "nor is he wanting as a bird, +either. I think he turned himself into birds that were +never seen in this world, and they were very dreadful +birds, too. But he excelled most as a wolf. His growling +and snapping and whining were better than that of +ninety-nine out of a hundred wolves, only a master wolf +could have equaled it, and when I stood beside him I +was often in fear lest he turn and tear me to pieces with +tooth and claw."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tandakora was in mortal terror," said Robert, who +was not as tired as the others, who had done most of the +work in the demon chorus. "I caught a glimpse of his +big back, and I don't think I ever saw anybody run +faster. He'll not stop this side of the St. Lawrence, +and you'll have to postpone your vengeance a while, +Tayoga."</p> + +<p>"I could have shot him down as he stood in the +woods, shaking with fear," said the Onondaga, "but +that never would have done. That would have spoiled +our plan, and I must wait, as you say, Dagaeoga, to settle +the score with the Ojibway."</p> + +<p>"I think we'd better go into the bushes and sleep," said +the hunter. "Being a demon is hard work, and there is +no further danger from the warriors."</p> + +<p>But Robert, who was comparatively fresh, insisted on +keeping the watch, and the other two, lying down on +their blankets, were soon in deep slumber. The next +day they shot a young bear, and had a feast in the woods, +a reward to which they thought themselves entitled after +the great and inspired effort they had made the night +before. As they sat around their cooking fire, eating +the juicy steaks, they planned how they should enter +Canada and join Wolfe, still keeping their independence +as scouts and skirmishers.</p> + +<p>"Most of the country around the city is held by the +English, or at least they overrun it from time to time," +said Willet, "and we ought to get past the French villages +in a single night. Then we can join whatever part +of the force we wish. I think it likely that we can be +of most use with the New England rangers, who are +doing a lot of the scouting and skirmishing for Wolfe."</p> + +<p>"But I want to see the Royal Americans first," said +Robert. "I heard in Boston that Colden, Wilton, Car<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>son, +Stuart and Cabell had gone on with them, and I +know that Grosvenor is there with his regiment. I +should like to see them all again."</p> + +<p>"And so would I," said the hunter. "A lot of fine lads. +I hope that all of them will come through the campaign +alive."</p> + +<p>They traveled the whole of the following night and +remained in the forest through the day, and following +this plan they arrived before Quebec without adventure, +finding the army of Wolfe posted along the St. Lawrence, +his fleet commanding the river, but the army of +Montcalm holding Quebec and all the French elated over +the victory of the Montmorency River. Robert went at +once to the camp of the Royal Americans, where Colden +was the first of his friends whom he saw. The Philadelphian, +like all the others, was astounded and delighted.</p> + +<p>"Lennox!" he exclaimed, grasping his hand. "I heard +that you were dead, killed by a spy named Garay, and +your body thrown into the Hudson, where it was lost! +Now, I know that reports are generally lies! And you're +no ghost. 'Tis a solid hand that I hold in mine!"</p> + +<p>"I'm no ghost, though I did vanish from the world for +a while," said Robert. "But, as you see, I've come back +and I mean to have a part in the taking of Quebec."</p> + +<p>Wilton and Carson, Stuart and Cabell soon came, and +then Grosvenor, and every one in his turn welcomed +Robert back from the dead, after which he gave to them +collectively a rapid outline of his story.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a strange tale, a romance," said Grosvenor. +"It's evident that it's not intended you shall lose your +life in this war, Lennox. What has become of that +wonderful Onondaga Indian, Tayoga, and the great +hunter, Willet?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They're both here. You shall see them before the +day is over. But what is the feeling in the army?"</p> + +<p>"We're depressed and the French are elated. It's +because we lost the Montmorency battle. The Royal +Americans and the Grenadiers were too impulsive. We +tried to rush slopes damp and slippery from rain, and +we were cut up. I received a wound there, and so +did Wilton, but neither amounts to anything, and I +want to tell you, Lennox, that, although we're depressed, +we're not withdrawing. Our general is sick a good +deal, but the sicker he grows the braver he grows. We +hang on. The French say we can continue hanging on, +and then the winter will drive us away. You know what +the Quebec winter is. But we'll see. Maybe something +will happen before winter comes."</p> + +<p>As Robert turned away from the little group he came +face to face with a tall young officer dressed with +scrupulousness and very careful of his dignity.</p> + +<p>"Charteris!"<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Lennox!"</p> + +<p>They shook hands with the greatest surprise and +pleasure.</p> + +<p>"When I last saw you at Ticonderoga you were a +prisoner of the French," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"And so were you."</p> + +<p>"But I escaped in a day or two."</p> + +<p>"I escaped also, though not in a day or two. I was +held a prisoner in Quebec all through the winter and +spring and much befell me, but at last I escaped to General +Wolfe and rejoined my old command, the Royal +Americans."</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And he took part in the battle of Montmorency, a +brave part too," said Colden.</p> + +<p>"No braver than the others. No more than you yourself, +Colden," protested Charteris.</p> + +<p>"And 'tis said that, though he left Quebec in the +night, he left his heart there in the possession of a very +lovely lady who speaks French better than she speaks +English," said Colden.</p> + +<p>"'Tis not a subject of which you have definite information," +rejoined Charteris, flushing very red and then +laughing.</p> + +<p>But Colden, suspecting that his jest was truth rather, +had too much delicacy to pursue the subject. Later in +the day Robert returned with Willet and Tayoga and +they had a reunion.</p> + +<p>"When we take Quebec," said Tayoga to Grosvenor, +"Red Coat must go back with us into the wilderness +and learn to become a great warrior. We can go beyond +the Great Lakes and stay two or three years."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could," laughed Grosvenor, "but that is one +of the things I must deny myself. If the war should +be finished, I shall have to return to England."</p> + +<p>"St. Luc is in Quebec," said Willet. "We followed +his trail a long distance."</p> + +<p>"Which means that our task here will be the harder," +said Colden.</p> + +<p>Robert went with Willet, Charteris and Tayoga the +next day to Monckton's camp at Point Levis, whence +the English batteries had poured destruction upon the +lower town of Quebec, firing across the St. Lawrence, +that most magnificent of all rivers, where its channel was +narrow. He could see the houses lying in ashes or +ruins, but above them the French flag floated defiantly +over the upper city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Montcalm and his lieutenants made great preparations +to receive General Wolfe," said Charteris. "As I +was in Quebec then, I know something about them, and +I've learned more since I escaped. They threw up +earthworks, bastions and redoubts almost all the way +from Quebec to Montcalm's camp at Beauport. Over +there at Beauport the Marquis' first headquarters were +located in a big stone house. Across the mouth of the +St. Charles they put a great boom of logs, fastened +together by chains, and strengthened further by two +cut-down ships on which they mounted batteries. +Forces passing between the city and the Beauport camp +crossed the St. Charles on a bridge of boats, and each +entrance of the bridge was guarded by earthworks. In +the city they closed and fortified every gate, except +the Palace Gate, through which they passed to the bridge +or from it. They had more than a hundred cannon on +the walls, a floating battery carried twelve more guns, +and big ones too, and they had a lot of gun-boats and +fire ships and fire rafts. They gathered about fifteen +thousand men in the Beauport camp, besides Indians, +with the regulars in the center, and the militia on the +flank. In addition to these there were a couple of thousand +in the city itself under De Ramesay, and I think +Montcalm had, all told, near to twenty thousand men, +about double our force, though 'tis true many of theirs +are militia and we have a powerful fleet. I suppose their +numbers have not decreased, and it's a great task we've +undertaken, though I think we'll achieve it."</p> + +<p>Robert looked again and with great emotion upon +Quebec, that heart and soul of the French power in +North America. Truly much water had flowed down +the St. Lawrence since he was there before. He could +not forget the thrill with which he had first approached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +it, nor could he forget those gallant young Frenchmen +who had given him a welcome, although he was already, +in effect, an official enemy. And then, too, he had seen +Bigot, Péan, Cadet and their corrupt group who were +doing so much to wreck the fortunes of New France. +Not all the valor of Montcalm, De Levis, Bourlamaque, +St. Luc and the others could stay the work of their +destructive hands.</p> + +<p>The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding +small. It was true! The years had passed. The +French victories in North America had been numerous. +Again and again they had hurled back the English and +Americans, and year after year they had dammed the +flood. They had struck terrible blows at Duquesne and +Oswego, at William Henry and at Ticonderoga. But +the mills of God ground on, and here at last was the +might of Britain before Quebec, and Robert's heart, +loyal as he was to the mother country, always throbbed +with pride when he recalled that his own Americans +were there too, the New England rangers and the staunch +regiment of Royal Americans, the bravest of the brave, +who had already given so much of their blood at Montmorency. +In these world-shaking events the Americans +played their splendid part beside their English kin, as +they were destined to do one hundred and fifty-nine +years later upon the soil of Europe itself, closing up +forever, as most of us hope, the cleavage between nations +of the same language and same ideals.</p> + +<p>Robert looked long at Quebec on its heights, gleaming +now in the sun which turned it into a magic city, increasing +its size, heightening the splendor of the buildings +and heightening, too, the formidable obstacles over +which Wolfe must prevail. Nature here had done won<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>ders +for the defense. With its mighty river and mighty +cliffs it seemed that a capable general and a capable +army could hold the city forever.</p> + +<p>"Aye, it's strong, Lennox," said Charteris, who read +his thoughts. "General Wolfe, as I know, has written +back to England that it's the strongest place in the world, +and he may be right, but we've had some successes +here, mingled with some failures. Aside from the Battle +of Montmorency most of the land fighting has been +in our favor, and our command of the river through +our fleet is a powerful factor in our favor. Yet, the +short Quebec summer draws to a close, and if we take +the city we must take it soon. General Wolfe is lying +ill again in a farm house, but his spirit is not quenched +and all our operations are directed from his sick bed."</p> + +<p>As Charteris spoke, the batteries on the Heights of +Levis opened again, pouring round shot, grape and canister +upon the Lower Town. Fragments of buildings +crashed to the earth, and other fragments burst into +flames. Cannon on the frigates in the river also fired +upon the devoted city and from the great rock cannon +replied. Coils of smoke arose, and, uniting into a huge +cloud, floated westward on the wind. It was a great +spectacle and Robert's heart throbbed. But he was sad +too. He had much pity for the people of Quebec, exposed +to that terrible siege and the rain of death.</p> + +<p>"We've ravaged a good deal of the country around +Quebec," continued Charteris. "It's hard, but we're trying +to cut off the subsistence of the French army, and, +on the other hand, bands of their Indian allies raid +our outposts and take scalps. It's the New England +rangers mostly that deal with these war parties, in which +the French and Canadians themselves take a part."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then Tandakora will find plenty of employment +here," said Willet. "Nothing will give him more joy +than to steal upon a sentinel in the dark and cut him +down."</p> + +<p>"And while Tandakora hunts our people," said Tayoga, +"we will hunt him. What better work can we +do, Great Bear, than to meet these raiding parties?"</p> + +<p>"That's our task, Tayoga," replied the hunter.</p> + +<p>As they turned away from the Heights of Levis the +batteries were still thundering, pouring their terrible +flood of destruction upon the Lower Town, and far up +on the cliffs cannon were firing at the ships in the river. +Robert looked back and his heart leaped as before. +The eyes of the world he knew were on Quebec, and +well it deserved the gaze of the nations. It was fitting +that the mighty drama should be played out there, on +that incomparable stage, where earth rose up to make +a fitting channel for its most magnificent river.</p> + +<p>"It's all that you think it is," said Charteris, again +reading his thoughts; "a prize worth the efforts of the +most warlike nations."</p> + +<p>"The Quebec of the English and French," said Tayoga, +"but the lost Stadacona of the Mohawks, lost to +them forever. Whatever the issue of the war the Mohawks +will not regain their own."</p> + +<p>The others were silent, not knowing what to say. A +little later a tall, lank youth to whom Charteris gave a +warm welcome met them.</p> + +<p>"Been taking a look at the town, Leftenant?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Aye, Zeb," replied Charteris. "I've been showing it +to some friends of mine who, however, have seen it +before, though not under the same conditions. These +gentlemen are David Willet, Robert Lennox and Tayoga,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +the Onondaga, and this is Zebedee Crane,<a name="FNanchor_A_2" id="FNanchor_A_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> a wonderful +scout to whom I owe my escape from Quebec."</p> + +<p>Willet seized the lank lad's hand and gave it a warm +grasp.</p> + +<p>"I've heard of you, Zeb Crane," he said. "You're from +the Mohawk Valley and you're one of the best scouts +and trailers in the whole Province of New York, or anywhere, +for that matter."</p> + +<p>"And I've heard uv all three uv you," said the boy, +looking at them appreciatively. "I wuz at Ticonderogy, +an' two uv you at least wuz thar. I didn't git to see +you, but I heard uv you. You're a great hunter, Mr. +Willet, whom the Iroquois call the Great Bear, an' ez +fur Tayoga I know that he belongs to the Clan of the +Bear uv the nation Onondaga, an' that he's the grandest +trailer the world hez ever seed."</p> + +<p>Tayoga actually blushed under his bronze.</p> + +<p>"The flattery of my friends should be received at a +heavy discount," he said in his prim, precise English.</p> + +<p>"It ain't no flattery," said Zebedee. "It's the squar' +an' solid truth. I've heard tales uv you that are plum' +impossible, but I know that they hev happened all the +same. Ef they wuz to tell me that you had tracked the +wild goose through the air or the leapin' salmon through +the water I'd believe 'em."</p> + +<p>"It would be very little exaggeration," said Robert, +earnestly. "Be quiet, Tayoga! If we want to sing your +praises we'll sing 'em and you can't help it."</p> + +<p>The five recrossed the river together, and went to +Wolfe's camp below the town facing the Montmorency, +Charteris going back into camp with the Royal Americans +to whom he belonged, and the others going as free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +lances with the New England rangers. Robert also resumed +his acquaintance with Captain Whyte and Lieutenant +Lanhan of the <i>Hawk</i>, who were delighted to +meet him again.</p> + +<p>Soon they found that there was much for them to do. +Robert's heart bled at the sight of the devastated country. +Houses and farms were in ruins and their people +fled. Everywhere war had blazed a red path. Nor +was it safe for the rangers unless they were in strong +parties. Ferocious Indians roamed about and cut off +all stragglers, sometimes those of their own French or +Canadian allies. Once they came upon the trail of +Tandakora. They found the dead bodies of four English +soldiers lying beside an abandoned farm house, and +Tayoga, looking at the traces in the earth, told the tale +as truly as if he had been there.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora and his warriors stood behind these +vines," he said, going to a little arbor. "See their traces +and in the center of them the prints left by the gigantic +footsteps of the Ojibway chief. The house had been +plundered by some one, maybe by the warriors themselves, +before the soldiers came. Then the Ojibway and +his band hid here and waited. It was easy for them. +The soldiers knew nothing of wilderness war, and they +came up to the house, unsuspecting. They were at the +front door, when Tandakora and his men fired. Three +of them fell dead where they lie. The fourth was +wounded and tried to escape. Tandakora ran from behind +the vines. Here goes his trail and here he stopped, +balanced himself and threw his tomahawk."</p> + +<p>"And it clove the wounded soldier's head," said Robert. +"Here he lies, telling the rest of the tale."</p> + +<p>They buried the four, but they found new tragedies. +Thus the month of August with its successes and fail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>ures, +its attacks and counter-attacks dragged on, as the +great siege of Quebec waged by Phipps and the New +Englanders nearly three-quarters of a century before +had dragged.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The story of Edward Charteris is told in the author's novel, +"A Soldier of Manhattan."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_2" id="Footnote_A_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> The story of Zeb Crane and his remarkable achievements is +contained in the author's novel, "A Soldier of Manhattan."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE LONE CHÂTEAU</h3> + + +<p>Despite his courage and the new resolution that +he had acquired during his long months on the +island, Robert's heart often sank. They seemed +to make no progress with the siege of Quebec. Just so +far had they gone and they could go no farther. The +fortress of France in the New World appeared impregnable. +There it was, cut clear against the sky, the light +shining on its stone buildings, proud and defiant, saying +with every new day to those who attacked it that it +could not be taken, while Montcalm, De Levis, Bougainville, +St. Luc and the others showed all their old skill +in defense. They heard too that Bourlamaque after his +retreat from Ticonderoga and Crown Point was sitting +securely within his lines and intrenchments at Isle-aux-Noix +and that the cautious Amherst would delay longer +and yet longer.</p> + +<p>It was now certain that no help could be expected +from Amherst and his strong army that year. The most +that he would do would be to keep Bourlamaque and his +men from coming to the relief of Quebec. So far as the +capital of New France was concerned the issue must be +fought out by the forces now gathered there for the defense +and the offense, the French and the Indians against +the English and the Americans.</p> + +<p>Robert realized more keenly every day that the time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +was short and becoming shorter. Hot summer days +were passing, nights came on crisp and cool, the foliage +along the king of rivers and its tributaries began to glow +with the intense colors of decay, there was more than a +touch of autumn in the air. They must be up and doing +before the fierce winter came down on Quebec. Military +operations would be impossible then.</p> + +<p>In this depressing time Robert drew much courage +from Charteris, who had been a prisoner a long time in +Quebec, and who understood even more thoroughly than +young Lennox the hollowness of the French power in +North America.</p> + +<p>"It is upheld by a few brave and skillful men and +a small but heroic army," he said. "In effect, New +France has been deserted by the Bourbon monarchy. +If it were not for the extraordinary situation of Quebec, +adapted so splendidly to purposes of defense, we could +crush the Marquis de Montcalm in a short time. The +French regulars are as good as any troops in the world +and they will fight to the last, but the Canadian militia +is not disciplined well, and is likely to break under a +fierce attack. You know, Lennox, what militiamen always +are, no matter to what nation they belong. They +may fight and die like heroes at one time, and, at another +time, they may run away at the first fire, struck with +panic. What we want is a fair chance at the French +army in the open. General Wolfe himself, though cursed +by much illness, never loses hope. I've had occasion +to talk with him more than once owing to my knowledge +of Quebec and the surrounding country, and there's a +spirit for you, Lennox. It's in an ugly body but no man +was ever animated by a finer temper and courage."</p> + +<p>Robert and Charteris formed a great friendship, a +true friendship that lasted all their long lives. But then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +Robert had a singular faculty for making friends. Charteris +interested him vastly. He had a proud, reserved +and somewhat haughty nature. Many people thought +him exclusive, but Robert soon learned that his fastidiousness +was due to a certain shy quality, and a natural +taste for the best in everything. Under his apparent +coldness lay a brave and staunch nature and an absolute +integrity.</p> + +<p>Robert's interest in Charteris was heightened by the +delicate cloud of romance that floated about him, a cloud +that rose from the hints thrown forth now and then by +Zebedee Crane. The young French lady in Quebec who +loved him was as beautiful as the dawn and she had the +spirit of a queen. Charteris lived in the hope that they +might take Quebec and her with it. But Robert was +far too fine of feeling ever to allude to such an affair of +the heart to Charteris, or in truth to any one else.</p> + +<p>It was a period of waiting and yet it was a period of +activity. The partisans were incessant in their ways. +Robert heard that his old friend, Langlade, was leading +a numerous band against the English, and the evidences +of Tandakora's murderous ferocity multiplied. Nor +were the outlying French themselves safe from him. +News arrived that he intended an attack upon a château +called Chatillard farther up the river but within the English +lines. A band of the New England rangers, led +by Willet, was sent to drive him off, and to destroy the +Ojibway pest, if possible. Robert, Tayoga and Zeb +Crane went with him.</p> + +<p>They arrived at the château just before twilight. It +was a solid stone building overlooking the St. Lawrence, +and the lands about it had a narrow frontage on the +river, but it ran back miles after the old French custom +in making such grants, in order that every estate might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +have a river landing. Willet's troops numbered about +forty men, and, respecting the aged M. de Chatillard, +who was quite ill and in bed, they did not for the present +go into the house, eating their own supper on the +long, narrow lawn, which was thick with dwarfed and +clipped pines and other shrubbery.</p> + +<p>But they lighted no fires, and they kept very quiet, since +they wished for Tandakora to walk into an ambush. +The information, most of which had been obtained by +Zeb Crane, was to the effect that Tandakora believed +a guard of English soldiers was in the house. After his +custom he would swoop down upon them, slaughter +them, and then be up and away. It was a trick in which +the savage heart of the Ojibway delighted, and he had +achieved it more than once.</p> + +<p>The August night came down thick and dark. A few +lights shone in the Château de Chatillard, but Willet and +his rangers stood in black gloom. Almost at their feet +the great St. Lawrence flowed in its mighty channel, a +dim blue under the dusky sky. Nothing was visible there +save the slow stream, majestic, an incalculable weight +of water. Nothing appeared upon its surface, and the +far shore was lost in the night. It seemed to Robert, +despite the stone walls of the château by their side, that +they were back in the wilderness. It was a northern +wilderness too. The light wind off the river made him +shiver.</p> + +<p>The front door of the house opened and a figure outlined +against the light appeared. It was an old man in +a black robe, tall, thin and ascetic, and Robert seeing him +so clearly in the light of a lamp that he held in his hand +recognized him at once. It was Father Philibert Drouillard, +the same whom he had defeated in the test of ora<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>tory +in the vale of Onondaga before the wise sachems, +when so much depended on victory.</p> + +<p>"Father Drouillard!" he exclaimed impulsively, stepping +forward out of the shadows.</p> + +<p>"Who is it who speaks?" asked the priest, holding the +lamp a little higher.</p> + +<p>"Father Drouillard, don't you know me?" exclaimed +Robert, advancing within the circle of light.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it is young Lennox!" said the priest. "What a +meeting! And under what circumstances!"</p> + +<p>"And there are others here whom you know," said +Robert. "Look, this is David Willet who commands +us, and here also is Tayoga, whom you remember in the +vale of Onondaga."</p> + +<p>Father Drouillard saluted them gravely.</p> + +<p>"You are the enemies of my country," he said, "but +I will not deny that I am glad to see you here. I understand +that the savage, Tandakora, means to attack this +house to-night, thinking that it holds a British garrison. +Well, it seems that he will not be far wrong in his +thought."</p> + +<p>A ghost of a smile flickered over the priest's pale face.</p> + +<p>"A garrison but not the garrison that he expects to +destroy," said Willet. "Tandakora fights nominally under +the flag of France, but as you know, Father, he +fights chiefly to gratify his own cruel desires."</p> + +<p>"I know it too well. Come inside. M. de Chatillard +wishes to see you."</p> + +<p>Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Zeb Crane went in, and +were shown into the bedroom where the Seigneur Louis +Henri Anatole de Chatillard, past ninety years of age, +lay upon his last bed. He was a large, handsome old +man, fair like so many of the Northern French, and his +dying eyes were full of fire. Two women of middle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +years, his granddaughters, knelt weeping by each side of +his bed, and two servants, tears on their faces, stood +at the foot. Willet and his comrades halted respectfully +at the door.</p> + +<p>"Step closer," said the old man, "that I may see you +well."</p> + +<p>The four entered and stood within the light shed by +two tall candles. The old man gazed at them a long +time in silence, but finally he said:</p> + +<p>"And so the English have come at last."</p> + +<p>"We're not English, M. de Chatillard," said Willet, +"we're Americans, Bostonnais, as you call us."</p> + +<p>"It is the same. You are but the children of the English +and you fight together against us. You increase too +fast in the south. You thrive in your towns and in the +woods, and you send greater and greater numbers +against us. But you cannot take Quebec. The capital +of New France is inviolate."</p> + +<p>Willet said nothing. How could he argue with a man +past ninety who lay upon his dying bed?</p> + +<p>"You cannot take Quebec," repeated M. de Chatillard, +rising, strength showing in his voice. "The Bostonnais +have come before. It was in Frontenac's time nearly +three-quarters of a century ago, when Phipps and his +armada from New England arrived before Quebec. I +was but a lad then newly come from France, but the +great governor, Frontenac, made ready for them. We +had batteries in the Sault-au-Matelot on Palace Hill, +on Mount Carmel, before the Jesuits' college, in the +Lower Town and everywhere. Three-quarters of a century +ago did I say? No, it was yesterday! I remember +how we fought. Frontenac was a great man as Montcalm +is!"</p> + +<p>"Peace, M. de Chatillard," said Father Drouillard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +soothingly. "You speak of old, old times and old, old +things!"</p> + +<p>"They were the days of my youth," said the old man, +"and they are not old to me. It was a great siege, but +the valor of France and Canada were not to be overcome. +The armies and ships of the Bostonnais went +back whence they came, and the new invasion of the +Bostonnais will have no better fate."</p> + +<p>Willet was still silent. He saw that the old siege of +Quebec was much more in M. de Chatillard's mind than +the present one, and if he could pass away in the odor +of triumph the hunter would not willingly change it.</p> + +<p>"Who is the youth who stands near you?" said M. de +Chatillard, looking at Robert.</p> + +<p>"He is Robert Lennox of the Province of New York," +replied Father Drouillard, speaking for Willet. "One +of the Bostonnais, but a good youth."</p> + +<p>"One of the Bostonnais! Then I do not know him! +I thought for a moment that I saw in him the look of +some one else, but maybe I was mistaken. An old man +cheats himself with fancies. Lad, come thou farther +into the light and let me see thee more clearly."</p> + +<p>The tone of command was strong in his voice, and +Robert, obeying it, stepped close to the bed. The old +man raised his head a little, and looked at him long with +hawk's eyes. Robert felt that intent gaze cutting into +him, but he did not move. Then the Seigneur Louis +Henri Anatole de Chatillard laughed scornfully and said +to Father Drouillard:</p> + +<p>"Why do you deceive me, Father? Why do you tell +me that is one, Robert Lennox, a youth of the Bostonnais, +who stands before me, when my own eyes tell me +that it is the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +as befits a soldier of France to say farewell to an old +man before he dies."</p> + +<p>Robert felt an extraordinary thrill of emotion. M. de +Chatillard, seeing with the eyes of the past, had taken +him for the Chevalier. But why?</p> + +<p>"It is not the Chevalier de St. Luc," said Father +Drouillard, gently. "It is the lad, Robert Lennox, from +the Province of New York."</p> + +<p>"But it is St. Luc!" insisted the old man. "The face is +the same, the eyes are the same! Should I not know? +I have known the Chevalier, and his father and grandfather +before him."</p> + +<p>The priest signed to Robert, and he withdrew into the +shadow of the room. Then Father Drouillard whispered +into M. de Chatillard's ear, one of the servants +gave him medicine from a glass, and presently he sank +into quiet, seeming to be conscious no longer of the +presence of the strangers. Willet, Robert and the others +withdrew softly. Robert was still influenced by +strong emotion. Did he look like St. Luc? And why? +What was the tie between them? The question that had +agitated him so often stirred him anew.</p> + +<p>"Very old men, when they come to their last hours, +have many illusions," said Willet.</p> + +<p>"It may be so," said Robert, "but it was strange that +he should take me for St. Luc."</p> + +<p>Willet was silent. Robert saw that as usual the hunter +did not wish to make any explanations, but he felt once +more that the time for the solution of his problem was +not far away. He could afford to wait.</p> + +<p>"The Seigneur cannot live to know whether Quebec +will fall," said Tayoga.</p> + +<p>"No," said Willet, "and it's just as well. His time +runs out. His mind at the last will be filled with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +old days when Frontenac held the town against the New +Englanders."</p> + +<p>The rangers were disposed well about the house, and +they also watched the landing. Tandakora and his men +might come in canoes, stealing along in the shadow of +the high cliffs, or they might creep through the fields +and forest. Zeb Crane, who could see in the dark like +an owl and who had already proved his great qualities +as a scout and ranger, watched at the river, and Willet +with Robert and Tayoga was on the land side. But they +learned there was another château landing less than a +quarter of a mile lower down, and Tandakora, coming +on the river, might use that, and yet make his immediate +approach by land.</p> + +<p>Willet stood by a grape arbor with Robert and the +Onondaga, and watched with eye and ear.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora is sure to come," said the hunter. "It's +just such a night as he loves. Little would he care +whether he found English or French in the house; if +not the English whom he expects, then the French, and +dead men have nothing to say, nor dead women either. +It may be, Tayoga, that you will have your chance to-night +to settle your score with him."</p> + +<p>"I do not think so, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga. +"The night is so dark that I cannot see Tododaho +on his star, but no whisper from him reaches me. I +think that when the time comes for the Ojibway and me +to see which shall continue to live, Tododaho or the +spirits in the air will give warning."</p> + +<p>Robert shivered a little. Tayoga's tone was cool and +matter of fact, but his comrades knew that he was in +deadly earnest. At the appointed time he and Tandakora +would fight their quarrel out, fight it to the death.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +In the last analysis Tayoga was an Indian, strong in +Indian customs and beliefs.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora will come about an hour before midnight," +said the Onondaga, "because it will be very dark +then and there will yet be plenty of time for his work. +He will expect to find everybody asleep, save perhaps an +English sentinel whom he can easily tomahawk in the +darkness. He does not know that the old Seigneur lies +dying, and that they watch by his bed."</p> + +<p>"In that case," said the hunter with his absolute belief +in all that Tayoga said, "we can settle ourselves for quite +a wait."</p> + +<p>They relapsed into silence and Robert began to look +at the light that shone from the bedroom of M. de +Chatillard, the only light in the house now visible. He +was an old, old man between ninety and a hundred, and +Willett was right in saying that he might well pass on +before the fate of Quebec was decided. Robert was +sure that it was going to fall, and M. de Chatillard at +the end of a long, long life would be spared a great blow. +But what a life! What events had been crowded into +his three generations of living! He could remember Le +Grand Monarque, The Sun King and the buildings of +Versailles. He was approaching middle age when Blenheim +was fought. He could remember mighty battles, +great changes, and the opening of new worlds, and like +Virgil's hero, he had been a great part of them. That +was a life to live, and, if Quebec were going to fall, it +was well that M. de Chatillard with his more than ninety +years should cease to live, before the sun of France set +in North America. Yes, Willet was right.</p> + +<p>A long time passed and Tayoga, lying down with his +ear to the earth, was listening. It was so dark now that +hearing, not sight, must tell when Tandakora came.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I go into the forest," whispered the Onondaga, "but +I return soon."</p> + +<p>"Don't take any needless risks," said Willet.</p> + +<p>Tayoga slipped into the dusk, fading from sight like +a wraith, but in five minutes he came back.</p> + +<p>"Tandakora is at hand," he whispered. "He lies with +his warriors in the belt of pine woods. They are watching +the light in the Seigneur's window, but presently +they will steal upon the house."</p> + +<p>"And find us on watch," said Willet, an exultant tone +appearing in his voice. "To the landing, Robert, and tell +Zeb they're here on our side."</p> + +<p>The lank lad returned with Robert, though he left part +of his men at that point to guard against surprise, and +the bulk of the force, under Willet, crowded behind the +grape arbor awaiting the onslaught of Tandakora who, +they knew, would come in caution and silence.</p> + +<p>Another period that seemed to Robert interminable, +though it was not more than half an hour, passed, and +then he saw dimly a gigantic figure, made yet greater by +the dusk. He knew that it was Tandakora and his hand +slid to the trigger and hammer of his rifle. But he +knew also that he would not fire. It was no part of their +plan to give an alarm so early. The Ojibway vanished +and then he thought he caught the gleam of a uniform. +So, a Frenchman, probably an officer, was with the warriors!</p> + +<p>"They have scouted about the house somewhat," whispered +Tayoga, "and they think the soldiers are inside."</p> + +<p>"In that case," Willet whispered back, "they'll break +down the front door and rush in for slaughter."</p> + +<p>"So they will. It is likely that they are looking now +for a big log."</p> + +<p>Soon a long, dark shape emerged from the dark, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +shape that looked like one of the vast primeval saurians. +It was a dozen warriors carrying the trunk of a small +tree, and all molded into one by the dusk. They gathered +headway, as they advanced, and it was a powerful +door that could withstand their blow. One of the ambushed +rangers moved a little, and, in doing so, made a +noise. Quick as a flash the warriors dropped the log, +and another farther back fired at the noise.</p> + +<p>"Give it to 'em, lads!" cried Willet.</p> + +<p>A score of rifles flashed and the warriors replied instantly, +but they were caught at a disadvantage. They +had come there for rapine and murder, expecting an +easy victory, and while Tandakora rallied them they +were no match for the rangers, led by such men as Willet +and his lieutenants. The battle, fierce and sanguinary, +though it was, lasted a bare five minutes and then +the Ojibway and those of his band who survived took +to flight. Robert caught a glimpse among the fleeing +men of one whom he knew to be the spy, Garay. Stirred +by a fierce impulse he fired at him, but missed in the +dusk, and then Garay vanished with the others. Robert, +however, did not believe that he had been recognized by +the spy and he was glad of it. He preferred that Garay +should consider him dead, and then he would be free of +danger from that source.</p> + +<p>The firing was succeeded by a few minutes of intense +silence and then the great door of the Château de Chatillard +opened again. Once more Father Drouillard stood +on the step, holding a lamp in his hand.</p> + +<p>"It is over, Father," said Willet. "We've driven off +part of 'em and the others lie here."</p> + +<p>"I heard the noise of the battle from within," said +Father Drouillard calmly, "and for the first time in my +life I prayed that the Bostonnais might win."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you don't mind, Father, bring the lamp, and let +us see the fallen. There must be at least fifteen here."</p> + +<p>Father Drouillard, holding the light high, walked out +upon the lawn with steady step.</p> + +<p>"Here is a Montagnais," said Willet, "and this a St. +Regis, and this a St. Francis, and this a Huron, and this +an Ojibway from the far west! Ah, and here is a +Frenchman, an officer, too, and he isn't quite dead! Hold +the lamp a little closer, will you, Father?"</p> + +<p>The priest threw the rays of the lamp upon the figure.</p> + +<p>"Jumonville!" exclaimed Robert.</p> + +<p>It was in truth François de Jumonville, shot through +the body and dying, slain in a raid for the sake of robbery +and murder. When he saw the faces of white men +looking down at him, he raised himself feebly on one +elbow and said:</p> + +<p>"It is you again, Willet, and you, too, Lennox and +Tayoga. Always across my path, but for the last time, +because I'm going on a long journey, longer than any I +ever undertook before."</p> + +<p>Father Drouillard fell on his knees and said a prayer +for the dying man. Robert looked down pityingly. He +realized then that he hated nobody. Life was much too +busy an affair for the cherishing of hate and the plotting +of revenge. Jumonville had done him as much injury +as he could, but he was sorry for him, and had he +been able to stay the ebbing of his life, he would have +done so. As the good priest finished his prayer the head +of François de Jumonville fell back. He was dead.</p> + +<p>"We will take his body into the house," said Father +Drouillard, "prepare it for the grave and give him Christian +burial. I cannot forget that he was an officer of +France."</p> + +<p>"And my men shall help you," said Willet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> + +<p>They carried the body of Jumonville into the château +and put it on a bench, while the servants, remarkably +composed, used as they were to scenes of violence, began +at once to array it for the grave.</p> + +<p>"Come into the Seigneur's room," said Father Drouillard, +and Robert and Willet followed him into the old +man's chamber. M. de Chatillard lay silent and rigid. +He, too, had gone on the longest of all journeys.</p> + +<p>"His soul fled," said Father Drouillard, "when the +battle outside was at its height, but his mind then was +not here. It was far back in the past, three-quarters of +a century since when Frontenac and Phipps fought before +Quebec, and he was little more than a lad in the +thick of the combat. I heard him say aloud: 'The Bostonnais +are going. Quebec remains ours!' and in that +happy moment his soul fled."</p> + +<p>"A good ending," said Willet gravely, "and I, one of +the Bostonnais, am far from grudging him that felicity. +Can my men help you with the burial, Father? We remain +here for the rest of the night at least."</p> + +<p>"If you will," said Father Drouillard.</p> + +<p>Zeb Crane touched Robert on the arm a little later.</p> + +<p>"Tayoga has come back," he said.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know he'd gone away," said Robert surprised.</p> + +<p>"He pursued Tandakora into the dark. Mebbe he +thought Tododaho was wrong and that the time for him +to settle score with the Ojibway had re'lly come. Any +way he wuz off after him like an arrer from the bow."</p> + +<p>Robert went outside and found Tayoga standing +quietly by the front door.</p> + +<p>"Did you overtake him?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the Onondaga. "I knew that I could +not, because Tododaho had not whispered to me that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +the time was at hand, but, since I had seen him and he +was running away, I felt bound to pursue him. The +legs of Tandakora are long, and he fled with incredible +speed. I followed him to the landing of the next château, +where he ran down the slope, leaped into a canoe, +and disappeared into the mists and vapors that hang +so heavily over the river. His time is not yet."</p> + +<p>"It seems not, but at any rate we inflicted a very +thorough defeat upon him to-night. His band is annihilated."</p> + +<p>The bodies of all the fallen warriors were buried the +next day, and decent burial was also given to Jumonville. +But that of the Seigneur de Chatillard was still +lying in state when Willet and the rangers left.</p> + +<p>"If you wish," said the hunter to Father Drouillard, +"I can procure you a pass through our lines, and you +can return that way to the city. We don't make war on +priests."</p> + +<p>"I thank you," said Father Drouillard, "but I do +not need it. It is easy for me to go into Quebec, whenever +I choose, but, for a day or two, my duty will lie +here. To-morrow we bury the Seigneur, and after that +must put this household in order. Though one of the +Bostonnais, you are a good man, David Willet. Take +care of yourself, and of the lad, Robert Lennox."</p> + +<p>The hunter promised and, saying farewell to the +priest, they went back to Wolfe's camp, east of the +Montmorency, across which stream De Levis lay facing +them. During their absence a party of skirmishers +had been cut off by St. Luc, and the whole British army +had been disturbed by the activities of the daring +Chevalier. But, on the other hand, Wolfe was recovering +from a serious illness. The sound mind was finding +for itself a sounder body, and he was full of ideas,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +all of the boldest kind, to take Quebec. If one plan +failed he devised another. He thought of fording the +Montmorency several miles above its mouth, and of +attacking Montcalm in his Beauport camp while another +force made a simultaneous attack upon him in front. +He had a second scheme to cross the river, march along +the edge of the St. Lawrence, and then scale the rock +of Quebec, and a third for a general attack upon Montcalm's +army in its Beauport intrenchments. And he +had two or three more that were variations of the first +three, but his generals, Murray, Monckton and Townshend, +would not agree to any one of them, and he +searched his fertile mind for still another.</p> + +<p>But a brave general, even, might well have despaired. +The siege made no apparent progress. Nothing could +diminish the tremendous strength that nature had given +to the position of Quebec, and the skill of Montcalm, +Bougainville, and St. Luc met every emergency. Most +ominous of all, the summer was waning. The colors +that betoken autumn were deepening. Wolfe realized +anew that the time for taking Quebec was shortening +fast. The deep red appearing in the leaves spoke a language +that could not be denied.</p> + +<p>Robert, about this time, received an important letter +from Benjamin Hardy. It came by way of Boston, +Louisbourg and the St. Lawrence. It told him in the +polite phrase of the day how glad he had been to hear +from Master Jacobus Huysman that he was not dead, +although Robert read easily between the lines and saw +how genuine and deep was his joy. Mr. Hardy saw +in his escape from so many dangers the hand of providence, +a direct interposition in his behalf. He said, +from motives of prudence, no mention of Robert's return +from the grave had been made to his acquaintances in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +New York, and Master Jacobus Huysman in Albany had +been cautioned to say as little about it as possible. He +deemed this wise, for the present, because those who +had made the attempts upon his life would know nothing +of their failure and so he would have nothing to +fear from them. He was glad too, since he was sure +to return to some field of the war, that he had joined +the expedition against Quebec. The risk of battle there +would be great, but it was likely that in so remote a +theater of action he would be safe from his unknown +enemies.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hardy added that great hopes were centered on +Wolfe's daring siege. All the campaigns elsewhere were +going well, at last. The full strength of the colonies +was being exerted and England was making a mighty +effort. Success must come. Everybody had confidence +in Mr. Pitt, and in New York they were hopeful that +the shadow, hovering so long in the north, would soon +be dispelled forever.</p> + +<p>In closing he said that when the campaign was over +Robert must come to him in New York at once, and +that Willet must come with him. His wild life in the +woods must cease. Ample provision for his future +would be made and he must develop the talents with +which he was so obviously endowed.</p> + +<p>The water was in Robert's eyes when he finished the +letter. Aye, he read between the lines, and he read +well. The old thought that he had friends, powerful +friends, came to him with renewed strength. It was +obvious that the New York merchant had a deep affection +for him and was watching over him. It was true of +Willet too, and also of Mr. Huysman. His mind, as +ever, turned to the problem of himself, and once more +he felt that the solution was not far away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next day after he had received the letter Zeb +Crane returned from Quebec, into which he had stolen +as a spy, and he told Robert and Charteris that the people +there, though suffering from privation, were now +in great spirits. They were confident that Montcalm, +the fortifications and the natural strength of the city +would hold off the invader until winter, soon to come, +should drive him away forever.</p> + +<p>August was now gone and Wolfe wrote to the great +Pitt a letter destined to be his last official dispatch, a +strange mixture of despondency and resolution. He +spoke of the help for Montcalm that had been thrown +into Quebec, of his own illness, of the decline in his +army's strength through the operations already carried +out, of the fact that practically the whole force of +Canada was now against him, but, in closing, he assured +the minister that the little time left to the campaign +should be used to the utmost.</p> + +<p>While plan after plan presented itself to the mind +of Wolfe, to be discarded as futile, Robert saw incessant +activity with the rangers and fought in many skirmishes +with the French, the Canadians and Indians. Tandakora +had gathered a new band and was as great a danger +as ever. They came upon his ruthless trail repeatedly, +but they were not able to bring him to battle again. Once +they revisited the Château de Chatillard, and found the +life there going on peacefully within the English lines. +Father Drouillard had returned to Quebec.</p> + +<p>Another shade of color was added to the leaves and +then Robert saw a great movement in Wolfe's camp +before the Montmorency. The whole army seemed to +be leaving the position and to be going on board the +fleet. At first he thought the siege was to be abandoned +utterly and his heart sank. But Charteris, whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +he saw just before he went on his ship with the Royal +Americans, reassured him.</p> + +<p>"I think," he said, "that the die is cast at last. The +general has some great plan in his head, I know not +what, but I feel in every bone that we're about to attack +Quebec."</p> + +<p>Robert now felt that way, too. The army merely +concentrated its strength on the Heights of Levis and +Orleans on the other side, then took ship again, and in +the darkness of night, heavily armed and provisioned, +ran by the batteries of the city, dropping anchor at Cap +Rouge, above Quebec.</p> + +<p>Throughout these movements on the water Robert +was in a long boat with Willet, Tayoga and a small body +of rangers. In the darkness he watched the great St. +Lawrence and the lights of the town far above them. +What they would do next he did not know, and he no +longer asked. He believed that Charteris was right, and +that the issue was at hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE RECKONING</h3> + + +<p>Robert's belief that the issue was at hand was +so strong that it was not shaken at all, while they +hovered about the town for a while. He heard +through Charteris that Wolfe was again ill, that he had +suffered a terrible night, but that day had found him +better, and, despite his wasted frame and weakness, he +was among the troops, kindling their courage anew, and +stimulating them to greater efforts.</p> + +<p>"A soul of fire in an invalid's frame," said Charteris, +and Robert agreed with him.</p> + +<p>Through Zeb Crane's amazing powers as a spy, he +heard that the French were in the greatest anxiety over +Wolfe's movements. They had thought at first that he +was abandoning the siege, and then that he meditated +an attack at some new point. Montcalm below the town +and Bougainville above it were watching incessantly. +Their doubts were increased by the fierce bombardments +of the British fleet, which poured heavy shot into the +Lower Town and the French camp. The French cannon +replied, and the hills echoed with the roar, while +great clouds of smoke drifted along the river.</p> + +<p>Then an afternoon came when Robert felt that the +next night and day would tell a mighty tale. It was in +the air. Everybody showed a tense excitement. The +army was being stripped for battle. He knew that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +troops on the Heights of Levis and at Orleans had been +ordered to march along the south shore of the St. +Lawrence and join the others. The fleet was ready, as +always, and the army was to embark. This concentration +could not be for nothing. Before the twilight +he saw Charteris and they shook hands, which was both +a salute and a farewell.</p> + +<p>"We take ship after dark," said Charteris, "and I +know as surely as I'm standing here that we make some +great attempt to-night. The omens and presages are all +about us."</p> + +<p>"I feel that way, too," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"Tododaho will soon appear on his star," said Tayoga, +who was with Robert, "but, though I cannot see him, I +hear his whisper already."</p> + +<p>"What does it say?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"The whisper of Tododaho tells me that the time has +come. We shall meet the enemy in a great battle, but +he does not say who will win."</p> + +<p>"I believe that, if we can bring Montcalm to battle, +we can gain the victory," said Charteris. "I for one, +Tayoga, thank you for the prophecy."</p> + +<p>"And I," said Robert. "But we'll be together to the +end."</p> + +<p>"Aye, Dagaeoga, and together we shall see what +happens."</p> + +<p>Robert also saw the Philadelphians and the Virginians, +and he shook hands with them in turn, every one of them +giving a silent toast to victory or death. He found +Grosvenor with his own regiment, the Grenadiers.</p> + +<p>"We may meet somewhere to-morrow, Grosvenor," +he said, "but neither of us knows where, nor under +what circumstances."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just so we meet after victory, that's enough," said +Grosvenor.</p> + +<p>"Aye, so it is."</p> + +<p>The boom of a cannon came from down the river, it +was followed by another and another and then by many, +singularly clear in the September twilight. A powerful +British fleet ranged up in front of the Beauport shore +and opened a fierce fire on the French redoubts. It +seemed as if Wolfe were trying to force a landing there, +and the French guns replied. In the distance, with the +thunder of the cannonade and the flashes of fire, it +looked as if a great battle were raging.</p> + +<p>"It is nothing," said Willet to Robert, "or rather it +is only a feint. It will make Montcalm below the town +think he is going to be attacked, and it will make Bougainville +above it rest more easily. The French are +already worn down by their efforts in racing back and +forth to meet us. Our command over the water is a +wonderful thing, and it alone makes victory possible."</p> + +<p>Robert, Willet and Tayoga with a dozen rangers went +into a long boat, whence they looked up at the tall ships +that carried the army, and waited as patiently as they +could for the order to move.</p> + +<p>"See the big fellow over there," said Willet, pointing +to one of the ships.</p> + +<p>Robert nodded.</p> + +<p>"That's the <i>Sutherland</i>, and she carries General Wolfe. +Like the boat of Cæsar, she bears our fortunes."</p> + +<p>"Truly 'tis so," said Robert.</p> + +<p>A good breeze was blowing down the river, and, at +that moment, the stars were out.</p> + +<p>"I see Tododaho with the wise snakes in his hair," +said Tayoga in an awed whisper, "and he looks directly +down at me. His eyes speak more plainly than his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +whisper that I heard in the twilight. Now, I know that +some mighty event is going to happen, and that the dawn +will be heavy with the fate of men."</p> + +<p>The sullen boom of a cannon came from a point far +down the river, and then the sullen boom of another +replying. Quebec, on its rock, lay dark and silent. Robert +was shaken by a kind of shiver, and a thrill of +tremendous anticipation shot through him. He too knew +instinctively that they were upon the threshold of some +mighty event. Whatever happened, he could say, if he +lived, that he was there, and, if he fell, he would at least +die a glorious death. His was the thrill of youth, and +it was wholly true.</p> + +<p>It was two hours past midnight and the ebb tide set +in. The good wind was still blowing down the river. +Two lanterns went aloft in the rigging of the <i>Sutherland</i>, +and the signal for one of the great adventures of history +was given. All the troops had gone into boats +earlier in the evening, and now they pulled silently down +the stream, Wolfe in one of the foremost.</p> + +<p>Robert sat beside Tayoga, and Willet was just in +front of them. Some of the stars were still out, but +there was no moon and the night was dark. It seemed +that all things had agreed finally to favor Wolfe's supreme +and last effort. The boats carrying the army were +invisible from the lofty cliffs and no spying canoes were +on the stream to tell that they were there. Robert +gazed up at the black heights, and wondered where were +the French.</p> + +<p>"Are we going directly against Quebec?" he whispered +to Willet. "'Tis impossible to storm it upon its +heights."</p> + +<p>"Nay, lad, nothing is impossible. As you see, we go +toward Quebec and I think we land in the rear of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +'Tis young men who lead us, the boldest of young men, +and they will dare anything. But I tell you, Robert, +our coming to Quebec is very different from what it was +when we came here with a message from the Governor +of the Province of New York."</p> + +<p>"And our reception is like to be different, too. What +was that? It sounded like the splash of a paddle ahead +of us."</p> + +<p>"It was only a great fish leaping out of the water and +then falling back again," said Tayoga. "There is no +enemy on the stream. Truly Manitou to-night has +blinded the French and the warriors, their allies. Montcalm +is a great leader, and so is St. Luc, but they do +not know what is coming. We shall meet them in the +morning. Tododaho has said so to me."</p> + +<p>The boats passed on in their slow drifting with the +tide. Once near to a lofty headland, they were hailed +by a French sentinel, who heard the creaking of the +boats, and who saw dim outlines in the dark, but a +Scotch officer, who spoke good French, made a satisfactory +reply. The boats drifted on, and the sentinel went +back to his dreams, perhaps of the girl that he had +left in France.</p> + +<p>"Did I not tell you that Manitou had blinded the +French and the warriors, their allies, to-night?" whispered +Tayoga to Robert. "Ninety-nine times out of a +hundred the sentinel would have asked more, or he would +have insisted upon seeing more in the dark, but Manitou +dulled his senses. The good spirits are abroad, and +they work for us."</p> + +<p>"Truly, I believe it is so, Tayoga," said Robert.</p> + +<p>"The French don't lack in vigilance, but they must be +worn out," said Willet. "It's one thing to sail on ships +up and down a river, but it's quite another for an army<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +racing along lofty, rough and curving shores to keep +pace with it."</p> + +<p>They were challenged from another point of vantage +by a sentinel and they saw him running down to the +St. Lawrence, pistol in hand, to make good his question. +But the same Scotch officer who had answered +the first placated him, telling him that theirs were boats +loaded with provisions, and not to make a noise or the +English would hear him. Again was French vigilance +lulled, and they passed on around the headland above +Anse du Foulon.</p> + +<p>"The omens are ours," whispered Tayoga, with deep +conviction. "Now, I know that we shall arrive at the +place to which we want to go. Unless Manitou wishes +us to go there, he would not have twice dulled the senses +of French sentinels who could have brought a French +army down upon us while we are yet in the river. And, +lo! here where we are going to land there is no sentinel!"</p> + +<p>"Under heaven, I believe you're right, Tayoga!" exclaimed +Willet, with intense earnestness.</p> + +<p>The boats swung in to the narrow beach at the foot +of the lofty cliff and the men disembarked rapidly. +Then, hanging to rocks and shrubs, they began to climb. +There was still no alarm, and Robert held his breath in +suspense, and in amazement too. He did not know just +where they were, but they could not be very far from +Quebec, and General Wolfe was literally putting his +head in the lion's mouth. He knew, and every one +around him knew, that it was now victory or death. He +felt again that tremendous thrill. Whatever happened, +he would be in it. He kept repeating that fact to himself +and the thought of death was not with him.</p> + +<p>"The dawn will soon be at hand," he said; "I feel it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +coming. If we can have only a half hour more! Only a +half hour!"</p> + +<p>"It will come with clouds," said Tayoga. "Manitou +still favors us. He wills that we shall reach the top."</p> + +<p>Robert made another pull and surmounted the crest. +Everywhere the soldiers were pouring over the top. +A small body of French sentinels was taken by surprise. +Some of them were captured, and the others +escaped in the dusk to carry the alarm to the city, to +Montcalm and to Bougainville. But Wolfe was on the +heights before Quebec. From points farther up the river +came the crash of cannon. It was the French batteries +firing upon the last of the boats, and upon the ships +bringing down the rest of the troops. But it was too +late to stop the British army, which included Americans, +who were then British too.</p> + +<p>"The dawn is here," said Tayoga.</p> + +<p>The east was breaking slowly into dull light. Heavy +clouds were floating up from the west, and the air was +damp with the promise of rain. The British army +was forming rapidly into line of battle, but no army +was in front of it. The daring enterprise of the night +was a complete success, and Montcalm had been surprised. +He was yet to know that his enemy had scaled +the heights and was before Quebec.</p> + +<p>"We've gained a field of battle for ourselves," said +Willet, "and it's now for us to win the battle itself."</p> + +<p>The mind of Wolfe was at its supreme activity. +A detachment, sent swiftly, seized the battery at Samos +that was firing upon the ships and boats. Another battery, +farther away at Sillery, was taken also, and the +landing of additional troops was covered. A party of +Canadians who came out of the town to see who these +intrusive strangers might be, were driven back in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +hurry, and then Wolfe and his officers advanced to +choose their ground, the rangers hovering on the flanks +of the regulars.</p> + +<p>Where the plateau was only a mile wide and before +Quebec, the general took his stand with the lofty cliffs +of the St. Lawrence on the south and the meadows of +the St. Charles on the north. The field, the famous +Plains of Abraham, was fairly level with corn fields and +bushes here and there. A battalion of the Royal Americans +was placed to guard the ford of the St. Charles, +but Robert saw the others, his friends among them, +formed up in the front ranks, where the brunt of the +battle would fall. Another regiment was in reserve. +The rangers, with Robert, Tayoga and Willet, still hovered +on the flanks.</p> + +<p>Robert felt intense excitement. He always believed +afterward that he understood even at that instant the +greatness of the cloudy dawn that had come, and the +momentous nature of the approaching conflict, holding +in its issue results far greater than those of many a battle +in which ten times the numbers were engaged.</p> + +<p>"How far away is Quebec?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Over there about a mile," replied Willet. "We can't +see it because the ridge that the French call the Buttes-a-Neveu +comes in between."</p> + +<p>"But look!" exclaimed Robert. "See, what is on the +ridge!"</p> + +<p>The stretch of broken ground was suddenly covered +with white uniforms. They were French soldiers, the +battalion of Guienne, aroused in their camp near the +St. Charles River by the firing, and come swiftly to +see what was the matter. There they stood, staring at +the scarlet ranks, drawn up in battle before them, unable +to credit their eyes at first, many of them believing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +for the moment that it was some vision of the cloudy +dawn.</p> + +<p>"I think that Montcalm's army will soon come," said +Willet to Robert. "You see, we're literally between +three fires. We're facing the garrison of Quebec, while +we have Montcalm on one side of us and Bougainville +on the other. The question is which will it be, Bougainville +or Montcalm, but I think it will be Montcalm."</p> + +<p>"I know it will be Montcalm," said Robert, "and I +know too that when he comes St. Luc will be with +him."</p> + +<p>"Aye, St. Luc will be with him. That's sure."</p> + +<p>It was even so. Montcalm was already on his way. +The valiant general of France, troubled by the hovering +armies and fleets of Britain, uncertain where they intended +to strike or whether they meant to strike at all, +had passed a sleepless night. At dawn the distant +boom of the cannon, firing at the English ships above +the town, had come to his ears. An officer sent for +news to the headquarters of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, +the Governor-General of New France, much nearer to +the town, had not returned, and, mounting, he galloped +swiftly with one of his aides to learn the cause of the +firing. Near the Governor-General's house they caught +a distant gleam of the scarlet ranks of Wolfe's army, +nearly two miles away.</p> + +<p>When Montcalm saw that red flash his agitation and +excitement became intense. It is likely that he understood +at once the full danger, that he knew the crisis for +Canada and France was at hand. But he dispatched +immediately the orders that would bring his army upon +the scene. The Governor-General, already alarmed, +came out of his house and they exchanged a few words. +Then Montcalm galloped over the bridge across the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +St. Charles and toward the British army. It is stated +of him that during this ride his face was set and that he +never spoke once to his aides.</p> + +<p>Behind Montcalm came his army, hurrying to the +battle-field, and, taking the quickest course, it passed +through Quebec, entering at the Palace Gate and passing +out through those of St. Louis and St. John, hastening, +always hastening, to join the battalion of Guienne, +which already stood in its white uniforms and beneath +its banners on the Buttes-a-Neveu.</p> + +<p>Montcalm's army included the veterans of many victories. +Through long years they had fought valiantly +for France in North America. At Ticonderoga they +had shown how they could triumph over great odds, over +men as brave as themselves, and, as they pressed through +the narrow streets of the quaint old town, they did not +doubt that they were going to another victory. With +them, too, were the swart Canadians fighting for their +homes, their flag and, as they believed then, for their +religion, animated, too, by confidence in their courage, +and belief in the skill of their leaders who had so seldom +failed.</p> + +<p>Behind the French and the Canadians were the Indians +who had been drawn so freely to Montcalm's +banner by his success, thinking anew of slaughter and +untold spoil, such as they had known at William Henry +and such as they might have had at Ticonderoga. The +gigantic Tandakora, painted hideously, led them, and in +all that motley array there was no soul more eager than +his for the battle.</p> + +<p>On that eventful morning, which the vast numbers of +later wars cannot dim, the councils of France were divided. +Vaudreuil, fearing an attack on the Beauport +shore, did not give the valiant Montcalm all the help<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +that he could spare, nor did De Ramesay, commanding +the garrison of Quebec, send the artillery that the +Marquis asked.</p> + +<p>But Montcalm was resolute. His soul was full of +fire. He looked at the ranks of Wolfe's army drawn +up before him on the Plains of Abraham, and he did +not hesitate to attack. He would not wait for Bougainville, +nor would he hold back for the garrison of +Quebec. He saw that the gauge of battle had been +flung down to him and he knew that he must march +at once upon the British—and the Americans. Mounted +on a black horse, he rode up and down the lines, waving +or pointing his sword, his dark face alive with +energy.</p> + +<p>Montcalm now formed his men in three divisions. +M. de Senezergues led the left wing made up of the +regiments of Guienne and Royal Roussillon, supported +by Canadian militia. M. de Saint Ours took the right +wing with the battalion of La Sarre and more Canadian +militia. Montcalm was in the center with the regiment +of Languedoc and the battalion of Béarn. On both +flanks were Canadians and numerous Indians.</p> + +<p>Robert from his position on a little knoll with Willet +and Tayoga watched all these movements, and he was +scarcely conscious of the passage of time. There was a +shifting in the British army also, as it perfected its +alignment, and the bagpipes of the Scotchmen were +already screaming defiance, but his eyes were mainly +for the French before him. He recognized Montcalm +as he rode up and down the lines, raising his sword, and +presently he saw another gallant figure on horseback +that he knew. It was St. Luc, and the old thrill shot +through him: St. Luc for whom the ancient M. de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +Chatillard had taken him, St. Luc with whom he must +have some blood tie.</p> + +<p>Though it was now far beyond the time for the rising +of the sun, the day was still dark, heavy with clouds, +and now and then a puff of rain was blown in the faces +of the waiting men, though few took notice. The wait +and the preparations had to Robert all the aspects of +a duel, and the incessant shrill screaming of the Scotch +bagpipes put a fever in his blood, setting all the little +pulses in his head and body to beating. Ever after +he maintained that the call of the bagpipes was the most +martial music in the world.</p> + +<p>The crackle of firing broke out on the flanks. The +Canadian and Indian sharpshooters, from the shelter of +houses, bushes and knolls, had opened fire. Now and +then a man in scarlet fell, but the army of Wolfe neither +moved nor replied, though some of the New England +rangers, stealing forward, began to send bullets at their +targets.</p> + +<p>"I see Tandakora," said Tayoga, "and, in an hour, the +score between us will be settled. Tododaho told me so +last night, but it is still uncertain which shall be the +victor."</p> + +<p>"Can't you get a shot at him?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"It is not yet time, Dagaeoga. Tododaho will say +when the moment comes for me to pull trigger on the +Ojibway."</p> + +<p>Then Robert's gaze shifted back to the figure of St. +Luc. The chevalier rode a white horse, and he was +helping Montcalm to form the lines in the best order +for the attack. He too held in his hand a sword, the +small sword that Robert had seen before, but he seldom +waved it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are they ever coming?" asked Robert, who felt as +if he had been standing on the field many hours.</p> + +<p>"We've not long to wait now, lad," replied Willet. +"Our own army is ready and I think the fate of America +will soon be decided here on this cloudy morning."</p> + +<p>Another light puff of rain struck Robert in the face, +but as before he did not notice it. The crackling fire +of the sharpshooters increased. They were stinging +the British flanks and more men in scarlet fell, but +the army of Wolfe remained immovable, waiting, always +waiting. It was for Montcalm now to act. French +field pieces added their roar to the crackle of rifles +and muskets, and now and then the fierce yell of the +Indians rose above both. Robert thought he saw a +general movement in the French lines, and his thought +was Willet's also.</p> + +<p>"The moment has come! Steady, lads! Steady!" said +the hunter.</p> + +<p>The whole French army suddenly began to advance, +the veterans and the militia together, uttering great +shouts, while the Indians on the flanks gave forth the +war whoop without ceasing. Robert remained motionless. +The steadfastness of soul that he had acquired +on the island controlled him now. Inwardly he was +in a fever, but outwardly he showed no emotion. He +glanced at Montcalm on the black horse, and St. Luc +on the white, and then at the scarlet and silent ranks +of Wolfe's army. But the French were coming fast, +and he knew that silence would soon burst into sudden +and terrible action.</p> + +<p>"The French lines are being thrown into confusion +by the unevenness of the ground and the rapidity of +their advance," said Willet. "Their surprise at our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +being here is so great that it has unsteadied them. Now +they are about to open fire!"</p> + +<p>The front of the charging French burst into flame +and the bullets sang in the scarlet ranks. Wolfe's army +suddenly began to move forward, but still it did not +fire, although the battle of the skirmishers on the flanks +was rapidly increasing in ferocity. The rangers were +busy now, replying to the Indians and Canadians, but +Robert still took rapid glances and he looked oftenest +toward the Americans, where his friends stood. The +advance of the French became almost a run, and he +saw all the muskets and rifles of his own army go up.</p> + +<p>A tremendous volley burst from the scarlet ranks, so +loud and so close together that it sounded like one vast +cannon shot. It was succeeded presently by another, +and then by an irregular but fierce fire, which died in its +turn to let the smoke lift.</p> + +<p>Robert saw a terrible sight. The ground where the +French army had stood was literally covered with dead +and wounded. The two volleys fired at close range +had mowed them down like grain. The French army, +smitten unto death, was reeling back, and the British, +seizing the moment, rushed forward with bayonet and +drawn sword. The Highlanders, as they charged with +the broadsword, uttered a tremendous yell, and Robert +saw his own Americans in the front of the rush. He +caught one glimpse of the tall figure of Charteris and +he saw Colden near him. Then they were all lost in +the smoke as they attacked.</p> + +<p>But Wolfe had fallen. Struck by three bullets, the +last time in the breast, he staggered and sat down. Men +rushed to his aid, but he lived just long enough to know +that he had won the victory. Before the firing died +away, he was dead. Montcalm, still on horseback, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +shot through the body, but he was taken into the city, +where he died the night of the next day. Senezergues, +his second in command, was also mortally wounded, and +Monckton, who was second to Wolfe, fell badly wounded +too.</p> + +<p>But Robert did not yet know any of these facts. He +was conscious only of victory. He heard the triumphant +cheers of Wolfe's army and he saw that the French had +stopped, then that they were breaking. He felt again +that powerful thrill, but now it was the thrill of victory.</p> + +<p>"We win! We win!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Aye, so we do," said Willet, "but here are the Canadians +and Indians trying to wipe out us rangers."</p> + +<p>The fire in front of them from the knolls and bushes +redoubled, but the rangers, adept at such combats, +pressed forward, pouring in their bullets. The Canadians +and Indians gave ground and the rangers, circling about, +attacked them on the flank. Tayoga suddenly uttered +a fierce shout and, dropping his rifle, leaped into the +open.</p> + +<p>"Now, O Tandakora!" he cried. "The time has come +and thou hast given me the chance!"</p> + +<p>The gigantic figure of Tandakora emerged from the +smoke, and the two, tomahawk in hand, faced each +other.</p> + +<p>"It is you, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the +nation Onondaga, of the league of the Hodenosaunee," +said the chief. "So you have come at last that I may +spit upon your dead body. I have long sought this +moment."</p> + +<p>"Not longer than I, Ojibway savage!" replied Tayoga. +"Now you shall know what it is to strike an +Onondaga in the mouth, when he is bound and helpless."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> + +<p>The huge warrior threw back his head and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Look your last at the skies, Onondaga," he said, +"because you will soon pass into silence and darkness. +It is not for a great chief to be slain by a mere boy."</p> + +<p>Tayoga said no more, but gazed steadily into the +eyes of the Ojibway. Then the two circled slowly, +each intently watching every movement of the other. +The great body of Tandakora was poised like that of +a panther, the huge muscles rippling under his bronze +skin. But the slender figure of Tayoga was instinct also +with strength, and with an incomparable grace and +lightness. He seemed to move without effort, like a +beam of light.</p> + +<p>Tandakora crouched as he moved slowly toward the +right. Then his arm suddenly shot back and he hurled +his tomahawk with incredible force. The Onondaga +threw his head to one side and the glittering blade, flying +on, clove a ranger to the chin. Then Tayoga threw +his own weapon, but Tandakora, with a quick shift evading +it, drew his knife and, rushing in, cried:</p> + +<p>"Now I have you, dog of an Onondaga!"</p> + +<p>Not in vain was Tayoga as swift as a beam of light. +Not in vain was that light figure made of wrought steel. +Leaping to one side, he drew his own knife and struck +with all his might at the heart of that huge, rushing +figure. The blade went true, and so tremendous was +the blow that Tandakora, falling in a heap, gave up his +fierce and savage soul.</p> + +<p>"They run! They run!" cried Robert. "The whole +French army is running!"</p> + +<p>It was true. The entire French force was pouring +back toward the gates of the city, their leaders vainly +trying to rally the soldiers. The skirmishers fell back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +with them. A figure, darting from a bush, turned to pull +trigger on Robert, and then uttered a cry of terror.</p> + +<p>"A ghost! It is a ghost!" he exclaimed in French.</p> + +<p>But a second look told Achille Garay that it was no +ghost. It may have been a miracle, but it was Robert +Lennox come back in the flesh, and his finger returned +to the trigger. Another was quicker. The hunter saw +him.</p> + +<p>"That for you, Garay!" he cried, and sent a bullet +through the spy's heart. Then, drawing the two lads +with him, he rushed forward in pursuit.</p> + +<p>The confusion in the French army was increasing. Its +defeat was fast becoming a rout, but some of the officers +still strove to stay the panic. Robert saw one on a white +horse gallop before a huddle of fleeing men. But the +soldiers, swerving, ran on. A bullet struck the horse and +he fell. The man leaped clear, but looked around in +a dazed manner. Then a bullet struck him too, and he +staggered. Robert with a cry rushed forward, and received +into his arms the falling figure of St. Luc.</p> + +<p>He eased the Chevalier to the ground and rested his +head upon his knee.</p> + +<p>"He isn't dead!" he exclaimed. "He's only shot +through the shoulder!"</p> + +<p>"Now, this is in truth the hand of Providence," said +Willet gravely, "when you are here in the height of a +great battle to break the fall of your own uncle!"</p> + +<p>"My uncle!" exclaimed Robert.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc smiled +wanly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my nephew," he said, "your own uncle, though +wounded grievously, on this the saddest of all days for +France, son of my dear, dead sister, Gabrielle."</p> + +<p>Then he fainted dead away from loss of blood, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +the Canadian, Dubois, appearing suddenly, helped them +to revive him. Robert hung over him with irrepressible +anxiety.</p> + +<p>"The brother of my mother!" he exclaimed. "I always +felt there was a powerful tie, a blood tie, uniting +us! That was why he spared me so often! That was +why he told me how to escape at Ticonderoga! He +will not die, Dave? He will not die?"</p> + +<p>"No, he will not die," replied Willet. "The Marquis +de Clermont can receive a greater wound than that, and +yet live and flourish."</p> + +<p>"The Marquis de Clermont!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, the Chevalier de St. Luc is head of one of the +greatest families of France and you're his next of kin."</p> + +<p>"And so I'm half a Frenchman!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, half a Frenchman, half an Englishman, and all +an American."</p> + +<p>"And so I am!" said Robert.</p> + +<p>"Truly it is a great morning," said Tayoga gravely. +"Tododaho has given to me the triumph, and Tandakora +has gone to his hereafter, wherever it may be; the soul +of Garay is sped too, France has lost Canada, and +Dagaeoga has found the brother of his mother."</p> + +<p>"It's true," said Willet in a whimsical tone. "When +things begin to happen they happen fast. The battle +is almost over."</p> + +<p>But the victorious army, as it advanced, was subjected +to a severe fire on the flank from ambushed Canadians. +Many of the French threw themselves into the thickets +on the Coté Ste.-Genevieve, and poured a hail of bullets +into the ranks of the advancing Highlanders. Vaudreuil +came up from Beauport and was all in terror, but +Bougainville and others, arriving, showed a firmer spirit. +The gates of Quebec were shut, and it seemed to show<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +defiance, while the English and Americans, still in the +presence of forces greater than their own, intrenched +on the field where they had won the victory, a victory +that remains one of the decisive battles of the world, +mighty and far-reaching in its consequences.</p> + +<p>A night of mixed triumph and grief came, grief for +the loss of Wolfe and so many brave men, triumph +that a daring chance had brought such a brilliant success. +Robert found Charteris, Grosvenor, Colden and +the Virginians unharmed. Wilton was wounded +severely, but ultimately recovered his full strength. +Carson was wounded also, but was as well as ever in +a month, while Robert himself, Tayoga, Willet and Zeb +Crane were not touched.</p> + +<p>But his greatest interest that night was in the Chevalier +de St. Luc, Marquis de Clermont. They had made +him a pallet in a tent and one of the best army surgeons +was attending so famous and gallant an enemy. But +he seemed easiest when Robert was by.</p> + +<p>"My boy," he said, "I always tried to save you. +Whenever I looked upon you I saw in your face my sister +Gabrielle."</p> + +<p>"But why did you not tell me?" asked Robert. "Why +did not some one of the others who seemed to know +tell me?"</p> + +<p>"There were excellent reasons," replied the wounded +man. "Gabrielle loved one of the Bostonnais, a young +man whom she met in Paris. He was brave, gallant +and true, was your father, Richard Lennox. I have +nothing to say against him, but our family did not consider +it wise for her to marry a foreigner, a member of +another race. They eloped and were married in a little +hamlet on the wild coast of Brittany. Then they fled to +America, where you were born, and when you were a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +year old they undertook to return to France, seeking +forgiveness. But it was only a start. The ship was +driven on the rocks of Maine and they were lost, your +brave, handsome father and my beautiful sister—but +you were saved. Willet came and took you into the +wilderness with him. He has stood in the place of your +own father."</p> + +<p>"But why did not they tell me?" repeated Robert. +"Why was I left so long in ignorance?"</p> + +<p>"There was a flaw. The priest who performed the +marriage was dead. The records were lost. The evil +said there had been no marriage, and that you were no +rightful member of the great family of De Clermont. +We could not prove the marriage then and so you were +left for the time with Willet."</p> + +<p>"Why did Willet take me?"</p> + +<p>Raymond Louis de St. Luc turned to Willet, who sat +on the other side of the pallet, and smiled.</p> + +<p>"I will answer you, Robert," said the hunter. "I +was one of those who loved your mother. How could +any one help loving her? As beautiful as a dream, and +a soul of pure gold. She married another, but when she +was lost at sea something went out of my life that could +never be replaced in this world. You have replaced +it partly, Robert, but not wholly. It seemed fitting to +the others that, being what I was, and loving Gabrielle +de Clermont as I had, I should take you. I should have +taken you anyhow."</p> + +<p>Robert's head swam, and there was a mist before +his eyes. He was thinking of the beautiful young +mother whom he could not remember.</p> + +<p>"Then I am by blood a De Clermont, and yet not a +De Clermont," he said.</p> + +<p>"You're a De Clermont by blood, by right, and before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +all the world," said Willet. "I've a letter from Benjamin +Hardy in New York, stating that the records have +been found in the ruins of the burned church on the +coast of Brittany, where the marriage was performed. +Their authenticity has been acknowledged by the French +government and all the members of the De Clermont +family who are in France. Copies of them have been +smuggled through from France."</p> + +<p>"Thanks to the good God!" murmured St. Luc.</p> + +<p>"And Adrian Van Zoon? Why has he made such +war against me?" asked Robert.</p> + +<p>"Because of money," replied Willet. "Your father +was a great owner of shipping, inherited, as Richard +Lennox was a young man under thirty when he was +lost at sea. At his death the control of it passed into +the hands of his father's partner, Adrian Van Zoon. +Van Zoon wanted it all, and, since you had no relatives, +he probably would have secured it if you had been put +out of the way. That is why you were safer with me +at Albany and in the woods, until your rightful claims +could be established. Benjamin Hardy, who had been +a schoolmate and great friend of your father, knew +of this and kept watch on Van Zoon. Your estate has +not suffered in the man's hands, because, expecting it +to be his own, he has made it increase. Jonathan +Pillsbury knew your history too. So did Jacobus Huysman, +in whose house we placed you when you went to +school, and so did your teacher, Master Alexander +McLean."</p> + +<p>"I had powerful friends. I felt it all the time," said +Robert.</p> + +<p>"So you had, lad, and it was largely because they saw +you grow up worthy of such friendship. You're a very +rich man, Robert. There are ships belonging to you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +on nearly every sea, or at least there would be if we +had no war."</p> + +<p>"And a Marquis of France—when I die," said St. Luc.</p> + +<p>"No! No!" exclaimed Robert. "You'll live as long as +I will! Why, you're only a young man!"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-nine," said St. Luc. "Gabrielle was twelve +years older than I am. You are more a younger brother +than a nephew to me, Robert."</p> + +<p>"But I will never become a Marquis of France," said +Robert. "I am American, English to the core. I have +fought against France, though I do not hate her. I +cannot go to France, nor even to England. I must stay +in the country in which I was born, and in which my +father was born."</p> + +<p>"Spoken well," said Willet. "It was what I wanted +to hear you say. The Chevalier will return to France. +He will marry and have children of his own. Haven't +we heard him sing often about the girl he left on the +bridge of Avignon? The next Marquis of Clermont +will be his son and not his nephew."</p> + +<p>Which came to pass, as Willet predicted.</p> + +<p>Robert stayed long that night by the pallet of his +uncle, to whom the English gave the best of attention, +respecting the worth of a wounded prisoner so well +known for his bravery, skill and lofty character. St. Luc +finally fell asleep, and, going outside, Robert found +Tayoga awaiting him. When he told him all the strange +and wonderful story that he had heard inside the tent, +the Onondaga said:</p> + +<p>"I suppose that Dagaeoga, being a great man, will go +to Europe and forget us here."</p> + +<p>"Never!" exclaimed Robert. "My home is in America. +All I know is America, and I'd be out of place in +any other country."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> + +<p>And then he added whimsically:</p> + +<p>"I couldn't go so far away from the Hodenosaunee."</p> + +<p>"Dagaeoga might go far and yet never come to a +nation greater than the great League," said Tayoga, with +deep conviction.</p> + +<p>"That's true, Tayoga. How stands the battle? I had +almost forgotten it in the amazing tide of my own +fortunes."</p> + +<p>"General Wolfe is dead, but his spirit lives after him. +We are victorious at all points. The French have fled +into Quebec, and they yet have an army much more +numerous than ours, if they get it all together. But +Montcalm was wounded and they say he is dying. The +soul has gone out of them. I think Quebec will be +yielded very soon."</p> + +<p>And surrendered it was a few days later, but the +victors soon found that the city they had won with so +much daring would have to be defended with the utmost +courage and pertinacity. St. Luc, fast recovering +from his wound, was sent a prisoner to New York, +together with De Galissonnière, who had been taken +unhurt, but Robert did not get away as soon as he had +expected. Quebec was in peril again, but now from the +French. De Levis, who succeeded Montcalm as the military +leader of New France, gathering together at Montreal +all the fragments of the French power in Canada, +swore to retake Quebec.</p> + +<p>Robert, Tayoga and Willet, with the rangers, served +in the garrison of Quebec throughout the long and bitter +winter that followed. In the spring they moved out +with the army to meet De Levis, who was advancing +from Montreal to keep his oath. Robert received a +slight wound in the battle of Ste. Foy that followed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +in which the English and Americans were defeated, and +were compelled to retreat into Quebec.</p> + +<p>This battle of Ste. Foy, in which Robert distinguished +himself again with the New England rangers, was long +and fierce, one of the most sanguinary ever fought on +Canadian soil. De Levis, the French commander, +showed all the courage and skill of Montcalm, proving +himself a worthy successor to the leader who had fallen +with Wolfe, and his men displayed the usual French +fire and courage.</p> + +<p>Hazen, the chief of the rangers, was badly wounded +in the height of the action, but Robert and Willet succeeded +in bringing him off the field, while Tayoga protected +their retreat. A bullet from the Onondaga's rifle +here slew Colonel de Courcelles, and Robert, on the +whole, was glad that the man's death had been a valiant +one. He had learned not to cherish rancor against any +one, and the Onondaga and the hunter agreed with him.</p> + +<p>"There is some good in everybody," said Willet. +"We'll remember that and forget the rest."</p> + +<p>But Robert's friends in the Royal Americans had a +hard time of it in the battle of Ste. Foy, even harder +than in Wolfe's battle on the Plains of Abraham. They +were conspicuous for their valor and suffered many casualties. +Colden, Cabell and Stuart were wounded, but +took no permanent hurt. Charteris also received a slight +wound, but he recovered entirely before his marriage +in the summer with the lovely Louise de St. Maur, +the daughter of the Seigneur Raymond de St. Maur, in +whose house he had been a prisoner a long time in +Quebec.</p> + +<p>It was Robert's own personal contact and his great +friendship for Charteris, continuing throughout their +long lives in New York, that caused him to take such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +a strong and permanent interest in this particular regiment +which had been raised wholly in the colonies and +which fought so valiantly at Duquesne, Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, +Quebec, Ste. Foy, and in truth in nearly all +the great North American battles of the Seven Years' +War.</p> + +<p>It was at first the Sixty-Second Regular Regiment of +the British Army, "Royal American Provincials," but +through the lapsing of two other regiments it soon became +the Sixtieth. Its valor and distinction were so +high when composed wholly of Americans, except the +superior officers, that nearly seventy years subsequent to +the fall of Quebec the Englishmen, who after the great +quarrel had replaced the Americans in it, asked that they +be allowed to use as their motto the Latin phrase, +<i>Celer et audax</i>, "Swift and Bold," "Quick and Ready," +which Wolfe himself was said to have conferred upon +it shortly before his fall upon the Plains of Abraham. +And in memory of the great deeds of their American +predecessors, the gallant Englishmen who succeeded +them were permitted by the British government to use +that motto.</p> + +<p>Despite their defeat at Ste. Foy, the English and +Americans held the capital against De Levis until another +British fleet arrived and compelled the retreat of +the brave Frenchmen. More reënforcements came from +England, the powerful army of Amherst advanced from +the south, Montreal was taken, and it was soon all over +with New France.</p> + +<p>Canada passed to England, and after its fall English +and American troops, men of the same blood, language +and institutions, did not stand together again in a +great battle for more than a century and a half, and then, +strangely enough, it was in defense of that France which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +under one flag they had fought at Duquesne and Ticonderoga, +at Quebec and Ste. Foy.</p> + +<p>Robert, Tayoga and Willet went back to the colonies +by land, and after a long journey stopped at Albany, +where they received the warmest of welcomes from Master +Jacobus Huysman, Master Alexander McLean and +Caterina.</p> + +<p>"I knew Robert that some time you would come into +your own. I hold some of the papers about you in my +great chest here," said Jacobus Huysman. "Now it iss +for you to show that you understand how to use great fortune +well."</p> + +<p>"And never forget your dates," said Master Alexander. +"It is well to know history. All the more so, because +you have had a part in the making of it."</p> + +<p>Warm as was their welcome in Albany, it was no +warmer than that given them in New York by Benjamin +Hardy and Jonathan Pillsbury. The very next day +they went to the house of Adrian Van Zoon for a reckoning, +only to find him dead in his bed. He had heard +the night before of Robert's arrival; in truth, it was his +first intimation that young Lennox was alive, and that +all his wicked schemes against him had failed.</p> + +<p>"It may have been a stroke of heart disease," said +Benjamin Hardy, as they turned away, "or——"</p> + +<p>"He has gone and his crimes have gone with him," +said Robert. "I don't wish ever to know how he went."</p> + +<p>A little later the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, +Marquis de Clermont, the war now being over, sailed +with his faithful Canadian attendant, Dubois, from New +York for France. The parting between him and his +nephew was not demonstrative, but it was marked by +the deepest affection on either side.</p> + +<p>"France has been defeated, but she is the eternal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> +nation," said St. Luc. "She will be greater than ever. +She will be more splendid than before."</p> + +<p>The De Clermonts were a powerful stock, with their +roots deep in the soil. A son of St. Luc's became a +famous general under Napoleon, a great cavalry leader +of singular courage and capacity, and a lineal descendant +of his, a general also, fought with the same courage and +ability under Joffre and Foch in the World War, being +especially conspicuous for his services at both the First +and Second Marne. At the Second Marne he gave a +heartfelt greeting to two young American officers named +Lennox, calling them his cousins and brothers-in-arms, +in blood as well as in spirit. They were together in the +immortal counter-stroke on the morning of July 18, +1918, when Americans and French turned the tide of +the World War, and sealed anew an old friendship. +They were also together throughout those blazing one +hundred and nineteen days when British, French and +Americans together, old enemies and old friends who +had mingled their blood on innumerable battle-fields, destroyed +the greatest menace of modern times and hurled +the pretender to divine honors from his throne.</p> + +<p>Robert found his fortune to be one of the largest in +the New World, but he kept it in the hands of Benjamin +Hardy and David Willet, who increased it, and he became +the lawyer, orator and statesman for which his +talents fitted him so eminently. A marked characteristic +in the life of Robert Lennox, noted by all who knew +him, was his liberality of opinion. He had his share in +public life, but the bitterness of politics, then so common +in this country as well as others, seemed never to +touch him. He was always willing to give his opponent +credit for sincerity, and even to admit that his cause<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +had justice. In his opinion the other man's point of +view could always be considered.</p> + +<p>This broadness of mind often caused him to incur +criticism, but it had become so much his nature, and his +courage was so great, that he would not depart from it. +He had been through the terrible war with the French, +and, even before he knew that he was half a Frenchman +by blood, he had gladly acknowledged the splendid qualities +of the French, their bravery and patience, and their +logical minds. He always said during the worst throes +of their revolution that the French would emerge from +it greater than ever.</p> + +<p>His position was similar in the Revolutionary War +with the English. While he cast in his lot with his own +people, and suffered with them, he invariably maintained +that the English nation was sound at the core. He had +fought beside them in a great struggle and he knew how +strong and true they were, and when our own strife +was over he was most eager for a renewal of good +relations with the English, always saying that the fact +that they had quarreled and parted did not keep them +from being of the same blood and family, and hence +natural allies.</p> + +<p>He consistently refused to hate an individual. He +always insisted that life was too busy to cherish a grudge +or seek revenge. Bad acts invariably punished themselves +in the course of time. He was able to see some +good, a little at least, in everybody. Searching his mind +in after years, he could even find excuses for Adrian +Van Zoon. He would say to Willet that the man loved +nothing but money, that perhaps he had been born that +way and could not help it, that he had made his attempts +upon him under the influence of what was the +greatest of all temptations to him, and that while he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +paid the slaver to carry him away he had not paid him +to kill him. As for Garay, he would say that he might +have exceeded orders. He would say the same about +the shots the slaver had fired at him at Albany.</p> + +<p>This tolerance came partly from his own character, +and partly from an enormous experience of life in the +raw in his young and formative years. He knew how +men were to a large extent the creatures of circumstances, +and on the individual in particular his judgments +were always mild. He had two favorite sayings:</p> + +<p>"No man is as bad as he seems to his worst enemy."</p> + +<p>"No man is as good as he seems to his best friend."</p> + +<p>His own faults he knew perfectly well to be quickness +of temper and a proneness to hasty action. Throughout +his life he fought against them and he took as his models +Willet and Tayoga, who always appeared to him to have +a more thorough command over their own minds and +impulses than any other men he ever knew.</p> + +<p>Aside from his brilliancy and power in public life, +Lennox had other qualities that distinguished him as a +man. He was noted for his cosmopolitan views concerning +human affairs. He had an uncommon largeness +and breadth of vision, all the more notable then, as +America was, in many respects, outside the greater world +of Europe. People in speaking of him, however, recalled +the extraordinary variety and intensity of his experiences. +Much of his story was known and it was not +diminished in the telling. He was always at home in +the woods. He had an uncommon sympathy for hunters, +borderers, pathfinders and all kinds of wilderness +rovers. He understood them and they instinctively understood +him, invariably finding in him a redoubtable +champion. He was also closely in touch with the Indian +soul, and his friends used to say laughingly that he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +something of the Indian in his own nature. At all +events, the Great League of the Hodenosaunee found +in him a defender and he was more than once an honored +guest in the Vale of Onondaga.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, his interest in European affairs +was always keen and intelligent, especially in those of +England and France, with whose sons he had come into +contact so much during the great war. He maintained +a lifelong correspondence with his friend, Alfred +Grosvenor, who ultimately became a nobleman and who +sat for more than forty years in the House of Lords. +Lennox visited him several times in England, both before +and after the quarrel between the colonies and the +mother country, which, however, did not diminish their +friendship a particle. In truth, during those troubled +times Grosvenor, who was noted for the liberality of +his sentiments and for an affection for Americans, conceived +during his service as a soldier on their continent +in the Seven Years' War, often defended them against +the criticism of his countrymen, while Lennox, on his +side, very boldly told the people that nothing could alter +the fact that England was their mother country, and +that no one should even wish to alter it.</p> + +<p>But his correspondence with his uncle, Raymond +Louis de St. Luc, Marquis de Clermont, not so many +years older than himself, covered a period of nearly +sixty years filled with world-shaking events, and, though +it has been printed for private circulation only, it is a +perfect mine of fact, comment and illumination. St. +Luc was one of the few French noblemen to foresee the +great Revolution in his country, and, while he mourned +its excesses, he knew that much of it was justified. His +patriotism and courage were so high and so obvious that +neither Danton, Marat nor Robespierre dared to attack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +him. As an old man he supported Napoleon ardently +until the empire and the ambitions of the emperor became +too swollen, and, while he mourned Waterloo, he +told his son, General Robert Lennox de St. Luc, who distinguished +himself so greatly there and who almost took +the château of Hougoumont from the English, that it +was for the best, and that it was inevitable. It was the +comment of St. Luc, then eighty-five years old and full +of experience and wisdom, that a very great man may +become too great.</p> + +<p>Lennox was noted for his great geniality and his +extraordinary capacity for making friends. Yet there +was a strain of remarkable gravity, even austerity, in his +character. There came times when he wished to be +alone, to hear no human voices about him. It was then +perhaps that he thought his best thoughts and took, too, +his best resolutions. In the great silences he seemed to +see more clearly, and the path lay straight before him. +Many of his friends thought it an eccentricity, but he +knew it was an inheritance from his long stay alone upon +the island, a period in his life that had so much effect in +molding his character.</p> + +<p>It was this ripeness of mind, based upon fullness of +information and deep meditation, that made him such +a great man in the true sense of the word. As a speaker +he was without a rival either in form or substance in +the New World. It was said everywhere in New York +that the famous Alexander Hamilton and the equally +skillful Aaron Burr went to the courtroom regularly to +study his methods. Both admitted quite freely in private +that they copied his style, though neither was ever +able to acquire the wonderful golden voice, the genuine +phenomenon that made Lennox so notable.</p> + +<p>On one of these occasions, after making a thrilling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +speech, when he filled the souls of both Hamilton and +Burr with despair, a great Onondaga sachem, in the full +costume of his nation, said to his friend Willet, once a +renowned hunter:</p> + +<p>"I always knew Dagaeoga could use more words than +any one else could find in the biggest dictionary."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> +<h1><a name="THE_END" id="THE_END"></a>THE END</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ENDNOTES" id="ENDNOTES"></a>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES</h2> + + +<p>Page numbers in the table of contents and in the transcriber's notes +below refer to the original printed version.</p> + +<p>Footnotes have been moved to the end of their respective chapters.</p> + +<p>The following typographical errors in the original printed version have +been noted below and corrected only where indicated.</p> + + +<h3>CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES</h3> + +<p>The character Louis de Galissonnière appears here as "GALISONNIÈRE." +Although he appears only at one other point in this book, the correct +spelling comes from his more frequent appearances in another novel of +the series, <i>The Masters of The Peaks</i>.</p> + +<p>The captain of the <i>Hawk</i>, Stuart Whyte, is listed here as "WHITE."</p> + +<p>The lieutenant of the <i>Hawk</i>, John Lanham, is listed here as "LATHAM."</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_2">Page 2</a>) The character of Jacobus Huysman has a very noticeable dialect. +The spelling of "iss," "wass," and "hass," plus various other words in +his dialogue, is preserved as in the original text.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_17">Page 17</a>) Alfred Grosvenor is referred as "Grovenor's."</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_53">Page 53</a>) "hiden" instead of "hidden." Corrected in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_71">Page 71</a>) A missing closing quote at "... and so I decided against +him." Corrected in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER V</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_92">Page 92</a>) "probabilty" instead of "probability." Corrected in this text.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_93">Page 93</a>) "She's going almost due south ..." opens with a single quote. +Corrected in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_144">Page 144</a>) "firce" instead of "fierce." Corrected in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_203">Page 203</a>) Once again, Captain Stuart Whyte is referred to as "White."</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_214">Page 214</a>) A missing closing quote at "... for the term of the war, at +least." Corrected in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_221">Page 221</a>) "You" instead of "your" in "your look iss changed!" Corrected +in this text.</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_245">Pages 245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>). The name "Todohado" appears twice in quick succession +on these pages. Presumably the spirit Tododaho was intended.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_247">Page 247</a>). Tayoga uses "Degaeoga," presumably meaning Dagaeoga, his +name for Lennox.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_248">Page 248</a>) "atack" instead of "attack." Corrected in this text.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_255">Page 255</a>) The location of Isle-aux-Noix appears here as +"Isle-aux-noix."</p> + + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_266">Page 266</a>) A comma appeared to terminate the sentence "... laid by the +Ojibway." Corrected in this text.</p> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_282">Page 282</a>) The lieutenant of the <i>Hawk</i>, John Lanham, is referred to as +"Lanhan."</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XV</h3> + +<p>(<a href="#Page_293">Page 293</a>) David Willet is referred to as "Willett."</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Sun Of Quebec, by Joseph A. 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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 Sun Of Quebec + A Story of a Great Crisis + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18774] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUN OF QUEBEC *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Nash, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE SUN OF QUEBEC + + A STORY OF A GREAT CRISIS + + + BY + + JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + + AUTHOR OF + "LORDS OF THE WILD," "THE GREAT SIOUX TRAIL," ETC. + + + APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC. + NEW YORK + + + COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY + D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + + + _All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not + be reproduced in any form without permission of the + publishers._ + + + Copyright, 1947, by Sallie B. Altsheler + + Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Sun of Quebec" is the sixth and closing volume of the French and +Indian War Series of which the predecessors have been "The Hunters of +the Hills," "The Shadow of the North," "The Rulers of the Lakes," "The +Masters of the Peaks," and "The Lords of the Wild." The important +characters in the earlier books reappear, and the mystery in the life of +Robert Lennox, the central figure in all the romances, is solved. + + + + +CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + + +ROBERT LENNOX A lad of unknown origin + +TAYOGA A young Onondaga warrior + +DAVID WILLET A hunter + +RAYMOND LOUIS DE ST. LUC A brilliant French officer + +AGUSTE DE COURCELLES A French officer + +FRANCOIS DE JUMONVILLE A French officer + +LOUIS DE GALISONNIERE A young French officer + +JEAN DE MEZY A corrupt Frenchman + +ARMAND GLANDELET A young Frenchman + +PIERRE BOUCHER A bully and bravo + +PHILIBERT DROUILLARD A French priest + +THE MARQUIS DUQUESNE Governor-General of Canada + +MARQUIS DE VAUDREUIL Governor-General of Canada + +FRANCOIS BIGOT Intendant of Canada + +MARQUIS DE MONTCALM French commander-in-chief + +DE LEVIS A French general + +BOURLAMAQUE A French general + +BOUGAINVILLE A French general + +ARMAND DUBOIS A follower of St. Luc + +M. DE CHATILLARD An old French Seigneur + +CHARLES LANGLADE A French partisan + +THE DOVE The Indian wife of Langlade + +TANDAKORA An Ojibway chief + +DAGANOWEDA A young Mohawk chief + +HENDRICK An old Mohawk chief + +BRADDOCK A British general + +ABERCROMBIE A British general + +WOLFE A British general + +COL. WILLIAM JOHNSON Anglo-American leader + +MOLLY BRANT Col. Wm. Johnson's Indian wife + +JOSEPH BRANT Young brother of Molly Brant, afterward + the great Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea + +ROBERT DINWIDDIE Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia + +WILLIAM SHIRLEY Governor of Massachusetts + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Famous American patriot + +JAMES COLDEN A young Philadelphia captain + +WILLIAM WILTON A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +HUGH CARSON A young Philadelphia lieutenant + +JACOBUS HUYSMAN An Albany burgher + +CATERINA Jacobus Huysman's cook + +ALEXANDER MCLEAN An Albany schoolmaster + +BENJAMIN HARDY A New York merchant + +JOHNATHAN PILLSBURY Clerk to Benjamin Hardy + +ADRIAN VAN ZOON A New York merchant + +THE SLAVER A nameless rover + +ACHILLE GARAY A French spy + +ALFRED GROSVENOR A young English officer + +JAMES CABELL A young Virginian + +WALTER STUART A young Virginian + +BLACK RIFLE A famous "Indian fighter" + +ELIHU STRONG A Massachusetts colonel + +ALAN HERVEY A New York financier + +STUART WHITE Captain of the British sloop, _Hawk_ + +JOHN LATHAM Lieutenant of the British sloop, _Hawk_ + +EDWARD CHARTERIS A young officer of the Royal Americans + +ZEBEDEE CRANE A young scout and forest runner + +ROBERT ROGERS Famous Captain of American Rangers + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I OLD FRIENDS 1 + + II THE CHEST OF DRAWERS 22 + + III THE PURSUIT OF GARAY 46 + + IV OUT TO SEA 66 + + V MUSIC IN THE MOONLIGHT 85 + + VI THE ISLAND 104 + + VII THE PIRATE'S WARNING 123 + +VIII MAKING THE BEST OF IT 142 + + IX THE VOICE IN THE AIR 158 + + X THE SLOOP OF WAR 176 + + XI BACK TO THE WORLD 193 + + XII THE WILDERNESS AGAIN 217 + +XIII THE REUNION 238 + + XIV BEFORE QUEBEC 263 + + XV THE LONE CHATEAU 284 + + XVI THE RECKONING 303 + + + + +THE SUN OF QUEBEC + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OLD FRIENDS + + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman walked to the window and looked out at the neat +red brick houses, the grass, now turning yellow, and the leaves, more +brown than green. He was troubled, in truth his heart lay very heavy +within him. He was thinking over the terrible news that had come so +swiftly, as evil report has a way of doing. But he had cause for +satisfaction, too, and recalling it, he turned to gaze once more upon +the two lads who, escaping so many perils, had arrived at the shelter of +his home. + +Robert and Tayoga were thin and worn, their clothing was soiled and +torn, but youth was youth and they were forgetting dangers past in a +splendid dinner that the fat Caterina was serving for them while Mynheer +Jacobus, her master, stood by and saw the good deed well done. + +The dining room, large and furnished solidly, was wonderful in its +neatness and comfort. The heavy mahogany of table, sideboard and chairs +was polished and gleaming. No trace of dirt was allowed to linger +anywhere. When the door to the adjoining kitchen opened, as Caterina +passed through, pleasant odors floated in, inciting the two to fresh +efforts at the trencher. It was all as it had been when they were young +boys living there, attending the school of Alexander McLean and +traveling by painful steps along the road to knowledge. In its snugness, +its security and the luxury it offered it was a wonderful contrast to +the dark forest, where death lurked in every bush. Robert drew a long +sigh of content and poured himself another cup of coffee. + +"And you escaped from the French after the great battle?" said Mynheer +Jacobus, asking the same question over and over again. + +"Yes, sir," replied Robert, "and it was not a difficult thing to do at +all. The victory of the French was so remarkable, and I think so +unexpected, that they were paying little attention to me. I just walked +out of their camp, and the only man I met was the Chevalier de St. Luc, +who did not seem at all interested in stopping me--a curious fact, but a +fact all the same." + +"A great leader and a fine man iss the Chevalier de St. Luc," said Mr. +Huysman. + +"He's both, as I've had many chances to learn, and I intend to know more +about him some day." + +"It may be that you will know even more than you think." + +Robert looked sharply at the burgher, and he was about to ask questions, +but he reflected that Mynheer Jacobus, if he were able to answer, would +be evasive like all the others and so he checked the words at his lips. + +"I suppose that time will disclose everything," he contented himself +with saying. "Meanwhile, I want to tell you, sir, that Tayoga and I +appreciate to the full your hospitality. It is noble, it always was +noble, as we've had ample occasion to discover." + +The full red face of Mynheer Jacobus bloomed into a smile. The corners +of his mouth turned up, and his eyes twinkled. + +"I must have had a premonition that you two were coming," he said, "and +so I stocked the larder. I remembered of old your appetites, a hunger +that could be satisfied only with great effort, and then could come back +again an hour later, as fresh and keen as ever. You are strong and +healthy boys, for which you should be grateful." + +"We are," said Robert, with great emphasis. + +"And you do not know whether Montcalm iss advancing with his army?" + +"We don't, sir, but is Albany alarmed?" + +"It iss! It iss alarmed very greatly. It wass not dreamed by any of us +that our army could be defeated, that magnificent army which I saw go +away to what I thought was certain victory. Ah, how could it have +happened? How could it have happened, Robert?" + +"We simply threw away our chances, sir. I saw it all. We underrated the +French. If we had brought up our big guns it would have been easy. There +was no lack of courage on the part of our men. I don't believe that +people of British blood ever showed greater bravery, and that means +bravery equal to anybody's." + +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman sighed heavily. + +"What a waste! What a waste!" he said. "Now the army hass retreated and +the whole border iss uncovered. The tomahawk and scalping knife are at +work. Tales of slaughter come in efery day, and it iss said that +Montcalm iss advancing on Albany itself." + +"I don't believe, sir, that he will come," said Robert. "The French +numbers are much fewer than is generally supposed, and I can't think he +will dare to attack Albany." + +"It does not seem reasonable, but there iss great alarm. Many people are +leaving on the packets for New York. Who would have thought it? Who +could have thought it! But I mean to stay, and if Montcalm comes I will +help fight in the defense." + +"I knew you wouldn't leave, sir. But despite our defeat we've a powerful +army yet, and England and the Colonies will not sit down and just weep." + +"What you say iss so, Robert, my boy. I am not of English blood, but +when things look worst iss the time when England shows best, and the +people here are of the same breed. I do not despair. What did you say +had become of Willet?" + +"Shortly before we reached Albany he turned aside to see Sir William +Johnson. We had, too, with us, a young Englishman named Grosvenor, a +fine fellow, but he went at once to the English camp here to report for +duty. He was in the battle at Ticonderoga and he also will testify that +our army, although beaten, could have brought up its artillery and have +fought again in a day or two. It would have gained the victory, too." + +"I suppose so! I suppose so! But it did not fight again, and what might +have been did not happen. It means a longer war in this country and a +longer war all over the world. It spreads! It iss a great war, extending +to most of the civilized lands, the greatest war of modern times and +many think it will be the last war, but I know not. The character of +mankind does not change. What do you two boys mean to do?" + +"We have not decided yet," replied Robert, speaking for both. "We'll go +back to the war, of course, which means that we'll travel once more +toward the north, but we'll have to rest a few days." + +"And this house iss for you to rest in--a few days or many days, as you +please, though I hope it will be many. Caterina shall cook for you four, +five meals a day, if you wish, and much at every meal. I do not forget +how when you were little you raided the fruit trees, and the berry +bushes and the vines. Well, the fruit will soon be ripe again und I will +turn my back the other way. I will make that fat Caterina do the same, +and you and Tayoga can imagine that you are little boys once more." + +"I know you mean that, Mynheer Jacobus, and we thank you from the bottom +of our hearts," said Robert, as the moisture came into his eyes. + +"Here comes Master Alexander McLean," said Mr. Huysman, who had turned +back to the window. "He must have heard of your arrival and he wishes to +see if your perils in the woods have made you forget your ancient +history." + +In a minute or two Master McLean, tall, thin, reddish of hair, and +severe of gaze entered, his frosty blue eyes lighting up as he shook +hands with the boys, though his manner remained austere. + +"I heard that you had arrived after the great defeat at Ticonderoga," he +said, "and you are fortunate to have escaped with your lives. I rejoice +at it, but those who go into the woods in such times must expect great +perils. It is of course well for all our young men to offer their lives +now for their country, but I thought I saw in you at least, Robert +Lennox, the germ of a great scholar, and it would be a pity for you to +lose your life in some forest skirmish." + +"I thank you for the compliment," said Robert, "but as I was telling +Mynheer Jacobus I mean to go back into the woods." + +"I doubt it not. The young of this generation are wise in their own +conceit. It was hard enough to control Tayoga and you several years ago, +and I cannot expect to do it now. Doubtless all the knowledge that I +have been at such pains to instill into you will be lost in the +excitement of trail and camp." + +"I hope not, sir, though it's true that we've had some very stirring +times. When one is in imminent danger of his life he cannot think much +of his Latin, his Greek and his ancient history." + +The severe features of Master Alexander McLean wrinkled into a frown. + +"I do not know about that," he said. "Alexander the Great slept with his +Homer under his pillow, and doubtless he also carried the book with him +on his Asiatic campaigns, refreshing and strengthening his mind from +time to time with dips into its inspiring pages. There is no crisis in +which it is pardonable for you to forget your learning, though I fear me +much that you have done so. What was the date, Robert, of the fall of +Constantinople?" + +"Mahomet the Second entered it, sir, in the year 1453 A. D." + +"Very good. I begin to have more confidence in you. And why is Homer +considered a much greater poet than Virgil?" + +"More masculine, more powerful, sir, and far more original. In fact the +Romans in their literature, as in nearly all other arts, were merely +imitators of the Greeks." + +The face of Master McLean relaxed into a smile. + +"Excellent! Excellent!" he exclaimed. "You have done better than you +claimed for yourself, but modesty is an attribute that becomes the +young, and now I tell you again, Robert, that I am most glad you and +Tayoga have come safely out of the forest. I wish to inform you also +that Master Benjamin Hardy and his chief clerk, Jonathan Pillsbury, have +arrived from New York on the fast packet, _River Queen_, and even now +they are depositing their baggage at the George Inn, where they are +expecting to stay." + +Master Jacobus who had been silent while the schoolmaster talked, awoke +suddenly to life. + +"At the George Inn!" he exclaimed. "It iss a good inn, good enough for +anybody, but when friends of mine come to Albany they stay with me or I +take offense. Bide here, my friends, and I will go for them. Alexander, +sit with the lads and partake of refreshment while I am gone." + +He hastened from the room and Master McLean, upon being urged, joined +Robert and Tayoga at the table, where he showed that he too was a good +man at the board, thinness being no bar to appetite and capacity. As he +ate he asked the boys many questions, and they, knowing well his kindly +heart under his crusty manner, answered them all readily and freely. +Elderly and bookish though he was, his heart throbbed at the tale of the +great perils through which they had gone, and his face darkened when +Robert told anew the story of Ticonderoga. + +"It is our greatest defeat so far," he said, "and I hope our misfortunes +came to a climax there. We must have repayment for it. We must aim at +the heart of the French power, and that is Quebec. Instead of fighting +on the defense, Britain and her colonies must strike down Canada." + +"So it seems to me too, sir," said Robert. "We're permitting the Marquis +de Montcalm to make the fighting, to choose the fields of battle, and as +long as we do that we have to dance to his music. But, sir, that's only +my opinion. I would not presume to give it in the presence of my +superiors." + +"You've had much experience despite your youth and you're entitled to +your thoughts. But I hear heavy steps. 'Tis odds that it's Jacobus with +his friends." + +The door was opened and Mr. Huysman with many words of welcome ushered +in his guests, who being simple and strong men brought their own baggage +from the inn. Robert rose at once and faced Benjamin Hardy in whose eyes +shone an undoubted gladness. The merchant did not look a day older than +when Robert had last seen him in New York, and he was as robust and +hearty as ever. Jonathan Pillsbury, tall, thin and dressed with +meticulous care, also permitted himself a smile. + +"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Benjamin Hardy, dropping his baggage and +holding out two sinewy hands. "'Tis a delight to find you and Tayoga +here. I knew not what had become of you two, and I feared the worst, the +times being so perilous. Upon my word, we've quite a reunion!" + +Robert returned his powerful and friendly grasp. He was more than glad +to see him for several reasons; for his own sake, because he liked him +exceedingly, and because he was sure Master Benjamin held in his keeping +those secrets of his own life which he was yet to learn. + +"Sir," he said, "'tis not my house, though I've lived in it, and I know +that Mr. Huysman has already given you a most thorough welcome, so I add +that it's a delight to me to see you again. 'Twas a pleasant and most +memorable visit that Tayoga and I had at your home in New York." + +"And eventful enough, too. You came very near going to the Guineas on a +slave trip. That was the kind of hospitality I offered you." + +"No fault of yours, sir. I shall never forget the welcome you gave us in +New York. It warms my heart now to think of it." + +"I see you've not lost your gift of speech. Words continue to well from +your lips, and they're good words, too. But I talk overmuch myself. Here +is Jonathan waiting to speak to you. I told him I was coming to Albany. +'Upon what affair?' he asked. ''Tis secret,' I replied. 'Meaning you do +not want to tell me of its nature,' he said. 'Yes,' I replied. Then he +said, 'Whatever its gist, you'll need my presence and advice. I'm going +with you.' And here he is. Doubtless he is right." + +Jonathan Pillsbury clasped Robert's hand as warmly as he ever clasped +anybody's and permitted himself a second smile, which was his limit, and +only extraordinary occasions could elicit two. + +"Our conversation has been repeated with accuracy," he said. "I do not +yet know why I have come to Albany, but I feel sure it is well that I +have come." + +Mr. Huysman hustled about, his great red face glowing while fat Caterina +brought in more to eat. He insisted that the new guests sit at the table +and eat tremendously. It was a time when hospitality meant repeated +offerings of food, which in America was the most abundant of all things, +and Mr. Hardy and Mr. Pillsbury easily allowed themselves to be +persuaded. + +"And now, Robert, you must tell me something more about Dave," said the +merchant as they rose from the table. + +Young Lennox promptly narrated their adventures among the peaks and +about the lakes while the older men listened with breathless attention. +Nor did the story of the great hunter suffer in Robert's telling. He had +an immense admiration for Willet and he spoke of his deeds with such +vivid words and with so much imagery and embroidery that they seemed to +be enacted again there in that quiet room before the men who listened. + +"Ah, that is Dave! True as steel. As honest and brave as they ever make +'em," said Master Benjamin Hardy, when he had finished. "A man! a real +man if ever one walked this earth!" + +"And don't forget Tayoga here," said Robert. "The greatest trailer ever +born. He saved us more than once by his ability to read the faintest +sign the earth might yield." + +"When Dagaeoga begins to talk he never knows how to stop," said Tayoga; +"I but did the things all the warriors of my nation are taught to do. I +would be unworthy to call myself a member of the clan of the Bear, of +the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, if I could +not follow a trail. Peace, Dagaeoga!" + +Robert joined in the laugh, and then the men began to talk about the +prospects of an attack upon Albany by the French and Indians, though all +of them inclined to Robert's view that Montcalm would not try it. + +"As you were a prisoner among them you ought to know something about +their force, Robert," said Mr. Hardy. + +"I had opportunities to observe," replied the lad, "and from what I saw, +and from what I have since heard concerning our numbers I judge that we +were at least four to one, perhaps more. But we threw away all our +advantage when we came with bare breasts against their wooden wall and +sharpened boughs." + +"It is a painful thing to talk about and to think about, but Britain +never gives up. She marches over her mistakes and failures to triumph, +and we are bone of her bone. And you saw St. Luc!" + +"Often, sir. In the battle and in the preparations for it he was the +right arm of the Marquis de Montcalm. He is a master of forest war." + +"He is all that, Robert, my lad. A strange, a most brilliant man, he is +one of our most formidable enemies." + +"But a gallant one, sir. He did nothing to prevent my escape. I feel +that at Ticonderoga as well as elsewhere I am greatly in his debt." + +"Undoubtedly he favors you. It does not surprise me." + +Intense curiosity leaped up in Robert's heart once more. What was he to +St. Luc! What was St. Luc to him! All these elderly men seemed to hold a +secret that was hidden from him, and yet it concerned him most. His lips +twitched and he was about to ask a question, but he reflected that, as +always before, it would not be answered, it would be evaded, and he +restrained his eager spirit. He knew that all the men liked him, that +they had his good at heart, and that when the time came to speak they +would speak. The words that had risen to his lips were unspoken. + +Robert felt that his elders wanted to talk, that something they would +rather not tell to the lads was in their minds, and meanwhile the +brilliant sunshine and free air outside were calling to him and the +Onondaga. + +"I think," he said, addressing them all collectively, "that Tayoga and I +should go to see Lieutenant Grosvenor. He was our comrade in the +forest, and he has been somewhat overcome by his great hardships." + +"The idea would not be bad," said Master Benjamin Hardy. "Youth to +youth, and, while you are gone, we old fellows will talk of days long +ago as old fellows are wont to do." + +And so they did want him and Tayoga to go! He had divined their wishes +aright. He was quite sure, too, that when he and the Onondaga were away +the past would be very little in their minds. These active men in the +very prime of their powers were concerned most about the present and the +future. Well, whatever it was he was sure they would discuss it with +wisdom and foresight. + +"Come, Tayoga," he said. "Outdoors is calling to us." + +"And be sure that you return in time for supper," said Master Jacobus. +"This house is to be your home as long as you are in Albany. I should be +offended mortally if you went elsewhere." + +"No danger of that," said Robert. "Tayoga and I know a good home when we +find it. And we know friends, too, when we see them." + +It was a bit of sentiment, but he felt it very deeply and he saw that +all of the men looked pleased. As he and Tayoga went out he noticed that +they drew their chairs about the dining-room table that Caterina had +cleared, and before the door closed upon the two lads they were already +talking in low and earnest tones. + +"They have affairs of importance which are not for us," he said, when he +and the Onondaga were outside. + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "The white people have their chiefs and sachems +like the nations of the Hodenosaunee, and their ranks are filled by age. +The young warriors are for the trail, the hunt, and the war path, and +not for the council. It is right that it should be thus. I do not wish +to be a chief or a sachem before my time. I am glad, Dagaeoga, to enjoy +youth, and let our elders do the hard thinking for us." + +"So am I," said Robert joyfully as he filled his lungs with draught +after draught of the fresh air. "No seat at the council for me! Not for +twenty years yet! Give me freedom and action! Let others do the planning +and take the responsibility!" + +He felt a great elation. His sanguine temperament had made a complete +rebound from the depression following Ticonderoga. Although he did not +know it the result was partly physical--good food and abundant rest, but +he did not seek to analyze the cause, the condition was sufficient. The +color in his cheeks deepened and his eyes glowed. + +"Dagaeoga is feeling very, very good," said Tayoga. + +"I am," replied Robert with emphasis. "I never felt better. I'm +forgetting Ticonderoga; instead, I'm beholding our army at Quebec, and +I'm seeing our flag wave over all Canada." + +"Dagaeoga sees what he wants to see." + +"It's not a bad plan. Then the lions die in your path." + +"It is so. Dagaeoga speaks a great truth. We will now see how Red Coat +feels." + +A portion of the army that had retreated from Ticonderoga was camped on +the flats near the town, and Robert and Tayoga walked swiftly toward the +tents. It was a much more silent force, British and American, than that +which had gone forth not so very long ago to what seemed certain +victory. Officers and men were angry. They felt that they had been +beaten when there was no reason why they should have been defeated. +Obeying orders, they had retreated in sullen silence, when they had felt +sure they could have gone on, fought a new battle, and have crushed +Montcalm. Now they waited impatiently for another call to advance on +Canada, and win back their lost laurels. Both lads felt the tension. + +"They are like the wounded bear," said Tayoga. "They feel very sore, and +they wish for revenge." + +They learned that Grosvenor was in his tent and soon found him there +lying upon his blankets. Some of the ruddy color was gone from his +cheeks, and he looked worn and thin. But he sat up, and welcomed Robert +and Tayoga joyously. + +"It's foolish of me to break down like this," he said, "but after we got +back to civilization something seemed to cave in. I hope you chaps won't +overlook the fact that I'm not as much used to the forest as you are, +and bear in mind that I did my best." + +"Red Coat's best was very good," said Tayoga in his grave, precise +manner. "Few who have been in the forest as little as he could have done +as much and have borne as much." + +"Do you really think so, Tayoga? You're not merely flattering me?" + +"Our wisest sachem would tell you so, Red Coat." + +"Thanks, my friend. You make me feel better. I was lucky enough to go +through the great battle with little hurt. It was a most ghastly +slaughter, and I still dream of it. I stood up all right until we got +back to Albany, and then I collapsed. But to-morrow I'll be on my feet +again. Your friends, Colden, Wilton and Carson are all here. They showed +great courage and they have some slight wounds, but not enough to +trouble 'em." + +Robert found the Philadelphians a little later, and they all went back +to Grosvenor's tent, where they were joined in a half hour by the +Virginians, Walter Stuart and James Cabell, who had been with them in +Braddock's defeat and whom Robert had known at Williamsburg. It was a +tight squeeze for them all in the tent, but there was another and joyous +reunion. Youth responded to youth and hope was high. + +"Stuart and I did not arrive in time for Ticonderoga," said Cabell, "but +we mean to be in the next great battle." + +"So we do!" exclaimed Cabell. "The Old Dominion had a taste of defeat at +Fort Duquesne and you've had the like here. Now we'll all wait and see +how victory agrees with us." + +"Some of us have been in at both defeats," said Grosvenor rather sadly. + +But the presence of so many friends and the cheerful talk made him feel +so much better that he averred his ability to go anywhere and do +anything at once. + +"You've leave of absence if you wish it?" asked Cabell. + +"For several days more," replied Grosvenor. + +"Then let's all go into the town. I haven't had a good look at Albany +yet. I want to see if it's as fine a place as Williamsburg." + +"It's larger," said Robert. + +"But size is not everything. That's where you northern people make your +mistake." + +"But you'll admit that Philadelphia's a fine city, won't you?" said +Colden, "and you know it's the largest in the colonies." + +"But it's comparatively near to Virginia," said Cabell briskly, "and our +influence works wonders." + +"We've our own conceit in Philadelphia," said Wilton, "but conceit and +Virginia are just the same words, though they may have a different +sound." + +"Come on to the George Inn," said Grosvenor, "and you can argue it out +there. Old England likes to see this healthy rivalry among her children. +She doesn't mind your being bumptious." + +"We're bumptious, because we're like our parent," said Cabell. "It's a +matter of inheritance." + +"Let the George Inn settle it. Come on, lads." + +Grosvenor was feeling better and better. He was adaptable and this was a +sprightly group, full of kindred spirits. The Virginians were as English +as he was, and the others nearly as much so. He had acquitted himself +well in the New World, in fields with which he was unfamiliar, and these +lads were friends. Danger and hardships faded quite away into a +forgotten past. He was strong and well once more. + +"You shall all be my guests at the George Inn!" he exclaimed. "We shall +have refreshment and talk, plenty of both." + +"As we Virginians are the oldest people in the colonies, it's the right +of Stuart and myself to be the hosts," said Cabell. + +"Aye, so 'tis," said Stuart. + +"As we're from Philadelphia, the greatest and finest city in the +country, it's the right of Wilton, Carson and myself," said Colden. + +But Grosvenor was firm. He had given the invitation first, he said, and +nobody could take the privilege from him. So the others yielded +gracefully, and in high good humor the eight, saying much and humming +little songs, walked across the fields from the camp and into the town. +Robert noticed the bustling life of Albany with approval. The forest +made its appeal to him, and the city made another and different but +quite as strong appeal. The old Fort Orange of the Dutch was crowded +now, not only with troops but with all the forms of industry that +follow in the train of an army. The thrifty Dutch, despite their +apprehension over the coming of the French, were busy buying, selling, +and between battles much money was made. + +The George Inn, a low building but long and substantial was down by the +river. The great doors stood wide open and much life flowed in and out, +showing that it too profited by war. The eight found seats at a table on +a sanded floor, and contented themselves with lemonade, which they drank +slowly, while they talked and looked. + +It was a motley and strange throng; American, English, Dutch, German, +Indian, Swedish. A half dozen languages were heard in the great room, +forerunner of the many elements that were to enter in the composition of +the American nation. And the crowd was already cosmopolitan. Difference +of race attracted no attention. Men took no notice of Tayoga because he +was an Indian, unless to admire his tall, straight figure and proud +carriage. Albany had known the Iroquois a century and a half. + +Robert's spirits, like Grovenor's, mounted. Here he was with many +friends of his own age and kindred mind. Everything took on the color of +rose. All of them were talking, but his own gift of speech was the +finest. He clothed narrative with metaphor and illustration until it +became so vivid that the others were glad to fall silent and listen to +him, though Robert himself was unconscious of the fact. They made him +relate once more his story of the battle as he saw it from inside the +French lines at Ticonderoga, and, just as he came to the end of the +tale, he caught a glimpse of a tall man entering the tavern. + +"Tell us what you saw from the other side," he said to Grosvenor, and +they compelled the reluctant Englishman to talk. Then Robert turned his +eyes toward the tall man who was now sitting at a small table in the +corner and drinking from a long glass. Something familiar in his walk +had caught his attention as he came in, and, under cover of Grosvenor's +talk, he wished to observe him again without being noticed even by his +own comrades. + +The stranger was sitting with the side of his face to Robert, and his +features were not well disclosed. His dress was that of a seafaring man, +rough but rather good in texture, and a belt held a long dirk in a +scabbard which was usual at that time. The hand that raised the long +glass to his lips was large, red and powerful. Robert felt that his +first belief was correct. He had seen him before somewhere, though he +could not yet recall where, but when he turned his head presently he +knew. They had met under such circumstances that neither was ever likely +to forget time or place. + +He was amazed that the stranger had come so boldly into Albany, but +second thought told him that there was no proof against him, it was +merely Robert's word against his. Among people absorbed in a great war +his own story would seem wildly improbable and the stranger's would have +all the savor of truth. But he knew that he could not be mistaken. He +saw now the spare face, clean shaven, and the hard eyes, set close +together, that he remembered so well. + +Robert did not know what to do. He listened for a little while to +Grosvenor's narrative but his attention wandered back to the seafaring +man. Then he decided. + +"Will you fellows talk on and excuse me for a few minutes?" he said. + +"What is it, Lennox?" asked Colden. + +"I see an acquaintance on the other side of the room. I wish to speak to +him." + +"That being the case, we'll let you go, but we'll miss you. Hurry back." + +"I'll stay only a few minutes. It's an old friend and I must have a +little talk with him." + +He walked with light steps across the room which was crowded, humming +with many voices, the air heavy with smoke. The man was still at the +small table, and, opposite him, was an empty chair in which Robert sat +deliberately, putting his elbows on the table, and staring into the hard +blue eyes. + +"I'm Peter Smith," he said. "You remember me?" + +There was a flicker of surprise in the Captain's face, but nothing more. + +"Oh, yes, Peter," he said. "I know you, but I was not looking for you +just at this moment." + +"But I'm here." + +"Perhaps you're coming back to your duty, is that it? Well, I'm glad. +I've another ship now, and though you're a runaway seaman I can afford +to let bygones be bygones." + +"I hope your vessel has changed her trade. I don't think I'd care to +sail again on a slaver." + +"Always a particular sort of chap you were, Peter. It's asking a lot for +me to change the business of my ship to suit you." + +"But not too much." + +The conversation was carried on in an ordinary tone. Neither raised his +voice a particle. Nobody took any notice. His own comrades, engrossed in +lively talk, seemed to have forgotten Robert for the moment, and he felt +that he was master of the situation. Certainly the slaver would be more +uncomfortable than he. + +"I was wondering," he said, "how long you mean to stay in Albany." + +"It's a pleasant town," said the man, "as I have cause to know since +I've been here before. I may remain quite a while. Still, I shall decide +wholly according to my taste." + +"But there is a certain element of danger." + +"Oh, the war! I don't think the French even if they come to Albany will +have a chance to take me." + +"I didn't have the war in mind. There are other risks of which I think +that I, Peter Smith, who sailed with you once before ought to warn you." + +"It's good of you, Peter, to think so much of my safety, but I don't +believe I've any cause for fear. I've always been able to take care of +myself." + +The last words were said with a little snap, and Robert knew they were +meant as a defiance, but he appeared not to notice. + +"Ah, well you've shown that you know how to look out for number one," he +said. "I'm only Peter Smith, a humble seaman, but I've the same faculty. +I bid you good-day." + +"Good-day, Peter. I hope there's no ill feeling between us, and that +each will have whatever he deserves!" + +Cool! wonderfully cool, Robert thought, but he replied merely: "I trust +so, too, and in that case it is easy to surmise what one of us would +get." + +He sauntered back to his comrades, and, lest he attract their attention, +he did not look toward the slaver again for a minute or two. When he +glanced in that direction he saw the man walking toward the door, not in +any hurried manner, but as if he had all the time in the world, and need +fear nobody. Cool! wonderfully cool, Robert thought a second time. + +The slaver went out, and Robert thought he caught a glimpse of a man +meeting him, a second man in whose figure also there was something +familiar. They were gone in an instant, and he was tempted to spring up +and follow them, because the figure of which he had seen but a little at +the door reminded him nevertheless of Achille Garay, the spy. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE CHEST OF DRAWERS + + +It was but a fleeting glimpse that Robert had of the second man, but he +believed that it was Garay. He not only looked like the spy, but he was +convinced that it was really he. After the first moment or two he did +not doubt his identity, and making an excuse that he wanted a little +fresh air and would return in an instant he walked quickly to the door. +He caught another and fugitive glimpse of two men, one tall and the +other short, walking away together, and he could not doubt that they +were the slaver and the spy. + +Had he been alone Robert would have followed them, though he was quite +certain that Garay must have had some place of sure refuge, else he +would not have ventured into Albany. Even with that recourse his act was +uncommonly bold. If the slaver was daring, the spy was yet more so. +There was nothing against the slaver that they could prove, but the spy +put his neck in the noose. + +Robert whistled softly to himself, and he was very thoughtful. Willet, +Tayoga and he had been so completely victorious over Garay in the forest +that perhaps he had underrated him. Maybe he was a man to be feared. His +daring appearance in Albany must be fortified by supreme cunning, and +his alliance with the slaver implied a plan. Robert believed that the +plan, or a part of it at least, was directed against himself. Well, what +if it was? He could meet it, and he was not afraid. He had overcome +other perils, and he had friends, as true and steadfast as were ever +held to any man by hooks of steel. His heart beat high, he was in a +glow, his whole soul leaped forward to meet prospective danger. + +He went back into the inn and took his seat with the others. Now it was +Stuart who was talking, telling them of life in the great Southern +colony and of its delights, of the big houses, of the fields of tobacco, +of the horse races, of the long visits to neighbors, and how all who +were anybody were related, making Virginia one huge family. + +"Now Cabell and I," he said, "belong to the same clan. My mother and his +father are third cousins, which makes us fourth cousins, or fifth is it? +But whether fourth or fifth, we're cousins just the same. All the people +of our blood are supposed to stand together, and do stand together. Oh, +it has its delights! It makes us sufficient unto ourselves! The old +Dominion is a world in itself, complete in all its parts." + +"But you have to come to Philadelphia to see a great city and get a +taste of metropolitan life," said Colden. + +Then a discussion, friendly but warm arose as to the respective merits +of the Virginia and Pennsylvania provinces, and when it was at its +height and the attention of all the others was absorbed in it, Tayoga +leaned over and whispered to Robert: + +"What did you see at the door, Dagaeoga?" + +Robert was startled. So, the Onondago was watching, after all. He might +have known that nothing would escape his attention. + +"I saw Garay, the spy," he replied in the same tone. + +"And the man at the little table was the captain of the slave ship on +which you were taken?" + +"The same." + +"It bodes ill, Dagaeoga. You must watch." + +"I will, Tayoga." + +The crowd in the great room of the George Inn increased and the young +group remained, eager to watch it. It was a reflex of the life in the +colonies, at the seat of conflict, and throbbing with all the emotions +of a great war that enveloped nearly the whole civilized world. A burly +fellow, dressed as a teamster, finally made his voice heard above the +others. + +"I tell you men," he said, "that we must give up Albany! Our army has +been cut to pieces! Montcalm is advancing with twenty thousand French +regulars, and swarms of Indians! They control all of Lake George as well +as Champlain! Hundreds of settlers have already fallen before the +tomahawk, and houses are burning along the whole border! I have it from +them that have seen the fires." + +There was a sudden hush in the crowd, followed by an alarmed murmur. The +man's emphasis and his startling statements made an impression. + +"Go on, Dobbs! Tell us about it!" said one. + +"What do you know?" asked another. + +He stood up, a great tall man with a red face. + +"My cousin has been in the north," he said, "and he's seen rangers, some +that have just escaped from the Indians, barely saving their hair. He +heard from them that the King of France has sent a big army to Canada, +and that another just as big is on the way. It won't be a week before +you see the French flag from the hills of Albany, and wise men are +already packing ready to go to New York." + +There was another alarmed hush. + +"This fellow must be stopped," said Colden. "He'll start a panic." + +"Dagaeoga has the gift of words," whispered a voice in Robert's ear, +"and now is the time to use it." + +Nothing more was needed. Robert was on fire in an instant, and, standing +upon his chair, asked for attention. + +"Your pardon a moment, Mr. Dobbs," he said, "if I interrupt you." + +"Why it's only a boy!" a man exclaimed. + +"A boy, it's true," said Robert, who now felt himself the center of all +eyes, and who, as usual, responded with all his faculties to such an +opportunity, "but I was present at the Battle of Ticonderoga, and +perhaps I've a chance to correct a few errors into which our friend, Mr. +Dobbs, has fallen." + +"What are those errors?" asked the man in a surly tone, not relishing +his loss of the stage. + +"I'll come to them promptly," said Robert in his mellowest tones. +"They're just trifles, Mr. Dobbs, but still trifles should be corrected. +I stood with the French army in the battle, and I know something about +its numbers, which are about one-sixth of what Mr. Dobbs claims them to +be." + +"What were you doing with the French?" + +"I happened to be a prisoner, Mr. Dobbs. I escaped a day or two later. +But here are with me young officers of ours who were in the attack. +Several of them felt the sting of French bullets on that day, so when +they tell you what happened they know what they're talking about. Their +reports don't come from their cousins, but are the product of their own +eyes and ears. Peace, Mr. Dobbs! I've the floor, or rather the chair, +and I must tell the facts. We were defeated at Ticonderoga, it's true, +but we were not cut to pieces. Our generals failed to bring up our +artillery. They underrated the French. They went with rifles, muskets +and bayonets alone against breastworks, defended by a valiant foe, for +the French are valiant, and they paid the price. But our army is in +existence and it's as brave as ever. Albany is in no danger. Don't be +alarmed." + +"You're but a boy. You don't know," growled Dobbs. + +"Peace, Mr. Dobbs! Give us peace. A boy who has seen may know better +than a man who has not seen. I tell you once again, friends, that the +Marquis de Montcalm will not appear before Albany. It's a long way from +Ticonderoga to this city, too long a road for the French army to travel. +Wise men are not packing for flight to New York. Wise men are staying +right here." + +"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed the Virginians and Philadelphians and Grosvenor, +and "Hear! Hear!" was repeated from the crowd. Dobbs' red face grew +redder, but now he was silent. + +"My friends," continued Robert in his golden persuasive tones, "you're +not afraid, you're all brave men, but you must guard against panic. +Experience tells you that rumor is irresponsible, that, as it spreads, +it grows. We're going to learn from our defeat. The French are as near +to Albany as they'll ever come. The war is not going to move southward. +Its progress instead will be toward Quebec. Remember that panic is +always a bad counselor; but that courage is ever a good one. Things are +never as bad as they look." + +"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed his young comrades again, and the echoes from +the crowd were more numerous than before. The teamster began to draw +back and presently slipped out of the door. Then Robert sat down amid +great applause, blushing somewhat because he had been carried away by +his feelings and apologizing to the others for making himself +conspicuous. + +"Nothing to apologize for," exclaimed Cabell. "'Twas well done, a good +speech at the right time. You've the gift of oratory, Lennox. You should +come to Virginia to live, after we've defeated the French. Our province +is devoted to oratory. You've the gift of golden speech, and the people +will follow you." + +"I'm afraid I've made an enemy of that man, Dobbs," said Robert, "and I +had enemies enough already." + +His mind went back to the slaver and Garay, and he was troubled. + +"We've had our little triumph here, thanks to Lennox," said Colden, "and +it seems to me now that we've about exhausted the possibilities of the +George. Besides, the air is getting thick. Let's go outside." + +Grosvenor paid the score and they departed, a cheer following them. Here +were young officers who had fought well, and the men in the George were +willing to show respect. + +"I think I'd better return to camp now," said Grosvenor. + +"We'll go with you," said Colden, speaking for the Pennsylvanians. + +"Stuart and I are detached for the present," said Cabell. "We secured a +transfer from our command in Virginia, and we're hoping for commissions +in the Royal Americans, and more active service, since the whole tide of +war seems to have shifted to the north rather than the west." + +"The Royal Americans are fine men," said Robert. "Though raised in the +colonies, they rank with the British regulars. I had a good friend in +one of the regiments, Edward Charteris, of New York, but he was taken at +Ticonderoga. I saw the French bring him in a prisoner. I suppose they're +holding him in Quebec now." + +"Then we'll rescue him when we take Quebec," said Stuart valiantly. + +The friends separated with promises to meet again soon and to see much +of one another while they were in Albany, Grosvenor and the +Pennsylvanians continuing to the camp, Cabell and Stuart turning back to +the George for quarters, and Robert and Tayoga going toward the house of +Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. But before they reached it young Lennox +suggested that they turn toward the river. + +"It is well to do so," said the Onondaga. "I think that Dagaeoga wishes +to look there for a ship." + +"That's in my mind, Tayoga, and yet I wouldn't know the vessel I'm +looking for if I saw her." + +"She will be commanded by the man whom we saw in the inn, the one with +whom Dagaeoga talked." + +"I've no doubt of it, Tayoga. Nothing escapes your notice." + +"What are eyes for if not to see! And it is a time for all to watch; +especially, it is a time for Dagaeoga to watch with his eyes, his ears +and all his senses." + +"I've that feeling myself." + +"Something is plotting against you. The slaver did not meet the spy for +nothing." + +"Why should men bother about one as insignificant as I am, when the +world is plunged into a great war?" + +"It is because Dagaeoga is in the way of somebody. He is very much in +the way or so much trouble and risk would not be taken to remove him." + +"I wonder what it is Tayoga. I know that Mr. Hardy and Mr. Huysman and +doubtless others hold the key to this lock, but I feel quite sure they +are not going to put it in my hand just at present." + +"No, they will not, but it must be for very good reasons. No one ever +had better friends than Dagaeoga has in them. If they do not choose to +tell him anything it will be wise for him not to ask questions." + +"That's just the way I feel about it, and so I'm going to ask no +questions." + +A hulking figure barred their way, a red face glowed at them, and a +rough voice demanded satisfaction. + +"You fellow with the slick tongue, you had 'em laughing at me in the +tavern," said Dobbs, the teamster. "You just the same as told 'em I was +a liar when I said the French were coming." + +The man was full of unreasoning anger, and he handled the butt end of a +heavy whip. Yet Robert felt quite cool. His pistol was in his belt, and +Tayoga was at his elbow. + +"You are mistaken, my good Mr. Dobbs," he said gaily. "I would never +tell a man he was a liar, particularly one to whom I had not been +introduced. I try to be choice in my language. I was trained to be so by +Mr. Alexander McLean, a most competent schoolmaster of this city, and I +merely tried to disseminate a thought in the minds of the numerous +audience gathered in the George Inn. My thought was unlike your thought, +and so I was compelled to use words that did not resemble the words used +by you. I was not responsible for the results flowing from them." + +"I don't know what you mean," growled Dobbs. "You string a lot of big +words together, and I think you're laughing at me again." + +"Impossible, Mr. Dobbs. I could not be so impolite. My risibilities may +be agitated to a certain extent, but laugh in the face of a stranger, +never! Now will you kindly let us pass? The street here is narrow and we +do not wish to crowd." + +Dobbs did not move and his manner became more threatening than ever, the +loaded whip swaying in his hand. Robert's light and frolicsome humor did +not depart. He felt himself wholly master of the situation. + +"Now, good Mr. Dobbs, kind Mr. Dobbs, I ask you once more to move," he +said in his most wheedling manner. "The day is too bright and pleasant +to be disturbed by angry feelings. My own temper is always even. Nothing +disturbs me. I was never known to give way to wrath, but my friend whom +you see by my side is a great Onondaga chieftain. His disposition is +haughty and fierce. He belongs to a race that can never bear the +slightest suspicion of an insult. It is almost certain death to speak to +him in an angry or threatening manner. Friends as we have been for +years, I am always very careful how I address him." + +The teamster's face fell and he stepped back. The heavy whip ceased to +move in a menacing manner in his hand. + +"Prudence is always a good thing," continued Robert. "When a great +Indian chieftain is a friend to a man, any insult to that man is a +double insult to the chieftain. It is usually avenged with the utmost +promptitude, and place is no bar. An angry glance even may invite a +fatal blow." + +Dobbs stepped to one side, and Robert and Tayoga walked haughtily on. +The Onondaga laughed low, but with intense amusement. + +"Verily it is well to have the gift of words," he said, "when with their +use one, leaving weapons undrawn, can turn an enemy aside." + +"I could not enter into a street fight with such a man, Tayoga, and +diplomacy was needed. You'll pardon my use of you as a menace?" + +"I'm at Dagaeoga's service." + +"That being the case we'll now continue the search for our slaver." + +They hunted carefully along the shores of the Hudson. Albany was a busy +river port at all times, but it was now busier than ever, the pressure +of war driving new traffic upon it from every side. Many boats were +bringing supplies from further south, and others were being loaded with +the goods of timid people, ready to flee from Montcalm and the French. +Albany caught new trade both coming and going. The thrifty burghers +profited by it and rejoiced. + +"We've nothing to go on," said Robert, "and perhaps we couldn't tell the +slaver's ship if we were looking squarely at it. Still, it seems to me +it ought to be a small craft, slim and low, built for speed and with a +sneaky look." + +"Then we will seek such a vessel," said Tayoga. + +Nothing answered the description. The river people were quite willing to +talk and, the two falling into conversation with them, as if by chance, +were able to account for every craft of any size. There was no strange +ship that could be on any mysterious errand. + +"It is in my mind, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, "that this lies deeper than +we had thought. The slaver would not have shown himself and he would not +have talked with you so freely if he had not known that he would leave a +hidden trail." + +"It looks that way to me, Tayoga," said Robert, "and I think Garay must +be in some kind of disguise. He would not venture so boldly among us if +he did not have a way of concealing himself." + +"It is in my mind, too, that we have underestimated the spy. He has +perhaps more courage and resolution than we thought, or these qualities +may have come to him recently. The trade of a spy is very useful to +Montcalm just now. After his victory at Ticonderoga he will be anxious +to know what we are doing here at Albany, and it will be the duty of +Garay to learn. Besides, we put a great humiliation upon him that time +we took his letter from him in the forest, and he is burning for +vengeance upon us. It is not in the nature of Dagaeoga to wish revenge, +but he must not blind himself on that account to the fact that others +cherish it." + +"It was the fortune of war. We have our disasters and our enemies have +theirs." + +"Yet we must beware of Garay. I know it, Dagaeoga." + +"At any rate we can't find out anything about him and the slaver along +the river, and that being the case I suggest that we go on to the house +of Mynheer Jacobus, where we're pretty sure of a welcome." + +Their greetings at the burgher's home were as warm as anybody could +wish. Master McLean had left, and the rest were talking casually in the +large front room, but the keen eyes of the Onondaga read the signs +infallibly. This was a trail that could not be hidden from him. + +"Other men have been here," he said a little later to Robert, when they +were alone in the room. "There has been a council." + +"How do you know, Tayoga?" + +"How do I know, Dagaeoga? Because I have eyes and I use them. It is +printed all over the room in letters of the largest type and in words of +one syllable. The floor is of polished wood, Dagaeoga, and there is a +great table in the center of the chamber. The chairs have been moved +back, but eight men sat around it. I can count the faint traces made by +the chairs in the polish of the floor. They were heavy men--most of the +men of Albany are heavy, and now and then they moved restlessly, as they +talked. That was why they ground the chair legs against the polish, +leaving there little traces which will be gone in another hour, but +which are enough while they last to tell their tale. + +"They moved so, now and then because their talk was of great importance. +They smoked also that they might think better over what they were +saying. A child could tell that, because smoke yet lingers in the room, +although Caterina has opened the windows to let it out. Some of it is +left low down in the corners, and under the chairs now against the wall. +A little of the ash from their pipes has fallen on the table, showing +that although Caterina has opened the windows she has not yet had time +to clean the room. You and I know, Dagaeoga, that she would never miss +any ash on the table. Master McLean smoked much, perhaps more than any +of the others. He uses the strongest Virginia tobacco that he can +obtain, and I know its odor of old. I smell it everywhere in the room. I +also know the odor of the tobacco that Mynheer Jacobus uses, and it is +strongest here by the mantel, showing that in the course of the council +he frequently got up and stood here. Ah, there is ash on the mantel +itself! He tapped it now and then with his pipe to enforce what he was +saying. Mynheer Jacobus was much stirred, or he would not have risen to +his feet to make speeches to the others." + +"Can you locate Master Hardy also?" + +"I think I can, Dagaeoga." + +He ran around the room like a hound on the scent, and, at last, he +stopped before a large massive locked chest of drawers that stood in the +corner, a heavy mahogany piece that looked as if it had been imported +from France or Italy. + +"Master Jacobus came here," said the Onondaga. "I smell his tobacco. Ah, +and Master Hardy came, too! I now smell his tobacco also. I remember +that when we were in New York he smoked a peculiar, bitter West India +compound which doubtless is brought to him regularly in his ships--men +nearly always have a favorite tobacco and will take every trouble to get +it. I recognize the odor perfectly. There are traces of the ash of both +tobaccos on the chest of drawers, and Master Huysman and Master Hardy +came here, because there are papers in this piece of furniture which +Master Huysman wished to show to Master Hardy. They are in the third +drawer from the top, because there is a little dust on the others, but +none on the third. It fell off when it was opened, and was then shut +again strongly after they were through." + +Robert gazed with intense curiosity at the third drawer. The papers in +it might concern himself--he believed Tayoga implicitly--but it was not +for him to pry into the affairs of two such good friends. If they wished +to keep their secret a while longer, then they had good reasons for +doing so. + +"Did the others come to the chest of drawers also, and look at the +papers?" he asked. + +The Onondaga knelt down and examined the polished floor. + +"I do not think so," he replied at length. "It is wholly likely that +Master Jacobus and Master Hardy came to the chest of drawers after the +others had gone, and that the papers had no bearing on the matters they +talked over in the council. Yes, it is so! It is bound to be so! The +odor of their two tobaccos is stronger than any of the other odors in +the room, showing that they were in here much longer than the others. It +may be that the papers in the third drawer relate to Dagaeoga." + +"I had that thought myself, Tayoga." + +"Does Dagaeoga wish me to go further with it?" + +"No, Tayoga. What those men desire to hide from us must remain hidden." + +"I am glad Dagaeoga has answered that way, because if he had not I +should have refused to go on, and yet I knew that was the way in which +he would answer." + +They went to another room in which they found Mr. Huysman, Mr. Hardy and +the clerk, and Robert told of his meeting with the slaver. The face of +Benjamin Hardy darkened. + +"Tayoga is right," he said. "That man's presence here bodes ill for you, +Robert." + +"I'm not afraid. Besides I've too many friends," said Robert quietly. + +"Both your statements are true, but you must be careful just the same," +interjected Master Jacobus. "Nevertheless, we'll not be apprehensive. +Master McLean iss coming back for supper, and we're going to make it a +great affair, a real reunion for all of us. Caterina, helped by two +stout colored women, has been cooking all the afternoon, and I hope that +you two boys have had enough exercise and excitement to whet your +appetites. How iss it?" + +"We have, sir!" they replied together, and with emphasis. + +"And now to your old room. You'll find there in a closet clothes for +both of you, Tayoga's of his own kind, that Caterina has preserved +carefully, and at six o'clock come in to supper, which to-day iss to be +our chief meal. I would not have Benjamin Hardy to come all the way from +New York and say that I failed to set for him as good a meal as he would +set for me if I were his guest in his city. Not only my hospitality but +the hospitality of Albany iss at stake." + +"I know, sir, that your reputation will not suffer," said Robert with +great confidence. + +He and Tayoga in their room found their clothes preserved in camphor and +quickly made the change. Then they stood by the window, looking out on +the pleasant domain, in which they had spent so many happy hours. Both +felt a glow. + +"Master Jacobus Huysman is a good man," said Robert. + +"A wise, fat chief," said the Onondaga. "A kind heart and a strong head. +He is worthy to rule. If he belonged to the league of the Hodenosaunee +we would put him in a high place." + +"Though he holds no office, I think he sits in a high place here. It is +likely that the men who were around the table to-day came to him for +counsel." + +"It seems a good guess to me, Dagaeoga. Perhaps they take measures to +meet the threat of Montcalm." + +"They're our elders, and we'll let them do the thinking on that point +just now. Somehow, I feel light of heart, Tayoga, and I want to enjoy +myself." + +"Even though the slaver and the spy are here, and we all believe that +they threaten you?" + +"Even so. My heart is light, nevertheless. My mind tells me that I ought +to be apprehensive and sad, but my heart has taken control and I am +hopeful and gay?" + +"It is the nature of Dagaeoga, and he should give thanks to Manitou that +he has been made that way. It is worth much more to him than the white +man's gold." + +"I _am_ thankful, Tayoga. I'm thankful for a lot of things. How does +this coat look on me?" + +"It is small. You have grown much in the last year or two. Your frame is +filling out and you are bigger every way. Still, it is a fine coat, and +the knee breeches, stockings and buckled shoes are very splendid. If +Dagaeoga does not look like a chief it is only because he is not old +enough, and he at least looks like the son of a chief." + +Robert contemplated himself in a small mirror with much satisfaction. + +"I'm frightfully tanned," he said. "Perhaps they wouldn't take me for a +model of fashion in Paris or London, but here nearly everybody else is +tanned also, and, after all, it's healthy." + +The Onondaga regarded him with an amused smile. + +"If Dagaeoga had the time and money he would spend much of both on +dress," he said. "He loves to make a fine appearance." + +"You say nothing but the truth," said Robert frankly. "I hope some day +to have the very best clothes that are made. A man who respects his +clothes respects himself. I know no sin in trying to please the eyes of +others and incidentally myself. I note, Tayoga, that on occasion you +array yourself with great splendor, and that, at all times, you're very +particular about your attire." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. I spoke in terms of approval, not of criticism. Are +you satisfied with yourself?" + +"As much as possible under the circumstances. If I could achieve the +change merely by making a wish I'd have the coat and breeches of a +somewhat richer hue, and the buckles on the shoes considerably larger, +but they'll do. Shall we sit here and rest until Caterina calls us for +supper?" + +"I think so, Dagaeoga." + +But it was not long until the summons came, and they went into the great +dining-room, where the elder company was already gathered. Besides Mr. +Huysman, Benjamin Hardy, Jonathan Pillsbury, and Alexander McLean, there +were Nicholas Ten Broeck and Oliver Suydam, two of Albany's most solid +burghers, and Alan Hervey, another visitor from New York, a thin man of +middle years and shrewd looks, whom Robert took to be a figure in +finance and trade. All the elders seemed to know one another well, and +to be on the best of terms. + +Robert and Tayoga were presented duly, and made their modest +acknowledgments, sitting together near the end of the table. + +"These lads, young as they are," said Master Jacobus Huysman, "have had +much experience of the present war. One of them was a prisoner of the +French at Ticonderoga and saw the whole battle, while the other fought +in it. Before that they were in innumerable encounters and other perils, +usually with the great hunter, David Willet, of whom you all know, and +who, I regret, is not here." + +"It is no more than thousands of others have done," said Robert, +blushing under his tan. + +Hervey regarded him and Tayoga with interest. The Onondaga was in full +Indian dress, but Albany was used to the Iroquois, and that fact was not +at all exceptional. + +"War is a terrible thing," he said, "and whether a nation is or is not +to endure depends very much upon its youth." + +"We always think that present youth is inferior to what our own youth +was," said Mr. Hardy. "That, I believe, is a common human failing. But +Master McLean ought to know. Forty years of youth, year after year have +passed through his hands. What say you, Alexander?" + +"Youth is youth," replied the schoolmaster, weighing his sentences, "and +by those words I mean exactly what I say. I think it changes but little +through all the ages, and it is probably the same to-day that it was in +old Babylon. I find in my schoolroom that the youth of this year is just +like the youth of ten years ago, just as the youth of ten years ago was +exactly like the youth of twenty, thirty and forty years ago." + +"And what are the cardinal points of this formative age, Alexander?" +asked Master Jacobus. + +"Speaking mildly, I would call it concentration upon self. The horizon +of youth is bounded by its own eye. It looks no farther. As it sees and +feels it, the world exists for youth. We elders, parents, uncles, +guardians and such, live for its benefit. We are merely accessories to +the great and main fact, which is youth." + +"Do you believe that to be true, Robert?" asked Master Benjamin Hardy, a +twinkle in his eye. + +"I hope it's not, sir," replied Robert, reddening again under his tan. + +"But it's true and it will remain true," continued the schoolmaster +judicially. "It was equally true of all of us who passed our youth long +ago. I do not quarrel with it. I merely state a fact of life. Perhaps if +I could I would not strip youth of this unconscious absorption in self, +because in doing so we might deprive it of the simplicity and +directness, the artless beliefs that make youth so attractive." + +"I hold," said Mr. Hervey, "that age is really a state of mind. We +believe certain things at twenty, others at thirty, others at forty, and +so on. The beliefs of twenty are true at twenty, we must not try them by +the tests of thirty, nor must we try those of thirty by the tests of +forty or fifty. So how are we to say which age is the wiser, when every +age accepts as true what it believes, and, so makes it true? I agree, +too, with Mr. McLean, that I would not change the character of youth if +I could. Looking back upon my own youth I find much in it to laugh at, +but I did not laugh at it at the time. It was very real to me then, and +so must its feelings be to the youth of to-day." + +"We wade into deep waters," said Mynheer Jacobus, "and we may go over +our heads. Ah, here are the oysters! I hope that all of you will find +them to your liking." + +A dozen were served for every guest--it was the day of plenty, the +fields and woods and waters of America furnishing more food than its +people could consume--and they approached them with the keen appetites +of strong and healthy men. + +"Perhaps we do not have the sea food here that you have in New York, +Alan," said Master Jacobus with mock humility, "but we give you of our +best." + +"We've the finest oysters in the world, unless those of Baltimore be +excepted," said Hervey, "but yours are, in truth, most excellent. +Perhaps you can't expect to equal us in a specialty of ours. You'll +recall old Tom Cotton's inn, out by the East River, and how +unapproachably he serves oyster, crab, lobster and every kind of fish." + +"I recall it full well, Alan. I rode out the Bowery road when I was last +in New York, but I did not get a chance to go to old Tom's. You and I +and Benjamin have seen some lively times there, when we were a bit +younger, eh, Alan?" + +"Aye, Jacobus, you speak truly. We were just as much concentrated upon +self as the youth of to-day. And in our elderly hearts we're proud of +the little frivolities and dissipations that were committed then. Else +we would never talk of 'em and chuckle over 'em to one another." + +"And what is more, we're not too old yet for a little taste of pleasure, +now and then, eh, Alexander?" + +The schoolmaster, appealed to so directly, pursed his thin lips, lowered +his lids to hide the faint twinkle in his eyes, and replied in measured +tones: + +"I cannot speak for you, Jacobus. I've known you a long time and your +example is corrupting, but I trust that I shall prove firm against +temptation." + +The oysters were finished. No man left a single one untouched on his +plate, and then a thick chicken soup was served by two very black women +in gay cotton prints with red bandanna handkerchiefs tied like turbans +around their heads. Robert could see no diminution in the appetite of +the guests, nor did he feel any decrease in his own. Mr. Hervey turned +to him. + +"I hear you saw the Marquis de Montcalm himself," he said. + +"Yes, sir," replied Robert. "I saw him several times, at Ticonderoga, +and before that in the Oswego campaign. I've been twice a prisoner of +the French." + +"How does he look?" + +"Of middle age, sir, short, dark and very polite in speech." + +"And evidently a good soldier. He has proved that and to our misfortune. +Yet, I cannot but think that we will produce his master. Now, I wonder +who it is going to be. Under the English system the best general does +not always come forward first, and perhaps we've not yet so much as +heard the name of the man who is going to beat Montcalm. That he will be +beaten I've no doubt. We'll conquer Canada and settle North American +affairs for all time. Perhaps it will be the last great war." + +Robert was listening with the closest attention, and it seemed to him +that the New Yorker was right. With Canada conquered and the French +power expelled it would be the last great war so far as North America +was concerned? How fallible men are! How prone they are to think when +they have settled things for themselves they have settled them also for +all future generations! + +"And then," continued Mr. Hervey, "New York will become a yet greater +port than it now is. It may even hope to rival Philadelphia in size and +wealth. It will be London's greatest feeder." + +The soup, not neglected in the least, gave way to fish, and then to many +kinds of meat, in which game, bear, deer and wild fowl were conspicuous. +Robert took a little of everything, but he was absorbed in the talk. He +felt that these men were in touch with great affairs, and, however much +they diverged from such subjects they had them most at heart. It was a +thrilling thought that the future of North America, in some degree at +least, might be determined around that very table at which he was +sitting as a guest. He had knowledge and imagination enough to +understand that it was not the armies that determined the fate of +nations, but the men directing them who stood behind them farther back, +in the dark perhaps, obscure, maybe never to become fully known, but +clairvoyant and powerful just the same. He was resolved not to lose a +word. So he leaned forward just a little in his seat, and his blue eyes +sparkled. + +"Dagaeoga is glad to be here," said Tayoga in an undertone. + +"So I am, Tayoga. They talk of things of which I wish to hear." + +"As I told you, these be sachems with whom we sit. They be not chiefs +who lead in battle, but, like the sachems, they plan, and, like the +medicine men, they make charms and incantations that influence the souls +of the warriors and also the souls of those who lead them to battle." + +"The same thought was in my own mind." + +Wine smuggled from France or Spain was served to the men, though young +Lennox and the Onondaga touched none. In truth, it was not offered to +them, Master Jacobus saying, with a glance at Robert: + +"I have never allowed you and Tayoga to have anything stronger than +coffee in my house, and although you are no longer under my charge I +intend to keep to the rule." + +"We wish nothing more, sir," said Robert. + +"As for me," said the Onondaga, "I shall never touch any kind of liquor. +I know that it goes ill with my race." + +"Yours, I understand, is the Onondaga nation," said Mr. Hervey, looking +at him attentively. + +"The Onondaga, and I belong to the clan of the Bear," replied Tayoga +proudly. "The Hodenosaunee have held the balance in this war." + +"That I know full well. I gladly give the great League ample credit. It +has been a wise policy of the English to deal honestly and fairly with +your people. In general the French surpass us in winning and holding the +affections of the native races, but some good angel has directed us in +our dealings with the Six Nations. Without their Indians the French +could have done little against us. I hear of one of their leaders who +has endeared himself to them in the most remarkable manner. There has +been much talk in New York of the Chevalier de St. Luc, and being nearer +the seat of action you've perhaps heard some of it here in Albany, +Jacobus!" + +Robert leaned a little farther forward and concentrated every faculty on +the talk, but he said nothing. + +"Yes, we've heard much of him, Alan," replied Master Jacobus. "I think +he's the most dangerous foe that we have among Montcalm's lieutenants. +He passes like a flame along the border, and yet report speaks well of +him, too. All our men who have come in contact with him say he is a +gallant and chivalrous foe." + +Robert glanced at Master Benjamin Hardy, but the great merchant's face +was blank. + +"Robert saw him, too, when he was a prisoner among the French," said Mr. +Huysman. + +Mr. Hervey looked at Robert, who said: + +"I saw him several times at Ticonderoga, where he was the chief adviser +of Montcalm during the battle, and I've seen him often elsewhere. All +that they say about him is true. He's a master of forest warfare, and +his following is devoted." + +He glanced again at Benjamin Hardy, but the New Yorker was helping +himself to an especially tender bit of venison and his face expressed +nothing but appreciation of his food. Robert sighed under his breath. +They would never do more than generalize about St. Luc. Tayoga and he +asked presently to be excused. The men would sit much longer over their +nuts and wine, and doubtless when the lads were gone they would enter +more deeply into those plans and ventures that lay so near their hearts. + +"I think I shall wander among the trees behind the house," said Tayoga, +when they were out of the dining-room. "I want fresh air, and I wish to +hear the wind blowing among the leaves. Then I can fancy that I am back +in the great forest, and my soul will be in peace." + +"And commune, perhaps, with Tododaho on his star," said Robert, not +lightly but in all seriousness. + +"Even so, Dagaeoga. He may have something to tell me, but if he does not +it is well to be alone for a while." + +"I won't let you be alone just yet, because I'm going out with you, but +I don't mean to stay long, and then you can commune with your own soul." + +It was a beautiful night, cooled by a breeze which came crisp and strong +from the hills, rustling through the foliage, already beginning to take +on the tints of early autumn. After the warm room and many courses of +food it was very grateful to the two lads who stood under the trees +listening to the pleasant song of the breeze. But in five minutes Robert +said: + +"I'm going back into the house now, Tayoga. I can see your star in the +clear heavens, and perhaps Tododaho will speak to you." + +"I shall see. Farewell for an hour, Dagaeoga." + +Robert went in. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PURSUIT OF GARAY + + +Robert paused a few moments in the hall. Sounds of voices came from the +dining room, showing that the supper was still in progress. He thought +of going back there to listen to the talk, but he reflected that the +time for youth at the table had passed. They were in their secrets now, +and he strolled toward the large room that contained the chest of +drawers. + +A dim light from an unshuttered window shone into the apartment and it +was in his mind to wait there for Tayoga, but he stopped suddenly at the +door and stared in astonishment. A shadow was moving in the room, thin, +impalpable and noiseless, but it had all the seeming of a man. Moreover, +it had a height and shape that were familiar, and it reminded him of the +spy, Garay. + +He was too much surprised to move, and so he merely stared. Garay knelt +before the chest of drawers and began to work at it with a small sharp +tool that he drew from his coat. Robert saw, too, that his attention was +centered on the third drawer from the top. Then he came out of his +catalepsy and started forward, but in doing so his foot made a slight +noise on the floor. + +Garay leaped to his feet, gave Robert one glance and then disappeared +through the open window, with incredible dexterity and speed. Robert +stared again. The man was there and then he was not. It could not be +Garay, but his ghost, some illusion, a trick of the eye or mind. Then he +knew it was no fancy. With extraordinary assurance the man had come +there to rifle the drawer--for what purpose Robert knew not. + +He ran to the window, but saw nothing save the peaceful night, the +waving trees and the quiet lawn lying beyond. Then he walked to the +chest and examined the third drawer, noticing new scratches around the +lock. There was not the slightest doubt that Garay had been trying to +open it. + +He went to the door, resolved to tell Mr. Huysman at once of the attempt +upon the chest, but he stopped irresolute. The low sounds of talk still +came from the dining-room. He was only a boy and his was a most +improbable tale. They might think he had been dreaming, though he knew +full well that he had seen straight and true. And then Garay was gone, +leaving no trace. No, he would not interrupt Mr. Huysman now, but he +would talk it over with Tayoga. + +He found the Onondaga standing among the trees, gazing with rapt vision +at his star. + +"Did Tododaho speak to you?" asked Robert. + +"He did," replied Tayoga earnestly. + +"What did he say?" + +"That the great war will go on, and that you and I and the Great Bear, +who is away, will encounter many more perils. The rest is veiled." + +"And while we take our ease, Tayoga, our enemies are at work." + +"What does Dagaeoga mean?" + +"I went into the room containing the chest of drawers, the story of +which you read, and found there Garay, the spy, trying to open it." + +"Dagaeoga does not dream?" + +"Oh, I thought for a moment or two that I did, but it was reality. Garay +escaped through the open window, and, on the lock of the third drawer, +were scratches that he left where he had been working with a sharp tool. +Come, Tayoga, and look at them." + +The two went into the house. Robert lighted a lamp for better light, and +Tayoga knelt before the drawer, giving it a long and close examination. + +"Garay is a very clever man," he said at last, "much cleverer, perhaps, +than we gave him the credit of being." + +"I think so too," said Robert. + +"As events show, he came into this house to obtain the papers in this +drawer, and you and I feel quite certain that those papers concern you. +And as you saw him and the slaver together, it indicates that they have +some plot against you, what I know not. But the papers here have much to +do with it." + +"Do you think I should speak of it to Master Jacobus and Mr. Hardy now?" + +"I think not, Dagaeoga. Whatever is the mystery about you it is evident +that they do not wish to tell you of it yet. So, being what you are, you +will not ask them, but wait until such time as they see fit. I think +these scratches on the lock were made by the sharp point of a hunting +knife. Garay did not succeed in opening it, though it is likely that he +would have done so if you had not interrupted him." + +"When he saw me he was gone like a flash. I did not know a man could +skip through a window with so much celerity." + +"One has to be skillful at such things to carry on the trade of a spy. +That is why he could have opened this lock, large and strong as it is, +with the point of his hunting knife had he been allowed time, and that +is why he flew through the window like a bird when you came upon him." + +He examined the window, and then laughed a little. + +"But he did not go without leaving further proof of himself," he said. +"Here on the sill is the faintest trace of blood where he bruised his +hand or wrist in his rapid flight." + +"Suppose you try to trail him, Tayoga. I believe you could find out +which way he went, even here in Albany. The men will talk in there a +long time, and won't miss us. There's a fair moon." + +"I will try," said Tayoga in his precise fashion. "First we will look at +the ground under the window." + +They went outside and the Onondaga examined the grass beneath it, the +drop being five or six feet. + +"As he had to come down hard, he ought to have left traces," said +Robert. + +"So he did, Dagaeoga. I find several imprints, and there also are two or +three drops of blood, showing that he scratched his hand considerably +when he went through the window. Here go the traces, leading north. +Garay, of course, knows this immediate locality well, as he observed it +closely when he made his attempt upon you before. It is lucky that it +rained yesterday, leaving the ground soft. We may be able to follow him +quite a distance." + +"If anybody can follow him, you can." + +"It is friendship that makes Dagaeoga speak so. The trail continues in +its original course, though I think that sooner or later it will turn +toward the river." + +"Meaning that Garay will meet the slaver somewhere, and that the natural +place of the latter is on the water." + +"Dagaeoga reasons well. That, I think, is just what Garay will do. It is +likely, too, that he will curve about the town. If he went upon a hard +street we would lose him, since he would leave no trail there, but he +will keep away because he does not wish to be seen. Ah, he now turns +from the houses and into the fields! We shall be able to follow him. The +moon is our friend. It is pouring down rays enough to disclose his +trail, if trail he leaves." + +They were soon beyond the houses and climbed three fences dividing the +fields. At the third, Tayoga said: + +"Garay paused here and rested. There is a drop of blood on the top rail. +He probably sat there and looked back to see if he was followed. Ah, +here is a splinter on a lower rail freshly broken!" + +"What do you make of it, Tayoga?" + +"The spy was angry, angry that his effort, made at such great risk, +should have failed through the mere chance of your coming into the room +at that particular time. He was angry, too, that he had bruised his hand +so badly that it bled, and continued to bleed. So, his disappointment +made him grind his heel against the rail and break the splinter." + +"I'm glad he felt that way. A man in his trade ought to suffer many +disappointments." + +"When he had satisfied himself that no pursuit was in sight, he jumped +to the ground. Here are deep imprints made by his descending weight, and +now he becomes less careful. Albany is behind us, and he thinks all +danger of pursuit has passed. I see a little brook ahead, and it is safe +to say that he will kneel at it and drink." + +"And also to bathe his wounded hand." + +"Even so, Dagaeoga. Lo, it is as we said! Here are the imprints of his +knees, showing that he refreshed himself with water after his hurried +flight. The ground on the other side of the brook is soft and we shall +be able to find his imprints there, even if it were pitch dark. Now I +think they will turn very soon toward the river." + +"Yes, they're curving. Here they go, Tayoga." + +The trail led across a field, over a hill, and then through a little +wood, where Tayoga was compelled to go slowly, hunting about like a +hound, trying to trace a scent. But wherever he lost it he finally +picked it up again, and, when they emerged from the trees, they saw the +river not far ahead. + +"Our trail will end at the stream," said Tayoga confidently. + +As he had predicted, the imprints led directly to the river, and there +ended their pursuit also. The Hudson flowed on in silence. There was +nothing on its bosom. + +"The slaver in a boat was waiting for him here," said Tayoga. "I think +we can soon find proof of it." + +A brief examination of the bank showed traces where the prow had rested. + +"It was probably a boat with oars for two," he said. "The slaver sat in +it most of the time, but he grew impatient at last and leaving the boat +walked up the bank a little distance. Here go his steps, showing very +plainly in the soft earth in the moonlight, and here come those of Garay +to meet him. They stood at the top of the bank under this oak, and the +spy told how he had failed. Doubtless, the slaver was much disappointed, +but he did not venture to upbraid Garay, because the spy is as necessary +to him as he is to the spy. After they talked it over they walked down +the bank together--see their trails going side by side--entered the boat +and rowed away. I wish the water would leave a trail, too, that we might +follow them, but it does not." + +"Do you think they'll dare go back to Albany?" + +"The slaver will. What proof of any kind about anything have we? Down! +Dagaeoga, down!" + +Fitting the action to the word, the Onondaga seized Robert by the +shoulders suddenly and dragged him to the earth, falling with him. As he +did so a bullet whistled where Robert's head had been and a little puff +of smoke rose from a clump of bushes on the opposite shore. + +"They're there in their boat among the bushes that grow on the water's +edge!" exclaimed Tayoga. "I ought to have thought of it, but I did see a +movement among the bushes in time! I cannot see their faces or the boat, +either, but I know it is Garay and the slaver." + +"I have no weapon," said Robert. "It did not occur to me that I would +need one." + +"I have a pistol in my tunic. I always carry one when I am in the white +man's country. It is wise." + +"Under the circumstances, I think we'd better slip away and leave the +spy and the slaver to enjoy the river as they please, for to-night at +least." + +He was about to rise, but Tayoga pulled him down a second time and a +report heavier than the first came from the far shore. Another bullet +passed over their heads and struck with a sough in the trunk of a big +tree beyond them. + +"That was from a rifle. The other was from a pistol," said Tayoga. "It +is the slaver, of course, who has the rifle, and they mean to make it +very warm for us. Perhaps an unexpected chance gives them hope to do +here what they expected to achieve later on." + +"Meaning a final disposition of me?" + +"That was in my mind, Dagaeoga. I think it is you at whom they will +shoot and you would better creep away. Lie almost flat and edge along +until you come to the trees, which are about twenty yards behind us. +There, you will be safe." + +"And leave you alone, Tayoga! What have I ever done to make you think +I'd do such a thing?" + +"It is not Tayoga whom they want. It is Dagaeoga. I cannot go without +taking a shot at them, else my pistol would burn me inside my tunic. Be +wise as I am, Dagaeoga. Always carry a pistol when you are in the white +man's towns. Life is reasonably safe only in the red man's forest." + +"It looks as if you were right, Tayoga, but remember that I stay here +with you as long as you stay." + +"Then keep close to the earth. Roll back a bit and you will be sheltered +better by that little rise." + +Robert obeyed, and it was well that he did so, as the heavy rifle +cracked a second time, and a plowing bullet caused fine particles of +earth to fly over him. Tayoga leveled his pistol at the flash and smoke, +but did not pull the trigger. + +"Why didn't you fire, Tayoga?" asked Robert. + +"I could not see well enough. They and their boat are still hidden by +the bushes in which they remain, because from there they can command the +bank where we lie." + +"Then it looks as if each side held the other. If they come out of the +bushes you use your pistol on 'em, and if we retreat farther they use +their rifle on us. You'll notice, Tayoga, that we're in a little dip, +and if we go out of it on our far side in retreat we'll make a target of +ourselves. If they leave the bushes on their far side to climb their own +bank they come into view. It's checkmate for both." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. It is a difficult position for you, but not for me. +We of the red races learn to have patience, because we are not in such a +hurry to consume time as you white people are." + +"That is true, but it is not a moment for a discussion of the relative +merits of white and red." + +"We are likely to have plenty of leisure for it, since I think we are +doomed to a long wait." + +"I think you're happy over it, Tayoga. Your voice has a pleased ring." + +"I'm not unhappy. I see a chance to gratify a curiosity that I have long +had. I wish to see whether the white race, even in great danger, where +it is most needed, has as much patience as the red. Ah, Dagaeoga, you +were incautious! Do not raise your head again. You, at least, do not +have as much patience as the occasion requires." + +The third bullet had passed so near Robert that cold shivers raced over +his body and he resolved not to raise his head again a single inch, no +matter what the temptation. + +"Remember that it is you whom they want," said Tayoga in his precise, +book English. "Having the rifle they can afford to try shots at longer +range, but with the pistol I must wait until I can see them clearly. +Well, Dagaeoga, it is a fine evening, not too cold, we need fresh air +after a big supper, and perhaps one could not find a pleasanter place in +which to pass the night." + +"You mean that we may lie here until day?" + +"Dagaeoga speaks as if that would be remarkable. My father waited once +three days and three nights beside a run to obtain a deer. He neither +ate nor drank during that time, but he went home with the deer. If he +could wait so long for something to eat, cannot we wait as long when our +lives are at stake?" + +"According to the laws of proportion we should be willing to stay here a +week, at least. Can you see anything moving in the bushes over there, +Tayoga?" + +"Not a thing. They too are patient men, the slaver and the spy, and +having missed several times with the rifle they will bide a while, +hoping that we will expose ourselves." + +The Onondaga settled himself comfortably against the earth, his pistol +lying on the little rise in front of him, over which his eyes watched +the clump of bushes into which the boat had gone. If the slaver and the +spy made any attempt to slip forth, whether on the water or up the bank, +he would certainly see them, and he would not withhold the pressure of +his finger on the trigger. + +The full moon still shone down, clothing the world in a beautiful silver +light. The stars in myriads danced in a sky of soft, velvety blue. The +river flowed in an illuminated, molten mass. A light wind hummed a +pleasant song among the brown leaves. Robert had a curious feeling of +rest and safety. He was quite sure that neither the slaver nor the spy +could hit him while he lay in the dip, and no movement of theirs would +escape the observation of Tayoga, the incomparable sentinel. He relaxed, +and, for a few moments, his faculties seemed to fall into a dreamy +state. + +"If I should go to sleep, Tayoga," he said, "wake me up when you need +me." + +"You will not go to sleep." + +"How do you know? I feel a lot like it." + +"It is because the worry you felt a little while ago has passed. You +believe that in this duel of patience we shall conquer." + +"I know that we'll conquer, Tayoga, because you are here." + +"Dagaeoga's flattery is not subtle." + +"It's not flattery. It's my real belief." + +The night wore on. The breeze that rustled the leaves was warm and +soothing, and Robert's sleepiness increased. But he fought against it. +He used his will and brought his body roughly to task, shaking himself +violently. He also told himself over and over again that they were in a +position of great danger, that he must be on guard, that he must not +leave the duty to the Onondaga alone. Such violent efforts gradually +drove sleep away, and raising his head a few inches he looked over the +rise. + +The whole surface of the river still showed clearly in the moonlight, as +it flowed slowly and peacefully on, silver in tint most of the time, but +now and then disclosing shades of deep blue. Directly opposite was the +clump of bushes in which the slaver and the spy had pushed their boat. +An easy shot for a rifle, but a hard one for a pistol. + +Robert studied the bushes very closely, trying to discern their enemies +among them, but he saw nothing there save a slight movement of the +leaves before the wind. It was possible that his foes had slipped away, +going up the other bank in some manner unseen. Since he could discover +no trace of them he began to believe that it was true, and he raised his +head another inch for a better look. + +Crack! went the rifle, and the bullet sang so close to his face that at +first he thought he was hit. He stared for a moment at the puff of smoke +rising from the bushes, his faculties in a daze. Then he came to himself +all at once and dropped back abruptly, feeling his head gingerly to see +that it was sound everywhere. But he was certain that the slaver and the +spy were there. + +"Dagaeoga was rash," said the Onondaga. + +"I know now I was. Still, I feel much relief because I've settled a +problem that was troubling me." + +"What was it?" + +"I wasn't sure that our enemies were still there. Now I am." + +"If you feel like it yet, I think you may go to sleep. Nothing is likely +to happen for a long time, and I can awaken you at any moment." + +"Thank you, Tayoga, but I've banished the wish. I know I can't do +anything without a weapon, but I can give you moral help. They're bound +to try something sometime or other, because when the day comes other +people may arrive--we're not so far from Albany--and they're guilty, +we're not. We don't mind being seen." + +"It is so, Dagaeoga. You talk almost like a man. At times you reason +well. Finding that we are as patient as they are they will make a +movement in an hour or two, though I think we are not likely to see it." + +"An hour or two? Then I think I'd better make myself comfortable again." + +He settled his body against the brown turf which was soft and soothing, +and, in spite of himself, the wish for sleep returned. It was so quiet +that one was really invited to go away to slumberland, and then he had +eaten much at the big supper. After a long time, he was sinking into a +doze when he was dragged back abruptly from it by a report almost at his +ear that sounded like the roar of a cannon. He sat up convulsively, and +saw Tayoga holding in his hand a smoking pistol. + +"Did you hit anything?" he asked. + +"I saw a stir in the bushes over there," replied the Onondaga, "and +fired into them. I do not think my bullet found its target, but we will +wait. I have ammunition in my pocket, and meanwhile I will reload." + +He put in the powder and ball, still keeping an eye on the bushes. He +waited a full half hour and then he handed the pistol to Robert. + +"Watch, and use it if need be," he said, "while I swim over and get the +boat." + +"Get the boat! What are you talking about, Tayoga? Has the moon struck +you with a madness?" + +"Not at all, Dagaeoga. The slaver and the spy are gone, leaving behind +them the boat which they could not take with them, and we might as well +have it." + +"Are you sure of what you are saying?" + +"Quite sure, Dagaeoga. But for precaution's sake you can watch well with +the pistol and cover my approach." + +He thrust the weapon into Robert's hand, quickly threw off his clothing +and sprang into the water, swimming with strong strokes toward the +dense, high bushes that lined the opposite shore. Robert watched the +lithe, brown figure cleave the water, disappear in the bushes and then +reappear a moment or two later, rowing a boat. All had fallen out as the +Onondaga had said, and he quickly came back to the western side. + +"It is a good boat," he said, "a trophy of our victory, and we will use +it. Take the oars, Dagaeoga, while I put on my clothes again. Our long +wait is over." + +Robert sprang into the boat, while Tayoga, standing upon the bank, shook +himself, making the drops fly from him in a shower. + +"Which way did they go?" asked Robert. + +"They crept down the stream among the bushes between the water and the +cliff. They could force their bodies that way but not the boat. I felt +sure they had gone after my pistol shot, because I saw some of the +bushes moving a little against the wind farther down the stream. It was +proof. Besides, they had to go, knowing that day would soon be here." + +He reclothed himself and stepped back into the boat, taking up the +second pair of oars. + +"Let us return to Albany in triumph by the river," he said. + +"You think there is no danger of our being fired upon from ambush?" + +"None at all. The slaver and spy will be anxious to get away and escape +observation. They would be glad enough to shoot at us, but they would +never dare to risk it." + +"And so ours has been the triumph. Once more we've been victorious over +our enemies, Tayoga." + +"But they will strike again, and Dagaeoga must beware." + +They rowed into the middle of the river and dropped slowly down the +stream. Robert had so much confidence in the Onondaga that he felt quite +safe for the present at least. It seemed to his sanguine temperament +that as they had escaped every danger in the past so they would escape +every one in the future. He was naturally a child of hope, in which he +was fortunate. + +The gray skies broke away in the east, and the dawn was unrolled, a +blaze of rose and gold. The surface of the river glittered in the +morning sun. The houses of Albany stood out sharp and clear in the first +light of the morning. + +"They'll be anxious about us at Mr. Huysman's," said Robert. + +"So they will," said Tayoga. "As I have said to you before, Dagaeoga, it +will be wise for us to return to the wilderness as soon as we can. The +red man's forest still seems to be safer than the white man's town." + +They reached Albany, tied up the boat, and walked in the early dawn to +the house of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, where Caterina met them at the +door with a cry of joy. Master Jacobus appeared in a few moments, his +face showing great relief. + +"Where have you lads been?" he exclaimed. + +"We have been in much danger," replied Robert soberly, "but we're out of +it now, and here we are." + +The others, all of whom had lain down fully dressed, came soon, and +Robert told the story of the night, beginning with the spy's attempt +upon the third drawer in the chest of drawers. Mr. Huysman and Mr. Hardy +exchanged glances. + +"That drawer does contain papers of value," said Mr. Huysman, "but I'll +see that they're put to-day in a place into which no thief can break." + +"And it would perhaps be well for young Mr. Lennox also to keep himself +in a safe place," said Mr. Hervey, who had spent the night too in Mr. +Huysman's house. "It seems that a most determined effort is being made +against him." + +"Thank you, sir, for your interest in me," said Robert, "and I'll do my +best to be cautious." + +He ate a hearty breakfast and then, on the insistence of Master Jacobus, +lay down. Declaring that he would not sleep, he fell asleep nevertheless +in ten minutes, and did not awake until the afternoon. He learned then +that Albany was feeling better. Many of the rumors that Montcalm was +advancing had been quieted. Scouts brought word that he was yet at Lake +Champlain, and that he had not given any sign of marching upon Albany. + +Robert learned also that the council in Mr. Huysman's house had been to +take measures of offense as well as defense. Alan Hervey spoke for the +leading men of New York and he was to tell Albany for them that they +would make a mighty effort. A campaign had been lost, but another would +be undertaken at once, and it would be won. They had no doubt that +Boston, Baltimore and Charleston were doing the same. The strong men of +the Colonies intended to assure England of their staunch support, and +the English-speaking race not dreaming perhaps even then that it was to +become such a mighty factor in the world, would fight to the bitter end +for victory. + +"I go back by sloop to New York to-morrow," said Mr. Hardy to him, "and +of course Jonathan Pillsbury goes with me. There are important affairs +of which I must speak to you some day, Robert, and believe me, my lad, I +do not speak of them to you now because the reasons are excellent. I +know you've borne yourself bravely in many dangers, and I know you will +be as strong of heart in others to come. I'm sorry I have to go away +without seeing Willet, but you could not be in safer hands than his." + +"And I know, too," said Robert earnestly, "that I could have no better +friend than you, Mr. Hardy, nor you, Mr. Pillsbury." + +He spoke with the frank sincerity that always made such an appeal to +everybody, and Mr. Hardy patted him approvingly on the shoulder. + +"And don't forget me, Mr. Lennox," said Mr. Hervey. "I want you to be my +guest in New York some day. We live in tremendous times, and so guard +yourself well." + +They left with a favoring breeze and the swift sloop that bore them was +soon out of sight. Robert, Tayoga, Mr. Huysman and Master McLean, who +had seen them off, walked slowly back up the hill to Mr. Huysman's +house. + +"I feel that they brought us new courage," said Master Jacobus. "New +York iss a great town, a full equal to Boston, though they are very +unlike, and do not forget, Robert, that the merchants and financiers +have much to say in a vast war like this which is vexing the world +to-day." + +"I do not forget it, sir," said Robert. "I have seen New York and its +wealth and power. They say that it has nearly twenty thousand +inhabitants--and some day I hope to see London too. Lieutenant Grosvenor +is coming. Can we stop and speak to him?" + +"Of course, my lad, but Master Alexander and I have pressing business +and you will pardon us if we go on. If Lieutenant Grosvenor will come to +my house as my guest bring him, and tell him to stay as long as he +will." + +"That I will, sir, and gladly," said Robert, as he and Tayoga turned +aside to meet the young Englishman. + +The meeting had all the warmth of youth and of real liking. Grosvenor +was fully restored now and his intense interest in everything that was +happening was undiminished. They strolled on together. Robert and Tayoga +did not say anything for the present about their adventure of the +preceding night with the slaver and the spy, but Robert delivered the +invitation of Master Jacobus. + +"If you can get leave come and stay a while with us in the house of Mr. +Huysman," he said. "He bids me give you a most hospitable welcome, and +when he says a thing he means not only what he says but a good deal +more, too. You'll have a fine bed and you may have to eat more than you +can well stand." + +"It appeals to me," said Grosvenor, "and I'd come, but I'm leaving +Albany in a day or two." + +"Leaving Albany! I suppose I shouldn't ask where you're going." + +"I'll tell you without the asking. I'm going with some other officers to +Boston, where we're to await orders. Between you and me, Lennox, I think +we shall take a sea voyage from Boston, maybe to Nova Scotia." + +"And that, I think, indicates a new expedition from England and a new +attack upon Canada and the French, but from another point. It's like the +shadow of great events." + +"It seems so to me, too. Come with us, Lennox. All your friends have got +into the Royal Americans, and I think they too are going east. We could +raise enough influence to secure you a lieutenant's commission." + +Robert's heart swelled, but he shook his head. + +"You tempt me, Grosvenor," he said. "I'd like to go. I think you and the +others will be in the thick of great events, but I could never desert +Tayoga and Willet. I feel that my business, whatever it is, is here. But +we may meet on the front again, though we'll come by different routes." + +"If you can't you can't, and that's an end of it, but I'm glad, Lennox, +that I've known you and Tayoga and Willet, and that we've shared perils. +I'm to meet the Philadelphians and the Virginians at the George Inn +again. Will you two come on?" + +"Gladly," said Robert. + +They found that the others had already arrived, and they were full of +jubilation. Colden, Wilton and Carson were leaving their troop with +regret, but the Royal Americans raised in the Colonies were a picked +regiment ranking with the best of the British regulars. Stuart and +Cabell, coming from the south, which was now more remote from the scene +of war, were delighted at the thought that they would be in the heart of +the conflict. They, too, were insistent that Robert come with them, but +again he refused. When he and Tayoga left them and walked back to the +house of Mr. Huysman the Onondaga said: + +"Dagaeoga was right to stay. His world is centered here." + +"That's so. I feel it in every bone of me. Besides, I'm thinking that +we'll yet have to deal with Garay and that slaver. I'll be glad though +when Willet comes. Then we can decide upon our next step." + +Robert was too active to stay quietly at the house of Mr. Huysman. Only +their host, Tayoga and he were present at their supper that evening, +and, as the man was rather silent, the lads respected his preoccupation, +believing that he was concerned with the great affairs in which he was +having a part. After supper Tayoga left for the camp on the flats to see +an Onondaga runner who had arrived that day, and Mr. Huysman, still +immersed in his thoughts, withdrew into the room containing the great +chest of drawers. + +Robert spent a little while in the chamber that he and Tayoga had used, +looking at the old, familiar things, and then he wandered restlessly +outside, where he stood, glancing down at the lights of the town. He +felt lonely for the moment. Everybody else was doing something, and he +liked to be with people. Perhaps some of his friends had come to the +George Inn. A light was burning there and he would go and see. + +There was a numerous company at the inn, but it included nobody that +Robert knew, and contenting himself with a look from the doorway, he +turned back. Then the masts and spars in the river, standing up a black +tracery against the clear, moonlit sky, interested him, and he walked +casually to the bank. Some activity was still visible on the vessels, +but tiring of them soon he turned away. + +It was dark on the shore, but Robert started violently. If fancy were +not playing tricks with him he saw the shadow of Garay once more. The +figure had appeared about twenty yards ahead of him and then it was +gone. Robert was filled with fierce anger that the man should show such +brazen effrontery, and impulsively he pursued. Profiting by his +experience with the spy, he now had a pistol in his pocket, and +clutching the butt of it he hurried after the elusive shadow. + +He caught a second glimpse. It was surely Garay, and he was running +along the shore, up the stream. + +Robert's anger rose by leaps. The spy's presumption was beyond all +endurance, but he would make him pay for it this time. He drew his +pistol that he might be ready should Garay turn and attack, though he +did not believe that he would do so, and sped after him. But always the +shadow flitted on before, and the distance between them did not seem to +diminish. + +They soon left all houses behind, although Robert, in his excitement, +did not notice it, and then he saw that at last he was gaining. + +"Stop, Garay! Stop, or I shoot!" he cried. + +The spy halted, and Robert, covering him with his pistol, was about to +approach when he heard a step behind him. He whirled, but it was too +late. A stunning weight crashed down upon his head, and he fell into +oblivion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +OUT TO SEA + + +When Robert came back from the far country in which he had been +dwelling, for a little space, he looked into a long face, with eyes set +close and a curved nose. He was dimly conscious that it was a familiar +countenance, but he could not yet remember where he had seen it before, +because he could not concentrate his thoughts. His head was heavy and +aching. He knew that he lived, but he did not know much more. + +The staring face was distinctly unpleasant and menacing. He gazed into +it, trying to recall the owner, but the effort was still too great. Then +he became conscious that he was lying upon his back and that he was +moving. Trees on his right and trees on his left, some distance away, +were filing past. Two men on each side were pulling hard on oars, and +then it slowly entered his mind that he was in a boat. + +He made another and stronger effort to gather up his wandering faculties +and then he realized with a jerk that the face looking into his was that +of the slaver. Making a supreme effort he sat up. The slaver laughed. + +"So, Peter Smith," he said, "you've decided to come back a second time. +I knew that you couldn't stay away always from such a good, kind captain +as I am. I saw the light of welcome in your eyes when we met so +unexpectedly at the George Inn, and I decided that it was only a +question of time until you came into my service again." + +Robert stared at him. His mind, which would not work hitherto, recovered +its power with great suddenness. All his faculties were keen and alert, +and they cooerdinated smoothly and perfectly. He had been trapped. He had +been struck from behind, while he pursued Garay with such eagerness. He +had been careless, and once more he was in the power of the slaver. And +there was the spy, too, in the prow of the boat, with his back to him, +but that very back seemed to express insolent triumph. He felt a great +sinking of the heart, but in a few moments recalled his courage. His was +a spirit that could not be crushed. His head still ached and he was a +prisoner, but his courage was invincible, and he put on a light manner. + +"Yes, I've come back," he said. "You see, Captain, there are some things +concerning you of which I'm not sure, and I couldn't part from you +permanently until I learned them." + +"I'm glad of it, Peter. You've an inquiring mind, I know, and you'll +have plenty of opportunity to learn everything about me. We're likely to +be together for quite a while." + +Robert looked around. He was in a long boat, and there were four +oarsmen, stout fellows, rough of looks and with hangers and pistols in +their belts. Garay and the captain completed the party, and both the +slaver and the spy were armed heavily. He saw that he had no earthly +chance of escape at present, and he resigned himself for the moment. The +slaver read his look. + +"I'm glad, Peter," he said, "that you've given up the thought of leaving +us that was flitting around in your head a minute or two ago. You're in +a better state of mind now, and it was not possible anyway. Nor will +there be any storm to send you away from me again. A chance like that +wouldn't happen once in a hundred times. I suppose you understand where +you are." + +"I'm in a boat a few miles above Albany, and I think that before long +you'll turn and go back down the stream." + +"Why, Peter?" + +"Because there's nothing for you to go to up the stream. If you kept on +you'd arrive in the Indian country, and I doubt whether that's any part +of your plan." + +"Clever, Peter, clever! and well reasoned. I see that your intellect's +as good as ever. You must rise above the place of a common seaman. When +you're a little older there's a mate's berth for you." + +Garay turned for the first time, and his malignant look of triumph was +not veiled at all. + +"You and Willet and the Indian thought you were very clever there in the +forest when you compelled me to tell where the paper was hid," he said, +"but you forgot that I might make repayment. We've taken you out of +Albany from the very center of your friends, and you'll never see them +again." + +"Theatricals! theatricals!" said Robert, preserving his gay manner, +though his heart was low within him. "A cat has nine lives, but I have +ten. I've been twice a prisoner of the French, and my presence here is +proof that I escaped both times. When I tire of your society and that of +the captain I'll leave you." + +"No quarreling! no quarreling!" said the slaver. "I never allow it among +my men. And now, Peter, I must insure your silence for a little while." + +Two of the men who were rowing dropped their oars, seized him, bound and +gagged him. He struggled at first against the indignity, but, soon +realizing its futility, lay inert on the bottom of the boat. + +"Good judgment, Peter," said the slaver, looking down at him. "It's +never wise to struggle against a certainty. You've the makings of a fine +officer in you." + +The two resumed their oars, and the boat, turning abruptly, as Robert +had surmised it would, went down the stream. The men ceased to talk and +the lad on his back looked up at the sky in which but few stars +twinkled. Heavy clouds floated past the moon, and the night was +darkening rapidly. Once more his heart sank to the uttermost depths, and +it had full cause to do so. For some reason he had been pursued with +singular malice and cunning, and now it seemed that his enemies were +triumphant. Tayoga could trail him anywhere on land, but water left no +trail. He was sure that his captors would keep to the river. + +The speed of the boat increased with the efforts of the rowers and the +favor of the current. Soon it was opposite Albany and then the men rowed +directly to a small schooner that lay at anchor, having come up the +stream the day before. Robert was lifted on board and carried into the +depths of the vessel, where they took out the gag and put him on the +floor. The captain held a lantern over him and said: + +"Garay is telling you good-bye, Peter. He's sorry he can't go with us, +but he'll be having business on the Canadian frontier. He feels that the +score is about even with you for that business of the letter in the +forest, and that later on he'll attend also to the hunter and the +Onondaga." + +"And I wish you a pleasant life on the West Indian plantations," said +Garay. "They still buy white labor there in both the French and British +islands. It does not matter to me to which the captain sells you, for in +either case it means a life of hard labor in the sugar cane. Few ever +escape, and you never will." + +Robert turned quite sick. So this was the plan. To sell him into slavery +in the West Indies. Kidnapping was not at all uncommon then in both the +Old World and the New, and they seemed to have laid their plans well. As +the slaver had said, there was not one chance in a hundred of another +storm. Again the captain read his mind. + +"You don't like the prospect," he said, "and I'll admit myself that it's +not a cheerful one. I've changed my opinion of you, Peter. I thought +you'd make a fine sailor and that you might become a mate some day, but +I've seen a light. You're not a good sailor at all. The stuff's not in +you. But you're strong and hearty and you'll do well in the sugar cane. +If the sun's too hot and your back bends too much just reflect that for +a white man it's not a long life and your troubles will be over, some +day." + +Robert's old indomitable spirit flamed up. + +"I never expect to see a West Indian plantation, not on this journey, at +least," he said. "You and that miserable spy boast that you took me out +of the very center of my friends, and I tell you in reply that if I have +enemies who follow me I also have friends who are truer in their +friendship than you are in your hate, and they'll come for me." + +"That's the spirit. I never heard another lad sling words in the noble +fashion you do. You'll live a deal longer on the plantations than most +of 'em. Now, Garay, I think you can go. It will be the last farewell for +you two." + +The exulting spy left the close little place, and Robert felt that a +breath of hate went with him. His feet disappeared up a narrow little +stair, and the slaver cut the cords that bound Robert. + +"You'll be locked in here," he said, "and it's not worth while to damage +good property by keeping it tied up too long." + +"That's so," said Robert, trying to preserve a light manner. "You want +to keep me strong and active for the work on the plantations. A white +slave like a black one ought to be in good health." + +The captain laughed. He was in high humor. Robert knew that he felt +intense satisfaction because he was taking revenge for his mortification +when he was defeated in the duel with swords before his own men by a +mere boy. Evidently that would rankle long with one of the slaver's +type. + +"I'm glad to see you recognize facts so well, Peter," he said. "I see +that you've an ambition to excel on the plantations, perhaps to be the +best worker. Now, Garay, telling me of that little adventure of his in +the forest with the hunter, the Indian and you, wanted me to be very +careful about your rations, to put you on a sparing diet, so to speak. +He thought it would be best not to let you have anything to eat for two +or three days. His idea rather appealed to me, too, but, on the other +hand, I couldn't impair your value, and so I decided against him." + +"I'm not hungry," said Robert. + +"No, but you will be. You're young and strong, and that wound on your +head where I had to hit you with the butt of my pistol doesn't amount to +much." + +Robert put up his hands, felt of the back of his head, where the ache +was, and found that the hair was matted together by congealed blood. But +he could tell that the hurt was not deep. + +"I'll leave you now," said the slaver in the same satisfied tone, "and I +hope you'll enjoy the voyage down the river. There's a good wind blowing +and we start in a half hour." + +He went out, taking the lantern with him, and bolted the door heavily +behind him. Then Robert felt despair for a while. It was much worse to +be a prisoner on the ship than in the French camp or in the village of +the partisan, Langlade. There he had been treated with consideration and +the fresh winds of heaven blew about him, but here he was shut up in a +close little hole, and his captors rejoiced in his misery. + +It was quite dark in the tiny galley, and the only air that entered came +from a small porthole high over a bunk. He stood upon the bank and +brought his face level with the opening. It was not more than four +inches across, but he was able to inhale a pure and invigorating breeze +that blew from the north, and he felt better. The pain in his head was +dying down also, and his courage, according to its habit, rose fast. In +a character that nature had compounded of optimistic materials hope was +always a predominant factor. + +He could see nothing through the porthole save a dark blur, but he heard +the creaking of cordage and the slatting of sails. He did not doubt that +the slaver had told the truth when he said the schooner would soon +start, and there was no possibility of escaping before then. +Nevertheless, he tried the door, but could not shake it. Then he went +back to the porthole for the sake of the air, and, because, if he could +not have freedom for himself, he could at least see a little way into +the open world. + +The creaking of cordage and slatting of sails increased, he felt the +schooner heave and roll beneath him, and then he knew that they were +leaving Albany. It was the bitterest moment of his life. To be carried +away in that ignominious manner, from the very center of his friends, +from a town in which he had lived, and that he knew so well was a +terrible blow to his pride. For the moment apprehension about the future +was drowned in mortification. + +He heard heavy footsteps overhead, and the sound of commands, and the +schooner began to move. He continued to stand on the bunk, with his eyes +at the porthole. He was able to see a dark shore, moving past, slowly at +first and then faster. The dim outlines of houses showed and he would +have shouted for help, but he knew that it was impossible to make any +one hear, and pride restrained. + +The blurred outlines of the houses ceased and Albany was gone. Doubtless +the schooner had appeared as an innocent trader with the proper +licenses, and the slaver, having awaited its arrival, had come on ahead +to the town. He was compelled to admit the thoroughness of the plan, and +the skill with which it had been carried out, but he wondered anew why +so much trouble had been taken in regard to him, a mere lad. + +He stood at the porthole a long time, and the wind out of the north rose +steadily. He heard its whistle and he also heard the singing of men +above him. He knew that the schooner was making great speed down the +stream and that Albany and his friends were now far behind. As the wise +generally do, he resigned himself to inevitable fate, wasting no +strength in impossible struggles, but waiting patiently for a better +time. There was a single blanket on the hard bunk, and, lying down on +it, he fell asleep. + +When he awoke, day shining through the porthole threw a slender bar of +light across the floor, which heaved and slanted, telling that the wind +out of the north still blew strong and true. An hour later the door was +opened and a sailor brought a rude breakfast on a tin plate. While he +was eating it, and hunger made everything good, the slaver came in. + +"You'll see, Peter, that I did not put you on the diet suggested by +Garay," he said. "I'm at least a kind man and you ought to thank me for +all I'm doing for you." + +"For any kindness of yours to me I'm grateful," said Robert. "We're apt +to do unto people as they do unto us." + +"Quite a young philosopher, I see. You'll find such a spirit useful on +the West India plantations. My heart really warms to you, Peter. I'd let +you go on deck as we're running through good scenery now, but it's +scarcely prudent. We'll have to wait for that until we pass New York and +put out to sea. I hope you don't expect it of me, Peter?" + +"No, I don't look for it. But if you don't mind I'd like to have a +little more breakfast." + +"A fine, healthy young animal, so you are! And you shall have it, too." + +He called the sailor who brought a second helping and Robert fell to. He +was really very hungry and he was resolved also to put the best possible +face on the matter. He knew he would need every ounce of his strength, +and he meant to nurse it sedulously. + +"When do you expect to reach New York?" he asked. + +"To-morrow some time, if the wind holds fair, but we won't stay there +long. A few hours only to comply with the port regulations, and then ho! +for the West Indies! It's a grand voyage down! And splendid islands! +Green mountains that seem to rise straight up out of the sea! While +you're working in the cane fields you can enjoy the beautiful scenery, +Peter." + +Robert was silent. The man's malice filled him with disgust. Undoubtedly +the slaver had felt intense chagrin because of his former failure and +his defeat in the duel of swords before his own men, but then one should +not exult over a foe who was beaten for the time. He felt a bitter and +intense hatred of the slaver, and, his breakfast finished, he leaned +back, closing his eyes. + +"So you do not wish to talk, but would meditate," said the man. "Perhaps +you're right, but, at any rate, you'll have plenty of time for it." + +When he went out Robert heard the heavy lock of the tiny room shove into +place again, and he wasted no further effort in a new attempt upon it. +Instead, he lay down on the bunk, closed his eyes and tried to reconcile +himself, body and mind, to his present situation. He knew that it was +best to keep quiet, to restrain any mental flutterings or physical +quivers. Absolute calm, if he could command it, was good for the soul, +placed as he was, and the mere act of lying still helped toward that. It +was what Tayoga would do if he were in his place, and, spurred by a +noble emulation, he resolved that he would not be inferior to the +Onondaga. + +An hour, two hours passed and he did not stir. His stillness made his +hearing more acute. The trampling of feet over his head came to him with +great distinctness. He heard the singing of wind at the porthole, and, +now and then, the swish of waters as they swept past the schooner. He +wondered what Tayoga was doing and what would Willet think when he came +back to Albany and found him gone. It gave him a stab of agony. His +pride was hurt, too, that he had been trapped so thoroughly. Then his +resolution returned to his aid. Making a supreme effort of his will, he +dismissed the thought, concentrating his mind on hope. Would Tayoga's +Manitou help him? Would Tododaho on his remote star look down upon him +with kindness? The Onondaga in his place would put his faith in them, +and the Manitou of the Indian after all was but another name for his own +Christian God. Resolving to hope he did hope. He refused to believe that +the slaver could make him vanish from the face of the earth like a mist +before the wind. + +The air in the little cabin was dense and heavy already, but after a +while he felt it grow thicker and warmer. He was conscious, too, of a +certain sultriness in it. The tokens were for a storm. He thought with a +leap of the heart of the earlier storm that had rescued him, but that +was at sea; this, if it came, would be on a river, and so shrewd a +captain as the slaver would not let himself be wrecked in the Hudson. + +The heat and sultriness increased. Then he stood on the bunk and looked +through the porthole. He caught glimpses of lofty shores, trees at the +summit, and stretches of a dark and angry sky. Low thunder muttered, +rolling up from the west. Then came flashes of lightning, and the +thunder grew louder. By and by the wind blew heavily, making the +schooner reel before it, and when it died somewhat rain fell in sheets. + +Although he felt it rather than saw it, Robert really enjoyed the storm. +It seemed a tonic to him, and the wilder it was the steadier grew his +own spirit. The breath of the rain as it entered the porthole was +refreshing, and the air in the cabin became clear and cool again. Then +followed the dark, and his second night in the schooner. + +A sailor brought him his supper, the slaver failing to reappear, and +soon afterward he fell asleep. He made no surmise where they were the +next morning, as he had no way of gauging their speed during the night, +but he was allowed to go about under guard below decks for an hour or +two. The slaver came down the ladder and gave him the greetings of the +day. + +"You will see, Peter," he said, "that I'm a much kinder man than Garay. +He would restrict your food, but I not only give you plenty of it, I +also allow you exercise, very necessary and refreshing to youth. I'm +sorry I'll have to shut you up again soon, but in the afternoon we'll +reach New York, and I must keep you away from the temptations of the +great town." + +Robert would have given much to be allowed upon the deck and to look at +the high shores, but he could not sink his pride enough to ask for the +privilege, and, when the time came for him to return to his cell of a +cabin he made no protest. + +He felt the schooner stop late in the afternoon and he was sure that +they had reached New York. He heard the dropping of the anchor, and then +the sounds became much dimmer. The light in the cabin was suddenly shut +off, and he realized that the porthole had been closed from the outside. +They were taking no chances of a call for help, and he tried to resign +himself. + +But will could not control feelings now. To know that he was in New York +and yet was absolutely helpless was more than he could bear. He had +never really believed that the schooner could pass the port and put out +to sea with him a prisoner. It had seemed incredible, one of the things +not to be contemplated, but here was the event coming to pass. Mind lost +control of the body. He threw himself upon the door, pulled at it, and +beat it. It did not move an inch. Then he shouted again and again for +help. There was no response. + +Gradually his panic passed, and ashamed of it he threw himself once more +upon the bunk, where he tried to consider whatever facts were in his +favor. It was certain they were not trying to take his life; had they +wished they could have done that long ago, and while one lived one was +never wholly lost. It was a fact that he would remember through +everything and he would pin his faith to it. + +He slept, after a while, and he always thought afterwards that the foul, +dense air of the cabin added a kind of stupor to sleep. When he came out +of it late the next day he was conscious of an immense heaviness in the +head and of a dull, apathetic feeling. He sat up slowly and painfully as +if he were an old man. Then he noticed that the porthole was open again, +but, judging from the quality of the air in the cabin, it had not been +open long. + +So the slaver had been successful. He had stopped in the port of New +York and had then put out to sea. Doubtless he had done so without any +trouble. He was having his revenge in measure full and heaped over. +Robert was bound to admit it, but he bore in mind that his own life was +still in his body. He would never give up, he would never allow himself +to be crushed. + +He stood upon the bunk and put his eyes to the porthole, catching a view +of blue water below and blue sky above, and the sea as it raced past +showed that the vessel was moving swiftly. He heard, too, the hum of the +strong wind in the rigging and the groaning timbers. It was enough to +tell him that they were fast leaving New York behind, and that now the +chances of his rescue upon a lone ocean were, in truth, very small. But +once more he refused to despair. + +He did not believe the slaver would keep him shut up in the cabin, since +they were no longer where he could be seen by friends or those who might +suspect, and his opinion was soon justified. In a half hour the door was +opened by the man himself, who stood upon the threshold, jaunty, assured +and triumphant. + +"You can come on deck now, Peter," he said. "We've kept you below long +enough, and, as I want to deliver you to the plantations strong and +hearty, fresh air and exercise will do you good." + +"I'll come willingly enough," said Robert, resolved to be jaunty too. +"Lead the way." + +The captain went up the ladder just outside the door and Robert followed +him, standing at first in silence on the swaying deck and content to +look at sky and ocean. How beautiful they were! How beautiful the world +was to one who had been shut up for days in a close little room! How +keen and sweet was the wind! And what a pleasant song the creaking of +the ropes and the slatting of the sails made! + +It was a brilliant day. The sun shone with dazzling clearness. The sea +was the bluest of the blue. The wind blew steady and strong. Far behind +them was a low line of land, showing but dimly on the horizon, and +before them was the world of waters. Robert balanced himself on the +swaying deck, and, for a minute or two, he enjoyed too much the +sensation of at least qualified freedom to think of his own plight. +While he stood there, breathing deeply, his lungs expanding and his +heart leaping, the slaver who had gone away, reappeared, saluting him +with much politeness. + +"Look back, Peter," he said, "and you can get your last glimpse of your +native soil. The black line that just shows under the sky is Sandy Hook. +We won't see any more land for days, and you'll have a fine, +uninterrupted voyage with me and my crew." + +Robert in this desperate crisis of his life resolved at once upon a +course of action. He would not show despair, he would not sulk, he would +so bear himself and with such cheerfulness and easy good nature that the +watch upon him might be relaxed somewhat, and the conditions of his +captivity might become less hard. It was perhaps easier for him than for +another, with his highly optimistic nature and his disposition to be +friendly. He kissed his hand to the black line on the horizon and said: + +"I'm going now, but I'll come back. I always come back." + +"That's the right spirit, Peter," said the slaver. "Be pleasant. Always +be pleasant, say I, and you'll get along much better in the world. +Things will just melt away before you." + +Robert looked over the schooner. He did not know much about ships, but +she seemed to him a trim and strong craft, carrying, as he judged, about +thirty men. A long eighteen-pound cannon was mounted in her stern, but +that was to be expected in war, and was common in peace also when one +sailed into that nest of pirates, the West Indies. The slaver carried +pistol and dirk in his belt, and those of the crew whom he could see +were sturdy, hardy men. The slaver read his eyes: + +"Yes, she's a fine craft," he said. "Able to fight anything of her size +we're likely to meet, and fast enough to run away from them that's too +big for her. You can see as much of her as you want to. So long as we've +no neighbor on the ocean you've the run of the craft. But if you should +want to leave you needn't try to tempt any of my men to help you. They +wouldn't dare do it, and they wouldn't want to anyhow. All their +interests are with me. I'm something of a deity to them." + +The slaver went away and Robert walked about the narrow deck, standing +at last by the rail, where he remained a long time. No one seemed to pay +any attention to him. He was free to come and go as he pleased within +the narrow confines of the schooner. But he watched the black line of +land behind them until it was gone, and then it seemed to him that he +was cut off absolutely from all the life that he had lived. Tayoga, +Willet, Master Jacobus, all the good friends of his youth had +disappeared over the horizon with the lost land. + +It had been so sudden, so complete that it seemed to him it must have +been done with a purpose. To what end had he been wrenched away from the +war and sent upon the unknown ocean? His wilderness had been that of the +woods and not of the waters. He had imbibed much of Tayoga's philosophy +and at times, at least, he believed that everything moved forward to an +appointed end. What was it now? + +He left the low rail at last, and finding a stool sat down upon the +deck. The schooner was going almost due south, and she was making great +speed. The slaver's boast that she could run away from anything too +strong for her was probably true, and Robert judged also that she +carried plenty of arms besides the eighteen-pounder. Most of the crew +seemed to him to be foreigners, that is, they were chiefly of the races +around the Mediterranean. Dark of complexion, short and broad, some of +them wore earrings, and, without exception, they carried dirks and now +and then both pistols and dirks in their belts. He sought among them for +the face of one who might be a friend, but found none. They were all +hardened and sinister, and he believed that at the best they were +smugglers, at the worst pirates. + +A heavy dark fellow whom Robert took to be a Spaniard was mate and +directed the task of working the vessel, the captain himself taking no +part in the commands, but casting an occasional keen glance at the +sailors as he strolled about. Robert judged that he was an expert sailor +and a leader of men. In truth, he had never doubted his ability from the +first, only his scruples, or, rather, he felt sure that he had none at +all. + +The policy of ignoring the prisoner, evidently by order, was carried out +by the men. For all save the captain he did not exist, apparently, and +the slaver himself took no further notice of him for several hours. +Then, continuing his old vein, he spoke to him lightly, as if he were a +guest rather than a captive. + +"I see that you're improving in both mind and body, Peter," he said. +"You've a splendid color in your cheeks and you look fine and hearty. +The sea air is good for anybody and it's better for you to be here than +in a town like Albany." + +"Since I'm here," said Robert, "I'll enjoy myself as much as I can. I +always try to make the best of everything." + +"That's philosophical, and 'tis a surprisingly good policy for one so +young." + +Robert looked at him closely. His accent was that of an educated man, +and he did not speak ungrammatically. + +"I've never heard your name, captain," he said, "and as you know mine, I +ought to know yours." + +"We needn't mind about that now. Three-fourths of my men don't know my +name, just calling me 'Captain.' And, at any rate, if I were to give it +to you it wouldn't be the right one." + +"I suspected as much. People who change their names usually do so for +good reasons." + +Color came into the man's sun-browned cheeks. + +"You're a bold lad, Peter," he said, "but I'll admit you're telling the +truth. I rather fancy you in some ways. If I felt sure of you I might +take you with me on a voyage that will not be without profit, instead of +selling you to a plantation in the Indies. But to go with me I must have +your absolute faith, and you must agree to share in all our perils and +achievements." + +His meaning was quite plain, and might have tempted many another, +thinking, in any event, to use it as a plan for escape, but Robert never +faltered for a moment. His own instincts were always for the right, and +long comradeship with Willet and Tayoga made his will to obey those +instincts all the stronger. + +"Thank you, Captain," he replied, "but I judge that your cruises are all +outside the law, and I cannot go with you on them, at least, not +willingly." + +The slaver shrugged his shoulder. + +"'Tis just as well that you declined," he said. "'Twas but a passing +whim of mine, and ten minutes later I'd have been sorry for it had you +accepted." + +He shrugged his shoulders again, took a turn about the deck and then +went down to his cabin. Robert, notified by a sailor, the first man on +the schooner outside of the slaver to speak to him, ate supper with him +there. The food was good, but the captain was now silent, speaking only +a few times, and mostly in monosyllables. Near the end he said: + +"You're to sleep in the room you've been occupying. The door will not be +bolted on you, but I don't think you'll leave the ship. The nearest land +is sixty or seventy miles away, and that's a long swim." + +"I won't chance it," said Robert. "Just now I prefer solid timber +beneath my feet." + +"A wise decision, Peter." + +After supper the slaver went about his duties, whatever they were, and +Robert, utterly free so far as the schooner was concerned, went on deck. +It was quite dark and the wind was blowing strong, but the ship was +steady, and her swift keel cut the waters. All around him curved the +darkness, and the loneliness of the sea was immense at that moment. It +was in very truth a long swim to the land, and just then the thought of +escape was far from him. He shivered, and going down to the little cabin +that had been a prison, he soon fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MUSIC IN THE MOONLIGHT + + +Several days passed and from the standpoint of the schooner the voyage +was successful. The wind continued fresh and strong, and it came out of +the right quarter. The days were clear, the sea was a dazzling color, +shifting as the sky over it shifted. The slaver was in high good humor. +His crew seemed to be under perfect control and went about their work +mostly in silence. They rarely sang, as sailors sing, but Robert, +watching them on spar or mast, although he knew little about ships, knew +that they were good sailors. He realized, too, that the crew was very +large for a vessel of its size, and he believed that he understood the +reason. + +As for himself, he felt a vast loneliness. It was incredible, but he was +there on the schooner far from all he had known. The forest, in which he +had lived and the war that had concerned the whole world had sunk out of +sight beyond the horizon. And on the schooner he had made no +acquaintance save the slaver. He knew that the mate was called Carlos, +but he had not yet spoken to him. He tried his best to be cheerful, but +there were times when despair assailed him in spite of all his courage +and natural buoyancy. + +"Better reconsider," said the slaver one day, catching the look upon his +face. "As I've told you, Peter, the life on the plantations is hard and +they don't last long, no matter how strong they are. There's peril in +the life I lead, I'll admit, but at least there's freedom also. Sport's +to be found among the islands, and along the Spanish Main." + +"I couldn't think of it," said Robert. + +"Well, it's the second time I've made you the offer, and the last. I +perceive you're bent on a life in the sugar cane, and you'll have your +wish." + +Robert, seeing no chance of escape from the ship now, began to hope for +rescue from without. It was a time of war and all vessels were more than +commonly wary, but one might come at last, and, in some way he would +give a signal for help. How he did not know, but the character of the +schooner was more than doubtful, and he might be able, in some way, yet +unsuggested, to say so to any new ship that came. + +But the surface of the sea, so far as their own particular circle of it +was concerned, was untroubled by any keel save their own. It was as lone +and desolate as if they were the first vessel to come there. They fell +into a calm and the schooner rocked in low swells but made no progress. +The sun shone down, brassy and hot, and Robert, standing upon the deck, +looked at the sails flapping idly above. Although it carried him farther +and farther away from all for which he cared, he wished that the wind +would rise. Nothing was more tedious than to hang there upon the surface +of the languid ocean. The slaver read his face. + +"You want us to go on," he said, "and so do I. For once we are in +agreement. I'd like to make a port that I know of much sooner than I +shall. The war has brought privateersmen into these seas, and there are +other craft that any ship can give a wide berth." + +"If the privateer should be British, or out of one of our American ports +why should you fear her?" asked Robert. + +"I'm answering no such questions except to say that in some parts of the +world you're safer alone, and this is one of the parts." + +The dead calm lasted two days and two nights, and it was like forever to +Robert. When the breeze came at last, and the sails began to fill, new +life flowed into his own veins, and hope came back. Better any kind of +action than none at all, and he drew long breaths of relief when the +schooner once more left her trailing wake in the blue sea. The wind blew +straight and strong for a day and night, then shifted and a long period +of tacking followed. It was very wearisome, but Robert, clinging to his +resolution, made the best of it. He even joined in some of the labor, +helping to polish the metal work, especially the eighteen-pounder in the +stern, a fine bronze gun. The men tolerated him, but when he tried to +talk with them he found that most of them had little or no English, and +he made scant progress with them in that particular. The big first mate, +Carlos, rebuffed him repeatedly, but he persisted, and in time the +rebuffs became less brusque. He also noticed a certain softening of the +sailors toward him. His own charm of manner was so great that it was +hard to resist it when it was continuously exerted, and sailors, like +other men, appreciate help when it is given to them continuously. The +number of frowns for him decreased visibly. + +He still ate at the captain's table, why he knew not, but the man seemed +to fancy his company; perhaps there was no other on the schooner who was +on a similar intellectual level, and he made the most of the opportunity +to talk. + +"Peter," he said, "you seem to have ingratiated yourself to a certain +extent with my crew. I'm bound to admit that you're a personable young +rascal, with the best manners I've met in a long time, but I warn you +that you can't go far. You'll never win 'em over to your side, and be +able to lead a mutiny which will dethrone me, and put you in command." + +"I've no such plan in my mind," said Robert laughing. "I don't know +enough about sailing to take command of the ship, and I'd have to leave +everything to Carlos, whom I'd trust, on the whole, less than I do you." + +"You're justified in that. Carlos is a Spaniard out of Malaga, where he +was too handy with the knife, just as he has been elsewhere. Whatever I +am, you're safer with me than you would be with Carlos, although he's a +fine sailor and loyal to me." + +"How long will it be before we make any of the islands?" + +"It's all with the wind, but in any event it will be quite a while yet. +It's a long run from New York down to the West Indies. Moreover, we may +be blown out of our course at any time." + +"Are we in the stormy latitudes?" + +"We are. Hurricanes appear here with great suddenness. You noticed how +hot it was to-day. We're to have another calm, and the still, intense +heat is a great breeder of storms. I think one will come soon, but don't +put any faith in its helping you, Peter. To be saved that way once is +all the luck you can expect. If we were wrecked here you'd surely go +down; it's too far from land." + +"I'm not expecting another wreck, nor am I hoping for it," said Robert. +"I'm thinking the land will be better for me. I'll make good my escape +there. I've been uncommonly favored in that way. Once I escaped from you +and twice from the French and Indians, so I think my future will hold +good." + +"Maybe it will, Peter. As resolute an optimist as you ought to succeed. +If you escape after I deliver you to the plantation 'twill be no concern +to me at all. On the whole I'm inclined to hope you will, for I'm rather +beginning to like you, spite of all the trouble you've caused me and +that time you beat me with the swords before my own men." + +Robert's heart leaped up. Could the man be induced to relent in his +plan, whatever it was? But his hope fell the next moment, when the +slaver said: + +"Though I tell you, Peter, I'm going to stick to my task. You'll be +handed over to the plantation, whatever comes. After that, it's for +others to watch you, and I rather hope you'll get the better of 'em." + +The storm predicted by the slaver arrived within six hours, and it was a +fearful thing. It came roaring down upon them, and the wind blew with +such frightful violence that Robert did not see how they could live +through it, but live they did. Both the captain and mate revealed great +seamanship, and the schooner was handled so well and behaved so +handsomely that she drove through it without losing a stick. + +When the hurricane passed on the sea resumed its usual blue color, and, +the dead, heavy heat gone, the air was keen and fresh. Robert, although +he did not suffer from seasickness, had been made dizzy by the storm, +and he felt intense relief when it was over. + +"You'll observe, Peter," said the slaver, "that we're coming into +regions of violence both on land and sea. You've heard many a tale of +the West Indies. Well, they're all true, whatever they are, earthquakes, +hurricanes, smugglers, pirates, wild Englishmen, Frenchmen, Americans, +Spaniards, Portuguese, deeds by night that the day won't own, and the +prize for the strongest. It's a great life, Peter, for those that can +live it." + +The close-set eyes flashed, and the nostrils dilated. Despite the +apparent liking that the slaver had shown for him, Robert never doubted +his character. Here was a man to whom the violent contrasts and violent +life of the West Indian seas appealed. He wondered what was the present +mission of the schooner, and he thought of the bronze eighteen-pounder, +and of the dirks and pistols in the belts of the crew. + +"I prefer the north," he said. "It's cooler there and people are more +nearly even, in temper and life." + +"Your life there has been in peril many times from the Indians." + +"That's true, but I understand the Indians. Those who are my friends are +my friends, and those who are my enemies are my enemies. I take it that +in the West Indies you never know what change is coming." + +"Correct, Peter, but it's all a matter of temperament. You like what you +like, because you're made that way, and you can't alter it, but the West +Indies have seen rare deeds. Did you ever hear of Morgan, the great +buccaneer?" + +"Who hasn't?" + +"There was a man for you! No law but his own! Willing to sack the +biggest and strongest cities on the Spanish Main and did it, too! Ah, +Peter, 'twould have been a fine thing to have lived in his day and to +have done what he did." + +"I shouldn't care to be a pirate, no matter how powerful, and no matter +how great the reward." + +"Again it's just a matter of temperament. I'm not trying to change you, +and you couldn't change me." + +Came another calm, longer than the first. They hung about for days and +nights on a hot sea, and captain and crew alike showed anxiety and +impatience. The captain was continually watching the horizon with his +glasses, and he talked to Robert less than usual. It was obvious that he +felt anxiety. + +The calm was broken just before nightfall. Dark had come with the +suddenness of the tropic seas. There was a puff of wind, followed by a +steady breeze, and the schooner once more sped southward. Robert, +anxious to breathe the invigorating air, came upon deck, and standing +near the mainmast watched the sea rushing by. The captain paused near +him and said to Robert in a satisfied tone: + +"It won't be long now, Peter, until we're among the islands, and it may +be, too, that we'll see another ship before long. We've been on a lone +sea all the way down, but you'll find craft among the islands." + +"It might be a hostile vessel, a privateer," said Robert. + +"It's not privateers of which I'm thinking." + +The light was dim, but Robert plainly saw the questing look in his eyes, +the look of a hunter, and he drew back a pace. This man was no mere +smuggler. He would not content himself with such a trade. But he said in +his best manner: + +"I should think, captain, it was a time to avoid company, and that you +would be better pleased with a lone sea." + +"One never knows what is coming in these waters," said the slaver. "It +may be that we shall have to run away, and I must not be caught off my +guard." + +But the look in the man's eyes did not seem to Robert to be that of one +who wished to run away. It was far more the look of the hunter, and when +the hulking mate, Carlos, passed near him his face bore a kindred +expression. The sailors, too, were eager, attentive, watching the +horizon, as if they expected something to appear there. + +No attention was paid to Robert, and he remained on the deck, feeling a +strong premonition that they were at the edge of a striking event, one +that had a great bearing upon his own fate, no matter what its character +might be. + +The wind rose again, but it did not become a gale. It was merely what a +swift vessel would wish, to show her utmost grace and best speed. The +moon came out and made a silver sea. The long white wake showed clearly +across the waters. The captain never left the deck, but continued to +examine the horizon with his powerful glasses. + +Robert, quick to deduce, believed that they were in some part of the sea +frequented by ships in ordinary times and that the captain must be +reckoning on the probability of seeing a vessel in the course of the +night. His whole manner showed it, and the lad's own interest became so +great that he lost all thought of going down to his cabin. Unless force +intervened he would stay there and see what was going to happen, because +he felt in every fiber that something would surely occur. + +An hour, two hours passed. The schooner went swiftly on toward the +south, the wind singing merrily through the ropes and among the sails. +The captain walked back and forth in a narrow space, circling the entire +horizon with his glasses at intervals seldom more than five minutes +apart. It was about ten o'clock at night when he made a sharp, decisive +movement, and a look of satisfaction came over his face. He had been +gazing into the west and the lad felt sure that he had seen there that +for which he was seeking, but his own eyes, without artificial help, +were not yet able to tell him what it was. + +The captain called the mate, speaking to him briefly and rapidly, and +the sullen face of the Spaniard became alive. An order to the steersman +and the course of the schooner was shifted more toward the west. It was +evident to Robert that they were not running away from whatever it was +out there. The slaver for the first time in a long while took notice of +Robert. + +"There's another craft in the west, Peter," he said, "and we must have a +look at her. Curiosity is a good thing at sea, whatever it may be on +shore. When you know what is near you you may be able to protect +yourself from danger." + +His cynical, indifferent air had disappeared. He was gay, anticipatory, +as if he were going to something that he liked very much. The close-set +eyes were full of light, and the thin lips curved into a smile. + +"You don't seem to expect danger," said Robert. "It appears to me that +you're thinking of just the opposite." + +"It's because I've so much confidence in the schooner. If it's a wicked +ship over there we'll just show her the fastest pair of heels in the +West Indies." + +He did not speak again for a full quarter of an hour, but he used the +glasses often, always looking at the same spot on the western horizon. +Robert was at last able to see a black dot there with his unassisted +eyes, and he knew that it must be a ship. + +"She's going almost due south," said the captain, "and in two hours we +should overhaul her." + +"Why do you wish to overhaul her?" asked Robert. + +"She may be a privateer, a Frenchman, or even a pirate, and if so we +must give the alarm to other peaceful craft like ourselves in these +waters." + +He raised the glasses again and did not take them down for a full five +minutes. Meantime the strange ship came nearer. It was evident to Robert +that the two vessels were going down the sides of a triangle, and if +each continued on its course they would meet at the point. + +The night was steadily growing brighter. The moon was at its fullest, +and troops of new stars were coming out. Robert saw almost as well as by +day. He was soon able to distinguish the masts and sails of the +stranger, and to turn what had been a black blur into the shape and +parts of a ship. He was able, too, to tell that the stranger was keeping +steadily on her course, but the schooner, obeying her tiller, was +drawing toward her more and more. + +"They don't appear to be interested in us," he said to the captain. + +"No," replied the man, "but they should be. They show a lack of that +curiosity which I told you is necessary at sea, and it is my duty to +overtake them and tell them so. We must not have any incautious ships +sailing in these strange waters." + +Ten minutes later he called the mate and gave a command. Cutlasses and +muskets with powder and ball were put at convenient points. Every man +carried at least one pistol and a dirk in his belt. The captain himself +took two pistols and a cutlass. + +"Merely a wise precaution, Peter," he said, "in case our peaceful +neighbor, to whom we wish to give a useful warning, should turn out to +be a pirate." + +Robert in the moonlight saw his eyes gleam and his lips curve once more +into a smile. He had seen enough of men in crucial moments to know that +the slaver was happy, that he was rejoicing in some great triumph that +he expected to achieve. In spite of himself he shivered and looked at +the stranger. The tracery of masts and spars was growing clearer and the +dim figures of men were visible on her decks. + +"Oh, we'll meet later," said the captain exultantly. "Don't deceive +yourself about that. There is a swift wind behind us and the speed of +both ships is increasing." + +Robert looked over the side. The sea was running in white caps and above +his head the wind was whistling. The schooner rolled and his footing +grew unsteady, but it was only a fine breeze to the sailors, just what +they loved. Suddenly the captain burst into a great laugh. + +"The fools! the fools!" he exclaimed. "As I live, they're pleasuring +here in the most dangerous seas in the world! Music in the moonlight!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Robert, astonished. + +"Just what I say! A madness hath o'ercome 'em! Take a look through the +glasses, Peter, and see a noble sight, but a strange one at such a +time." + +He clapped the glasses to Robert's eyes. The other ship, suddenly came +near to them, and grew fourfold in size. Every detail of her stood out +sharp and vivid in the moonlight, a stout craft with all sails set to +catch the good wind, a fine merchantman by every token, nearing the end +of a profitable voyage. Discipline was not to say somewhat relaxed, but +at least kindly, the visible evidence of it an old sailor sitting with +his back against the mast playing vigorously upon a violin, while a +dozen other men stood around listening. + +"Look at 'em, Peter. Look at 'em," laughed the captain. "It's a most +noble sight! Watch the old fellow playing the fiddle, and I'll lay my +eyes that in a half minute or so you'll have some of the sailormen +dancing." + +Robert shuddered again. The glee in the slaver's voice was wicked. The +cynical jesting tone was gone and in its place was only unholy malice. +But Robert was held by the scene upon the deck of the stranger. + +"Yes, two of the sailors have begun to dance," he said. "They're young +men and clasping each other about the shoulders, they're doing a +hornpipe. I can see the others clapping their hands and the old fellow +plays harder than ever." + +"Ah, idyllic! Most idyllic, I vow!" exclaimed the captain. "Who would +have thought, Peter, to have beheld such a sight in these seas! 'Tis a +childhood dream come back again! 'Tis like the lads and maids sporting +on the village green! Ah, the lambs! the innocents! There is no war for +them. It does my soul good, Peter, to behold once more such innocent +trust in human nature." + +The shudder, more violent than ever, swept over Robert again. He felt +that he was in the presence of something unclean, something that exhaled +the foul odor of the pit. The man had become wholly evil, and he shrank +away. + +"Steady, Peter," said the slaver. "Why shouldn't you rejoice with the +happy lads on yon ship? Think of your pleasant fortune to witness such a +play in the West Indian seas, the merry sailormen dancing to the music +in the moonlight, the ship sailing on without care, and we in our +schooner bearing down on 'em to secure our rightful share in the +festival. Ah, Peter, we must go on board, you and I and Carlos and more +stout fellows and sing and dance with 'em!" + +Robert drew back again. It may have been partly the effect of the +moonlight, and partly the mirror of his own mind through which he +looked, but the captain's face had become wholly that of a demon. The +close-set eyes seemed to draw closer together than ever, and they were +flashing. His hand, sinewy and strong, settled upon the butt of a pistol +in his belt, but, in a moment, he raised it again and took the glasses +from Robert. After a long look he exclaimed: + +"They dream on! They fiddle and dance with their whole souls, Peter, my +lad, and such trusting natures shall be rewarded!" + +Robert could see very well now without the aid of the glasses. The +sailor who sat on a coil of rope with his back against a mast, playing +the violin, was an old man, his head bare, his long white hair flying. +It was yet too far away for his face to be disclosed, but Robert knew +that his expression must be rapt, because his attitude showed that his +soul was in his music. The two young sailors, with their arms about the +shoulders of each other, were still dancing, and two more had joined +them. + +The crowd of spectators had thickened. Evidently it was a ship with a +numerous crew, perhaps a rich merchantman out of Bristol or Boston. No +flag was flying over her. That, however, was not unusual in those seas, +and in times of war when a man waited to see the colors of his neighbor +before showing his own. But Robert was surprised at the laxity of +discipline on the stranger. They should be up and watching, inquiring +into the nature of the schooner that was drawing so near. + +"And now, Peter," said the captain, more exultant than ever, "you shall +see an unveiling! It is not often given to a lad like you, a landsman, +to behold such a dramatic act at sea, a scene so powerful and complete +that it might have been devised by one of the great Elizabethans! Ho, +Carlos, make ready!" + +He gave swift commands and the mate repeated them as swiftly to the men. +The two ships were rapidly drawing nearer, but to Robert's amazement the +festival upon the deck of the stranger did not cease. Above the creaking +of the spars the wailing strains of the violin came to him across the +waters. If they were conscious there of the presence of the schooner +they cared little about it. For the moment it occurred to Robert that it +must be the _Flying Dutchman_, or some other old phantom ship out of the +dim and legendary past. + +"And now, Carlos!" exclaimed the captain in a full, triumphant voice, +"we'll wake 'em up! Break out the flag and show 'em what we are!" + +A coiled piece of cloth, dark and menacing, ran up the mainmast of the +schooner, reached the top, and then burst out, streaming at full length +in the strong wind, dark as death and heavy with threat. Robert looked +up and shuddered violently. Over the schooner floated the black flag, +exultant and merciless. + +The tarpaulin was lifted and the long bronze gun in the stern was +uncovered. Beside her stood the gunners, ready for action. The +boatswain's whistle blew and the dark crew stood forth, armed to the +teeth, eager for action, and spoil. Carlos, a heavy cutlass in hand, +awaited his master's orders. The captain laughed aloud. + +"So you see, Peter, what we are!" he exclaimed. "And it's not too late +for you to seize a cutlass and have your share. Now, my lads, we'll +board her and take her in the good old way." + +The mate shouted to the steersman, and the schooner yawed. Robert, +filled with horror, scarcely knew what he was doing; in truth, he had no +conscious will to do anything, and so he ended by doing nothing. But he +heard the fierce low words of the pirates, and he saw them leaning +forward, as if making ready to leap on the deck of the stranger and cut +down every one of her crew. + +Then he looked at the other ship. The old man who had been playing the +violin suddenly dropped it and snatched up a musket from behind the coil +of rope on which he had been sitting. The dancers ceased to dance, +sprang away, and returned in an instant with muskets also. Heavy pistols +leaped from the shirts and blouses of the spectators, and up from the +inside of the ship poured a swarm of men armed to the teeth. A piece of +cloth swiftly climbed the mainmast of the stranger also, reached the +top, broke out there triumphantly, and the flag of England, over against +the black flag, blew out steady and true in the strong breeze. + +"God! A sloop of war!" exclaimed the captain. "About, Carlos! Put her +about!" + +But the sloop yawed quickly, her portholes opened, bronze muzzles +appeared, tampions fell away, and a tremendous voice shouted: + +"Fire!" + +Robert saw a sheet of flame spring from the side of the sloop, there was +a terrific crash, a dizzying column of smoke and the schooner seemed +fairly to leap from the water, as the broadside swept her decks and tore +her timbers. The surly mate was cut squarely in two by a round shot, men +screaming in rage and pain went down and the captain staggered, but +recovered himself. Then he shouted to the steersman to put the schooner +about and rushing among the sailors he ordered them to another task than +that of boarding. + +"It was a trick, and it trapped us most damnably!" he cried. "A fool I +was! Fools we must all have been to have been caught by it! They lured +us on! But now, you rascals, to your work, and it's for your lives! We +escape together or we hang together!" + +The night had darkened much, clouds trailing before the moon and stars, +but Robert clearly saw the slaver's face. It was transformed by chagrin +and wrath, though it expressed fierce energy, too. Blood was running +from his shoulder down his left arm, but drawing his sword he fairly +herded the men to the sails; that is, to those that were left. The +helmsman put the shattered schooner about and she drove rapidly on a new +course. But the sloop of war, tacking, let go her other broadside. + +Robert anticipated the second discharge, and by impulse rather than +reason threw himself flat upon the deck, where he heard the heavy shot +whistling over his head and the cries of those who were struck down. +Spars and rigging, too, came clattering to the deck, but the masts stood +and the schooner, though hit hard, still made way. + +"Steady! Keep her steady, my boys!" shouted the captain. "We've still a +clean pair of heels, and with a little luck we'll lose the sloop in the +darkness!" + +He was a superb seaman and the rising wind helped him. The wounded +schooner had gained so much that the third broadside did but little +damage and killed only one man. Robert stood up again and looked back at +the pursuing vessel, her decks covered with men in uniform, the gunners +loading rapidly while over the sloop the flag of England that was then +the flag of his own country too, streamed straight out in the wind, +proud and defiant. + +He felt a throb of intense, overwhelming pride. The black flag had been +overmatched by the good flag. In the last resort, those who lived right +had proved themselves more than equal to those who lived wrong. Law and +order were superior to piracy and chaos. Forgetful of his own safety, he +hoped that the sloop would overtake the schooner, and obeying his +impulse he uttered a shout of triumph. The captain turned upon him +fiercely. + +"You cheer the wrong ship," he said. "If they overtake us, you being +with us, I'll swear that you were one of the hardiest men in my crew!" + +Robert laughed, he could not help it, though the act was more or less +hysterical, and replied: + +"I'll chance it! But, Captain, didn't you have the surprise of your +whole life, and you so cunning, too!" + +The man raised his cutlass, but dropped it quickly. + +"Don't try me that way again," he said. "It was my impulse to cut you +down, and the next time I'd do it. But you're right. It was a surprise, +though we'll escape 'em yet, and we'll let 'em know we're not just a +hunted rabbit, either!" + +The Long Tom in the stern of the schooner opened fire. The first shot +splashed to the right of the sloop, and the second to the left, but the +third struck on board, and two men were seen to go down. The captain +laughed. + +"That's a taste of their own medicine," he said. + +A big gun on the sloop thundered, and a round shot cut away one of the +schooner's spars. Another flashed and a load of grape hissed over the +decks. Two men were killed and three more wounded. The captain shouted +in anger and made the others crack on all the sail they could. She was a +staunch schooner, and though hurt grievously she still made speed. +Swifter than the sloop, despite her injuries, she gradually widened the +gap between them, while the wind rose fast, and the trailing blackness +spread over the sea. + +Although still close at hand, the outline of the pursuing sloop became +dim. Robert was no longer able to trace the human figures on her deck, +but the banner of law and right flying from her topmast yet showed in +the dusk. Forgetful as before of his own danger, he began to have a fear +that the pirate would escape. Under his breath he entreated the avenging +sloop to come on, to sail faster and faster, he begged her gunners to +aim aright despite the darkness, to rake the decks of the schooner with +grape and to send the heavy round shot into her vitals. + +The sloop kept up a continuous fire with her bow guns. The heavy reports +crashed through the darkness, the sounds rolling sullenly away, and not +every shot went wild. There was a tearing of sails, a splintering of +spars, a shattering of wood, and now and then the fall of a man. Under +the insistent and continuous urgence of the captain the men on the +schooner replied with the Long Tom in her stern, and, when one of the +shots swept the deck of the sloop, the fierce, dark sailors shouted in +joy. Robert saw with a sinking of the heart that the gap between the two +vessels was still widening, while almost the last star was gone from the +heavens, and it was now so dark that everything was hidden a few hundred +yards away. + +"We'll lose her! We'll lose her yet!" cried the captain. "Winds and the +night fight for us. See you, Peter, we must be the chosen children of +fortune, for this can hardly be chance!" + +Robert said nothing, because it seemed for the time at least that the +captain's words were true. A sudden and tremendous gust of wind caught +the schooner and drove her on, ragged and smashed though she was, at +increased speed, while the same narrow belt of wind seemed to miss the +sloop. The result was apparent at once. The gap between them became a +gulf. The flag flying so proudly on the topmast of the sloop was gone in +the dusk. Her spars and sails faded away, she showed only a dim, low +hulk on the water from which her guns flashed. + +The schooner tacked again. A new bank of blackness poured down over the +sea, and the sloop was gone. + +"It was a trap and we sailed straight into it," exclaimed the captain, +"but it couldn't hold us. We've escaped!" + +He spoke the truth. They drove steadily on a long time, and saw no more +of the sloop of war. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ISLAND + + +Robert came out of his benumbed state. It had all seemed a fantastic +dream, but he had only to look around him to know that it was reality. +Three or four battle lanterns were shining and they threw a ghostly +light over the deck of the schooner, which was littered with spars and +sails, and the bodies of men who had fallen before the fire of the +sloop. Streams of blood flowed everywhere. He sickened and shuddered +again and again. + +The captain, a savage figure, stained with blood, showed ruthless +energy. Driving the men who remained unwounded, he compelled them to cut +away the wreckage and to throw the dead overboard. Garrulous, possessed +by some demon, he boasted to them of many prizes they would yet take, +and he pointed to the black flag which still floated overhead, unharmed +through all the battle. He boasted of it as a good omen and succeeded in +infusing into them some of his own spirit. + +Robert was still unnoticed and at first he wandered about his strait +territory. Then he lent a helping hand with the wreckage. His own life +was at stake as well as theirs, and whether they wished it or not he +could not continue to stand by an idler. Circumstance and the sea forced +him into comradeship with men of evil, and as long as it lasted he must +make the best of it. So he fell to with such a will that it drew the +attention of the captain. + +"Good boy, Peter!" he cried. "You'll be one of us yet in spite of +yourself! Our good fortune is yours, too! You as well as we have escaped +a merry hanging! I'll warrant you that the feel of the rope around the +neck is not pleasant, and it's well to keep one's head out of the noose, +eh, Peter?" + +Robert did not answer, but tugged at a rope that two other men were +trying to reeve. He knew now that while they had escaped the sloop of +war their danger was yet great and imminent. The wind was still rising, +and now it was a howling gale. The schooner had been raked heavily. Most +of her rigging was gone, huge holes had been smashed in her hull, half +of her crew had been killed and half of the rest were wounded, there +were not enough men to work her even were she whole and the weather the +best. As the crest of every wave passed she wallowed in the trough of +the sea, and shipped water steadily. The exultant look passed from the +captain's eyes. + +"I'm afraid you're a lad of ill omen, Peter," he said to Robert. "I had +you on board another ship once and she went to pieces. It looks now as +if my good schooner were headed the same way." + +A dark sailor standing near heard him, and nodded in approval, but +Robert said: + +"Blame the sloop of war, not me. You would lay her aboard, and see what +has happened!" + +The captain frowned and turned away. For a long time he paid no further +attention to Robert, all his skill and energy concentrated upon the +effort to save his ship. But it became evident even to Robert's +inexperienced eye that the schooner was stricken mortally. The guns of +the sloop had not raked and slashed her in vain. A pirate she had been, +but a pirate she would be no more. She rolled more heavily all the time, +and Robert noticed that she was deeper in the water. Beyond a doubt she +was leaking fast. + +The captain conferred with the second mate, a tall, thin man whom he +called Stubbs. Then the two, standing together near the mast, watched +the ship for a while and Robert, a little distance away, watched them. +He was now keenly alive to his own fate. Young and vital, he did not +want to die. He had never known a time when he was more anxious to live. +He was not going to be sold into slavery on a West India plantation. +Fortune had saved him from that fate, and it might save him from new +perils. In a storm on a sinking vessel he was nevertheless instinct with +hope. Somewhere beyond the clouds Tayoga's Tododaho on his great star +was watching him. The captain spoke to him presently. + +"Peter," he said, "I think it will be necessary for us to leave the ship +soon. That cursed sloop has done for the staunchest schooner that ever +sailed these seas. I left you on board a sinking vessel the other time, +but as it seemed to bring you good luck then, I won't do it now. +Besides, I'm tempted to keep you with me. You bore yourself bravely +during the battle. I will say that for you." + +"Thanks for taking me, and for the compliment, too," said Robert. "I've +no mind to be left here alone in the middle of the ocean on a sinking +ship." + +"'Tis no pleasant prospect, nor have we an easy path before us in the +boats, either. On the whole, the chances are against us. There's land +not far away to starboard, but whether we'll make it in so rough a sea +is another matter. Are you handy with an oar?" + +"Fairly so. I've had experience on lakes and rivers, but none on the +sea." + +"'Twill serve. We'll launch three boats. Hooker, the boatswain, takes +one, Stubbs has the other, and I command the last. You go with me." + +"It would have been my choice." + +"I'm flattered, Peter. I may get a chance yet to sell you to one of the +plantations." + +"I think not, Captain. The stars in their courses have said 'no.'" + +"Come! Come! Don't be Biblical here." + +"The truth is the truth anywhere. But I'm glad enough to go with you." + +One of the boats was launched with great difficulty, and the boatswain, +Hooker, and six men, two of whom were wounded, were lowered into it. It +capsized almost immediately, and all on board were lost. Those destined +for the other two boats hung back a while, but it became increasingly +necessary for them to make the trial, no matter what the risk. The +schooner rolled and pitched terribly, and a sailor, sent to see, +reported that the water was rising in her steadily. + +The captain showed himself a true seaman and leader. He had been wounded +in the shoulder, but the hurt had been bound up hastily and he saw to +everything. Each of the boats contained kegs of water, arms, ammunition +and food. A second was launched and Stubbs and his crew were lowered +into it. A great wave caught it and carried it upon its crest, and +Robert, watching, expected to see it turn over like the first, but the +mate and the crew managed to restore the balance, and they disappeared +in the darkness, still afloat. + +"There, lads," exclaimed the captain, "you see it can be done. Now we'll +go too, and the day will soon come when we'll have a new ship, and then, +ho! once more for the rover's free and gorgeous life!" + +The unwounded men raised a faint cheer. The long boat was launched with +infinite care, and Robert lent a hand. The pressure of circumstances +made his feeling of comradeship with these men return. For the time at +least his life was bound up with theirs. Two wounded sailors were +lowered first into the boat. + +"Now, Peter, you go," said the captain. "As I told you, I may have a +chance yet to sell you to a plantation, and I must preserve my +property." + +Robert slid down the rope. The captain and the others followed, and they +cast loose. They were eight in the boat, three of whom were wounded, +though not badly. The lad looked back at the schooner. He saw a dim +hulk, with the black flag still floating over it, and then she passed +from sight in the darkness and driving storm. + +He took up an oar, resolved to do his best in the common struggle for +life, and with the others fought the sea for a long time. The captain +set their course south by west, apparently for some island of which he +knew, and meanwhile the men strove not so much to make distance as to +keep the boat right side up. Often Robert thought they were gone. They +rode dizzily upon high waves, and they sloped at appalling angles, but +always they righted and kept afloat. The water sprayed them continuously +and the wind made it sting like small shot, but that was a trifle to men +in their situation who were straining merely to keep the breath in their +bodies. + +After a while--Robert had no idea how long the time had been--the +violence of the wind seemed to abate somewhat, and their immense peril +of sinking decreased. Robert sought an easier position at the oar, and +tried to see something reassuring, but it was still almost as dark as +pitch, and there was only the black and terrible sea around them. But +the captain seemed cheerful. + +"We'll make it, lads, before morning," he said. "The storm is sinking, +as you can see, and the island is there waiting for us." + +In another hour the sea became so much calmer that there was no longer +any danger of the boat overturning. Half of the men who had been rowing +rested an hour, and then the other half took their turn. Robert was in +the second relay, and when he put down his oar he realized for the first +time that his hands were sore and his bones aching. + +"You've done well, Peter," said the captain. "You've become one of us, +whether or no, and we'll make you an honored inhabitant of our island +when we come to it." + +Robert said nothing, but lay back, drawing long breaths of relief. The +danger of death by drowning had passed for the moment and he had a sense +of triumph over nature. Despite his weariness and soreness, he was as +anxious as ever to live, and he began to wonder about this island of +which the captain spoke. It must be tropical, and hence in his +imagination beautiful, but by whom was it peopled? He did not doubt that +they would reach it, and that he, as usual, would escape all perils. + +Always invincible, his greatest characteristic was flaming up within +him. He seemed to have won, in a way, the regard of the captain, and he +did not fear the men. They would be castaways together, and on the land +opportunities to escape would come. On the whole he preferred the +hazards of the land to those of the sea. He knew better how to deal with +them. He was more at home in the wilderness than on salt water. Yet a +brave heart was alike in either place. + +"We'd better take it very easy, lads," said the captain. "Not much +rowing now, and save our strength for the later hours of the night." + +"Why?" asked Robert. + +"Because the storm, although it has gone, is still hanging about in the +south and may conclude to come back, assailing us again. A shift in the +wind is going on now, and if it hit us before we reached the island, +finding us worn out, we might go down before it." + +It was a good enough reason and bye and bye only two men kept at the +oars, the rest lying on the bottom of the boat or falling asleep in +their seats. The captain kept a sharp watch for the other boat, which +had gone away in the dark, but beheld no sign of it, although the moon +and stars were now out, and they could see a long distance. + +"Stubbs knows where the island is," said the captain, "and if they've +lived they'll make for it. We can't turn aside to search all over the +sea for 'em." + +Robert after a while fell asleep also in his seat, and despite his +extraordinary situation slept soundly, though it was rather an +unconsciousness that came from extreme exhaustion, both bodily and +mental. He awoke some time later to find that the darkness had come back +and that the wind was rising again. + +"You can take a hand at the oar once more, Peter," said the captain. "I +let you sleep because I knew that it would refresh you and we need the +strength of everybody. The storm, as I predicted, is returning, not as +strong as it was at first, perhaps, but strong enough." + +He wakened the other men who were sleeping, and all took to the oars. +The waves were running high, and the boat began to ship water. Several +of the men, under instructions from the captain, dropped their oars and +bailed it out with their caps or one or two small tin vessels that they +had stored aboard. + +"Luckily the wind is blowing in the right direction," said the captain. +"It comes out of the northeast, and that carries us toward the island. +Now, lads, all we have to do is to keep the boat steady, and not let it +ship too much water. The wind itself will carry us on our way." + +But the wind rose yet more, and it required intense labor and vigilance +to fight the waves that threatened every moment to sink their craft. +Robert pulled on the oar until his arms ached. Everybody toiled except +the captain, who directed, and Robert saw that he had all the qualities +to make him a leader of slavers or pirates. In extreme danger he was the +boldest and most confident of them all, and he stood by his men. They +could see that he would not desert them, that their fortune was his +fortune. He was wounded, Robert did not yet know how badly, but he never +yielded to his hurt. He was a figure of strength in the boat, and the +men drew courage from him to struggle for life against the overmastering +sea. Somehow, for the time at least, Robert looked upon him as his own +leader, obeying his commands, willingly and without question. + +He was drenched anew with the salt water, but as they were in warm seas +he never thought of it. Now and then he rested from his oar and helped +bail the water from the boat. + +A pale dawn showed at last through the driving clouds, but it was not +encouraging. The sea was running higher than ever, and there was no sign +of land. One of the men, much worse wounded than they had thought, lay +down in the bottom of the boat and died. They tossed his body +unceremoniously overboard. Robert knew that it was necessary, but it +horrified him just the same. Another man, made light of head by dangers +and excessive hardships, insisted that there was no island, that either +they would be drowned or would drift on in the boat until they died of +thirst and starvation. The captain drew a pistol and looking him +straight in the eye said: + +"Another word of that kind from you, Waters, and you'll eat lead. You +know me well enough to know that I keep my word." + +The man cowered away and Robert saw that it was no vain threat. Waters +devoted his whole attention to an oar, and did not speak again. + +"We'll strike the island in two or three hours," the captain said with +great confidence. + +The dawn continued to struggle with the stormy sky, but its progress was +not promising. It was only a sullen gray dome over a gray and ghastly +sea, depressing to the last degree to men worn as they were. But in +about two hours the captain, using glasses that he had taken from his +coat, raised the cry: + +"Land ho!" + +He kept the glasses to his eyes a full two minutes, and when he took +them down he repeated with certainty: + +"Land ho! I can see it distinctly there under the horizon in the west, +and it's the island we've been making for. Now, lads, keep her steady +and we'll be there in an hour." + +All the men were vitalized into new life, but the storm rose at the same +time, and spray and foam dashed over them. All but two or three were +compelled to work hard, keeping the water out of the boat, while the +others steadied her with the oars. Robert saw the captain's face grow +anxious, and he began to wonder if they would reach the island in time. +He wondered also how they would land in case they reached it, as he knew +from his reading and travelers' tales that most of the little islands in +these warm seas were surrounded by reefs. + +The wind drove them on and the island rose out of the ocean, a dark, low +line, just a blur, but surely land, and the drooping men plucked up +their spirits. + +"We'll make it, lads! Don't be down-hearted!" cried the captain. "Keep +the boat above water a half hour longer, and we'll tread the soil of +mother earth again! Well done, Peter! You handle a good oar! You're the +youngest in the boat, but you've set an example for the others! There's +good stuff in you, Peter." + +Robert, to his own surprise, found his spirit responding to this man's +praise, slaver and pirate though he was, and he threw more strength into +his swing. Soon they drew near to the island, and he heard such a +roaring of the surf that he shuddered. He saw an unbroken line of white +and he knew that behind it lay the cruel teeth of the rocks, ready to +crunch any boat that came. Every one looked anxiously at the captain. + +"There's a rift in the rocks to the right," he said, "and when we pass +through it we'll find calm water inside. Now, lads, all of you to the +oars and take heed that you do as I say on the instant or we'll be on +the reef!" + +They swung to the right, and so powerful were wind and wave that it +seemed to Robert they fairly flew toward the island. The roaring of the +surf grew and the long white line rose before them like a wall. He saw +no opening, but the captain showed no signs of fear and gave quick, +sharp commands. The boat drove with increased speed toward the island, +rising on the crests of great waves, then sinking with sickening speed +into the trough of the sea, to rise dizzily on another wave. Robert saw +the rocks, black, sharp and cruel, reaching out their long, savage +teeth, and the roar of wind and surf together was now so loud that he +could no longer hear the captain's commands. He was conscious that the +boat was nearly full of water, and when he was not blinded by the flying +surf he saw looks of despair on the faces of the men. + +An opening in the line of reefs disclosed itself, and the boat shot +toward it. He heard the captain shout, but did not understand what he +said, then they were wrenched violently to the left by a powerful +current. He saw the black rocks frowning directly over him, and felt the +boat scrape against them. The whole side of it was cut away, and they +were all hurled into the sea. + +Robert was not conscious of what he did. He acted wholly from impulse +and the instinctive love of life that is in every one. He felt the water +pour over him, and fill eye, ear and nostril, but he was not hurled +against rock. He struck out violently, but was borne swiftly away, not +knowing in which direction he was taken. + +He became conscious presently that the force driving him on was not so +great and he cleared the water from his eyes enough to see that he had +been carried through the opening and toward a sandy beach. His mind +became active and strong in an instant. Chance had brought him life, if +he only had the presence of mind to take it. He struck out for the land +with all his vigor, hoping to reach it before he could be carried back +by a returning wave. + +The wave caught him, but it was not as powerful as he had feared, and, +when he had yielded a little, he was able to go forward again. Then he +saw a head bobbing upon the crest of the next retreating wave and being +carried out to sea. It was the captain, and reaching out a strong arm +Robert seized him. The shock caused him to thrust down his feet, and to +his surprise he touched bottom. Grasping the captain with both hands he +dragged him with all his might and ran inland. + +It was partly an instinctive impulse to save and partly genuine feeling +that caused him to seize the slaver when he was being swept helpless out +to sea. The man, even though in a malicious, jeering way, had done him +some kindnesses on the schooner and in the boat, and he could not see +him drown before his eyes. So he settled his grasp upon his collar, held +his head above the water and strove with all his might to get beyond the +reach of the cruel sea. Had he been alone he could have reached the land +with ease, but the slaver pulled upon him almost a dead weight. + +Another returning wave caught him and made him stagger, but he settled +his feet firmly in the sand, held on to the unconscious man, and when it +had passed made a great effort to get beyond the reach of any other. He +was forced half to lift, half to drag the slaver's body, but he caught +the crest of the next incoming wave, one of unusual height and strength, +and the two were carried far up the beach. When it died in foam and +spray he lifted the man wholly and ran until he fell exhausted on the +sand. When another wave roared inland it did not reach him, and no +others came near. As if knowing they were baffled, they gave up a +useless pursuit. + +Robert lay a full half hour, supine, completely relaxed, only half +conscious. Yet he was devoutly thankful. The precious gift of life had +been saved, the life that was so young, so strong and so buoyant in him. +The sea, immense, immeasurable and savage might leap for him, but it +could no longer reach him. He was aware of that emotion, and he was +thankful too that an Infinite Hand had been stretched out to save him in +his moment of direst peril. + +He came out of his cataleptic state, which was both a mental and +physical effect, and stood up. The air was still dim with heavy clouds +and the wind continuously whistled its anger. He noticed for the first +time that it was raining, but it was a trifle to him, as he had already +been thoroughly soaked by the sea. + +The sea itself was as wild as ever. Wave after wave roared upon the land +to break there, and then rush back in masses of foam. As far as Robert +could see the surface of the water, lashed by the storm, was wild and +desolate to the last degree. It was almost as if he had been cast away +on another planet. A feeling of irrepressible, awful loneliness +overpowered him. + +"Well, Peter, we're here." + +It was a feeble voice, but it was a human one, the voice of one of his +own kind, and, in that dreary wilderness of the ocean, it gave welcome +relief as it struck upon his ear. He looked down. The slaver, returned +to consciousness, had drawn himself into a sitting position and was +looking out at the gray waters. + +"I've a notion, Peter," he said, "that you've saved my life. The last I +remember was being engulfed in a very large and very angry ocean. It was +kind of you, Peter, after I kidnapped you away from your friends, +meaning to sell you into slavery on a West India plantation." + +"I couldn't let you drown before my eyes." + +"Most men in your place would have let me go, and even would have helped +me along." + +"Perhaps I felt the need of company. 'Twould have been terrible to be +alone here." + +"There may be something in that. But at any rate, you saved me. I'm +thinking that you and I are all that's left. I was a fool, Peter, ever +to have mixed in your business. I can see it now. When I carried you +away from New York I lost my ship. I kidnap you away again from Albany, +and I lose my ship and all my crew. I would have lost my own life, too, +if it had not been for you. It was never intended by the fates that I +should have been successful in my attempts on you. The first time should +have been enough. That was a warning. Well, I've paid the price of my +folly. All fools do." + +He tried to stand up, but fresh blood came from his shoulder and he +quickly sat down again. It was obvious that he was very weak. + +"I'll do the best I can for us both," said Robert, "but I don't know the +nature of this land upon which we're cast. I suppose it's an island, of +course. I can see trees inland, but that's all I can discover at +present." + +"I know a deal more," said the slaver. "That's why I had the boat +steered for this point, hoping to make the little bay into which the +opening through the reefs leads. It's an island, as you say, seven or +eight miles long, half as broad and covered thickly with trees and +brush. There's a hut about half a mile inland, and if you help me there +we'll both find shelter. I'll show the way. As trying too steadily to do +you evil brought me bad luck I'll now try to do you good. You can put it +down to logic, and not to any sudden piety in me." + +Yet Robert in his heart did not ascribe it wholly to logic. He was +willing to believe in a kindly impulse or two in everybody, there was a +little good hidden somewhere deep down even in Tandakora, though it +might have to struggle uncommonly hard for expression. He promptly put +his arm under the man's and helped him to his feet. + +"Give me the direction," he said, "and I'll see that we reach the hut." + +"Bear toward the high hill ahead and to the right. And between you and +me, Peter, I'm glad it's inland. I've had enough of the sea for a while +and I don't want to look at it. How is it behaving now?" + +Robert, looking back, saw a great wave rushing upon the beach as if it +thought it could overtake them, and it gave him an actual thrill of +delight to know the effort would be in vain. + +"It's as wild, as desolate and as angry as ever," he said, "and we're +well away from it for the present." + +"Then go on. I fear I shall have to lean upon you rather hard. A bit of +grape shot from that cursed sloop has bitten pretty deep into my +shoulder. I've been doubly a fool, Peter, in kidnapping you a second +time after the first warning, and in allowing myself to be tolled up +under the broadside of that sloop. It's the last that hurts me most. I +behaved like any youngster on his first cruise." + +Robert said nothing, but did his best to support the wounded man, who +was now bearing upon him very heavily. His own strength was largely +factitious, coming from the hope that they would soon find shelter and a +real place in which to rest, but such as it was it was sufficient for +the time being. + +He did not look back again. Like the slaver, he wanted to shut out the +sea for the present. It was a raging, cruel element, and he felt better +with it unseen. But he became conscious, instead, of the rain which was +driving hard. He suddenly realized that he was cold, and he shivered so +violently that the slaver noticed it. + +"Never mind, Peter," he said. "We're going to a palace, or at least +'twill seem a palace by power of contrast. There you'll be snug and +warm." + +"And you can bind up your wound again and get back your strength." + +"Aye, we can bind it up again, but it's not so sure about my getting +back my strength. I tell you again, lad, that the grape bit deep. It +hurts me all the time to think I was lured under those guns by a silly +old fiddler and a couple of silly sailors dancing to his silly tune. +You're a good lad, Peter, I give you credit for it, and since, beside +myself, only one on board the schooner was saved, I'm glad it was you +and not a member of the crew." + +"We don't know that others were not saved. We haven't had time yet to +see." + +"I know they weren't. It's only a miracle that we two came through the +reefs. Miracles may happen, Peter, but they don't happen often. Nobody +else will appear on the island. Keep steering for the hill. I'll be glad +when we get there, because, between you and me, Peter, it will be just +about as far as I can go and I'll need a long, long rest." + +He bore so heavily upon Robert now that their progress was very slow, +and the lad himself began to grow weak. It was impossible for any one, +no matter how hardy of body and soul, to endure long, after going +through what he had suffered. He too staggered. + +"I'm leaning hard on you, Peter," said the slaver. "I know it, but I +can't help it. What a difference a whiff of grapeshot makes!" + +Robert steadied himself, made a mighty effort, and they went on. The +wind shifted now and the rain drove directly in his face. It was cold to +him, but it seemed to whip a little increase of vigor and strength into +his blood, and he was able to go somewhat faster. As he pulled along +with his burden he looked curiously at the region through which he was +traveling. The ground was rough, often with layers of coral, and he saw +on all sides of him dense groves of bushes, among which he recognized +the banana by the fruit. It gave him a thrill of relief. At all events +here was food of a kind, and they would not starve to death. It was the +first time he had thought of food. Hitherto he had been occupied wholly +with the struggle for immediate life. + +A belt of tall trees shut out the hill toward which he had been +steering, and he was uncertain. But the man gave him guidance. + +"More to the right, Peter," he said. "I won't let you go astray, and +it's full lucky for us both that I know this island." + +A half hour of painful struggle and Robert saw the dark shape of a small +house in the lee of a hill. + +"It's the hut, Peter," said the slaver, "and you've done well to bring +us here. You're not only a good lad, but you're strong and brave, too. +You needn't knock at the door. No one will answer. Push it open and +enter. It really belongs to me." + +Robert obeyed while the man steadied himself sufficiently to stand +alone. He thrust his hand against the door, which swung inward, +revealing a dark interior. A musty odor entered his nostrils, but the +hut, whatever its character, was dry. That was evident, and so it was +welcome. He went in, helping the wounded man along with him, and +standing there a moment or two everything became clear. + +It was more than a hut. He was in a room of some size, containing +articles of furniture, obviously brought across the sea, and clothing +hanging from the wall on hooks. A couch was beside one wall, and two +doors seemed to lead to larger chambers or to small closets. The captain +staggered across the room and lay down on the couch. + +"Well, how do you like it, Peter?" he asked. "'Twill serve in a storm, +will it not?" + +"It will serve grandly," replied Robert. "How does it come to be here?" + +"I had it built. The islands all the way from the Bahamas to South +America and the waters around them are the great hunting ground for +people in my trade, and naturally we need places of refuge, secluded +little harbors, so to speak, where we can commune with ourselves and +refresh our minds and bodies. Even rovers must have periods of +relaxation, and you'll find a lot of such places scattered about the +islands, or, rather, you won't find 'em because they're too well hidden. +I had this built myself, but I never dreamed that I should come back to +it in the way I have." + +"It's a palace just now," said Robert, "yes, it's more than a palace, +it's a home. I see clothing here on the wall, and, by your leave, I'll +change you and then myself into some of those dry garments." + +"You're lord of the manor, Peter, by right of strength. I'm in no +condition to resist you, even had I the wish, which I haven't." + +Assisted by the man himself, he removed the captain's garments and put +him in dry clothing, first looking at the wound in his shoulder, which +his experience told him was very serious. The piece of grapeshot had +gone entirely through, but the loss of blood had been large, and there +was inflammation. + +"I must bathe that with fresh water a little later and devise some kind +of dressing," said Robert. "I've had much experience in the wilderness +with wounds." + +"You're a good lad, Peter," said the slaver. "I've told you that before, +but I repeat it now." + +Robert then arrayed himself in dry garments. He was strangely and +wonderfully attired in a shirt of fine linen with lace ruffles, a short, +embroidered jacket of purple velvet, purple velvet knee-breeches, silk +stockings and pumps, or low shoes, with large silver buckles. It was +very gorgeous, and, just then, very comfortable. + +"You look the dandy to the full, Peter," said the slaver. "The clothes +have hung here more than a year. They came from a young Spaniard who had +the misfortune to resist too much when we took the ship that carried +him. They've come to a good use again." + +Robert shuddered, but in a moment or two he forgot the origin of his new +raiment. He had become too much inured to deadly peril to be excessively +fastidious. Besides, he was feeling far better. Warmth returned to his +body and the beat of the rain outside the house increased the comfort +within. + +"I think, Peter," said the slaver, "that you'd better go to sleep. +You've been through a lot, and you don't realize how near exhaustion you +are." + +Without giving a thought to the question of food, which must present +itself before long, Robert lay down on the floor and fell almost at once +into a sound slumber. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE PIRATE'S WARNING + + +When the lad awoke it was quite dark in the house, but there was no +sound of rain. He went to the door and looked out upon a fairly clear +night. The storm was gone and he heard only a light wind rustling +through palms. There was no thunder of beating surf in the distance. It +was a quiet sky and a quiet island. + +He went back and looked at the slaver. The man was asleep on his couch, +but he was stirring a little, and he was hot with fever. Robert felt +pity for him, cruel and blood-stained though he knew him to be. Besides, +he was the only human companion he had, and he did not wish to be left +alone there. But he did not know what to do just then, and, lying down +on the floor, he went to sleep again. + +When he awoke the second time day had come, and the slaver too was +awake, though looking very weak. + +"I've been watching you quite a while, Peter," he said. "You must have +slept fifteen or sixteen hours. Youth has a wonderful capacity for +slumber and restoration. I dare say you're now as good as ever, and +wondering where you'll find your breakfast. Well, when I built this +house I didn't neglect the plenishings of it. Open the door next to you +and you'll find boucan inside. 'Boucan,' as you doubtless know, is dried +beef, and from it we got our name the buccaneers, because in the +beginning we lived so much upon dried beef. Enough is in that closet to +last us a month, and there are herds of wild cattle on the island, an +inexhaustible larder." + +"But we can't catch wild cattle with our hands," said Robert. + +The slaver laughed. + +"You don't think, Peter," he said, "that when I built a house here and +furnished it I neglected some of the most necessary articles. In the +other closet you'll find weapons and ammunition. But deal first with the +boucan." + +Robert opened the closet and found the boucan packed away in sheets or +layers on shelves, and at once he became ravenously hungry. + +"On a lower shelf," said the slaver, "you'll find flint and steel, and +with them it shouldn't be hard for a wilderness lad like you to start a +fire. There are also kettles, skillets and pans, and I think you know +how to do the rest." + +Robert went to work on a fire. The wood, which was abundant outside, was +still damp, but he had a strong clasp knife and he whittled a pile of +dry shavings which he succeeded in igniting with the flint and steel, +though it was no light task, requiring both patience and skill. But the +fire was burning at last and he managed to make in one of the kettles +some soup of the dried beef, which he gave to the captain. The man had +no appetite, but he ate a little and declared that he felt stronger. +Then Robert broiled many strips for himself over the coals and ate +ravenously. He would have preferred a greater variety of food, but it +was better than a castaway had a right to expect. + +His breakfast finished, he continued his examination of the house, which +was furnished with many things, evidently captured from ships. He found +in one of the closets a fine fowling piece, a hunting rifle, two +excellent muskets, several pistols, ammunition for all the fire-arms and +a number of edged weapons. + +"You see, Peter, you're fitted for quite an active defense should +enemies come," said the slaver. "You'll admit, I think, that I've been a +good housekeeper." + +"Good enough," said Peter. "Are there any medicines?" + +"You'll find some salves and ointments on the top shelf in the second +closet, and you can make a poultice for this hurt of mine. Between you +and me, Peter, I've less pain, but much more weakness, which is a bad +sign." + +"Oh, you'll be well in a few days," said Robert cheerfully. "One wound +won't carry off a man as strong as you are." + +"One wound always suffices, provided it goes in deep enough, but I thank +you for your rosy predictions, Peter. I think your good wishes are +genuinely sincere." + +Robert realized that they were so, in truth. In addition to the call of +humanity, he had an intense horror of being left alone on the island, +and he would fight hard to save the slaver's life. He compounded the +poultice with no mean skill, and, after bathing the wound carefully with +fresh water from a little spring behind the hut, he applied it. + +"It's cooling, Peter, and I know it's healing, too," said the man, "but +I think I'll try to go to sleep again. As long as I'm fastened to a +couch that's about the only way I can pass the time. Little did I think +when I built this house that I'd come here without a ship and without a +crew to pass some helpless days." + +He shut his eyes. After a while, Robert, not knowing whether he was +asleep or not, took down the rifle, loaded it, and went out feeling that +it was high time he should explore his new domain. + +In the sunlight the island did not look forbidding. On the contrary, it +was beautiful. From the crest of the hill near the house he saw a +considerable expanse, but the western half of the island was cut off +from view by a higher range of hills. It was all in dark green foliage, +although he caught the sheen of a little lake about two miles away. As +far as he could see a line of reefs stretched around the coast, and the +white surf was breaking on them freely. + +From the hill he went back to the point at which he and the captain had +been swept ashore, and, as he searched along the beach he found the +bodies of all those who had been in the boat with them. He had been +quite sure that none of them could possibly have escaped, but it gave +him a shock nevertheless to secure the absolute proof that they were +dead. He resolved if he could find a way to bury them in the sand beyond +the reach of the waves, but, for the present, he could do nothing, and +he continued along the shore several miles, finding its character +everywhere the same, a gentle slope, a stretch of water, and beyond that +the line of reefs on which the white surf was continually breaking, +reefs with terrible teeth as he well knew. + +But it was all very peaceful now. The sea stretched away into infinity +the bluest of the blue, and a breeze both warm and stimulating came out +of the west. Robert, however, looked mostly toward the north. Albany and +his friends now seemed a world away. He had been wrenched out of his old +life by a sudden and unimaginable catastrophe. What were Tayoga and +Willet doing now? How was the war going? For him so far as real life was +concerned the war simply did not exist. He was on a lost island with +only a wounded man for company and the struggle to survive and escape +would consume all his energies. + +Presently he came to what was left of their boat. It was smashed badly +and half buried in the sand. At first he thought he might be able to use +it again, but a critical examination showed that it was damaged beyond +any power of his to repair it, and with a sigh he abandoned the thought +of escape that way. + +He continued his explorations toward the south, and saw groves of wild +banana, the bushes or shrubs fifteen or twenty feet high, some of them +with ripe fruit hanging from them. He ate one and found it good, though +he was glad to know that he would not have to depend upon bananas wholly +for food. + +A mile to the south and he turned inland, crossing a range of low hills, +covered with dense vegetation. As he passed among the bushes he kept his +rifle ready, not knowing whether or not dangerous wild animals were to +be found there. He had an idea they were lacking in both the Bahamas and +the West Indies, but not being sure, he meant to be on his guard. + +Before he reached the bottom of the slope he heard a puff, and then the +sound of heavy feet. All his wilderness caution was alive in a moment, +and, drawing back, he cocked the rifle. Then he crept forward, conscious +that some large wild beast was near. A few steps more and he realized +that there were more than one. He heard several puffs and the heavy feet +seemed to be moving about in an aimless fashion. + +He came to the edge of the bushes, and, parting them, he looked +cautiously from their cover. Then his apprehensions disappeared. Before +him stretched a wide, grassy savanna and upon it was grazing a herd of +wild cattle, at least fifty in number, stocky beasts with long horns. +Robert looked at them with satisfaction. Here was enough food on the +hoof to last him for years. They might be tough, but he had experience +enough to make them tender when it came to fire and the spit. + +"Graze on in peace until I need you," he said, and crossing the savanna +he found beyond, hidden at first from view by a fringe of forest, the +lake that he had seen from the crest of the hill beside the house. It +covered about half a square mile and was blue and deep. He surmised that +it contained fish good to eat, but, for the present he was content to +let them remain in the water. They, like the wild cattle, could wait. + +Feeling that he had been gone long enough, he went back to the house and +found the slaver asleep or in a stupor, and, when he looked at him +closely, he was convinced that it was more stupor than sleep. He was +very pale and much wasted. It occurred suddenly to Robert that the man +would die and the thought gave him a great shock. Then, in very truth, +he would be alone. He sat by him and watched anxiously, but the slaver +did not come back to the world for a full two hours. + +"Aye, Peter, you're there," he said. "As I've told you several times, +you're a good lad." + +"Can I make you some more of the beef broth?" asked Robert. + +"I can take a little I think, though I've no appetite at all." + +"And I'd like to dress your wound again." + +"If it's any relief to you, Peter, to do so, go ahead, though I think +'tis of little use." + +"It will help a great deal. You'll be well again in a week or two. It +isn't so bad here. With a good house and food it's just the place for a +wounded man." + +"Plenty of quiet, eh Peter? No people to disturb me in my period of +convalescence." + +"Well, that's a help." + +Robert dressed the wound afresh, but he noticed during his ministrations +that the slaver's weakness had increased, and his heart sank. It was a +singular fact, but he began to feel a sort of attachment for the man who +had done him so much ill. They had been comrades in a great hazard, and +were yet. Moreover, the fear of being left alone in a tremendous +solitude was recurrent and keen. These motives and that of humanity made +him do his best. + +"I thank you, Peter," said the wounded man. "You're standing by me in +noble fashion. On the whole, I'm lucky in being cast away with you +instead of one of my own men. But it hurts me more than my wound does to +think that I should have been tricked, that a man of experience such as +I am should have been lured under the broadside of the sloop of war by +an old fellow playing a fiddle and a couple of sailors dancing. My mind +keeps coming back to it. My brain must have gone soft for the time +being, and so I've paid the price." + +Robert said nothing, but finished his surgeon's task. Then he made a +further examination of the house, finding more boucan stored in a small, +low attic, also clothing, both outer and inner garments, nautical +instruments, including a compass, a pair of glasses of power, and +bottles of medicine, the use of some of which he knew. + +Then he loaded the fowling piece and went back toward the lake, hoping +he might find ducks there. Beef, whether smoked or fresh, as an +exclusive diet, would become tiresome, and since they might be in for a +long stay on the island he meant to fill their larder as best he could. +On his way he kept a sharp watch for game, but saw only a small coney, a +sort of rabbit, which he left in peace. He found at a marshy edge of the +lake a number of ducks, three of which he shot, and which he dressed and +cooked later on, finding them to be excellent. + +Robert made himself a comfortable bed on the floor with blankets from +one of the closets and slept soundly through the next night. The +following morning he found the slaver weaker than ever and out of his +head at times. He made beef broth for him once more, but the man was +able to take but little. + +"'Tis no use, Peter," he said in a lucid interval. "I'm sped. I think +there's no doubt of it. When that sloop of war lured us under her guns +she finished her task; she did not leave a single thing undone. My +schooner is gone, my crew is gone, and now I'm going." + +"Oh, no," said Robert. "You'll be better to-morrow." + +The man said nothing, but seemed to sink back into a lethargic state. +Robert tried his pulse, but could hardly feel its beat. In a half hour +he roused himself a little. + +"Peter," he said. "You're a good lad. I tell you so once more. You saved +me from the sea, and you're standing by me now. I owe you for it, and I +might tell you something, now that my time's at hand. It's really come +true that when I built this house I was building the place in which I am +to die, though I didn't dream of it then." + +Robert was silent, waiting to hear what he would tell him. But he closed +his eyes and did not speak for five minutes more. The lad tried his +pulse a second time. It was barely discernible. The man at length opened +his eyes and said: + +"Peter, if you go back to the province of New York beware of Adrian Van +Zoon." + +"Beware of Van Zoon! Why?" + +"He wants to get rid of you. I was to put you out of the way for him, at +a price, and a great price, too. But it was not intended, so it seems, +that I should do so." + +"Why does Adrian Van Zoon want me put out of the way?" + +"That I don't know, Peter, but when you escape from the island you must +find out." + +His eyelids drooped and closed once more, and when Robert felt for his +pulse a third time there was none. The slaver and pirate was gone, and +the lad was alone. + +Robert felt an immense desolation. Whatever the man was he had striven +to keep him alive, and at the last the captain had shown desire to undo +some of the evil that he had done to him. And so it was Adrian Van Zoon +who wished to put him out of the way. He had suspected that before, in +fact he had been convinced of it, and now the truth of it had been told +to him by another. But, why? The mystery was as deep as ever. + +Robert had buried the bodies of the sailors in the sand in graves dug +with an old bayonet that he had found in the house, and he interred the +captain in the same manner, only much deeper. Then he went back to the +house and rested a long time. The awful loneliness that he had feared +came upon him, and he wrestled with it for hours. That night it became +worse than ever, but it was so acute that it exhausted itself, and the +next morning he felt better. + +Resolved not to mope, he took down the rifle, put some of the smoked +beef in his pocket, and started on a long exploration, meaning to cross +the high hills that ran down the center of the island, and see what the +other half was like. + +In the brilliant sunshine his spirits took another rise. After all, he +could be much worse off. He had a good house, arms and food, and in time +a ship would come. A ship must come, and, with his usual optimism, he +was sure that it would come soon. + +He passed by the lakes and noted the marshy spot where he had shot the +ducks. Others had come back and were feeding there now on the water +grasses. Doubtless they had never seen man before and did not know his +full destructiveness, but Robert resolved to have duck for his table +whenever he wanted it. + +A mile or two farther and he saw another but much smaller lake, around +the edge of which duck also were feeding, showing him that the supply +was practically unlimited. Just beyond the second lake lay the range of +hills that constituted the backbone of the island, and although the sun +was hot he climbed them, their height being about a thousand feet. From +the crest he had a view of the entire island, finding the new half much +like the old, low, hilly, covered with forest, and surrounded with a +line of reefs on which the surf was breaking. + +His eyes followed the long curve of the reefs, and then stopped at a +dark spot that broke their white continuity. His blood leaped and +instantly he put to his eyes the strong glasses that he had found in the +house and that fortunately he had brought with him. Here he found his +first impression to be correct. The dark spot was a ship! + +But it was no longer a ship that sailed the seas. Instead it was a +wrecked and shattered ship, with her bow driven into the sand, and her +stern impaled on the sharp teeth of the breakers. Then his heart leaped +again. A second long look through the glasses told him that the lines of +the ship, bruised and battered though she was, were familiar. + +It was the schooner. The storm had brought her to the island also, +though to the opposite shore, and there she lay a wreck held by the sand +and rocks. He descended the hills, and, after a long walk, reached the +beach. The schooner was not broken up as much as he had thought, and as +she could be reached easily he decided to board her. + +The vessel was tipped partly over on her side, and all her spars and +sails were gone. She swayed a little with the swell, but she was held +fast by sand and rocks. Robert, laying his clothes and rifle on the +beach, waded out to her, and, without much difficulty, climbed aboard, +where he made his way cautiously over the slanting and slippery deck. + +His first motive in boarding the wreck was curiosity, but it now +occurred to him that there was much treasure to be had, treasure of the +kind that was most precious to a castaway. A long stay on the island had +not entered into his calculations hitherto, but he knew now that he +might have to reckon on it, and it was well to be prepared for any +event. + +He searched first the cabins of the captain and mates, taking from them +what he thought might be of use, and heaping the store upon the beach. +He soon had there a pair of fine double-barreled pistols with plenty of +ammunition to fit, another rifle, one that had been the captain's own, +with supplies of powder and ball, a half dozen blankets, a medicine +chest, well supplied, and a cutlass, which he took without any +particular thought of use. + +Then he invaded the carpenter's domain, and there he helped himself very +freely, taking out two axes, two hatchets, two saws, a hammer, two +chisels, several augers, and many other tools, all of which he heaped +with great labor upon the beach. + +Then he explored the cook's galley, gleaning three large bags of flour, +supplies of salt and pepper, five cured hams, four big cheeses, several +bottles of cordial and other supplies such as were carried on any +well-found ship. It required great skill and caution to get all his +treasures safely ashore, but his enthusiasm rose as he worked, and he +toiled at his task until midnight. Then he slept beside the precious +heap until the next day. + +He lighted a fire with his flint and steel, which he made a point to +carry with him always, and cooked a breakfast of slices from one of the +hams. Then he planned a further attack upon the schooner, which had not +altered her position in the night. + +Robert now felt like a miser who never hoards enough. Moreover, his +source of supply once gone, it was not likely that he would find +another, and there was the ship. The sea was in almost a dead calm, and +it was easier than ever to approach her. So he decided to board again +and take off more treasure. + +He added to the heap upon the beach another rifle, two muskets, several +pistols, a small sword and a second cutlass, clothing, a considerable +supply of provisions and a large tarpaulin which he meant to spread over +his supplies while they lay on the sand. Then he launched a dinghy which +he found upon the ship with the oars inside. + +The dinghy gave him great pleasure. He knew that it would be an arduous +task to carry all his supplies on his back across the island to the +house, and it would lighten the labor greatly to make trips around in +the boat. So he loaded into the dinghy as much of the most precious of +his belongings as he thought it would hold, and began the journey by +water that very day, leaving the rest of the goods covered with the +tarpaulin in the event of rain. + +It was a long journey, and he had to be careful about the breakers, but +fortunately the sea remained calm. He was caught in currents several +times, but he came at last to the opening in the rocks through which he +and the captain had entered and he rowed in joyfully. He slept that +night in the house and started back in the morning for another load. One +trip a day in the dinghy he found to be all that he could manage, but he +stuck to his work until his precious store was brought from the beach to +the house. + +He could not make up his mind even then to abandon the schooner +entirely. There might never be another magazine of supply, and he +ransacked her thoroughly, taking off more tools, weapons, clothing and +ammunition. Even then he left on board much that might be useful in case +of emergency, such as cordage, sails, and clothing that had belonged to +the sailors. There was also a large quantity of ammunition for the Long +Tom which he did not disturb. The gun itself was still on board the +ship, dismounted and wedged into the woodwork, but practically as good +as ever. Robert, with an eye for the picturesque, thought it would have +been fine to have taken it ashore and to have mounted it before the +house, but that, of course, was impossible. He must leave it to find its +grave in the ocean, and that, perhaps, was the best end to a gun used as +the Long Tom had been. + +Part of his new treasures he took across the island on his back, and +part he carried around it in the boat, which he found to be invaluable, +and of which he took the utmost care, drawing it upon the beach at +night, beyond the reach of tide or storm. + +More than two weeks passed in these labors, and he was so busy, mind and +body, that he was seldom lonely except at night. Then the feeling was +almost overpowering, but whenever he was assailed by it he would +resolutely tell himself that he might be in far worse case. He had +shelter, food and arms in plenty, and it would not be long before he was +taken off the island. Exerting his will so strongly, the periods of +depression became fewer and shorter. + +But the silence and the utter absence of his own kind produced a marked +effect upon his character. He became graver, he thought more deeply upon +serious things than his years warranted. The problem of his own identity +was often before him. Who was he? He was sure that Benjamin Hardy knew. +Jacobus Huysman must know, too, and beyond a doubt Adrian Van Zoon did, +else he would not try so hard to put him out of the way. And St. Luc +must have something to do with this coil. Why had the Frenchman really +pointed out to him the way of escape when he was a prisoner at +Ticonderoga? He turned these questions over and over and over in his +mind, though always the answer evaded him. But he resolved to solve the +problem when he got back to the colonies and as soon as the great war +was over. It was perhaps typical of him that he should want his own +personal fortunes to wait upon the issue of the mighty struggle in which +he was so deeply absorbed. + +Then his thoughts turned with renewed concentration to the war. Standing +far off in both mind and body, he was able to contemplate it as a whole +and also to see it in all its parts. And the more he looked at it the +surer he was that England and her colonies would succeed. Distance and +perspective gave him confidence. The French generals and French soldiers +had done wonders, nobody could be braver or more skilful than they, but +they could not prevail always against superior might and invincible +tenacity. + +Sitting on the ground and looking at the white surf breaking on the +rocks, he ended the war in the way he wished. The French and Canada were +conquered completely and his own flag was victorious everywhere. +Braddock's defeat and Ticonderoga were but incidents which could delay +but which could not prevent. + +But he did not spend too much time in reflection. He was too young for +that, and his years in the wilderness helped him to bear the burden of +being alone. Rifle on shoulder, he explored every part of the island, +finding that his domain presented no great variety. There was much +forest, and several kinds of tropical fruits were for his taking, but +quadruped life was limited, nothing larger than small rodents. +Well-armed as he was, he would have preferred plenty of big game. It +would have added spice to his life, much of which had been spent in +hunting with Willet and Tayoga. Excitement might have been found in +following bear or deer, but he knew too well ever to have expected them +on an island in summer seas. + +There was some sport in fishing. Plenty of tackle had been found among +the ship's stores, and he caught good fish in the larger lake. He also +tried deep sea fishing from the dinghy, but the big fellows bit so fast +that it soon ceased to be of interest. The fish, though, added freshness +and variety to his larder, and he also found shellfish, good and +wholesome when eaten in small quantities, along the shore. + +He went often to the highest hill in the center of the island, where he +would spend long periods, examining the sea from horizon to horizon with +his strong glasses, searching vainly for a sail. He thought once of +keeping a mighty bonfire burning every night, but he reconsidered it +when he reflected on the character of the ship that it might draw. + +Both the Bahamas and the West Indies--he did not know in which group he +was--swarmed then with lawless craft. For nearly two hundred years +piracy had been common, and in a time of war especially the chances were +against a ship being a friend. He decided that on the whole he would +prefer a look at the rescuer before permitting himself to be rescued. + +The weather remained beautiful. He had been a month on the island, and +the sea had not been vexed by another storm since his arrival. The +schooner was still wedged in the sand and on the rocks, and he made +several more trips to her, taking off many more articles, which, +however, he left in a heap well back of the beach covered with a +tarpaulin and the remains of sails. He felt that they could lie there +awaiting his need. Perhaps he would never need them at all. + +His later visits to the schooner were more from curiosity than from any +other motive. He had a strong desire to learn more about the captain and +his ship. There was no name anywhere upon the vessel, nor could he find +any ship's log or manifest or any kind of writing to indicate it. +Neither was the name of the slaver known to him, nor was there any +letter nor any kind of paper to disclose it. It was likely that it would +always remain hidden from him unless some day he should wrench it from +Adrian Van Zoon. + +Robert went into the sea nearly every morning. As he was a powerful +swimmer and the weather remained calm, he was in the habit of going out +beyond the reefs, but one day he noticed a fin cutting the water and +coming toward him. Instantly he swam with all his might toward the +reefs, shivering as he went. When he drew himself up on the slippery +rocks he did not see the formidable fin. He was quite willing to utter +devout thanks aloud. It might not have been a shark, but it made him +remember they were to be expected in those waters. After that he took no +chances, bathing inside the reefs and going outside in the dinghy only. + +A few days later he was upon his highest hill watching the horizon when +he saw a dark spot appear in the southwest. At first he was hopeful that +it was a sail, but as he saw it grow he knew it to be a cloud. Then he +hurried toward the house, quite sure a storm was coming. Knowing how the +southern seas were swept by hurricanes, it was surprising that none had +come sooner, and he ran as fast as he could for the shelter of the +house. + +Robert made the door just in time. Then the day had turned almost as +dark as night and, with a rush and a roar, wind and rain were upon him. +Evidently the slaver had known those regions, and so he had built a +house of great strength, which, though it quivered and rattled under the +sweep of the hurricane, nevertheless stood up against it. + +The building had several small windows, closed with strong shutters, but +as wind and rain were driving from the west he was able to open one on +the eastern side and watch the storm. It was just such a hurricane as +that which had wrecked the shattered schooner. It became very dark, +there were tremendous displays of thunder and lightning, which ceased, +after a while, as the wind grew stronger, and then through the dark he +saw trees and bushes go down. Fragments struck against the house, but +the stout walls held. + +The wind kept up a continuous screaming, as full of menace as the crash +of a battle. Part of the time it swept straight ahead, cutting wide +swathes, and then, turning into balls of compressed air, it whirled with +frightful velocity, smashing everything level with the ground as if it +had been cut down by a giant sword. + +Robert had seen more than one hurricane in the great northern woods and +he watched it without alarm. Although the house continued to rattle and +shake, and now and then a bough, wrenched from its trunk, struck it a +heavy blow, he knew that it would hold. There was a certain comfort in +sitting there, dry and secure, while the storm raged without in all its +violence. There was pleasure too in the knowledge that he was on the +land and not the sea. He remembered the frightful passage that he and +the slaver had made through the breakers, and he knew that his escape +then had depended upon the slimmest of chances. He shuddered as he +recalled the rocks thrusting out their savage teeth. + +The storm, after a while, sank into a steady rain, and the wind blew but +little. The air was now quite cold for that region, and Robert, lying +down on the couch, covered himself with a blanket. He soon fell asleep +and slept so long, lulled by the beat of the rain, that he did not +awaken until the next day. + +Then he took the dinghy and rowed around to the other side of the +island. As he had expected, the schooner was gone. The storm had broken +her up, and he found many of her timbers scattered along the beach, +where they had been brought in by the waves. He felt genuine sadness at +the ship's destruction and disappearance. It was like losing a living +friend. + +Fortunately, the tarpaulin and heavy sails with which he had covered his +heap of stores high up the beach, weighting them down afterward with +huge stones, had held. Some water had entered at the edges, but, as the +goods were of a kind that could not be damaged much, little harm was +done. Again he resolved to preserve all that he had accumulated there, +although he did not know that he would have any need of them. + +When he rowed back in the dinghy he saw a formidable fin cutting the +water again, and, laying down the oars, he took up the rifle which he +always carried with him. He watched until the shark was almost on the +surface of the water, and then he sent a bullet into it. There was a +great splashing, followed by a disappearance, and he did not know just +then the effect of his shot, but a little later, when the huge body of +the slain fish floated to the surface he felt intense satisfaction, as +he believed that it would have been a man-eater had it the chance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MAKING THE BEST OF IT + + +After his return in the dinghy Robert decided that he would have some +fresh beef and also a little sport. Although the island contained no +indigenous wild animals of any size, there were the wild cattle, and he +had seen they were both long of horn and fierce. If he courted peril he +might find it in hunting them, and in truth he rather wanted a little +risk. There was such an absence of variety in his life, owing to the +lack of human companionship, that an attack by a maddened bull, for +instance, would add spice to it. The rifle would protect him from any +extreme danger. + +He knew he was likely to find cattle near the larger lake, and, as he +had expected, he saw a herd of almost fifty grazing there on a flat at +the eastern edge. Two fierce old bulls with very long, sharp horns were +on the outskirts, as if they were mounting guard, while the cows and +calves were on the inside near the lake. + +Robert felt sure that the animals, although unharried by man, would +prove wary. For the sake of sport he hoped that it would be so, and, +using all the skill that he had learned in his long association with +Willet and Tayoga, he crept down through the woods. The bulls would be +too tough, and as he wanted a fat young cow it would be necessary for +him to go to the very edge of the thickets that hemmed in the little +savanna on which they were grazing. + +The wind was blowing from him toward the herd and the bulls very soon +took alarm, holding up their heads, sniffing and occasionally shaking +their formidable horns. Robert picked a fat young cow in the grass +almost at the water's edge as his target, but stopped a little while in +order to disarm the suspicion of the wary old guards. When the two went +back to their pleasant task of grazing he resumed his cautious advance, +keeping the fat young cow always in view. + +Now that he had decided to secure fresh beef, he wanted it very badly, +and it seemed to him that the cow would fulfill all his wants. A long +experience in the wilderness would show him how to prepare juicy and +tender steaks. Eager to replenish his larder in so welcome a way, he +rose and crept forward once more in the thicket. + +The two bulls became suspicious again, the one on the right, which was +the larger, refusing to have his apprehension quieted, and advancing +part of the way toward the bushes, where he stood, thrusting forward +angry horns. His attitude served as a warning for the whole herd, which, +becoming alarmed, began to move. + +Robert was in fear lest they rush away in a panic, and so he took a long +shot at the cow, bringing her down, but failing to kill her, as she rose +after falling and began to make off. Eager now to secure his game he +drew the heavy pistol that he carried at his belt, and, dropping his +rifle, rushed forward from the thicket for a second shot. + +The cow was not running fast. Evidently the wound was serious, but +Robert had no mind for her to escape him in the thickets, and he pursued +her until he could secure good aim with the pistol. Then he fired and +had the satisfaction of seeing the cow fall again, apparently to stay +down this time. + +But his satisfaction was short. He heard a heavy tread and an angry +snort beside him. He caught the gleam of a long horn, and as he whirled +the big bull was upon him. He leaped aside instinctively and escaped the +thrust of the horn, but the bull whirled also, and the animal's heavy +shoulder struck him with such force that he was knocked senseless. + +When Robert came to himself he was conscious of an aching body and an +aching head, but he recalled little else at first. Then he remembered +the fierce thrusts of the angry old bull, and he was glad that he was +alive. He felt of himself to see if one of those sharp horns had entered +him anywhere, and he was intensely relieved to find that he had suffered +no wound. Evidently it had been a collision in which he had been the +sufferer, and that he had fallen flat had been a lucky thing for him, as +the fierce bull had charged past him and had then gone on. + +Robert was compelled to smile sourly at himself. He had wanted the +element of danger as a spice for his hunting, and he had most certainly +found it. He had been near death often, but never nearer than when the +old bull plunged against him. He rose slowly and painfully, shook +himself several times to throw off as well as he could the effect of his +heavy jolt, then picked up his rifle at one point and his pistol at +another. + +The herd was gone, but the cow that he had chosen lay dead, and, as her +condition showed him that he had been unconscious not more than five +minutes, there was his fresh beef after all. As his strength was fast +returning, he cut up and dressed the cow, an achievement in which a long +experience in hunting had made him an expert. He hung the quarters in a +dense thicket of tall bushes where vultures or buzzards could not get at +them, and took some of the tenderest steaks home with him. + +He broiled the steaks over a fine bed of coals in front of the house and +ate them with bread that he baked himself from the ship's flour. He +enjoyed his dinner and he was devoutly grateful for his escape. But how +much pleasanter it would have been if Willet and Tayoga, those faithful +comrades of many perils, were there with him to share it! He wondered +what they were doing. Doubtless they had hunted for him long, and they +had suspected and sought to trace Garay, but the cunning spy doubtless +had fled from Albany immediately after his capture. Willet and Tayoga, +failing to find him, would join in the great campaign which the British +and Americans would certainly organize anew against Canada. + +It was this thought of the campaign that was most bitter to Robert. He +was heart and soul in the war, in which he believed mighty issues to be +involved, and he had seen so much of it already that he wanted to be in +it to the finish. When these feelings were strong upon him it was almost +intolerable to be there upon the island, alone and helpless. All the +world's great events were passing him by as if he did not exist. But the +periods of gloom would not last long. Despite his new gravity, his +cheerful, optimistic spirit remained, and it always pulled him away from +the edge of despair. + +Although he had an abundance of fresh meat, he went on a second hunt of +the wild cattle in order to keep mind and body occupied. He wanted +particularly to find the big bull that had knocked him down, and he knew +that he would recognize him when he found him. He saw a herd grazing on +the same little savanna by the lake, but when he had stalked it with +great care he found that it was not the one he wanted. + +A search deeper into the hills revealed another herd, but still the +wrong one. A second day's search disclosed the right group grazing in a +snug little valley, and there was the big bull who had hurt so sorely +his body and his pride. A half hour of creeping in the marsh grass and +thickets and he was within easy range. Then he carefully picked out that +spot on the bull's body beneath which his heart lay, cocked his rifle, +took sure aim, and put his finger to the trigger. + +But Robert did not pull that trigger. He merely wished to show to +himself and to any invisible powers that might be looking on that he +could lay the bull in the dust if he wished. If he wanted revenge for +grievous personal injury it was his for the taking. But he did not want +it. The bull was not to blame. He had merely been defending his own from +a dangerous intruder and so was wholly within his rights. + +"Now that I've held you under my muzzle you're safe from me, old +fellow," were Robert's unspoken words. + +He felt that his dignity was restored and that, at the same time, his +sense of right had been maintained. Elated, he went back to the house +and busied himself, arranging his possessions. They were so numerous +that he was rather crowded, but he was not willing to give up anything. +One becomes very jealous over his treasures when he knows the source of +supplies may have been cut off forever. So he rearranged them, trying to +secure for himself better method and more room, and he also gave them a +more minute examination. + +In a small chest which he had not opened before he found, to his great +delight, a number of books, all the plays of Shakespeare, several by +Beaumont and Fletcher, others by Congreve and Marlowe, Monsieur Rollin's +Ancient History, a copy of Telemachus, translations of the Iliad and +Odyssey, Ovid, Horace, Virgil and other classics. Most of the books +looked as if they had been read and he thought they might have belonged +to the captain, but there was no inscription in any of them, and, on the +other hand, they might have been taken from a captured ship. + +With plenty of leisure and a mind driven in upon itself, Robert now read +a great deal, and, as little choice was left to him, he read books that +he might have ignored otherwise. Moreover, he thought well upon what he +read. It seemed to him as he went over his Homer again and again that +the gods were cruel. Men were made weak and fallible, and then they were +punished because they failed or erred. The gods themselves were not at +all exempt from the sins, or, rather, mistakes for which they punished +men. He felt this with a special force when he read his Ovid. He +thought, looking at it in a direct and straight manner, that Niobe had a +right to be proud of her children, and for Apollo to slay them because +of that pride was monstrous. + +His mind also rebelled at his Virgil. He did not care much for the +elderly lover, AEneas, who fled from Carthage and Dido, and when AEneas +and his band came to Italy his sympathies were largely with Turnus, who +tried to keep his country and the girl that really belonged to him. He +was quite sure that something had been wrong in the mind of Virgil and +that he ought to have chosen another kind of hero. + +Shakespeare, whom he had been compelled to read at school, he now read +of his own accord, and he felt his romance and poetry. But he lingered +longer over the somewhat prosy ancient history of Monsieur Rollin. His +imaginative mind did not need much of a hint to attempt the +reconstruction of old empires. But he felt that always in them too much +depended upon one man. When an emperor fell an empire fell, when a king +was killed a kingdom went down. + +He applied many of the lessons from those old, old wars to the great war +that was now raging, and he was confirmed in his belief that England and +her colonies would surely triumph. The French monarchy, to judge from +all that he had heard, was now in the state of one of those old oriental +monarchies, decayed and rotten, spreading corruption from a poisoned +center to all parts of the body. However brave and tenacious the French +people might be, and he knew that none were more so, he was sure they +could not prevail over the strength of free peoples like those who +fought under the British flag, free to grow, whatever their faults might +be. So, old Monsieur Rollin, who had brought tedium to many, brought +refreshment and courage to Robert. + +But he did not bury himself in books. He had been a creature of action +too long for that. He hunted the wild cattle over the hills, and, now +and then, taking the dinghy he hunted the sharks also. Whenever he found +one he did not spare the bullets. His finger did not stop at the +trigger, but pulled hard, and he rarely missed. + +But in spite of reading and action, time dragged heavily. The old +loneliness and desolation would return and they were hard to dispel. He +could not keep from crying aloud at the cruelty of fate. He was young, +so vital, so intensely alive, so anxious to be in the middle of things, +that it was torture to be held there. Yet he was absolutely helpless. It +would be folly to attempt escape in the little dinghy, and he must wait +until a ship came. He would spend hours every day on the highest hill, +watching the horizon through his glasses for a ship, and then, bitter +with disappointment, he would refuse to look again for a long time. + +Whether his mind was up or down its essential healthiness and sanity +held true. He always came back to the normal. Had he sought purposely to +divest himself of hope he could not have done it. The ship was coming. +Its coming was as certain as the rolling in of the tide, only one had to +wait longer for it. + +Yet time passed, and there was no sign of a sail on the horizon. His +island was as lonely as if it were in the South Seas instead of the +Atlantic. He began to suspect that it was not really a member of any +group, but was a far flung outpost visited but rarely. Perhaps the war +and its doubling the usual dangers of the sea would keep a ship of any +kind whatever from visiting it. He refused to let the thought remain +with him, suppressing it resolutely, and insisting to himself that such +a pleasant little island was bound to have callers some time or other, +some day. + +But the weeks dragged by, and he was absolutely alone in his world. He +had acquired so many stores from the schooner that life was comfortable. +It even had a touch of luxury, and the struggle for existence was far +from consuming all his hours. He found himself as time went on driven +more and more upon his books, and he read them, as few have ever read +anything, trying to penetrate everything and to draw from them the best +lessons. + +As a student, in a very real sense of the term, Robert became more +reconciled to his isolation. His mind was broadening and deepening, and +he felt that it was so. Many things that had before seemed a puzzle to +him now became plain. He was compelled, despite his youth, to meditate +upon life, and he resolved that when he took up its thread again among +his kind he would put his new knowledge to the best of uses. + +He noted a growth of the body as well as of the mind. An abundant and +varied diet and plenty of rest gave him a great physical stimulus. It +seemed to him that he was taller, and he was certainly heavier. Wishing +to profit to the utmost, and, having a natural neatness, he looked after +himself with great care, bathing inside the reefs once every day, and, +whether there was work to be done or not, taking plenty of exercise. + +He lost count of the days, but he knew that he was far into the autumn, +that in truth winter must have come in his own and distant north. That +thought at times was almost maddening. Doubtless the snow was already +falling on the peaks that had seen so many gallant exploits by his +comrades and himself, and on George and Champlain, the lakes so +beautiful and majestic under any aspect. Those were the regions he +loved. When would he see them again? But such thoughts, too, he crushed +and saw only the ship that was to take him back to his own. + +Some change in the weather came, and he was aware that the winter of the +south was at hand. Yet it was not cold. There was merely a fresh sparkle +in the air, a new touch of crispness. Low, gray skies were a relief, +after so much blazing sunshine, and the cool winds whipped his blood to +new life. The house had a fireplace and chimney and often he built a low +fire, not so much for the sake of warmth as for the cheer that the +sparkling blaze gave. Then he could imagine that he was back in his +beloved province of New York. Now the snow was certainly pouring down +there. The lofty peaks were hidden in clouds of white, and the ice was +forming around the edges of Andiatarocte and Oneadatote. Perhaps Willet +and Tayoga were scouting in the snowy forests, but they must often hang +over the blazing fires, too. + +The coldness without, the blaze on the hearth, and the warmth within +increased his taste for reading and his comprehension seemed to grow +also. He found new meanings in the classics and he became saturated also +with style. His were the gifts of an orator, and it was often said in +after years, when he became truly great, that his speech, in words, in +metaphor and in illustration followed, or at least were influenced, by +the best models. Some people found in him traces of Shakespeare, the +lofty imagery and poetry and the deep and wide knowledge of human +emotions, of life itself. Others detected the mighty surge of Homer, or +the flow of Virgil, and a few discerning minds found the wit shown in +the comedies of the Restoration, from which he had unconsciously plucked +the good, leaving the bad. + +It is but a truth to say that every day he lived in these days he lived +a week or maybe a month. The stillness, the utter absence of his kind, +drove his mind inward with extraordinary force. He gained a breadth of +vision and a power of penetration of which he had not dreamed. He +acquired toleration, too. Looking over the recent events in his perilous +life, he failed to find hate for anybody. Perhaps untoward events had +turned the slaver into his evil career, and at the last he had shown +some good. The French were surely fighting for what they thought was +their own, and they struck in order that they might not be struck. +Tandakora himself was the creature of his circumstances. He hated the +people of the English colonies, because they were spreading over the +land and driving away the game. He was cruel because it was the Ojibway +nature to be cruel. He would have to fight Tandakora, but it was because +conditions had made it necessary. + +His absorption as a student now made him forget often that he was alone, +and there were long periods when he was not unhappy, especially when he +was trying to solve some abstruse mental problem. He regretted sometimes +that he did not have any book on mathematics, but perhaps it was as well +for him that he did not. His mind turned more to the other side of life, +to style, to poetry, to the imagination, and, now, as he was moving +along the line of least resistance, under singularly favorable +circumstances, he made extraordinary progress. + +Heavy winds came and Robert liked them. He had plenty of warm clothing +and it pleased him to walk on the beach, his face whipped by the gale, +and to watch the great waves come in. It made him stronger to fight the +storm. The response to its challenge rose in his blood. It was curious, +but at such times his hope was highest. He stood up, defying the lash of +wind and rain, and felt his courage rise with the contest. Often, he ran +up and down the beach until he was soaked through, letting the fierce +waves sweep almost to his feet, then he would go back to the house, +change to dry clothing, and sleep without dreams. + +There was no snow, although he longed for it, as do those who are born +in northern regions. Once, when he stood on the crest of the tallest +hill on the island, he thought he saw a few tiny flakes floating in the +air over his head, but they were swept away by the wind, as if they were +down, and he never knew whether it was an illusion or reality. But he +was glad that it had happened. It gave him a fleeting touch of home, and +he could imagine once more, and, for a few seconds, that he was not +alone on the island, but back in his province of New York, with his +friends not far away. + +Then came several days of fierce and continuous cold rain, but he put on +an oilskin coat that he found among the stores and spent much of the +time out of doors, hunting ducks along the edges of the larger lake, +walking now and then for the sake of walking, and, on rare occasions, +seeking the wild cattle for fresh meat. The herds were in the timber +most of the time for shelter, but he was invariably able to secure a +tender cow or a yearling for his larder. He saw the big bull often, and, +although he was charged by him once again, he refused to pull trigger on +the old fellow. He preferred to look upon him as a friend whom he had +met once in worthy combat, but with whom he was now at peace. When the +bull charged him he dodged him easily among the bushes and called out +whimsically: + +"Let it be the last time! I don't mean you any harm!" + +The fierce leader went peacefully back to his grazing, and it seemed to +Robert that he had been taken at his word. The old bull apparently +realized at last that he was in no danger from the human being who came +to look at him at times, and he also was willing to call a truce. Robert +saw him often after that, and invariably hailed him with words of +friendship, though at a respectful distance. The old fellow would look +up, shake his big head once or twice in a manner not at all hostile, and +then go on peacefully with his grazing. It pleased Robert to think that +in the absence of his own kind he had a friend here, and--still at a +respectful distance--he confided to him some of his opinions upon +matters of importance. He laughed at himself for doing so, but he was +aware that he found in it a certain relief, and he continued the +practice. + +The dinghy became one of his most precious possessions. A little farther +to the north he had found a creek that flowed down from the center of +the island, rising among the hills. It was narrow and shallow, except +near the mouth, but there it had sufficient depth for the boat, and he +made of it a safe anchorage and port during the winter storms. He slept +more easily now, as he knew that however hard the wind might blow there +was no danger of its being carried out to sea. He thought several times +of rigging a mast and sails for it and trying to make some other island, +but he gave up the idea, owing to the smallness of the boat, and his own +inexperience as a sailor. He was at least safe and comfortable where he +was, and a voyage of discovery or escape meant almost certain death. + +But he used the dinghy in calm weather for bringing back some of the +stores that he had left on the other side of the island. The lighter +articles he brought by land. There was not room for all of them in the +house, but he built a shed under which he placed those not of a +perishable nature, and covered them over with the tarpaulin and sails. +He still had the feeling that he must not lose or waste anything, +because he knew that in the back of his head lay an apprehension lest +his time on the island should be long, very long. + +He kept in iron health. His life in the wilderness had taught him how to +take care of himself, and, with an abundant and varied diet and plenty +of exercise, he never knew a touch of illness. He did not forget to be +grateful for it. A long association with Tayoga had taught him to +remember these things. It might be true that he was being guarded by +good spirits. The white man's religion and the red man's differed only +in name. His God and Tayoga's Manitou were the same, and the spirits of +the Onondaga were the same as his angels of divine power and mercy. + +Often in the moonlight he looked up at the great star upon which Tayoga +said that Tododaho dwelled, that wise Onondaga chieftain who had gone +away to the skies four hundred years before. Once or twice he thought he +could see the face of Tododaho with the wise snakes, coil on coil in his +hair, but, without his full faith, it was not given to him to have the +full vision of Tayoga. He found comfort, however, in the effort. It gave +new strength to the spirit, and, situated as he was, it was his soul, +not his body, that needed fortifying. + +He decided that Christmas was near at hand, and he decided to celebrate +it. With the count of time lost it was impossible for him to know the +exact day, but he fixed upon one in his mind, and resolved to use it +whether right or wrong in date. The mere fact that he celebrated it +would make it right in spirit. It might be the 20th or the 30th of +December, but if he chose to call it the 25th, the 25th it would be. +Endowed so liberally with fancy and with such a power of projecting the +mind, it was easy for him to make believe, to turn imagination into +reality. And this power was heightened by his loneliness and isolation, +and by the turning in of his mind so tremendously upon itself. + +After the thought of a Christmas dinner was struck out by his fancy it +grew fast, and he made elaborate preparations. Ducks were shot, a +yearling from the wild cattle was killed, the stores from the ship were +drawn upon liberally, and he even found among them a pudding which could +yet be made savory. Long experience had made him an excellent cook and +he attended to every detail in the most thorough manner. + +The dinner set, he arrayed himself in the finest clothes to be found in +his stock, and then, when all was ready, he sat down to his improvised +board. But there was not one plate alone, there were four, one for +Willet opposite him, one for Tayoga at his right hand and one for +Grosvenor at his left. And for every thing he ate he placed at least a +small portion on every plate, while with unspoken words he talked with +these three friends of his. + +It was a dark day, very cold and raw for the island, and while there was +no Christmas snow there was a cold rain lashing the windows that could +very well take its place. A larger fire than usual, crackling and +cheerful, was blazing on the hearth, throwing the red light of its +flames over the table, and the three places where his invisible friends +sat. + +His power of evocation was so vivid and intense that he could very well +say that he saw his comrades around the table. There was Willet big, +grave and wise, but with the lurking humor in the corner of his eye, +there was Tayoga, lean, calm, inscrutable, the young philosopher of the +woods and the greatest trailer in the world, and there was Grosvenor, +ruddy, frank, tenacious, eager to learn all the lore of the woods. Yes, +he could see them and he was glad that he was serving Christmas food to +them as well as to himself. Willet loved wild duck and so he gave him an +extra portion. Tayoga was very partial to cakes of flour and so he gave +him a double number, and Grosvenor, being an Englishman, must love beef, +so he helped him often to steak. + +It was fancy, but fancy breeds other and stronger fancies, and the +feeling that it was all reality grew upon him. Dreams are of thin and +fragile texture, but they are very vivid while they last. Of course +Willet, Tayoga and Grosvenor were there, and when the food was all +served, course by course, he filled four glasses, one at each plate, +from a bottle of the old cordial that he had saved from the ship, lifted +his own to his lips, tasted it and said aloud: + +"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!" + +Then he shut his eyes and when he shut them he saw the three tasting +their own glasses, and he heard them say with him: + +"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE VOICE IN THE AIR + + +Robert slept long and peacefully the night after his Christmas dinner, +and, when he rose the next morning, he felt more buoyant and hopeful +than for days past. The celebration had been a sort of anchor to his +spirit, keeping him firm against any tide of depression that in his +situation might well have swept him toward despair. As he recalled it +the day after, Tayoga, Willet and Grosvenor were very vivid figures at +his table, sitting opposite him, and to right and left. They had +responded to his toast, he had seen the flash in their eyes, and their +tones were resonant with hope and confidence. It was clear they had +meant to tell him that rescue was coming. + +He accepted these voices out of the distance as definite and real. It +could not be long until he saw the hunter, the Onondaga and the young +Englishman once more. His lonely life caused him, despite himself, to +lend a greater belief to signs and omens. Tayoga was right when he +peopled the air with spirits, and most of the spirits on that island +must be good spirits, since all things, except escape, had been made +easy for him, house, clothes, food and safety. + +The day itself was singularly crisp and bright, inciting to further +cheerfulness. It was also the coldest he had yet felt on the island, +having a northern tang that stirred his blood. He could shut his eyes +and see the great forests, not in winter, but as they were in autumn, +glowing in many colors, and with an air that was the very breath of +life. The sea also sang a pleasant song as it rolled in and broke on the +rocks, and Robert, looking around at his island, felt that he could have +fared far worse. + +Rifle on shoulder he went off for a long and brisk walk, and his steps +unconsciously took him, as they often did, toward the high hill in the +center of the island, a crest that he used as a lookout. On his way he +passed his friend, the old bull, grazing in a meadow, and, watching his +herd, like the faithful guardian he was. Robert called to him +cheerfully. The big fellow looked up, shook his horns, not in hostile +fashion but in the manner of comrade saluting comrade, and then went +back, with a whole and confident heart, to his task of nipping the +grass. Robert was pleased. It was certain that the bull no longer +regarded him with either fear or apprehension, and he wanted to be +liked. + +It was nearly noon when he reached his summit, and as he was warm from +exercise he sat down on a rock, staying there a long time and scouring +the horizon now and then through the glasses. The sea was a circle of +blazing blue, and the light wind sang from the southwest. + +He had brought food with him and in the middle of the day he ate it. +With nothing in particular to do he thought he would spend the afternoon +there, and, making himself comfortable, he waited, still taking +occasional glances through the glasses. While he sat, idling more than +anything else, his mind became occupied with Tayoga's theory of spirits +in the air--less a theory however than the religious belief of the +Indians. + +He wanted to believe that Tayoga was right, and his imagination was so +vivid and intense that what he wished to believe he usually ended by +believing. He shut his eyes and tested his power of evocation. He knew +that he could create feeling in any part of his body merely by +concentrating his mind upon that particular part of it and by continuing +to think of it. Physical sensation even came from will. So he would +imagine that he heard spirits in the air all about him, not anything +weird or hostile, but just kindly people of the clouds and winds, such +as those created by the old Greeks. + +Fancying that he heard whispers about him and resolved to hear them, he +heard them. If a powerful imagination wanted to create whispers it could +create them. The spirits of the air, Tayoga's spirits, the spirits of +old Hellas, were singing in either ear, and the song, like that of the +sea, like the flavor breathed out by his Christmas celebration, was full +of courage, alive with hope. + +He had kept his eyes closed a full half hour, because, with sight shut +off, the other senses became much more acute for the time. The power +that had been in the eyes was poured into their allies. Imagination, in +particular, leaped into a sudden luxuriant growth. It was true, of +course it was quite true, that those friendly spirits of the air were +singing all about him. They were singing in unison a gay and brilliant +song, very pleasant to hear, until he was startled by a new note that +came into it, a note not in harmony with the others, the voice of +Cassandra herself. He listened and he was sure. Beyond a doubt it was a +note of warning. + +Robert opened his eyes and everything went away. There was the pleasant, +green island, and there was the deep blue sea all about it. He laughed +to himself. He was letting imagination go too far. One could make +believe too much. He sat idly a few minutes and then, putting the +glasses to his eyes, took another survey of the far horizon where blue +sky and blue water met. He moved the focus slowly around the circle, and +when he came to a point in the east he started violently, then sprang to +his feet, every pulse leaping. + +He had seen a tiny black dot upon the water, one that broke the +continuity of the horizon line, and, for a little while, he was too +excited to look again. He stood, the glasses in his trembling fingers +and stared with naked eyes that he knew could not see. After a while he +put the glasses back and then followed the horizon. He was afraid that +it was an illusion, that his imagination had become too vivid, creating +for him the thing that was not, and now that he was a little calmer he +meant to put it to the proof. + +He moved the glasses slowly from north to east, following the line where +sky and water met, and then the hands that held them trembled again. +There was the black spot, a trifle larger now, and, forcing his nerves +to be calm, he stared at it a long time, how long he never knew, but +long enough for him to see it grow and take form and shape, for the +infinitesimal but definite outline of mast, sails and hull to emerge, +and then for a complete ship to be disclosed. + +The ship was coming toward the island. The increase in size told him +that. It was no will-o'-the-wisp on the water, appearing a moment, then +gone, foully cheating his hopes. If she kept her course, and there was +no reason why she should not, she would make the island. He had no doubt +from the first that a landing there was its definite purpose, most +likely for water. + +When he took the glasses from his eyes the second time he gave way to +joy. Rescue was at hand. The ship, wherever she went, would take him to +some place where human beings lived, and he could go thence to his own +country. He would yet be in time to take part in the great campaign +against Quebec, sharing the dangers and glory with Willet, Tayoga, +Grosvenor and the others. The spirits in the air had sung to him a true +song, when his eyes were shut, and, in his leaping exultation, he forgot +the warning note that had appeared in their song, faint, almost buried, +but nevertheless there. + +He put the glasses to his eyes a third time. The ship was tacking, but +that was necessary, and it was just as certain as ever that her +destination was the island. Owing to the shifts and flaws in the wind it +would be night before she arrived, but that did not matter to him. +Having waited months he could wait a few hours longer. Likely as not she +was an English ship out of the Barbadoes, bound for the Carolinas. He +must be somewhere near just such a course. Or, maybe she was a colonial +schooner, one of those bold craft from Boston. There was a certain +luxury in speculating on it, and in prolonging a doubt which would +certainly be solved by midnight, and to his satisfaction. It was not +often that in real life one looked at a play bound to develop within a +given time to a dramatic and satisfying finish. + +He remained on the crest until late in the afternoon, watching the ship +as she tacked with the varying winds, but, in the end, always bearing +toward the island. He was quite sure now that her arrival would be after +dark. She would come through the opening in the reefs that he and the +slaver had made so hardly in the storm, but on the night bound to follow +such a day it would be as easy as entering a drawing room, with the +doors held open, and the guest made welcome. He would be there to give +the welcome. + +He was able to see more of the ship now. As he had surmised, she was a +schooner, apparently very trim and handled well. Doubtless she was fast. +The faster the better, because he was eager to get back to the province +of New York. + +Late in the afternoon, he left the hill and went swiftly back to his +house, where he ate an early supper in order that he might be on the +beach to give welcome to the guest, and perhaps lend some helpful advice +about making port. There was none better fitted than he. He was the +oldest resident of the island. Nobody could be jealous of his position +as adviser to the arriving vessel. + +This was to be a great event in his life, and it must be carried out in +the proper manner with every attention to detail. He put on the uniform +of an English naval officer that he had found on the ship, and then +rifle on shoulder and small sword in belt went through the forest toward +the inlet. + +The night was bright and beautiful, just fitted for a rescue, and an +escape from an island. All the stars had come out to see it, and, with +his head very high, he trod lightly as he passed among the trees, +approaching the quiet beach. Before he left the wood he saw the top of +the schooner's mast showing over a fringe of bushes. Evidently she had +anchored outside the reefs and was sending in a boat to look further. +Well, that was fit and proper, and his advice and assistance would be +most timely. + +The wind rose a little and it sang a lilting melody among the leaves. +His imagination, alive and leaping, turned it into the song of a +troubadour, gay and welcoming. Tayoga's spirits were abroad again, +filling the air in the dusk, their favorite time, and he rejoiced, until +he suddenly heard once more that faint note of warning, buried under +the volume of the other, but nevertheless there. + +Alone, driven in upon himself for so many months, he was a creature of +mysticism that night. What he imagined he believed, and, obedient to the +warning, he drew back. All the caution of the northern wilderness +returned suddenly to him. He was no longer rushing forward to make a +welcome for guests awaited eagerly. He would see what manner of people +came before he opened the door. Putting the rifle in the hollow of his +arm he crept forward through the bushes. + +A large boat was coming in from the schooner, and the bright moonlight +enabled him to see at first glance that the six men who sat in it were +not men of Boston. Nor were they men of England. They were too dark, and +three of them had rings in their ears. + +Perhaps the schooner was a French privateer, wishing to make a secret +landing, and, if so, he had done well to hold back. He had no mind to be +taken a prisoner to France. The French were brave, and he would not be +ill-treated, but he had other things to do. He withdrew a little farther +into the undergrowth. The door of welcome was open now only a few +inches, and he was peering out at the crack, every faculty alive and +ready to take the alarm. + +The boat drew closer, grounded on the beach, and the men, leaping out, +dragged it beyond the reach of the low waves that were coming in. Then, +in a close group, they walked toward the forest, looking about +curiously. They were armed heavily, and every one of them had a drawn +weapon in his hand, sword or pistol. Their actions seemed to Robert +those of men who expected a stranger, as a matter of course, to be an +enemy. Hence, they were men whose hands were against other men, and so +also against young Robert Lennox, who had been alone so long, and who +craved so much the companionship of his kind. + +He drew yet deeper into the undergrowth and taking the rifle out of the +hollow of his arm held it in both hands, ready for instant use. The men +came nearer, looking along the edge of the forest, perhaps for water, +and, as he saw them better, he liked them less. The apparent leader was +a short, broad fellow of middle years, and sinister face, with huge gold +rings in his ears. All of them were seamed and scarred and to Robert +their looks were distinctly evil. + +The door of welcome suddenly shut with a snap, and he meant to bar it on +the inside if he could. His instinct gave him an insistent warning. +These men must not penetrate the forest. They must not find his house +and treasures. Fortunately the dinghy was up the creek, hidden under +overhanging boughs. But the event depended upon chance. If they found +quickly the water for which they must be looking, they might take it and +leave with the schooner before morning. He devoutly hoped that it would +be so. The lad who had been so lonely and desolate an hour or two +before, longing for the arrival of human beings, was equally eager, now +that they had come, that they should go away. + +The men began to talk in some foreign tongue, Spanish or Portuguese or a +Levantine jargon, perhaps, and searched assiduously along the edges of +the forest. Robert, lurking in the undergrowth, caught the word "aqua" +or "agua," which he knew meant water, and so he was right in his surmise +about their errand. There was a fine spring about two hundred yards +farther on, and he hoped they would soon stumble upon it. + +All his skill as a trailer, though disused now for many months, came +back to him. He was able to steal through the grass and bushes without +making any noise and to creep near enough to hear the words they said. +They went half way to the spring, then stopped and began to talk. Robert +was in fear lest they turn back, and a wider search elsewhere would +surely take them to his house. But the men were now using English. + +"There should be water ahead," said the swart leader. "We're going down +into a dip, and that's just the place where springs are found." + +Another man, also short and dark, urged that they turn back, but the +leader prevailed. + +"There must be water farther on," he said. "I was never on this island +before, neither were you, Jose, but it's not likely the trees and bushes +would grow so thick down there if plenty of water didn't soak their +roots." + +He had his way and they went on, with Robert stalking them on a parallel +line in the undergrowth, and now he knew they would find the water. The +spirit of the island was watching over its own, and, by giving them what +they wanted at once, would send these evil characters away. The leader +uttered a shout of triumph when he saw the water gleaming through the +trees. + +"I told you it was here, didn't I, Jose?" he said. "Trust me, a sailor +though I am, to read the lay of the land." + +The spring as it ran from under a rock formed a little pool, and all of +the men knelt down, drinking with noise and gurglings. Then the leader +walked back toward the beach, and fired both shots from a +double-barreled pistol into the air. Robert judged that it was a signal, +probably to indicate that they had found water. Presently a second and +larger boat, containing at least a dozen men, put out from the schooner. +A third soon followed and both brought casks which were filled at the +spring and which they carried back to the ship. + +Robert, still and well hidden, watched everything, and he was glad that +he had obeyed his instinct not to trust them. He had never seen a crew +more sinister in looks, not even on the slaver, and they were probably +pirates. They were a jumble of all nations, and that increased his +suspicion. So mixed a company, in a time of war, could be brought +together only for evil purposes. + +It was hard for him to tell who was the captain, but the leader who had +first come ashore seemed to have the most authority, although nearly all +did about as they pleased to the accompaniment of much talk and many +oaths. Still they worked well at filling the water casks, and Robert +hoped they would soon be gone. Near midnight, however, one of the boats +came back, loaded with food, and kegs and bottles of spirits. His heart +sank. They were going to have a feast or an orgie on the beach and the +day would be sure to find them there. Then they might conclude to +explore the island, or at least far enough to find his house. + +They dragged up wood, lighted a fire, warmed their food and ate and +drank, talking much, and now and then singing wild songs. Robert knew +with absolute certainty that this was another pirate ship, a rover of +the Gulf or the Caribbean, hiding among the islands and preying upon +anything not strong enough to resist her. + +The men filled him with horror and loathing. The light of the flames +fell on their faces and heightened the evil in them, if that were +possible. Several of them, drinking heavily of the spirits, were already +in a bestial state, and were quarreling with one another. The others +paid no attention to them. There was no discipline. + +Apparently they were going to make a night of it, and Robert watched, +fascinated by the first sight of his own kind in many months, but +repelled by their savagery when they had come. Some of the men fell down +before the fires and went to sleep. The others did not awaken them, +which he took to be clear proof that they would remain until the next +day. + +A drop of water fell on his face and he looked up. He had been there so +long, and he was so much absorbed in what was passing before his eyes +that he had not noted the great change in the nature of the night. Moon +and stars were gone. Heavy clouds were sailing low. Thunder muttered on +the western horizon, and there were flashes of distant lightning. + +Hope sprang up in Robert's heart. Perhaps the fear of a storm would +drive them to the shelter of the ship, but they did not stir. Either +they did not dread rain, or they were more weatherwise than he. The +orgie deepened. Two of the men who were quarreling drew pistols, but the +swart leader struck them aside, and spoke to them so fiercely that they +put back their weapons, and, a minute later, Robert saw them drinking +together in friendship. + +The storm did not break. The wind blew, and, now and then, drops of rain +fell, but it did not seem able to get beyond the stage of thunder and +lightning. Yet it tried hard, and it became, even to Robert, used to the +vagaries of nature, a grim and sinister night. The thunder, in its +steady growling, was full of menace, and the lightning, reddish in +color, smelled of sulphur. It pleased Robert to think that the island +was resenting the evil presence of the men from the schooner. + +The ruffians, however, seemed to take no notice of the change. It was +likely that they had not been ashore for a long time before, and they +were making the most of it. They continued to eat and the bottles of +spirits were passed continuously from one to another. Robert had heard +many a dark tale of piracy on the Spanish Main and among the islands, +but he had never dreamed he would come into such close contact with it +as he was now doing for the second time. + +He knew it was lucky for the men that the storm did not break. The +schooner in her position would be almost sure to drag her anchor and +then would drive on the rocks, but they seemed to have no apprehensions, +and, it was quite evident now, that they were not going back to the +vessel until the next day. The ghastly quality of the night increased, +however. The lightning flared so much and it was so red that it was +uncanny, it even had a supernatural tinge, and the sullen rumbling of +the distant thunder added to it. + +The effect upon Robert, situated as he was and alone for many months, +was very great. Something weird, something wild and in touch with the +storm that threatened but did not break, crept into his own blood. He +was filled with hatred and contempt of the men who caroused there. He +wondered what crimes they had committed on those seas, and he had not +the least doubt that the list was long and terrible. He ought to be an +avenging spirit. He wished intensely that Tayoga was with him in the +bush. The Onondaga would be sure to devise some plan to punish them or +to fill them with fear. He felt at that moment as if he belonged to a +superior race or order, and would like to stretch forth his hand and +strike down those who disgraced their kind. + +The swart leader at last took note of the skies and their sinister +aspect. Robert saw him walking back and forth and looking up. More than +half of his men were stretched full length, either asleep or in a +stupor, but some of the others stood, and glanced at the skies. Robert +thought he saw apprehension in their eyes, or at least his imagination +put it there. + +A wild and fantastic impulse seized him. These men were children of the +sea, superstitious, firm believers in omens, and witchcraft, ready to +see the ghosts of the slain, all the more so because they were stained +with every crime, then committed so freely under the black flag. He had +many advantages, too. He was a master of woodcraft, only their +wilderness was that of the waters. + +He gave forth the long, melancholy hoot of the owl, and he did it so +well that he was surprised at his own skill. The note, full of +desolation and menace, seemed to come back in many echoes. He saw the +swart leader and the men with him start and look fearfully toward the +forest that curved so near. Then he saw them talking together and gazing +at the point from which the sound had come. Perhaps they were trying to +persuade themselves the note was only fancy. + +Robert laughed softly to himself. He was pleased, immensely pleased with +his experiment. His fantastic mood grew. He was a spirit of the woods +himself; one of those old fauns of the Greeks, and he was really there +to punish the evil invaders of his island. His body seemed to grow light +with his spirit and he slid away among the trees with astonishing ease, +as sure of foot and as noiseless as Tayoga himself. Then the owl gave +forth his long, lonely cry with increased volume and fervor. It was a +note filled with complaint and mourning, and it told of the desolation +that overspread a desolate world. + +Robert knew now that the leader and his men were disturbed. He could +tell it by the anxious way in which they watched the woods, and, gliding +farther around the circle, he sent forth the cry a third time. He was +quite sure that he had made a further increase in its desolation and +menace, and he saw the swart leader and his men draw together as if they +were afraid. + +The owl was not the only trick in Robert's trade. His ambition took a +wide sweep and fancy was fertile. He had aroused in these men the fear +of the supernatural, a dread that the ghosts of those whom they had +murdered had come back to haunt or punish them. He had been an apt pupil +of Tayoga before the slaver came to Albany, and now he meant to show the +ruffians that the owl was not the only spirit of fate hovering over +them. + +The deep growl of a bear came from the thicket, not the growl of an +ordinary black bear, comedian of the forest, but the angry rumble of +some great ursine beast of which the black bear was only a dwarf cousin. +Then he moved swiftly to another point and repeated it. + +He heard the leader cursing and trying to calm the fears of the men +while it was evident that his own too were aroused. The fellow suddenly +drew a pistol and fired a bullet into the forest. Robert heard it +cutting the leaves near him. But he merely lay down and laughed. His +fantastic impulse was succeeding in more brilliant fashion than he had +hoped. + +Imitating their leader, six or eight of the men snatched out pistols and +fired at random into the woods. The cry of a panther, drawn out, long, +full of ferocity and woe, plaintive on its last note, like the haunting +lament of a woman, was their answer. He heard a gasp of fear from the +men, but the leader, of stauncher stuff, cowed them with his curses. + +Robert moved back on his course, and then gave forth the shrill, fierce +yelp of the hungry wolf, dying into an angry snarl. It was, perhaps, a +more menacing note than that of the larger animals, and he plainly saw +the ruffians shiver. He was creating in them the state of mind that he +wanted, and his spirits flamed yet higher. All things seemed possible to +him in his present mood. + +He moved once more and then lay flat in the dense bushes. He fancied +that the pirates would presently fire another volley into the shadows, +and, in a moment of desperate courage, might even come into the forest. +His first thought was correct, as the leader told off the steadier men, +and, walking up and down in front of the forest, they raked it for a +considerable distance with pistol shots. All of them, of course, passed +well over Robert's head, and as soon as they finished he went back to +his beginnings, giving forth the owl's lament. + +He heard the leader curse more fiercely than ever before, and he saw +several of the men who had been pulling trigger retreat to the fire. It +was evident to him that the terror of the thing was entering their +souls. The night itself, as if admiring his plan, was lending him the +greatest possible aid. The crimson lightning never ceased to quiver and +the sullen rumble of the distant thunder was increasing. It was easy +enough for men, a natural prey to superstition, and, with the memories +of many crimes, to believe that the island was haunted, that the ghosts +of those they had slain were riding the lightning, and that demons, +taking the forms of animals, were waiting for them in the bushes. + +But the swart leader was a man of courage and he still held his ruffians +together. He cursed them fiercely, told them to stand firm, to reload +their pistols and to be ready for any danger. Those who still slumbered +by the fire were kicked until they awoke, and, with something of a +commander's skill, the man drew up his besotted band against the mystic +dangers that threatened so closely. + +But Robert produced a new menace. He was like one inspired that night. +The dramatic always appealed to him and his success stimulated him to +new histrionic efforts. He had planted in their minds the terror of +animals, now he would sow the yet greater terror of human beings, +knowing well that man's worst and most dreaded enemy was man. + +He uttered a deep groan, a penetrating, terrible groan, the wail of a +soul condemned to wander between the here and the hereafter, a cry from +one who had been murdered, a cry that would doubtless appeal to every +one of the ruffians as the cry of his own particular victim. The effect +was startling. The men uttered a yell of fright, and started in a panic +run for the boats, but the leader threatened them with his leveled +pistol and stopped them, although the frightful groan came a second +time. + +"There's nothing in the bush!" Robert heard him say. "There can't be! +The place has no people and we know there are no big wild animals on the +islands in these seas! It's some freak of the wind playing tricks with +us!" + +He held his men, though they were still frightened, and to encourage +them and to prove that no enemy, natural or supernatural, was near, he +plunged suddenly into the bushes to see the origin of the terrifying +sounds. His action was wholly unexpected, and chance brought him to the +very point where Robert was. The lad leaped to his feet and the pirate +sprang back aghast, thinking perhaps that he had come face to face with +a ghost. Then with a snarl of malignant anger he leveled the pistol that +he held in his hand. But Robert struck instantly with his clubbed +rifle, and his instinctive impulse was so great that he smote with +tremendous force. The man was caught full and fair on the head, and, +reeling back from the edge of the bushes in which they stood, fell dead +in the open, where all his men could see. + +It was enough. The demons, the ghosts that haunted them for their +crimes, were not very vocal, but they struck with fearful power. They +had smitten down the man who tried to keep them on their island, and +they were not going to stay one second longer. There was a combined yell +of horror, the rush of frightened feet, and, reaching their boats, they +rowed with all speed for the schooner, leaving behind them the body of +their dead comrade. + +Robert, awed a little by his own success in demonology, watched until +they climbed on board the ship, drawing the boats after them. Then they +hoisted the anchor, made sail, and presently he saw the schooner tacking +in the wind, obviously intending to leave in all haste that terrible +place. + +She became a ghost ship, a companion to the _Flying Dutchman_, outlined +in red by the crimson lightning that still played at swift intervals. +Now she turned to the color of blood, and the sea on which she swam was +a sea of blood. Robert watched her until at last, a dim, red haze, she +passed out of sight. Then he turned and looked at the body of the man +whom he had slain. + +He shuddered. He had never intended to take the leader's life. Five +minutes before it occurred he would have said such a thing was +impossible. It was merely the powerful impulse of self-protection that +had caused him to strike with such deadly effect, and he was sorry. The +man, beyond all doubt, was a robber and murderer who had forfeited his +life a dozen times, and still he was sorry. It was a tragedy to him to +take the life of any one, no matter how evil the fallen might be. + +He went back to the house, brought a shovel, one of the numerous ship's +stores, and buried the body at once high up the beach where the greatest +waves could not reach it and wash it away. He did his task to the rumble +of thunder and the flash of lightning, but, when he finished it, dawn +came and then the storm that had threatened but that had never burst +passed away. He felt, though, that it had not menaced him. To him it was +a good storm, kindly and protecting, and giving sufficient help in his +purpose that had succeeded so well. + +It was a beautiful day, the air crisp with as much winter as the island +ever knew, and shot with the beams from a brilliant sun, but Robert was +exhausted. He had passed through a night of intense emotions, various, +every one of them poignant, and he had made physical and mental efforts +of his own that fairly consumed the nerves. He felt as if he could lie +down and sleep for a year, that it would take at least that long to +build up his body and mind as they were yesterday. + +He dragged himself through the woods, forced his unwilling muscles to +cook a breakfast which he ate. Then he laid himself down on his bed, his +nerves now quiet, and fell asleep at once. When he awoke it was night +and he lay giving thanks for his great escape until he slept again. When +he awoke a second time day had returned, and, rising, he went about his +usual tasks with a light heart. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SLOOP OF WAR + + +Robert ate a light breakfast and went out to look at his domain, now +unsullied. What a fine, trim, clean island it was! And how desirable to +be alone on it, when the Gulf and the Caribbean produced only such +visitors as those who had come two nights before! He looked toward the +little bay, fearing to see the topmast of the schooner showing its tip +over the trees, but the sky there, an unbroken blue, was fouled by no +such presence. He was rid of the pirates--and forever he hoped. + +It seemed to him that he had passed through an epic time, one of the +great periods of his life. He wondered now how he had been able to carry +out such a plan, how he had managed to summon up courage and resources +enough, and he felt that the good spirits of earth and air and water +must have been on his side. They had fought for him and they had won for +him the victory. + +He shouldered his rifle and strolled through the woods toward the beach. +He had never noticed before what a fine forest it was. The trees were +not as magnificent as those of the northern wilderness, but they had a +beauty very peculiarly their own, and they were his. There was not a +single other claimant to them anywhere in the world. + +It was a noble beach too, smooth, sloping, piled with white sand, +gleaming now in the sun, and the little frothy waves that ran up it and +lapped at his feet, like puppies nibbling, were just the friendliest +frothy little waves in the world. But there were the remains of the fire +left by the ruffians to defile it, and broken bottles and broken food +were scattered about. The litter hurt his eyes so much that he gathered +up every fragment, one by one, and threw them into the sea. When the +last vestige of the foul invasion was cleared away he felt that he had +his lonely, clean island back again, and he was happy. + +He strolled up and down the glistening beach, feeling a great content. +After a while, he threw off his clothes and swam in the invigorating +sea, keeping well inside the white line of the breakers, in those waters +into which the sharks did not come. When he had sunned himself again on +the sand he went to the creek, took his dinghy from the bushes, where it +had been so well hidden, and rowed out to sea, partly to feel the spring +of the muscles in his arms, and partly to sit off at a distance and look +at his island. Surely if one had to be cast away that was the very +island on which he would choose to be cast! Not too big! Not too hot! +And not too cold! Without savage man or savage beasts, but with plenty +of wild cattle for the taking, and good fish in the lakes, and in the +seas about it. Plenty of stores of all kinds from the slaver's schooner, +even books to read. So far from being unfortunate he was one of the +lucky. A period of retirement from the companionship of his own kind +might be trying on the spirit, but it also meant meditation and mental +growth. + +His joy over the departure of the pirates was so great and his +temperament was such that he felt a mighty revulsion of the spirits. He +had a period of extravagant elation. He took off his cap and saluted his +island. He made little speeches of glowing compliment to it, he called +it the pearl of its kind, the choicest gem of the Gulf or the Caribbean, +and, if pirates came again while he was there, he would drive them away +once more with the aid of the good spirits. + +He rowed back, hid his boat in the old covert among the bushes at the +edge of the creek, and, rifle on shoulder, started through the forest +toward his peak of observation. On the way, he passed the lake and saw +the herd of wild cattle grazing there, the old bull at its head. The big +fellow, assured now by use and long immunity, cocked his head on one +side and regarded him with a friendly eye. But the bull had a terrible +surprise. He heard the sharp ping of a rifle and a fearful yell. Then he +saw a figure capering in wild gyrations, and thinking that this human +being whom he had learned to trust must have gone mad, he forgot to be +angry, but was very much frightened. Enemies he could fight, but mad +creatures he dreaded, and, bellowing hoarsely to his convoy, as a +signal, he took flight, all of them following him, their tails streaming +straight out behind them, so fast they ran. + +Robert leaped and danced as long as one of them was in sight. When the +last streaming tail had disappeared in the bushes he sobered down. He +realized that he had given his friend, the bull, a great shock. In a +way, he had been guilty of a breach of faith, and he resolved to +apologize to him in some fashion the next time they met. Yet he had been +so exultant that it was impossible not to show it, and he was only a lad +in years. + +When he reached the crest of his peak he scanned the sea on all sides. +Eagerly as he had looked before for a sail he now looked to see that +there was none. Around and around the circle of the horizon his eyes +traveled, and when he assured himself that no blur broke the bright line +of sea and sky his heart swelled with relief. + +In a day or so, his mind became calm and his thoughts grew sober. Then +he settled down to his studies. The battle of life occupied only a small +portion of his time, and he resolved to put the hours to the best use. +He pored much over Shakespeare, the other Elizabethans and the King +James Bible, a copy of which was among the books. It was his intention +to become a lawyer, an orator, and if possible a statesman. He knew that +he had the gift of speech. His mind was full of thoughts and words +always crowded to his lips. It was easy enough for him to speak, but he +must speak right. The thoughts he wished to utter must be clothed in the +right kind of words arranged in the right way, and he resolved that it +should be so. + +The way in which men thought and the way in which their thoughts were +put in the Bible and the great Elizabethans fascinated him. That was the +way in which he would try to think, and the way in which he would try to +put his thoughts. So he recited the noble passages over and over again, +he memorized many of them, and he listened carefully to himself as he +spoke them, alike for the sense and the music and power of the words. + +It was then perhaps that he formed the great style for which he was so +famous in after years. His vocabulary became remarkable for its range, +flexibility and power, and he developed the art of selection. His rivals +even were used to say of him that he always chose the best word. He +learned there on the island that language was not given to man merely +that he might make a noise, but that he might use it as a great marksman +uses a rifle. + +Work and study together filled his days. They kept far from him also any +feeling of despair. He had an abiding faith that a ship of the right +kind would come in time and take him away. He must not worry about it. +It was his task now to fit himself for the return, to prove to his +friends when he saw them once more that all the splendid opportunities +offered to him on the island had not been wasted. + +Almost unconsciously, he began to reason more deeply, to look further +into the causes of things, and his mind turned particularly to the +present war. The more he thought about it the greater became his +conviction that England and the colonies were bound to win. Courage and +numbers, resources and tenacity must prevail even over great initial +mistakes. Duquesne and Ticonderoga would be brushed away as mere events +that had no control over destiny. + +He remembered Bigot's ball in Quebec that Willet and Tayoga and he had +attended. It came before him again almost as vivid as reality. He +realized now in the light of greater age and experience how it typified +decadence. A power that was rotten at the top, where the brain should +be, could never defeat one that was full of youthful ardor and strength, +sound through and through, awkward and ill directed though that strength +might be. The young French leaders and their soldiers were valiant, +skillful and enduring--they had proved it again and again on sanguinary +fields--but they could not prevail when they had to receive orders from +a corrupt and reckless court at Versailles, and, above all when they had +to look to that court for help that never came. + +His reading of the books in the slaver's chest told him that folly and +crime invariably paid the penalty, if not in one way then in another, +and he remembered too some of the ancient Greek plays, over which he had +toiled under the stern guidance of Master Alexander McLean. Their burden +was the certainty of fate. You could never escape, no matter how you +writhed, from what you did, and those old writers must have told the +truth, else men would not be reading and studying them two thousand +years after they were dead. Only truth could last twenty centuries. +Bigot, Cadet, Pean, and the others, stealing from France and Canada and +spending the money in debauchery, could not be victorious, despite all +the valor of Montcalm and St. Luc and De Levis and their comrades. + +He remembered, too, the great contrast between Quebec and New York that +had struck him when he arrived at the port at the mouth of the Hudson +with the hunter and the Onondaga. The French capital in Canada was all +of the state; it was its creature. If the state declined, it declined, +there was little strength at the roots, little that sprang from the +soil, but in New York, which men already forecast as the metropolis of +the New World, there was strength everywhere. It might be a sprawling +town. There might be no courtliness to equal the courtliness at the +heart of Quebec, but there was vigor, vigor everywhere. The people were +eager, restless, curious, always they worked and looked ahead. + +He saw all these things very clearly. Silence, loneliness and distance +gave a magnificent perspective. Facts that were obscured when he was +near at hand, now stood out sharp and true. His thoughts in this period +were often those of a man double his age. His iron health too remained. +His was most emphatically the sound mind in the sound body, each helping +the other, each stimulating the other to greater growth. + +It was a fact, however, that the Onondaga belief, peopling the air and +all sorts of inanimate objects with spirits, grew upon him; perhaps it +is better to say that it was a feeling rather than a belief. According +to Tayoga the good spirits fought with the bad, and on his island the +good had prevailed. They had told him that a ship was coming, and then +they had warned him that it would be a ship of pirates. They had shown +him how to drive away the ruffians. His inspiration had not been his +own, it had come from them and he thankfully acknowledged it. + +He told himself now as he went about his island that he heard the good +spirits singing among the leaves and he told it to himself so often that +he ended by believing it. It was such a pleasant and consoling belief +too. He listened to hear them say that he would leave the island when +the time was ripe and his imagination was now so extraordinarily vivid +that what he expected to hear he heard. The spirits assured him that +when the time came to go he would go. They did not tell him exactly when +he would go, but that could not be asked. No one must anticipate a +complete unveiling of the future. It was sufficient that intimations +came out of it now and then. + +It was this feeling, amounting to a conviction, that bore him up on a +shield of steel. It soothed the natural impatience of his youth and +temperament. Why grieve over not going when he knew that he would go? +Yet, a long time passed and there was no sail upon the sea, though the +fact failed to shake his faith. Often he climbed his peak of observation +and studied the circling horizon through the glasses, only to find +nothing, but he was never discouraged. There was never any fall of the +spirits. No ship showed, but the ship that was coming might even then be +on the way. She had left some port, probably one in England, not +dreaming that it was a most important destiny and duty of hers to pick +up a lone lad cast away on an island in the Gulf or the Caribbean--at +least it was most important to him. + +Now came a time of storms that seemed to him to portend a change in the +seasons. The island was swept by wind and rain, but he liked to be +lashed by both. He even went out in the dinghy in storms, though he kept +inside the reefs, and fought with wave and undertow and swell, until, +pleasantly exhausted, he retreated to the beach, drawing his little boat +after him, where he watched the sea, vainly struggling to reach the one +who had defied it. It was after such contests that he felt strongest of +the spirit, ready to challenge anything. + +He plunged deeper and deeper into his studies, striving to understand +everything. The intensity of his application was possible only because +he was alone. Forced to probe, to examine and to ponder, his mind +acquired new strength. Many things which otherwise would have been +obscure to him became plain. Looking back upon his own eventful life +since that meeting with St. Luc and Tandakora in the forest, he was +better able to read motives and to understand men. The reason why Adrian +Van Zoon wished him to vanish must be money, because only money could be +powerful enough to make such a man risk a terrible crime. Well, he would +have a great score to settle with Van Zoon. He did not yet know just how +he would settle it, but he did not doubt that the day of reckoning would +come. + +A cask of oil and several lanterns were among his treasures from the +ship, and, making use of them, he frequently read late at night, often +with the rain beating hard on walls and roof. Then it seemed to him that +his mind was clearest, and he resolved again and again that when he +returned to his own he would make full use of what he learned on the +island. It seemed to him sometimes that his being cast away was a piece +of luck and not a misfortune. + +A clear day came, and, taking his rifle, he strolled toward his peak of +observation, passing on the way the herd of wild cattle with the old +bull at its head. The big fellow looked at him suspiciously, as if +fearing that his friend might be suffering from one of his mad spells +again. But Robert's conduct was quite correct. He walked by in a quiet +and dignified manner, and, reassured, the bull went back to his task of +reducing the visible grass supply. + +He saw nothing from the peak except the green island and the blue sea +all about it, but there was a singing wind among the leaves and it was +easy for him to sit down on a rock and fall into a dreaming state. The +good spirits were abroad, and it was their voices that he heard among +the leaves. Their chant too was full of courage, hope and promise, and +his spirits lifted as he listened. They were watching over him, guarding +him from evil, and he felt, at last, that they were telling him +something. + +It is not always easy to know the exact burden of a song, even if it is +uplifting, and Robert listened a long time, trying to decipher exactly +what the good spirits were saying to him. It was just such a song as +they sang to him before the pirate ship came, saving one strain and that +was most important. There was no underlying note of warning. Hunt for it +as he would, with his fullest power of hearing, he could detect no trace +of it. Then he became convinced. Another ship was coming, and this time +it was no pirate craft. + +He roused himself from his dreaming state and shook his head, but the +vision did not depart. The ship was coming and it was for him to receive +it. The news of it had been written too deeply upon the sensitive plate +of his brain to be effaced, and, as he walked back toward the house, it +seemed to grow more vivid. He was too much excited to study that day, +and he spent the time building a great heap of wood upon the beach. Even +if one were helped by good spirits he must do his own part. They might +bring the ship to the horizon's rim, but it was for him to summon it +from there, and he would have a great bonfire ready. + +The brilliance of the day departed in the afternoon, and it became +apparent that the season of rain and storm was not yet over. Clouds +marched up in grim battalions from the south and west, rain came in +swift puffs and then in long, heavy showers, the sea heaved, breaking +into great waves and the surf dashed fiercely on the sharp teeth of the +rocks. + +Robert's spirits fell. This was not the way in which a rescuing ship +should come, under a somber sky and before driving winds. Perhaps he had +read the voices of the spirits wrong, or at least the ship, instead of +coming now, was coming at some later time, a month or two months away +maybe. He watched through the rest of the afternoon, hoping that the +clouds would leave, but they only thickened, and, long before the time +of sunset, it was almost as dark as night. He was compelled to remain in +the shelter of the house, and, in a state of deep depression, he ate his +supper without appetite. + +The storm was one of the fiercest he had seen while on the island. The +rain drove in sheets, beating upon the walls and roof of the house like +hail, and the wind kept up a continuous whistling and screaming. All the +while the house trembled over him. Nor was there any human voice in the +wind. The good spirits, if such existed, would not dare the storm, but +had retreated to cover. All the illusion was gone, he was just a lonely +boy on a lonely island, listening to the wrath of a hurricane, a ship +might or might not come, most probably never, or if it did it would be +another pirate. + +The storm did not seem to abate as the evening went on, perhaps it was +the climax of the season. Tired of hearing its noise he lay down on his +couch and at last fell asleep. He was awakened from slumber by an impact +upon the drum of his ear like a light blow, but, sitting up, he realized +that it was a sound. The storm had not abated. He heard the beat of wind +and rain as before, but he knew it was something else that had aroused +him. The noise of the storm was regular, it was going on when he fell +asleep, and it had never ceased while he slept. This was something +irregular, something out of tune with it, and rising above it. He +listened intently, every nerve and pulse alive, body and mind at the +high pitch of excitement, and then the sound came again, low but +distinct, and rising above the steady crash of the storm. + +He knew the note. He had heard it often, too often on that terrible day +at Ticonderoga. It could be but one thing. It was the boom of a cannon, +and it could come only from a ship, a ship in danger, a ship driven by +the storm, knowing nothing of either sea or island, sending forth her +signal of distress which was also a cry for help. + +It was his ship! The ship of rescue! But he must first rescue _it_! Now +he heard the voices of the good spirits, the voices that had been silent +all through the afternoon and evening, singing through the storm, +calling to him, summoning him to action. He had not taken off his +clothes and he leaped from the couch, snatched up a lighted lantern, +stuffed flint and steel in his pocket, and ran out into the wind and +rain, of which he was now scarcely conscious. + +The boom came to his ears a second time, off to the east, and now +distinctly the report of a cannon. He waited a little, watching, and, +when the report came a third time, he saw dimly the flash of the gun, +but it was too dark for him to see anything of the ship. She was outside +the reefs, how far he could not tell, but he knew by the difference in +the three reports that she was driving toward the island. + +It was for him to save the unknown vessel that was to save him, and in +the darkness and storm he felt equal to the task. His soul leaped within +him. His whole body seemed to expand. He knew what to do, and, quick as +lightning, he did it. He ran at full speed through the woods, his +lighted lantern swinging on his arm, and twice on the way he heard the +boom of the cannon, each time a little nearer. The reports merely made +him run faster. Time was precious, and in the moment of utmost need he +was not willing to lose a second. + +He reached the great heap of wood that he had built up on the beach, +worked frantically with flint and steel, shielding the shavings at the +bottom with his body, and quickly set fire to them. The blaze crackled, +leaped and grew. He had built his pyramid so well, and he had selected +such inflammable material, that he knew, if the flames once took hold, +the wind would fan them so fiercely the rain could not put them out. + +Higher sprang the blaze, running to the crest of the pyramid, roaring in +the wind and then sending out defiant hissing tongues at the rain. The +boom of the cannon came once more, and, then by the light of his +splendid bonfire, he looked. There was the ship outside the reefs which +his great pyramid of flame now enabled her to see. He shouted in his +joy, and threw on more wood. If he could only build that pyramid high +enough they would see the opening too and make for it. + +He worked frantically, throwing on driftwood, the accumulation of many +years, and the flames biting into every fresh log, roared and leaped +higher. The ship ceased to fire her signal guns, and now he saw, with a +great surge of joy, that she was beating up in the storm and trying for +the opening in the reef, her only chance, the chance that he had given +her. He had done his part and he could do no more but feed the fire. + +As he threw on wood he watched. His pyramid of flame roared and threw +out sparks in myriads. The ship, a sloop, was having a desperate +struggle with wind and wave, but his beacon was always there, showing +her the way, and he never doubted for a moment that she would make the +haven. He was sure of it. It was a terrible storm, and there was a +fierce sea beating on the reefs, but a master mind was on the sloop, the +mind of a great sailor, and that mind, responding to his signal of the +fire, the only one that could have been made, was steering the ship +straight for the opening in the reef. + +His glasses were always in his pocket, and, remembering them now for the +first time, he clapped them to his eyes. The sloop and her tracery of +mast and spars became distinct. He saw guns on the deck and men, men in +uniform, and he could see well enough, a moment or two later, to tell +that they wore the uniform of Britain. His heart gave a wild throb. The +spirits in the air were good spirits, and the storm had never been able +to drive them away. They had been calling to him when he thought they +were silent, only he had not been able to hear them. + +He gave a wild shout of joy that could be heard above the crash of the +storm. Triumph was assured. He was rescuing, and he would be rescued. He +did not realize until that instant how eager he was to be taken from the +island, how he longed, with all his soul, to rejoin his own kind, to see +his friends again and to take a part in the great events that were +shaking the world. He uttered his wild shout over and over, and, in +between, he laughed, laughed with a joy that he could not control. + +The sloop entered the opening. It seemed to him that the rocks, those +fearful sharks' teeth, almost grazed her on either side, and his heart +stood still, but she went safely past them, drew into the little harbor +where she was safe from the wildest storm that ever blew, dropped +anchor, and was at rest. + +Robert in his exultation had never permitted his fire to die down an +inch. Rather he had made it grow higher and higher until it was a vast +core of light, throwing a red glare over the beach and the adjacent +waves, and sending off vast showers of sparks. But when the ship cast +anchor in her port he stood still before it, a dark figure, a perfect +silhouette outlined against a blazing background, and watched, while a +boat was launched from the sloop. + +He saw five figures descend into the boat. Four were sailors and one an +officer in uniform, and he knew well that they were coming to see him, +the human being by the fire who had saved them. Pride was mingled with +his joy. If he had not been there the sloop and probably all on board of +her would have perished. It was touch and go, only a brief opportunity +to save had been allowed him, but he had used it. So he raised himself +to his full height, straightened his clothes, for which he always had +respect despite the storm, and waited on. He had a full sense of drama, +and he felt that this was one of the most dramatic moments of his life. + +The boat came up the beach on a wave, the men sprang out, held it as the +wave retreated, and then dragged it after them until it was beyond the +reach of invading water. Robert meanwhile never stirred, and the great +fire behind him enlarged his figure to heroic proportions. + +The officer, young, handsome, in the British naval uniform, walked +forward, with the four sailors following in a close group behind, but he +stopped again, and looked at the strange figure before him. Evidently +something in its pose, in its whole appearance, in truth, made an +extraordinary impression upon him. He passed his hands before his eyes +as if to make sure that it was no blur of the vision, and then he went +forward again, the sailors keeping close behind, as if they were in fear +lest the figure prove to be supernatural. + +"Who are you?" called the young officer. + +"Robert Lennox, of Albany, the Province of New York, and the +wilderness," replied Robert. "Welcome to my island." + +His sense of drama was still strong upon him, and he replied in his +fullest and clearest voice. The officer stared, and then said: + +"You've saved the ship and all our lives." + +"I think that's what I was here for, though it's likely that you've +saved me, too. What ship it that?" + +"His Majesty's sloop of war, _Hawk_, Captain Stuart Whyte, from +Bridgetown in the Barbadoes, for Boston." + +Robert thrilled when he heard the word "Boston." It was not New York, +but it was a port for home, nevertheless. + +"Who are you?" continued the officer, on fire with curiosity. "You've +told me your name, but what are you? and where are the other people of +the island?" + +"There are no other people. It's my island. I'm sole lord of the isle, +and you're most welcome." + +"You heard our signal guns?" + +"Aye, I heard 'em, but I knew before you fired a shot that you were +coming." + +"'Tis impossible!" + +"It's not! I knew it, though I can't explain how to you. Behold my +bonfire! Do you think I could have built such a pyramid of wood between +the firing of your first shot and your coming into my harbor? No, I was +ready and waiting for you." + +"That's convincing." + +"I repeat that I welcome you to Lennox Island. My house is but a short +distance inland in a beautiful forest. I should like to receive Captain +Whyte there as an honored guest, and you, too." + +"Your house?" + +"Aye, my house. And it's well built and well furnished. You'd be +surprised to know how much comfort it can offer." + +The officer--a lieutenant--and the men, coming closer, inspected Robert +with the most minute curiosity. Lone men on desert islands were likely +to go insane, and it was a momentary thought of the officer that he was +dealing with some such unhappy creature, but Robert's sentences were too +crisp, and his figure too erect and trim for the thought to endure more +than a few seconds. + +"It's raining heavily," he said, "and Captain Whyte will be glad to be a +guest at your home later. I'll admit that for a moment I doubted the +existence of your house, but I don't now. Are you willing to go on board +the _Hawk_ with us and meet Captain Whyte?" + +"Gladly," replied Robert, who felt that his dramatic moment was being +prolonged. "The storm is dying now. Having done its worst against you, +and, having failed, it seems willing to pass away." + +"But we don't forget that you saved us," said the officer. "My name is +Lanham, John Lanham, and I'm a lieutenant on the _Hawk_." + +The storm was, in truth, whistling away to the westward and its rage, so +far as Robert's island was concerned, was fully spent. The waves were +sinking and the night was lightening fast. The sloop of war, heaving at +her anchorage, stood up sharp and clear, and it seemed to Robert that +there was something familiar in her lines. As he looked he was sure. +Coincidence now and then stretches forth her long arm, and she had +stretched it now. + +The sailors, when the sea died yet more, relaunched the boat. Lanham and +Robert sprang in, and the men bent to the oars. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BACK TO THE WORLD + + +Captain Stuart Whyte of His Majesty's gallant sloop of war, the _Hawk_, +was standing on his own quarterdeck, looking curiously at the scene +about him, and, taking it in, as well as he could, by the light of a +great bonfire blazing on the beach some distance away. He was a young +officer and his immense relief predominated over his curiosity. The +_Hawk_ was a fine sloop, and he loved her, but there had been a terrible +time that night when he thought she was lost and her crew and himself +with her. + +He had seen more than one storm in these sudden seas, but this was +perhaps the worst. All bearings were gone, and then the signs showed +breakers. He was a brave man and he had brave officers, but every one of +them had despaired, until suddenly a light, a pillar of fire, rose in +the darkness and the storm, almost from the heart of the ocean, as if it +had been evoked by his own signal guns. Then, by this marvelous beacon, +they had scraped between the rocks and into safety. Clearly it was a +miracle, and young Captain Whyte felt a deep and devout gratitude. He +had then sent one of his best officers ashore to see the man who had +saved them, and, meanwhile, he had stood by, watching through his +glasses. + +He saw the man of the island get into the boat with Lanham and approach +the sloop. The storm had now sunk much, and it was not difficult to come +aboard, but Captain Whyte, still intensely curious, but with a proper +sense of his own dignity, withdrew to his cabin where he might receive +the lord of the isle in state. + +He rose politely, and then stared at the tall youth who came in with +Lieutenant Lanham, the water running from his clothes. Yet the stranger +had a dignity fully equal to his own, and there was also something very +uncommon about him, a look of strength and confidence extraordinary in +one so young. + +"Won't you sit down?" said Captain Whyte. + +Robert glanced at his clothes. + +"I bring the storm with me," he said--he often spoke in the language +that he had unconsciously imbibed in much reading of the Elizabethans. + +"Never mind that. Water won't hurt my cabin, and if it did you're +welcome just the same. I suppose you represent the people of the island, +to whom my crew and I owe so much." + +"I am the people of the island." + +"You mean that you're here alone?" + +"Exactly that. But tell me, before we go any further, Captain, what +month this is." + +"May." + +"And the year?" + +"1759." + +"I wanted to be sure. I see that I've been on the island eight or nine +months, but I lost all count of time, and, now and then it seemed like +eight or nine years. As I've already told Lieutenant Lanham, I'm Robert +Lennox, of Albany, the Province of New York, and the wilderness. I was +kidnapped at Albany and carried down the Hudson and out to sea by a +slaver and pirate." + +"'Tis an extraordinary tale, Mr. Lennox." + +"But a true one, Captain Whyte." + +"I meant no insinuation that it wasn't. Extraordinary things happen in +the world, and have been happening in these seas, ever since Columbus +first came into them." + +"Still mine is such an unusual story that it needs proof, and I give it. +Did you not last autumn pretend that yours was a merchant ship, have a +sailor play the violin on deck while others danced about, and lure under +your guns a pirate with the black flag at her masthead?" + +Captain Whyte stared in astonishment. + +"How do you know that?" he exclaimed. + +"Did you not shatter the pirate ship with your broadsides but lose her +afterwards in a great storm that came up suddenly?" + +"Aye, so I did, and I've been looking for her many a time since then." + +"You'll never find her, Captain. Your guns were aimed well enough, and +they took the life out of her. She couldn't weather the storm. Of all +the people who were aboard her then I'm the only survivor. Her captain +escaped with me to this island, but he died of wounds and I buried him. +I can show you his grave." + +"How do I know that you, too, are not one of the pirates?" + +"By taking me back on your ship to the colonies, and proving my tale. If +you don't find that every word I tell you is true you can hang me to +your own yardarm." + +Captain Whyte laughed. It was a fair and frank offer, but he was a +reader of men, and he felt quite sure that the strange youth was telling +the absolute truth. + +"He's given me, sir, quite correct accounts of events that happened in +the colonies last year," said Lanham. "He was at Ticonderoga and his +narrative of the battle agrees fully with the accounts that we +received." + +And just at that moment coincidence stretched out her long arm again, as +she does so often. + +"I had a cousin at Ticonderoga," said Captain Whyte. "A splendid young +fellow, name of Grosvenor. I've seen a letter from him in which he says +'twas a terrible fight, but that we threw away our chances before we +went upon the field." + +"Grosvenor! Grosvenor!" exclaimed Robert eagerly. "Why, I knew him! He +was a friend of mine! We were in the forest together, in combat and +escape. His first name was Alfred. Did he say nothing in his letter of +Robert Lennox?" + +"Of course he did! I was so much interested in you that I paid little +attention to your name, and it glided past me as if I'd not heard it. He +told of a friend of his, name of yours, who had been lost, murdered they +all believed by some spy." + +"And did he say nothing also of Tayoga, a wonderful Onondaga Indian, and +of David Willet, a great hunter?" + +"Aye, so he did. I recall those names too. Said the Indian was the most +marvelous trailer the world had ever known, could trace the flight of a +bird through the air, and a lot more that must have been pure romance." + +"It's all true! every word of it. I'll see that you meet Tayoga, and +then you'll believe, and you must know Willet, too, one of the grandest +men that ever lived, soul of honor, true as steel, all those things." + +"I believe you! Every word you say! But I can't keep you talking here +with the water dripping from you. We really couldn't question your +truth, either, after you'd saved our ship and all our lives. I see you +have a naval uniform of ours. Well, we'll give you a dry one in its +place. See that the best the _Hawk_ has is his, Lanham." + +Robert was taken to a small cabin that was vacant and he exchanged into +dry clothing. He went back a little later to the captain's room with +Lanham, where they insisted upon his taking refreshment, and then +Captain Whyte sent him to bed. + +"I've a million questions to ask you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "but I won't +ask 'em until to-morrow. You must sleep." + +Robert's manner had been calm, but he found when he lay down that he was +surcharged with excitement. It was inside him and wanted to get it out, +but he kept it bottled up, and after an hour spent in quieting his +nerves he fell asleep. When he awoke, dressed and went on deck, all +trace of the storm had gone. The _Hawk_ swung quietly at anchor and to +him she seemed the very finest ship that had ever sailed on any sea from +the day of the galley to the day of the three-decker. He noticed with +pleasure how trim everything was, how clean was the wood, how polished +the brass, and how the flag of Britain snapped in the breeze overhead. +He noticed too the eighteen pounders and he knew these were what had +done the business for the slaver and pirate. Lanham gave him a hearty +welcome. + +"It's half way to noon," he said, "and you slept long and well, as you +had a right to do, after saving His Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop, +_Hawk_, from the rocks. We had a boat's crew ashore this morning, not +because we doubted your word, but to see that everything was trim and +snug on your island, and they found your house. On my word, quite a +little castle, and well furnished. We didn't disturb a thing. It's +yours, you know." + +"I merely inherited it," said Robert. "The slaver and pirate who +kidnapped me built it as a place for a refuge or a holiday, and he came +back here to die. He furnished it partly, and the rest came from his +wrecked ship." + +After breakfast Robert went ashore also with the captain and Lanham, and +he showed them about the island. They even saw the old bull at the head +of his herd, and Robert waved him a friendly farewell. The house and its +contents they decided to leave exactly as they were. + +"They may shelter some other castaway," said Robert. + +"We'll even leave the guns and ammunition," said Captain Whyte. "We +don't need 'em. You rescued 'em from the ship and they belong to you. +The _Hawk_ has no claim on 'em." + +"I'd like for 'em to stay here," said Robert. "Nobody may ever be cast +away on this island again, and on the other hand it might happen next +week. You can't tell. But it's been a good island to me, and, though I +say farewell, I won't forget it." + +"You take the right view of it," said Captain Whyte, "and even if I +didn't feel your way about it, although I do, I'd be bound to give you +your wish since you saved us. You've also taken quite a burden off my +mind. It's always been a source of grief to me that the pirate eluded us +in the storm, but since you've shown me that we were really responsible +for her sinking I feel a lot better about it." + +On the _Hawk_ Lanham told him what had been passing in the world. + +"There's a great expedition out from England under that young general, +Wolfe, who distinguished himself at Louisbourg," he said. "It aims at +the taking of Quebec, and we're very hopeful. The rendezvous is +Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island and army and navy, I suppose, are +already there. Your own Royal Americans will be in it, and what we lost +at Ticonderoga we propose to regain--and more--before Quebec. The _Hawk_ +is bound for Louisbourg to join the fleet, but she puts in at Boston +first. If you choose to go on to Louisbourg with us you won't fare ill, +because the captain has taken a great fancy for you." + +"I thank you much," said Robert, gratefully. "I'm almost tempted to join +the great expedition from Louisbourg into the St. Lawrence, but I feel +that I must leave the ship at Boston. I'm bound to hunt up Willet and +Tayoga, and we'll come by land. We'll meet you before the heights of +Quebec." + +Everything seemed to favor the northward voyage of the _Hawk_. Good +winds drove her on, and Robert's heart leaped within him at the thought +that he would soon be back in his own country. Yet he made little +outward show of it. The gravity of mind and manner that he had acquired +on the island remained with him. Habits that he had formed there were +still very powerful. It was difficult for him to grow used to the +presence of other people, and at times he longed to go out on his peak +of observation, where he might sit alone for hours, with only the +rustling of the wind among the leaves in his ears. The sound of the +human voice was often strange and harsh, and now and then only his will +kept him from starting when he heard it, as one jumps at the snarl of a +wild animal in the bush. + +But the friendship between him, Captain Whyte, Lieutenant Lanham and the +other young officers grew. People instinctively liked Robert Lennox. +Whether in his gay mood or his grave he had a charm of manner that few +could resist, and his story was so strange, so picturesque that it +invested him with compelling romance. He told all about his kidnapping +and his life upon the island, but he said nothing of Adrian Van Zoon. He +let it be thought that the motive of the slaver in seizing him was +merely to get a likely lad for sale on a West India plantation. But his +anger against Van Zoon grew. He was not one to cherish wrath, but on +this point it was concentrated, and he intended to have a settlement. It +was not meant that he should be lost, it was not meant that Adrian Van +Zoon should triumph. He had been seized and carried away twice, and each +time, when escape seemed impossible, a hand mightier than that of man +had intervened in his favor. + +He spoke a little of his thought once or twice when he stood on the deck +of the _Hawk_ on moonlight nights with Captain Whyte and Lieutenant +Lanham. + +"You can't live with the Indians as much as I have," he said, +"especially with such a high type of Indian as the Iroquois, without +acquiring some of their beliefs which, after all, are about the same as +our own Christian religion. The difference is only in name. They fill +the air with spirits, good and evil, and have 'em contending for the +mastery. Now, I felt when I was on the island and even before that I was +protected by the good spirits of the Iroquois, and that they were always +fighting for me with the bad." + +"I take it," said Captain Whyte, "that the Indian beliefs, as you tell +them, are more like the mythology of the old Greeks and Romans. I'm a +little rusty on my classics, but they had spirits around everywhere, +good and bad, always struggling with one another, and their gods +themselves were mixtures of good and evil, just like human beings. But +I'm not prepared to say, Mr. Lennox, that you weren't watched over. It +seems strange that of all the human beings on the slaver you should have +been the only one saved and you the only one not stained with crime. +It's a fact I don't undertake to account for. And you never found out +the name of the pirate captain?" + +"Neither his nor that of his ship. It had been effaced carefully from +the schooner and all her boats." + +"I suppose it will remain one of the mysteries of the sea. But tell me +more about my cousin, Grosvenor. He was really becoming a trailer, a +forest runner?" + +"He was making wonderful progress. I never saw anybody more keen or +eager." + +"A fine lad, one of our best. I'm glad that you two met. I'd like to +meet too that Frenchman, St. Luc, of whom you've spoken so often. We +Englishmen and Frenchmen have been fighting one another for a thousand +years, and it seems odd, doesn't it, Mr. Lennox, that it should be so? +Why, the two countries can see each other across the Channel on clear +days, and neighbors ought to be the best of friends, instead of the most +deadly enemies. It seems that the farther a nation is from another the +better they get along together. What is there in propinquity, Mr. +Lennox, to cause hostility?" + +"I don't know, but I suppose it's rivalry, the idea that if your +neighbor grows he grows at your expense. Your hostility carries over to +us in America also. We're your children and we imitate our parents. The +French in Canada hate the English in the Provinces and the English in +the Provinces hate the French in Canada, when there's so much of the +country of each that they're lost in it." + +"It's a queer world, Mr. Lennox. In spite of what you say and which I +endorse, I'm going with an eager heart in the great expedition against +Quebec, and so will you. I'll be filled with joy if it succeeds and so +will you." + +Robert admitted the fact. + +"And I'd be delighted if we could meet a French sloop of about our own +size and armament," continued the captain. "Every man on board the +_Hawk_ would go into battle with her eagerly, and yet I don't hate the +French individually. They're a brave and gallant nation, and this St. +Luc, of whom you speak, seems to be the very flower of chivalry." + +The captain's wish to meet a French sloop of war of his own size was not +granted. He had high hopes the fourth day when they saw a sail, but it +proved to be a schooner out of Newport returning from Jamaica with a +cargo of sugar and molasses. The _Hawk_ showed her heels in disgust, and +pursued her way northward. + +As the time to reach Boston drew near, Robert's heart filled again. He +would be back in his own land, and his world would be before him once +more. He had already decided that he would go at once to Albany and +there pick up the thread of his old life. He was consumed, too, by +curiosity. What had happened since he was gone? His feeling that he had +been in the island eight or nine years instead of eight or nine months +remained. While it was his own world to which he was returning, it was +also a new world. + +Came the day when the harbor lights of the port of Boston showed through +a haze and Robert, standing on the deck of the _Hawk_, watched the city +rise out of the sea. He was dressed in a good suit of civilian clothing +that he had found on the island, and he had some money that had never +been taken from him when he was kidnapped, enough to pay his way from +Boston to Albany. His kindly English friends wanted to lend him more, +but he declined it. + +"You can pay us back in Quebec," said White. + +"I don't need it," replied Robert, "but I'll keep the rendezvous there +with you both." + +As the _Hawk_ was to stay two or three days in port in order to take on +supplies, they went ashore together, and the three were full of +curiosity when they entered, for the first time, the town of which they +had heard so much. Boston had already made such impress upon the +imagination that all the English colonists were generally known to the +French in Canada as Bostonnais. In England it had a great name, and +there were often apprehensions about it. It was the heart and soul of +the expedition when the New Englanders surprised the world by taking the +great French fortress of Louisbourg, and it had an individuality and a +personality which it has never lost. + +"I don't know how I'm going to like it," said Captain Whyte, as they +left the sloop. "I hear that they're very superior here, and consider us +English a rather backward lot. Don't you think you'd better reconsider, +Lennox, and go on with us to Louisbourg?" + +Robert laughed. + +"I'm not afraid of the Bostonians," he said. "I met some very competent +ones on the shores of Lake George. There was one Elihu Strong, a colonel +of Massachusetts infantry, whom I like to remember. In truth, Captain, +what I see here arouses my admiration. You noticed the amount of +shipping in the port. The Bostonians are very keen traders, and they say +there are sharp differences in character between them and the people of +our southern provinces, but as I come from a middle province, New York, +I am, in a sense, neutral. The New Englanders have a great stake in the +present war. Their country has been ravaged for more than a century by +French and Indians from Canada, and this province of Massachusetts is +sending to it nearly every man, and nearly every dollar it has." + +"We know of their valor and tenacity in England," said Captain Whyte, +"but we know also that they're men of their own minds." + +"Why shouldn't they be? That's why they're English." + +"Since you put it that way, you're right. But here we are." + +The town, about the size of New York, looked like a great city to +Robert. He had come from a land that contained only one inhabitant, +himself, and it was hard for him now to realize there were so many +people in the world. The contrast put crowds everywhere, and, at times, +it was very confusing, though it was always interesting. The men were +mostly tall, thin, and with keen but composed eyes. They were of purer +British blood than those in New York, but it seemed to Robert that they +had departed something from type. They were more strenuous than the +English of Old England, and the New Yorkers, in character if not in +blood and appearance, were more nearly English than the Bostonians. He +also thought, and he was not judging now so much from a glimpse of +Boston as from the New England men whom he had met, that they were +critical both of themselves and others, and that they were a people who +meant to have their way at any cost. + +But his attempts to estimate character and type were soon lost in his +huge delight at being back in his own country. Robert's mind was a +mirror. It always reflected his surroundings. Quickly adaptable, he +usually perceived the best of everything, and now busy and prosperous +Boston in its thin, crisp air, delighted him immeasurably. His feelings +were much as they had been when he visited New York. Here was a great +city, that is, great for his country and time, and it was destined to be +much greater. + +As usual with sailors Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham wished to go +to a coffee house, and Robert, nothing loath, accompanied them to one of +good quality to which they were directed near the water front. Here they +found numerous guests in the great common room and much talk going +forward, mostly talk of the war, as was natural. There was much +criticism of the British Government, not restrained at all, rather +increased, by the uniforms of the two naval officers. + +"'Tis reported that the new expedition gathered at Louisbourg will go +the way of the one that was repulsed at Ticonderoga," said a thin, +elderly man. "I hear 'tis commanded by young Wolfe, who is sickly and +much given to complaint. Abercrombie, who led us at Ticonderoga, was +fat, old and slothful, and now Wolfe, who leads the new force is young, +sickly and fretful. It seems that England can't choose a middle course. +Why doesn't she send us a man?" + +"That I can't tell you, Master Carver," said the man whom he was +addressing, "but I do know that if England would consult Massachusetts +more we'd fare better in this war. We should have marched over the +French army at Ticonderoga. I can't understand to this day how we lost +that battle." + +"It seems that in very truth we lacked something there." + +Robert was sitting not ten feet from them and their tone being so very +critical, he could not restrain a word or two. + +"Your pardon, if I interrupt," he said, "but hearing you speak in a +somewhat slighting manner of Ticonderoga I'm bound to advise you that +you're wrong, since I was there. The English and Scotch troops, with our +own Americans, showed the very greatest valor on that sad occasion. +'Twas no fault of theirs. Our defeat was due to the lack of artillery, +the very skillful arrangements of the French commander, the Marquis de +Montcalm, and the extreme courage of the French army." + +The two, who seemed to be merchants or shipping men, regarded him with +interest but with no appearance of resentment because of his +interference in their conversation. Apparently the criticism that they +permitted so freely to themselves they were willing also to allow to +others. + +"But you are English," said the first who had spoken, "and 'tis most +natural for you to defend the generals who are sent out from the home +country." + +"I am not English. I am a native of the Province of New York, and being +a colonial like yourselves, I think we allow too little credit to the +old country in the war. I speak as one who through the force of +circumstances has been an eye witness to many of the facts. My name is +Robert Lennox, sir, and my companions are Captain Stuart Whyte and +Lieutenant John Lanham of His Majesty's twenty-two gun sloop of war +_Hawk_, now in Boston harbor." + +"And I, sir," responded the thin man with much courtesy, "am Samuel +Carver, wholesale dealer in cloth and leather, and my friend is Lemuel +Mason, owner of shipping plying principally to the West Indies. We're +pleased to meet His Majesty's officers and also you, Mr. Lennox, who we +can see is very young to have had so much experience in the wars. We +trust that all of you will pardon our freedom of criticism, but we're at +the heart of affairs here, and we see very clearly. It's not a freedom +that we'll give up." + +Captain Whyte laughed easily. + +"If what we hear in England of Boston is true," he said, "'tis a +privilege that nothing can make you give up. Perhaps 'tis as well. I'm +all for free speech myself. Through it affairs are well threshed out. +But I assure you you're wrong about General Wolfe. 'Tis true that he's +young and that he's sickly, but he's been chosen by Mr. Pitt for most +solid reasons. He has a great gift for arms. I've been fortunate enough +to meet him once or twice, and I can assure you that he makes a most +favorable impression. Moreover, the fact that he's been chosen by Mr. +Pitt is proof of his worth. Mr. Pitt is a very great man and he has that +highest of all talents, the ability to know other men and to direct +them." + +Captain Whyte spoke with much warmth and his words carried conviction. + +"I can well believe you, sir, when you speak so highly of Mr. Pitt," +said Mr. Carver. "'Tis evident that he has the honor and glory of +England at heart and 'tis evident, too, that he does not mean to neglect +the interests of the colonies, a matter of the utmost importance. 'Tis +only Mr. Pitt among the home statesmen who have recognized our greatness +on this side of the ocean." + +"Believe me, sir, I'm not blind to the growth and prosperity of the +colonies," said Captain Whyte. "I've seen your cities and I know how +much the Americans have done in the present war." + +"Then 'tis a pity that England also doesn't know it," said Mr. Mason +somewhat sharply. + +But Captain Whyte refused to be either angry or disconcerted. + +"The width of our ocean always promotes ignorance, and +misunderstandings," he said. "And 'tis true too that the closest of kin +will quarrel, but families usually unite against an alien foe." + +"'Tis so," admitted Mr. Mason, "and 'tis the business of statesmanship +to smooth down the quarrels that arise between the different parts of a +great kingdom. I trust that ours will always be equal to the task." + +"Do you know a merchant of this city, Elihu Strong, who is also a +colonel of the Massachusetts infantry?" asked Robert. "I met him in a +strenuous business before Ticonderoga, where he also had a gallant +part." + +"We could scarce be Bostonians and not know Elihu Strong," said Mr. +Carver. "One of the most active of our merchants, he has ships of his +own that ply between here and England, and he has also taken a very +zealous part in the war. The regiment that he commanded was equipped +partly at his expense." + +"Commanded?" exclaimed Robert. + +"I used the past tense, not because he has fallen, my young friend, but +Elihu was unfortunate enough to receive a severe wound in the leg some +months after Ticonderoga, and he is now recuperating at his own home +here near the Common. 'Tis not dangerous. He will not lose the leg, but +he will not be able to walk on it for some months yet. A great pity, say +I, that Elihu Strong is out of active service for a while, as His +Majesty's government might profit greatly by his advice and leadership +in the field." + +"I've no doubt of it," said Captain Whyte with the greatest sincerity. +"I'm all for cooeperation with the experienced men of the colonies, and +so is a far greater than I, the illustrious Mr. Pitt. They're on the +ground, they've lived their lives here and they ought to know." + +"Our hope is in Mr. Pitt," said Mr. Carver. "You speak well of him, +Captain Whyte, and 'tis pleasing to our ears to hear you, because you +cannot know how his name inspires confidence in the colonies. Why, sir, +we look upon him as almost the half of England!" + +It was so. And it was destined to remain so. Whatever happened between +England and America, the name of the elder Pitt, the great Englishman, +kept and keeps its place in the hearts of Americans, who in some +respects are the most sentimental and idealistic of all peoples. + +Robert saw that the two young English officers and the two middle aged +Boston merchants were arriving at an understanding, that good relations +were established already, and he thought it wise to leave them together. + +"I think," he said, "that I will visit Colonel Strong at his house, and +as my time in Boston must be short 'twill be best for me to go now." + +Both Mr. Carver and Mr. Mason urged him to spend the night at their +houses, and Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham were zealous for his +return with them to the _Hawk_, but he declined the offer, though saying +he would certainly visit the sloop before he left Boston. He judged that +it would be wise to leave the four together, in the coffee-house, and, +after receiving careful instructions how to reach the mansion of that +most respectable and worthy Bostonian, Colonel Elihu Strong, he went +into the street. + +He found the Strong home to be a goodly house, one of the best in the +city, partly of brick and partly of wood, with columns in front, all +very spacious and pleasing. He knocked with a heavy brass knocker and a +trim colored maid responded. + +"Is Colonel Strong at home?" he asked. + +"He is, sir," she responded in English as good as his own, "though +confined to his chair with a wound in the leg which makes his temper a +trifle short at times." + +"Naturally. So would mine be if I couldn't walk. I wish to see him." + +"What name, sir, shall I say?" + +"Tell him 'tis one who served with him in wilderness fighting, on the +eve of Ticonderoga." + +She looked at him doubtfully, but her face cleared in a moment. Robert's +frank, open gaze invited everybody's confidence. + +"Come into the hall, sir," she said, and then led the way from the hall +into a large room opening upon a lawn, well-shaded by many fine, large +trees. Elihu Strong sat in a chair before one of the windows, and his +wounded leg, swathed heavily, reposed in another chair. + +Robert paused, and his heart beat rather hard. This was the first friend +of his old life that he had seen. Now, he was coming in reality back to +his world. He stood a few moments, irresolute, and then advancing +lightly he said: + +"Good morning, Colonel Strong!" + +The wounded man wheeled in his chair and looked at him, inquiry in his +face. Robert did not know what changes his life on the island had made +in his appearance, his expression rather, but he saw that Colonel Strong +did not know him, and it pleased him to play for a minute or so with the +fact. + +"You did not receive this bullet, sir, when you saved us from St. Luc," +he said. "It must have been much later, but I know it was a bad moment +for the Province of Massachusetts when the hostile lead struck you." + +Colonel Strong stared. + +"Who are you?" he exclaimed. + +"There was a battle on the shores of Lake George, at a point where our +men had been building boats. They were besieged by a mixed force of +French and Indians, commanded by the great French partisan leader, St. +Luc. They beat off the attacks, but they would have been overcome in +time, if you had not hurried to their relief, with a strong force and +two brass cannon." + +"That is true and if the Governor and Legislature of Massachusetts had +done their full duty we'd have had twice as many men and four, six, or +even eight cannon in place of two. But what do you know about those +things?" + +"There were two boys, one Indian and one white, who came on the lake, +telling you of the plight of the boat builders. The Indian was Tayoga of +the Clan of the Bear, of the Nation Onondaga, of the Great League of the +Hodenosaunee, the finest trailer in the world. The white boy was Robert +Lennox, of the Province of New York." + +"Aye, you speak truly. Full well do I remember them. How could I forget +them? Tayoga is back there now with the hunter Willet, doing some great +service in the war, what I know not, but it is something surely great. +The white boy, Robert Lennox, is dead. A great loss, too! A fine and +gallant lad." + +"How do you know he is dead?" + +"I had it in a letter from Master Benjamin Hardy of New York, with whom +I often transact affairs of business, and he, in turn, had it from one +Jacobus Huysman, a burgher of Albany in most excellent standing. Parts +of the matter are obscure, but the result is certain. It seems that the +lad was stalked by a spy, one Garay, and was murdered by him. His body, +they think, was thrown into the Hudson and was carried away. At least it +was never found. A most tragic business. I could have loved that lad as +if he had been my own son. It caused great grief to both Hardy and +Huysman,--and to me, too." + +A lump came into Robert's throat. He did have friends, many and +powerful, and they mourned him. He seemed to have the faculty of +inspiring liking wherever he went. He had been standing in the shadow, +while the wounded man sat where the sunlight from the windows poured +upon him. He moved a little nearer where he could be more clearly seen, +and said: + +"But what if I tell you that Robert Lennox is not dead, that he survived +a most nefarious plot against him, that he was, in truth, kidnapped and +carried far away to sea, but was rescued in a most remarkable manner and +has come back to his own land." + +"'Tis impossible! 'Tis a wild tale, though God knows I wish it were +true, because he was a fine and gallant lad." + +"'Tis a wild tale, sir, that I confess, but 'tis not impossible, for it +has happened. I am that Robert Lennox who came with Tayoga, the +Onondaga, in the canoe, through the fog on Lake George, to you, asking +that you hurry to the relief of the boat builders! You will remember, +sir, the fight at the ford, when they sought to ambush us, and how we +routed them with the cannon. You'll recall how St. Luc drew off when we +reached the boat builders. I've been away a long time, where every month +counted as a year, and perhaps I've changed greatly, but I'm that same +Robert Lennox to whom you said more than once that if the Governor and +Legislature of the Province of Massachusetts had done their full duty +your force would have been three or four times as strong." + +"What? What? No stranger could know as much as you know! Come farther +into the light, boy! The voice is nearly the same as I remember it, but +the face has changed. You're older, graver, and there's a new look! But +the eyes are like his! On my soul I believe it's Robert Lennox! Aye, I +know 'tis Robert! Come, lad, and shake hands with me! I would go to you +but this wretched wound holds me in my chair! Aye, boy, yours is the +grasp of a strong and honest hand, and when I look into your eyes I know +'tis you, Robert, your very self. Sit you down and tell me how you have +risen from the grave, and why you've come to comfort an old man with +this most sudden and welcome news!" + +The moisture rose in Robert's eyes. Truly he had friends, and not least +among them was this thin, shrewd Bostonian. He drew a chair close to the +colonel and spun the wonderful tale of his kidnapping, the sea fight, +the wreck, the island and his rescue by the _Hawk_. Colonel Strong +listened intently and seldom interrupted, but when Robert had finished +he said: + +"'Tis clear, lad, that your belief in the good spirits was well placed. +We lose nothing by borrowing a little from the Iroquois beliefs. Their +good spirits are our angels. 'Tis all the same in the essence, only the +names are different. 'Tis clear, too, that they were watching over you. +And now this house is your home so long as you stay in Boston. We're +full of the great war, as you'll soon learn. Mr. Pitt has sent over a +new commander and a mighty attempt will be made on Quebec, though if the +King and Parliament of Britain did their full duty, the expedition would +be three times as large, and, if the Legislature and Governor of +Massachusetts also did their full duty, they would give three times as +much help." + +"I'll stay gladly with you to-night, sir, but I must go in the morning. +I wish to reach Albany as soon as possible and show that I'm not dead. +You're the first, sir, of all my friends, to learn it. I must tell my +comrades of the _Hawk_ good-bye too. They've been very good to me, and +their ship is in your harbor." + +"But you spend the night here. That's promised, and I can give you news +of some of your friends, those gallant lads who were with us in the +great adventure by the lake. The young Englishman, Grosvenor, the +Philadelphians, Colden, Wilton and Carson, and the Virginians, Stuart +and Cabell, have all been to see me. Grosvenor joins a regiment with +Wolfe, the Grenadiers, I think, and the Philadelphians and Virginians +are transferred to the Royal Americans, for the term of the war, at +least." + +"I hope to see them all, sir, under the walls of Quebec. Captain Whyte +of the _Hawk_ offered to take me in his ship to the rendezvous at +Louisbourg, but I felt that I must go first to Albany and then join +Willet and Tayoga. We'll go by land and meet the army and fleet coming +down the St. Lawrence." + +"A proper plan, and a proper ambition, my lad. I would that I could be +with you, but this wound may hold me here. As for going to Albany, I may +assist you in that matter. A company of Boston merchants are sending a +despatch, that is, a stage, to Albany to-morrow. I am one of that +company and I can provide a place for you." + +"My very great thanks are yours, sir." + +"Say no more about it. 'Tis just what I ought to do. 'Tis a long +journey, but 'tis a fine time of the year, and you'll have a pleasant +trip. Would that I had your youth and your unwounded leg and I'd be with +you under the walls of Quebec, whether we take the city or not." + +His eyes sparkled and his thin cheeks flushed with his intense fire. +Robert knew that there was no more valiant soldier than the shrewd +Boston merchant, and he appreciated his intense earnestness. + +"Perhaps, sir," he said, "your recovery will be in full time for the +campaign." + +"I fear not, I'm sure not, Mr. Lennox, and yet I wish with all my soul +to be there. I foresee victory, because I think victory is due. 'Tis not +in nature for the French in Canada, who are few and who receive but +little help from their own country, to hold back forever the whole might +of Britain and her colonies. They have achieved the impossible already +in stemming the flood so long, and because it's about time for the +weight, in spite of everything, to break over the dam, I think that +victory is at hand. And then, Britain will be supreme on the North +American continent from the Spanish domains northward to the Pole." + +"And that means a tremendous future, sir, for England and her colonies!" + +The face of Elihu Strong clouded. + +"I do not know," he cried. "I hope so, and yet, at times, I fear not. +You think only of united hearts in England and America and a long future +under one flag. I repeat that I wish it could be so and yet the old +always regard the new with patronage, and the new always look upon the +old with resentment. There are already differences between the English +and Americans, questions of army rank, disputes about credit in the +field, different points of view, created by the width of an ocean." + +"But if we are victorious and overrun Canada, they will be settled." + +"There lies the greatest danger, my lad. 'Tis the common peril that +holds us together for the time. When this shadow in the north which has +overhung us so long, is removed, the differences will grow the greater, +and each side will assert itself. 'Tis in our common blood. The English +are a free people and freedom brings diversities, differing opinions and +a strenuous expression of them. I see already great issues between the +colonies and the mother country, and I pray that temperate men may have +the handling of them. The wrong will not be all on one side, nor the +right either. But enough of an old man's forebodings! Why should I +poison your happy return from an adventure, in which your chance of +escape was not one in ten?" + +Robert talked with him a while longer, and then he suggested that he go +to the _Hawk_ and tell his friends there good-bye, as they had probably +returned to the ship by this time. + +"But be sure you're back here by nightfall," said Colonel Strong. "You +favor me, lad, by coming. It refreshes me to see you and to talk with +one who had a share with me in an eventful campaign. And have you money +enough for this trip to Albany? I take it that you were not accumulating +much treasure while you were on the island, and a loan may be timely." + +Robert thanked him, but said he had enough for his needs. He promised +also to be back by nightfall, and, having said farewell to the officers +of the sloop, he returned to Colonel Strong's mansion at the appointed +time. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE WILDERNESS AGAIN + + +The full hospitality of Colonel Strong's house was for Robert, and he +sat late that night, listening to the talk of his host, merchant and +warrior, and politician too. There were many like him in the colonies, +keen men who had a vision for world affairs and who looked far into the +future. He was so engrossed in these matters that he did not notice that +he was doing nearly all the talking, but Robert was content to listen. + +As Robert sat with Colonel Strong he felt to the full the reality of his +own world to which he had returned, and his long life on the island +became for the time a dream, something detached, that might have +happened on another planet. Yet its effects remained. His manner was +grave, and his thoughts were those of one much beyond his years. But +mingled with his gravity were an elation and a sanguine belief in his +future. He had survived so much that coming dangers could not daunt him. + +The special coach departed the next morning and Robert sat upon the seat +with the driver. All things were auspicious. The company in the coach +was good, the driver was genial and the weather fine. It was a long trip +and they slept several nights in inns by the way, but Robert always had +pleasant memories of that journey. He was seeing his country under the +most favorable conditions, well cultivated, trim and in the full +freshness of spring. + +They reached Albany and his heart beat hard once more. He realized now +that he was one risen from the dead. His reception by Colonel Strong had +shown him that, but he believed the joy of his friends would be great +when they saw him. The coach drew up at the George Inn, and, leaving it +there, he started through the streets, taking no baggage. + +It was the same busy little city with its thrifty Dutch burghers. The +tide of war had brought added prosperity to Albany, and he saw about him +all the old signs of military preparations. It was yet a base for the +great campaigns to the northward. Evidently the fear of an attack by +Montcalm had passed, as he did not see apprehension or depression in the +faces of the people. + +He went directly to the house of Master Jacobus Huysman, that staunch +friend of his and Tayoga's, and the solid red brick building with its +trim lawns and gardens looked as neat and comfortable as ever. It was +hard to believe that he had gone away, that he had been so long on an +island. Nothing had been changed except himself and he felt different, +much older. + +He lifted the heavy brass knocker, and struck thrice. The sound of +footsteps came from within, and he knew at once that they were +Caterina's. Middle-aged, phlegmatic and solid she had loved both him and +Tayoga, despite tricks and teasing, but he knew her very phlegm would +keep her from being startled too much. Only an earthquake could shake +the poise of Caterina. + +The door swung slowly open. The nature of Caterina was cautious and she +never opened a door quickly. + +"Good-morning, Caterina," said Robert. "Is Master Jacobus in? I stayed +away a bit longer than I intended, and I wish to make my apologies to +him, if I've caused him any inconvenience." + +The mouth of Caterina, a wide cleft, opened full as slowly as the door +and full as steadily, and her eyes seemed to swell at the same time. But +she did not utter a word. Words might be forming in her throat, though +they were not able to pass her lips. But Robert saw amazement and joy in +her eyes. She knew him. That was evident. It was equally evident that +she had been struck dumb, so he grasped her large and muscular hand and +said: + +"I've come back, Caterina, a trifle late 'tis true, but as you see I'm +here. It's not my fault that I've been delayed a little. I hope that +Master Jacobus is well. I know he's in his study as the odor of his pipe +comes floating to me, a pleasant odor too, Caterina; I've missed it." + +"Aye! Aye!" said Caterina. It was all she could manage to say, but +suddenly she seized his hand, and fell to kissing it. + +"Don't do that, Caterina!" exclaimed Robert, pulling his hand away. +"You're glad to see me and I'm glad to see you. I'm no ghost. I'm solid +and substantial, at least ten pounds heavier than I was when I went away +suddenly at the invitation of others. And now, Caterina, since you've +lost your voice I'll go in and have a talk with Master Jacobus." + +Caterina's mouth and eyes were still opening wider and wider, but as +Robert gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder she managed to gasp: + +"You haf come back! you wass dead, but you wouldn't stay dead." + +"Yes, that's it, Caterina, I wouldn't stay dead, or rather I was lost, +but I wouldn't stay lost. I'll go in now and see Master Jacobus." + +He walked past her toward the odor of the pipe that came from the study +and library of Mr. Huysman, and Caterina stood by the door, still +staring at him, her mouth opening wider and wider. No such extraordinary +thing had ever happened before in the life of Caterina, and yet it was a +happy marvel, one that filled her with gratitude. + +The door of Mr. Huysman's room was open and Robert saw him very clearly +before he entered, seated in a great chair of mahogany and hair cloth, +smoking his long hooked pipe and looking thoughtfully now and then at +some closely written sheets of foolscap that he held in his hand. He was +a solid man of the most solid Dutch ancestry, solid physically and +mentally, and he looked it. Nothing could shake his calm soul, and it +was a waste of time to try to break anything to him gently. Good news or +bad news, it was well to be out with it, and Robert knew it. So he +stepped into the room, sat down in a chair near that of Mr. Huysman and +said: + +"I hope, sir, that I've not caused you any inconvenience. I didn't mean +to keep you waiting so long." + +Master Jacobus turned and regarded him thoughtfully. Then he took one +long puff at his pipe, removed it from his mouth, and blew the smoke in +spirals towards the ceiling. + +"Robert," he said, after an inspection of a full minute, "why were you +in such a hurry about coming back? Are you sure you did everything you +should before you came? You wass sometimes a hasty lad." + +"I can't recall, sir, anything that I've neglected. Also, I wiped my +shoes on the porch and I shut the door when I came in, as Caterina used +to bid me do." + +"It iss well. It shows that you are learning at last. Caterina and I haf +had much trouble teaching manners to you and that young Onondaga scamp, +Tayoga." + +"As we grow older, sir, we have more desire to learn. We're better able +to perceive the value of good advice." + +Master Jacobus Huysman put the stem of his long pipe back in his mouth, +took the very longest draught upon it that he had ever drawn, removed it +again, sent the smoke rushing in another beautiful spear of spirals +toward the ceiling, and, then, for the first and last time in his life, +he lost all control over himself. Springing to his feet he seized Robert +by both hands and nearly wrung them off. + +"Robert, my lost lad!" he exclaimed. "It iss you! it iss really you! I +knew that you wass dead, and, yet when you walked into the room, I knew +that it wass you alive! Your face iss changed! your look iss changed! +your manner iss changed! you are older, but I would have known you +anywhere and at the first glance! You do not understand how much you +took out of my life when you went, and you do not know how much you have +brought back when you come again! I do not ask why you left or where you +have been, you can tell it all when you are ready! It iss enough that +you are here!" + +Tears rose in Robert's eyes and he was not ashamed of them. He knew that +his welcome would be warm, but it had been even warmer than he had +expected. + +"I did not go away of my own accord, sir," he said. "I could not have +been so heartless as that. I've a wonderful tale to tell, and, as soon +as you give me all the news about my friends, I'll tell it." + +"Take your time, Robert, take your time. Maybe you are hungry. The +kitchen iss full of good things. Let me call Caterina, and she will +bring you food." + +The invitation of the good Mynheer Jacobus, a very natural thought with +him, eased the tension. Robert laughed. + +"I thank you, sir," he said, "but I cannot eat now. Later I'll show you +that I haven't lost my ability at the trencher, but I'd like to hear now +about Tayoga and Dave." + +"They're gone into the northern forests to take part in the great +expedition that's now arranging against Quebec. We hunted long, but we +could discover no trace of you, not a sign, and then there was no +conclusion left but the river. You had been murdered and thrown into the +Hudson. Your body could not disappear in any other way, and we wass sure +it must have been the spy Garay who did the foul deed. Only Tayoga kept +any hope. He said that you wass watched over by Manitou and by his own +patron saint, Tododaho, and though you might be gone long, Manitou and +Tododaho would bring you back again. But we thought it wass only a way +he had of trying to console himself for the loss of his friend. Willet +had no hope. I wass sorry, sorry in my soul for David. He loved you as a +son, Robert, and the blow wass one from which he could never have +recovered. When all hope wass gone he and Tayoga plunged into the +forest, partly I think to forget, and I suppose they have been risking +the hair on their heads every day in battle with the French and +Indians." + +"It is certain that they won't shirk any combat," said Robert. "Valiant +and true! No one was ever more valiant and true than they are!" + +"It iss so, and there wass another who took it hard, very hard. I speak +of Benjamin Hardy of New York. I wrote him the letter telling him all +that we knew, and I had a reply full of grief. He took it as hard as +Willet." + +"It was almost worth it to be lost a while to discover what good and +powerful friends I have." + +"You have them! You have them! And now I think, Robert, that the time +draws nigh for you to know who you are. No, not now! You must wait yet a +little longer. Believe me, Robert, it iss for good reasons." + +"I know it, Mr. Huysman! I know it must be so! But I know also there is +one who will not rejoice because I've come back! I mean Adrian Van +Zoon!" + +"Why, Robert, what do you know of Adrian Van Zoon?" + +"I was told by a dying man to beware of him, and I've always heard that +dying men speak the truth. And this was a dying man who was in a +position to know. I'm sure his advice was meant well and was based on +knowledge. I think, Mr. Huysman, that I shall have a large score to +settle with Adrian Van Zoon." + +"Well, maybe you have. But tell me, lad, how you were lost and how you +came back." + +So, Robert told the long story again, as he had told it to Elihu Strong, +though he knew that he was telling it now to one who took a deeper and +more personal interest in him than Colonel Strong, good friend though +the latter was. Jacobus Huysman had settled back into his usual calm, +smoking his long pipe, and interrupting at rare intervals with a short +question or two. + +"It iss a wonderful story," he said, when Robert finished, "and I can +see that your time on the island wass not wholly lost. You gained +something there, Robert, my lad. I cannot tell just what it iss, but I +can see it in you." + +"I feel that way myself, sir." + +"No time iss ever lost by the right kind of a man. We can put every hour +to some profit, even if it iss not the kind of profit we first intended. +But I will not preach to one who hass just risen from the dead. Are you +sure, Robert, you will not have a dinner now? We have some splendid fish +and venison and sausage and beef! Just a plate of each! It will do you +good!" + +Robert declined again, but his heart was very full. He knew that Master +Jacobus felt deep emotion, despite his calmness of manner, and this was +a way he had of giving welcome. To offer food and to offer it often was +one of the highest tributes he could pay. + +"I could wish," he said, "that you would go to New York and stay with +Benjamin Hardy, but as you will not do it, I will not ask it. I know +that nothing on earth can keep you from going into the woods and joining +Willet and Tayoga, and so I will help you to find them. Robert Rogers, +the ranger leader, will be here to-morrow, and he starts the next day +into the north with a force of his. He can find Willet and Tayoga, and +you can go with him." + +"Nothing could be better, sir. I know him well. We've fought side by +side in the forest. Is he going to lead his rangers against Quebec?" + +"I do not know. Maybe so, and maybe he will have some other duty, but in +any event he goes up by the lakes, and you're pretty sure to find Tayoga +and Willet in that direction. I know that you will go, Robert, but I +wish you would stay." + +"I must go, and if you'll pardon me for saying it, sir, you won't wish +in your heart that I would stay. You'd be ashamed of me, if I were to do +so." + +Mr. Huysman made no answer, but puffed a little harder on his pipe. Very +soon he sent for Master Alexander McLean, and that thin dry man, coming +at once, shook hands with Robert, released his hand, seized and shook it +a second and a third time with more energy than ever. Mr. McLean, an +undemonstrative man, had never been known to do such a thing before, and +he was never known to do it again. Master Jacobus regarded him with +staring eyes. + +"Alexander iss stirred! He iss stirred mightily to make such a display +of emotion," he said under his breath. + +"Robert hass been away on an island all by himself, eight or nine months +or more," he added, aloud. + +"And of course," said Master McLean, who had recovered his usual calm, +"he forgot all his classical learning while he was there. I do not know +where his island is, but desert islands are not conducive to a noble +education." + +"On the contrary, sir," said Robert, "I learned more about good +literature when I was there than I ever did anywhere else, save when I +sat under you." + +"'Tis clearly impossible. In such a place you could make no advancement +in learning save by communing with yourself." + +"Nevertheless, sir, happy chance gave me a supply of splendid books. I +had Shakespeare, Marlowe, Beaumont and Fletcher, translations of Homer +and of other great Greeks and Latins." + +Mr. McLean's frosty eyes beamed. + +"What a wonderful opportunity!" he said. "Eight or nine months on a +desert island with the best of the classics, and nobody to disturb you! +No such chance will ever come to me, I fear. Which book of the Iliad is +the finest, Robert?" + +"The first, I think. 'Tis the noble opening, the solemn note of tragedy +that enchains the attention of us all." + +"Well answered. But I wish to make a confession to you and Jacobus, one +that would shock nearly all scholars, yet I think that I must speak it +out, to you two at least, before I die. There are times when my heart +warms to the Odyssey more than it does to the Iliad. The personal appeal +is stronger in the Odyssey. There is more romance, more charm. The +interest is concentrated in Ulysses and does not scatter as it does in +the Iliad, where Hector is undoubtedly the most sympathetic figure. And +the coming home of Ulysses arouses emotion more than anything in the +Iliad. Now, I have made my confession--I suppose there is something in +the life of every man that he ought to hide--but be the consequences +what they may I am glad I have made it." + +Mr. McLean rose from his chair and then sat down again. Twice that day +he had been shaken by emotion as never before, once by the return of the +lad whom he loved, risen from the dead, and once by the confession of a +terrible secret that had haunted him for years. + +"When I was on the island I reread both books in excellent +translations," said Robert, the utmost sympathy showing in his voice, +"and I confess, sir, though my opinion is a poor one, that it agrees +with yours. Moreover, sir, you have said it ahead of me. I shall +maintain it, whenever and wherever it is challenged." + +Mr. McLean's frosty blue eyes gleamed again, and his sharp strong chin +set itself at a firm defiant angle. It was clear that he was relieved +greatly. + +"Have a pipe, Alexander," said Master Jacobus. "A good pipe is a +splendid fortifier of both body and soul, after a great crisis." + +Mr. McLean accepted a pipe and smoked it with methodical calm. Robert +saw that a great content was settling upon both him and Mr. Huysman, +and, presently, the burgher began to tell him news of vital importance, +news that they had not known even in Boston when he left. It seemed that +the Albany men had channels through Canada itself, by which they learned +quickly of great events in the enemy's camp. + +"Wolfe with his fleet and army will be in the Gulf of St. Lawrence very +soon," said Master Jacobus, "and by autumn they will certainly appear +before Quebec. Whatever happens there it will not be another Duquesne, +nor yet a Ticonderoga. You must know, Robert, that the great merchants +of the great ports get the best of information from England and from +France too, because it is to their interest to do so. Mr. Pitt iss a +great minister, the greatest that England hass had in centuries, a very +great man." + +"Colonel Strong said the same, sir." + +"Colonel Strong hass the same information that we have. He iss one of +our group. And the new general, Wolfe, iss a great man too. Young and +sickly though he may be, he hass the fire, the genius, the will to +conquer, to overcome everything that a successful general must have. I +feel sure that he will be more than a match for Montcalm, and so does +Alexander. As you know, Robert, Wolfe iss not untried. He was the soul +of the Louisbourg attack last year. People said the taking of the place +was due mostly to him, and they've called him the 'Hero of Louisbourg.'" + +"You almost make me wish, sir, that I had accepted the offer of Captain +Whyte and had gone on to Louisbourg." + +"Do not worry yourself. If you find Willet and Tayoga, as you will, you +can reach Quebec long before Wolfe can achieve much. He hass yet to +gather his forces and go up the St. Lawrence. Armies and fleets are not +moved in a day." + +"Do you know what Rogers' immediate duties are?" + +"I do not, but I think he iss to help the movement that General Amherst +is going to conduct with a strong force against Ticonderoga and Crown +Point. Oh, Mr. Pitt hass a great plan as becomes a great man, and Canada +will be assailed on all sides. I hear talk too that Rogers will also be +sent to punish the St. Francis Indians who have ravaged the border." + +They talked a while longer, and Robert listened, intent, eager. The +burgher and the schoolmaster had the vision of statesmen. They were +confident that England and the colonies would achieve complete success, +that all defeats and humiliations would be wiped away by an overwhelming +triumph. Their confidence in Pitt was wonderful. That sanguine and +mighty mind had sent waves of energy and enthusiasm to the farthest +limits of the British body politic, whether on one side of the Atlantic +or the other, and it was a singular, but true, fact, that the wisest +were those who believed in him most. + +Mr. McLean went away, after a while, and Robert took a walk in the town, +renewing old acquaintances and showing to them how one could really rise +from the dead, a very pleasant task. Yet he longed with all his soul for +the forest, and his comrades of the trail. His condition of life on the +island had been mostly mental. It had been easy there to subsist. His +physical activities had not been great, save when he chose to make them +so, and now he swung to the other extreme. He wished to think less and +to act more, and he shared with Mr. Huysman and Mr. McLean the belief +that the coming campaign would win for England and her colonies a +complete triumph. + +He too thrilled at the name of Pitt. The very sound of the four letters +seemed to carry magic everywhere, with the young English officers on the +ship, in Boston, in Albany, and he had noticed too that it inspired the +same confidence at the little towns at which they stopped on their way +across Massachusetts. Like a blast on the horn of the mighty Roland, the +call of Pitt was summoning the English-speaking world to arms. Robert +little dreamed then, despite the words of Colonel Strong, that the great +cleavage would come, and that the call would not be repeated until more +than a century and a half had passed, though then it would sound around +the world summoning new English-speaking nations not then born. + +Rogers, the famous ranger, upon whom Tayoga had bestowed the name +Mountain Wolf, arrived the next day, bringing with him fifty men whom he +supplied with ammunition for one of his great raids. The rest of his +band was waiting for him near the southern end of Lake George, and he +could stay only a few hours in Albany. He gave Robert a warm welcome. + +"I remember you well, Mr. Lennox," he said. "We've had some hard +fighting together around Lake George against St. Luc, Tandakora and the +others, but I think the battle line will shift far northward now. +Amherst is going to swoop down on Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Sir +William Johnson, well of his wound, is to march against Niagara. I'll +punish the St. Regis Indians for all their barbarities. Oh, it's to be a +great campaign, and I'll tell you a secret too." + +"What is it?" asked Robert. + +"We're to have St. Luc against us near the lakes once more. Could you +ask for a better antagonist?" + +Robert smiled at the man's eagerness, but his heart throbbed, as always, +at the mention of the great French chevalier's name. + +"He'll give us all we can do," he said. + +"That's why I want to meet him," said Rogers. "The whole northern +frontier is going to be ablaze." + +Robert left that very day with Rogers and his men. Mr. Huysman purchased +for him a splendid equipment which he forced him to accept, and he and +Mr. McLean bade him good-by, while Caterina wept in her apron. + +"Don't fear for me," said Robert, who was much moved. "Mr. Pitt will +bring us all victory. His first efforts failed at Ticonderoga, as we +know, but now he has all his forces moving on all fronts, and he's bound +to succeed. You've said that yourselves." + +"So we have, Robert," said Mr. Huysman, "and we shall watch for your +return, confident that you'll come." + +The next day the rangers, Robert with them, were far to the north of +Albany, and then they plunged into the deep woods. Robert rejoiced at +the breath of the forest now in its freshest green, not yet faded by +summer heats. He had grown to love his island, but it was not like the +mighty wilderness of North America, in which he had spent so much of his +life. He kept at the head of the column, side by side with the Mountain +Wolf, and his step was so strong and elastic that Rogers took approving +notice. + +"You like the woods, Robert," he said. "Well, so do I. It's the only +place where a man can live a free life." + +"I like the woods and the towns too," said Robert. "Each in its place. +Where do we camp to-night?" + +"By a little lake, a few miles farther on, and as we're not yet in the +Indian country we'll make it a fire camp." + +The lake covered only two or three acres, but it was set in high hills, +and it was as clear as crystal. A great fire was built near the shore, +two or three of the rangers caught plenty of fish for all, and they were +broiled over the coals. Game had become so plentiful, owing to the +ravages of the war, that a fat deer was shot near the water, and, when +they added coffee and samp from their own stores, they had a feast. + +Robert ate with a tremendous appetite, and then, wrapping himself in his +blanket, lay down under a tree. But he did not go to sleep for a long +time. He was full of excitement. All the omens and signs told him that +he was coming into the thick of events once more, and he felt also that +he would soon see Willet and Tayoga again. He would encounter many +perils, but for the present at least he did not fear them. Much of his +vivid youth was returning to him. + +He saw the surface of the lake from where he lay, a beautiful silver in +the clear moonlight, and he could even perceive wild fowl swimming at +the far edge, unfrightened by the presence of man, or by the fires that +he built. The skies were a great silver curve, in which floated a +magnificent moon and noble stars in myriads. There was the one on which +Tayoga's Tododaho lived, and so powerful was Robert's fancy that he +believed he could see the great Onondaga sage with the wise snakes in +his hair. And there too was the star upon which Hayowentha lived and the +Onondaga and the Mohawk undoubtedly talked across space as they looked +down on their people. + +Out of the forest came the calls of night birds, and Robert saw one +shoot down upon the lake and then rise with a fish in its talons. He +almost expected to see the dusky figure of Tandakora creep from the +bush, and he knew at least that the Ojibway chief would be somewhere +near the lakes. Beyond a doubt they would encounter him and his warriors +as they pressed into the north. Rogers, noticing that he was not asleep, +sat down beside him and said: + +"I suppose, Mr. Lennox, when you find Tayoga and Willet that you'll go +with Amherst's army against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. A great force +has gathered to take those places." + +"I'm not sure," said Robert, "I think it depends largely upon what +Tayoga and Dave have planned, but I want to go against Quebec, and I +think they will too. Still, I'd like to see our defeat at Ticonderoga +atoned for. It's a place that we ought to have, and Crown Point too." + +"A scout that I sent out has come in," said Rogers, "and he says he's +seen an Indian trail, not big enough to be of any danger to us, but it +shows we'll have 'em to deal with before long, though this is south of +their usual range. I hear an owl hooting now, and if I didn't know it +was a real owl I could think it was Tandakora himself." + +"I hear it too," said Robert, "and I'm not so sure that it's a real owl. +Do you think that any band will try to cut us off before we reach +Amherst and the lake?" + +"I can't say, but my faith in the owl, Robert, is beginning to shake +too. It may be an Indian belonging to the band that the scout told +about, but I still don't think we're in any danger of attack. We're in +too small force to try it down here, but they might cut off a +straggler." + +"I'd like to help keep the watch." + +"We won't need you to-night, but I may call on you to-morrow night, so +it's my advice to you to sleep now." + +The Mountain Wolf walked away to look at his outposts--he was not one +ever to neglect any precaution--and Robert, knowing that his advice was +good, closed his eyes, trying to sleep. But his hearing then became more +acute, and the long, lonesome note of the owl came with startling +dreams. Its cry was in the west, and after a while another owl in the +north answered it. Robert wished that Tayoga was with him. He would +know, but as for himself he could not tell whether or no the owls were +real. They might be Indians, and if so they would probably, when they +gathered sufficient force, throw themselves across the path of the +rangers and offer battle. This presence too indicated that Tayoga and +Willet might be near, because it was against just such bands that they +guarded, and once more his heart beat fast. + +He opened his eyes to find that the beauty of the night had deepened, if +that were possible. The little lake was molten silver, and the forest +seemed silver too under silver skies. The moon, large and benignant, +smiled down on the earth, not meant, so Robert thought, for battle. But +the two owls were still calling to each other, and now he was convinced +that they were Indians and not owls. He was really back in the +wilderness, where there was no such thing as peace, the wilderness that +had seldom ever known peace. But believing with Rogers that the force +was too strong to be attacked he fell asleep, at last, and awoke to +another bright summer day. + +They resumed the advance with great caution. Rogers did not go directly +toward the force of Amherst, but bore more toward the west, thinking it +likely that he would have to meet the force of Sir William Johnson who +was to cooeperate with Prideaux in the attack on Niagara. + +"Sir William has entirely recovered from the wound he received at the +Battle of Lake George," Rogers said to Robert, "and he's again taking a +big part in the war. We have Louisbourg and Duquesne, and now, if we +take Niagara and Ticonderoga and Crown Point, we can advance in great +force on Quebec and Montreal." + +"So we can," said Robert, "but there are those owls again, hooting in +the daytime, and I'm quite sure now they're Indians." + +"I think so too, and it begins to look as if they meant an attack. Every +mile here brings us rapidly nearer to dangerous country. I'll send out +two more scouts." + +Two of his best men were dispatched, one on either flank, but both came +in very soon with reports of imminent danger. Trails were seen, and they +had grown in size. One found the trace of a gigantic moccasin, and it +was believed to be that of Tandakora. Many scouts knew his footstep. +There was no other so large in the north. Rogers' face was grave. + +"I think they're going to try to cut us off before we reach the bigger +part of my force," he said. "If so, we'll give 'em a fight. You'll be in +the thick of it much earlier than you expected, Robert." + +Robert also was inclined to that opinion, but he was still confident +they could not be menaced by any very large party, and he remained in +that belief the next night, when they made their camp on a little hill, +covered with bushes, but with open country on every side, an excellent +site for defense. They ate another plentiful supper, then put out their +fire, posted sentinels and waited. + +Robert was among the sentinels, and Rogers, who had made him second in +command until he was reunited with his main force, stood by him in the +first hour while they waited. There was again a splendid moon and plenty +of fine stars, shedding a brilliant glow over the forest, and they +believed they could see any enemy who tried to approach, especially as +the hill was surrounded on all sides by a stretch of open. + +"It's a good place for a camp," said the Mountain Wolf, looking around +with approval. "I believe they'll scarce venture to attack us here." + +"But there are the owls," said Robert. "They're at least thinking about +it." + +The long mournful cry came from the depths of the forest, and then it +was repeated a second and a third time at other points. + +"The owls that send forth those calls," said Robert, "don't sit on the +boughs of trees." + +"No," said Rogers; "it's the warriors, not a doubt of it, and they'll be +stealing in on us before long." + +But several hours passed before there was any stir in the forest beyond +the open. Then a rifle cracked there, but no one heard the impact of the +bullet. Rogers laughed scornfully. + +"Their lead fell short," he said. "How could they expect to hit any of +us at such a range, and they not the best of marksmen even in the +daylight. They can't hope to do any more than to keep us awake." + +The rangers made no reply to the shot, they would not deign it with such +notice, but the guard was doubled, while the others remained in their +blankets. A half hour more passed, and a second shot came, but from a +point much nearer. + +"They're trying to steal forward through the grass that grows tall down +there," said Rogers. "They're more bent on battle than I thought they'd +be. It seems that they mean to stalk us, so we'll just stalk 'em back." + +Four of the rangers, fine sharpshooters, edged their way along the +slope, and, when the warriors among the trees fired, pulled trigger by +the flash of their rifles. It was difficult to hit any one in such a +manner, and more than twenty shots were fired by the two sides, before a +death shout was uttered. Then it came from the forest, and Robert knew +that one warrior was gone. He was taking no present part in the battle +himself, held like the bulk of the force in reserve, but he was an +intent observer. Rogers, the daring leader of the rangers, still +standing by his side, took it all as a part of his daily work, which in +truth it was. + +"I think it was Thayer who brought down that warrior," he said. "Thayer +is one of the bravest men I ever saw, and a great scout and trailer. +He'd be worthy to go with Willet and Tayoga and you. Ah, there goes a +second death shout! Any one who seeks a brush with these boys of mine +does it at his own risk." + +He spoke proudly, but one of his own men came creeping back presently +with a wound in his shoulder. Rogers himself bound it up and the man lay +down in his blanket, confident that in a week he could resume his place +in the campaign. Those who lived the life he did had, of necessity, +bodies as hard as iron. + +The deadly skirmishing died down repeatedly, but, after a little while, +it was always renewed. Though the warriors were getting the worst of it, +they persisted in the attack, and Robert knew they must have some +motive, not yet evident. + +"Either they hope to frighten us back, or they mean to hold us until a +much bigger force comes up," he said. + +"One or the other," said Rogers, "but I don't believe any big band would +venture down here. The hope to frighten us seems the more likely." + +The combat, drawn out long and with so little result, annoyed Robert +intensely. As he saw it, it could have no decisive effect upon anything +and was more than futile, it was insensate folly. The original time set +for his watch was over long since and he wanted to roll himself in his +blanket and find slumber, but those ferocious warriors would not let +him. Despite their losses, they still hung around the hill, and, giving +up the attempt to stalk the defenders through the grass, fired long +shots from the cover of the forest. Another ranger was wounded by a +chance bullet, but Rogers, skillful and cautious, refused to be drawn +from the shelter of the bushes on the hill. + +Thus the fitful and distant combat was waged until dawn. But with the +rise of a brilliant sun, throwing a clear light over the whole +wilderness, the warriors drew off and the rangers resumed their march. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE REUNION + + +Willet, the hunter, and Tayoga, the great young Onondaga trailer, were +walking through the northern woods, examining forest and bush very +cautiously as they advanced, knowing that the danger from ambushed +warriors was always present. Willet was sadder and sterner than of old, +while the countenance of the Onondaga was as grave and inscrutable as +ever, though he looked older, more mature, more the mighty forest +runner. + +"Think you, Tayoga," said the hunter, "that Tandakora and his men have +dared to come into this region again?" + +"Tandakora will dare much," replied the Onondaga. "Though he is full of +evil, we know that well. The French still hold Ticonderoga, and he can +use it as a base for bands much farther south." + +"True, but I don't think they'll have Ticonderoga, or Crown Point, +either, long. Amherst is gathering too big an army and there is no +Montcalm to defend them. The Marquis will have his hands full and +overflowing, defending Quebec against Wolfe. We've held both Duquesne +and Louisbourg a long while now. We've smashed the French line at both +ends, and Mr. Pitt is going to see that it's cut in the center too. How +I wish that Robert were alive to see the taking of Ticonderoga! He saw +all the great defeat there and he was entitled to this recompense." + +He sighed deeply. + +"It may be, Great Bear," said Tayoga, "that Dagaeoga will see the taking +of Ticonderoga. No one has ever looked upon his dead body. How then do +we know that he is dead?" + +Willet shook his head. + +"'Tis no use, Tayoga," he said. "The lad was murdered by Garay and the +river took his body away. Why, it will be a year this coming autumn +since he disappeared, and think you if he were alive he couldn't have +come back in that time! 'Tis the part of youth to hope, and it does you +credit, but the matter is past hope now. We've all given up except you." + +"When only one hopes, Great Bear, though all others have failed, there +is still hope left. Last night I saw Tododaho on his star very clearly. +He looked down at me, smiled and seemed to speak. I could not hear his +words, but at the time I was thinking of Dagaeoga. Since Tododaho sits +with the great gods, and is one of them, he knew my thoughts, and, if he +smiled when I was thinking of Dagaeoga, he meant to give me hope." + +The hunter again shook his head sadly. + +"You thought you saw it, because you wished it so much," he said, "or +maybe the promise of Tododaho was for the future, the hereafter." + +"For the hereafter we need no special promise, Great Bear. That has +always been made to all of us by Manitou himself, but I was thinking of +Dagaeoga alive, present with us in this life, when Tododaho smiled down +on me. I hold it in my heart, Great Bear, as a sign, a promise." + +Willet shook his head for the third time, and with increasing sadness, +but said nothing more. If Tayoga cherished such a hope it was a +consolation, a beautiful thing, and he was not one to destroy anybody's +faith. + +"Do you know this region?" he asked. + +"I was through here once with the Mohawk chief, Daganoweda," replied +Tayoga. "It is mostly in heavy forest, and, since the war has gone on so +long and the settlers have gone away, there has been a great increase in +the game." + +"Aye, I know there'll be no trouble on that point. If our own supplies +give out it won't take long to find a deer or a bear. It's a grand +country in here, Tayoga, and sometimes it seems a pity to one that it +should ever be settled by white people, or, for that matter, by red +either. Let it remain a wilderness, and let men come in, just a little +while every year, to hunt." + +"Great Bear talks wisdom, but it will not be done his way. Men have been +coming here a long time now to fight and not to hunt. See, Great Bear, +here is a footprint now to show that some one has passed!" + +"'Twas made by the moccasin of a warrior. A chance hunter." + +"Suppose we follow it, Great Bear. It is our business to keep guard and +carry word to Amherst." + +"Good enough. Lead and I'll follow." + +"It is not the step of a warrior hunting," said Tayoga, as they pursued +the traces. "The paces are even, regular and long. He goes swiftly, not +looking for anything as he goes, but because he wishes to reach a +destination as soon as possible. Ah, now he stopped and he leaned +against this bush, two of the stems of which are broken! I do not know +what he stopped for, Great Bear, but it may have been to give a signal, +though that is but a surmise. Now he goes on, again walking straight and +swift. Ah, another trail coming from the west joining his and the two +warriors walk together!" + +The two followed the double trail a mile or more in silence, and then it +was joined by the traces of three more warriors. The five evidently had +stood there, talking a little while, after which they had scattered. + +"Now, what does that mean?" exclaimed the hunter. + +"I think if we follow every one of the five trails," said Tayoga, "we +will find that the men lay down in the bush. It is certain in my mind, +Great Bear, that they were preparing for a battle, and they were but a +part of a much larger force hidden in these thickets." + +"Now, that's interesting, Tayoga. Let's look around and see if we can +find where more of the warriors lay." + +They circled to the right, and presently they came upon traces where +three men had knelt behind bushes. The imprints of both knees and toes +were plain. + +"They were here a long time," said Tayoga, "because they have moved +about much within a little space. In places the ground is kneaded by +their knees. And lo! Great Bear, here on the bush several of the young +leaves are burned. Now, you and I know well what alone would do that at +such a time." + +"It was done by the flash from a big musket, such a musket as those +French Indians carry." + +"It could have been nothing else. I think if we go still farther around +the curve we will find other bushes behind which other warriors kneeled +and fired, and maybe other leaves scorched by the flash of big muskets." + +A hundred yards more and they saw that for which they looked. The signs +were just the same as at the other places. + +"Now, it is quite clear to you and me, Great Bear," said the Onondaga, +"that these men, posted along a curving line, were firing at something. +They were here a long time, as the numerous and crowded footprints at +every place show. They could not have been firing at game, because there +were too many of them, and the game would not have stayed to be fired at +so long. Therefore, Great Bear, and you know it as well as I, they must +have been in battle. All the points of ambush to which we have come are +at an almost equal distance from some other point." + +"Which, Tayoga, is that hill yonder, crowned with bushes, but with bare +slopes, a good place for a defense, and just about a long rifle or +musket shot from the forest here." + +"So it is, Great Bear. It could be nothing else. The defenders lay among +the bushes on top of the hill, and the battle was fought in the night, +because those who attacked were not numerous enough to push a combat in +the day. The defenders must have been white men, as we know from the +footprints here that the assailants were warriors. Ah, here are other +traces, Great Bear, and here are more, all trodden about in the same +manner, indicating a long stay, and all at about an equal distance from +the hill! I think the warriors lay in the forest all night firing upon +the hill, and probably doing little damage. But they suffered more hurt +themselves. See, here are faint traces of blood, yet staining the grass, +and here is a trail leading out of the bushes and into the grass that +lines the slopes of the hill. The trail goes forward, and then it comes +back. It is quite clear to both of us, Dagaeoga, that a warrior, +creeping through the long grass, tried to stalk the hill, but met a +bullet instead. Those who lay upon the hill and defended themselves were +not asleep. They could detect warriors who tried to steal forward and +secure good shots at them. And they could fire at long range and hit +their targets. Now, soldiers know too little of the forest to do that, +and so it must have been scouts or rangers." + +"Perhaps some of the rangers belonging to Rogers. We know that he's +operating in this region." + +"It was in my thought too, Great Bear, that the rangers of the Mountain +Wolf lay on the hill. See, here is a second trace of blood, and it also +came from a warrior who tried to stalk the hill, but who had to come +back again after he had been kissed by a bullet. The men up there among +the bushes never slept, and they allowed no one of their enemies to come +near enough for a good shot with a musket. The chances are ninety-nine +out of a hundred that they were rangers, Great Bear, and we may speak of +them as rangers. Now, we come to a spot where at least a dozen warriors +lay, and, since their largest force was here, it is probable that their +chief stayed at this spot. See, the small bones of the deer picked clean +are lying among the bushes. I draw from it the opinion, and so do you, +Great Bear, that the warriors kept up the siege of the hill until dawn, +because at dawn they would be most likely to eat their breakfast, and +these little bones of the deer prove that they did eat this breakfast +here. Now, it is very probable that they went away, since they could win +nothing from the defenders of the hill." + +"Here's their broad trail leading directly from the hill." + +They followed the trail a little distance, finding those of other +warriors joining, until the total was about forty. Willet laughed with +quiet satisfaction. + +"They had all they wanted of the hill," he said, "and they're off +swiftly to see if they can't find easier prey elsewhere." + +"And you and I, Great Bear, will go back and see what happened on the +hill, besides discovering somewhat more about the identity of the +defenders." + +"Long words, Tayoga, but good ones upon which we can act. I'm anxious +about the top of that hill myself." + +They went back and walked slowly up the hill. They knew quite well that +nobody was there now. The entire forest scene had vanished, so far as +the actors were concerned, but few things disappear completely. The +actors could go, but they could not do so without leaving traces which +the two great scouts were able to read. + +"How long ago do you think all this happened, Tayoga?" asked Willet. + +"Not many hours since," replied the Onondaga. "It is mid-morning now, +and we know that the warriors departed at dawn. The people on the hill +would stay but a little while after their enemies had gone, and since +they were rangers they would not long remain blind to the fact that they +had gone." + +They pushed into the bushes, and were soon among the traces left by the +defenders. + +"Here is where the guard knelt," said Tayoga, as they walked around the +circle of the bushes, "and behind them is where the men slept in their +blankets. That is farther proof that they were rangers. They had so much +experience, and they felt so little alarm that most of them slept +placidly, although they knew warriors were watching below seeking to +shoot them down. The character of the footprints indicates that all of +the defenders were white men. Here is a trail that I have seen many +times before, so many times that I would know it anywhere. It is that of +the Mountain Wolf. He probably had a small part of his rangers here and +was on his way to join his main force, to act either with Amherst or +Waraiyageh (Sir William Johnson). Of course he would depart with speed +as soon as his enemy was beaten off." + +"Altogether reasonable, Tayoga, and I'm glad Rogers is in these parts +again with his rangers. Our generals will need him." + +"The Mountain Wolf stood here a long time," said Tayoga. "He walked now +and then to the right, and also to the left, but he always came back to +this place. He stood here, because it is a little knoll, and from it he +could see better than from anywhere else into the forest that hid the +enemy below. The Mountain Wolf is a wise man, a great forest fighter, +and a great trailer, but he was not alone when he stood here." + +"I suppose he had a lieutenant of course, a good man whom he could +trust. Every leader has such a helper." + +The Onondaga knelt and examined the traces minutely. When he rose his +eyes were blazing. + +"He did have a good helper, an able assistant, O Great Bear!" he said. +"He had one whom he trusted, one whom I could trust, one whom you could +trust. The Mountain Wolf stood by this bush and talked often with one +whom we shall be very glad to see, O Great Bear, one whom the Mountain +Wolf himself was both surprised and glad to see." + +"Your meaning is beyond me, Tayoga." + +"It will not be beyond you very long, O Great Bear! When Tododaho, +reading my thoughts, looked down on me last night from the great star on +which he has lived four hundred years, and smiled upon me, his smile +meant what it said. The Hodenosaunee are the children of Todohado and +Hayowentha, and they never make sport of them, nor of any one of them." + +"I'm still in the dark of the matter, Tayoga!" + +"Does not Great Bear remember what I was thinking about when Todohado +smiled? What I said and always believed is true, O Great Bear! I +believed it against all the world and I was right. Look at the traces +beside those of the Mountain Wolf! They are light and faint, but look +well at them, O Great Bear! I would know them anywhere! I have seen them +thousands of times, and so has the Great Bear! Dagaeoga has come back! +He stood here beside the Mountain Wolf! He was on this hill among the +bushes all through the night, while the rangers fought the warriors +among the trees below! He and the Mountain Wolf talked together and +consulted while they looked at the forest! Lo! my brother Dagaeoga has +come back out of the mists and vapors into which he went nearly a year +ago, for he is my brother, though my skin is red and his is white, and +he has been my brother ever since we were little children together! Lo! +Great Bear, Dagaeoga has come back as I told you, as I alone told you he +would, and my heart sings a song of joy within me, because I have loved +my brother! Look! look, Great Bear, and see where the living Dagaeoga +has walked, not six hours since!" + +Willet knelt and examined the traces. He too was a great trailer, but he +did not possess the superhuman instinct that had come down through the +generations to the Onondaga. He merely saw traces, lighter than those +made by Rogers. But if his eyes could not, his mind did tell him that +Tayoga was right. The ring of conviction was so strong in the voice of +the Onondaga that Willet's faith was carried with it. + +"It must be as you tell me, Tayoga," he said. "I do not doubt it. Robert +has been here with Rogers. He has come back out of the mists and vapors +that you tell about, and he walked this hill in the living flesh only a +few hours ago. Where could he have been? How has it happened?" + +"That does not concern us just now, Great Bear. It is enough to know +that he is alive, and we rejoice in it. Before many hours we shall speak +with him, and then he can tell his tale. I know it will be a strange and +wonderful one, and unless Degaeoga has lost his gift of words, which I +think impossible, it will lose no color in the telling." + +"Let him spin what yarn he pleases, I care not. All I ask is to put eyes +on the lad again. It seems, when I think of it in cold blood, that it +can scarce be true, Tayoga. You're sure you made no mistake about the +footsteps?" + +"None, Great Bear. It is impossible. I know as truly that the living +Dagaeoga stood on this hill six hours ago as I know that you stand +before me now." + +"Then lead on, Tayoga, and we'll follow the trail of the rangers. We +ought to overtake 'em by noon or soon after." + +The broad path, left by the rangers, was like the trail of an army to +Tayoga, and they followed it at great speed, keeping a wary eye for a +possible ambush on either side. The traces grew fresher and fresher, and +Tayoga read them with an eager eye. + +"The Mountain Wolf, Dagaeoga and the rangers are walking rapidly," he +said. "I think it likely that they are going to join Amherst in his +advance on Ticonderoga or Crown Point, or maybe they will turn west and +help Waraiyageh, but, in either case, they do not feel any alarm about +the warriors with whom they fought last night. Now and then the trail of +a scout branches off from their main trail, but it soon comes back +again. They feel quite sure that the warriors were only a roving band, +and will not attack them again. The Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga walk side +by side, and we can surmise, Great Bear, that they talk much together. +Perhaps Dagaeoga was telling the Mountain Wolf where he has been these +many months, why he went away, and why he chose to come back when he did +out of the mists and vapors. Dagaeoga is strong and well. Look how his +footprints show the length of his stride and how steady and even it is! +He walks stride for stride with the Mountain Wolf, who as we know is six +feet tall. Dagaeoga has grown since he went away. He was strong before +he left, but he is stronger now. I think we shall find, Great Bear, that +while Dagaeoga was absent his time was not lost. It may be that he +gained by it." + +"I'm not thinking whether he has or not, Tayoga. I'm glad enough to get +the lad back on any terms. We're making great speed now, and I think we +ought to overtake 'em before long. The trail appears to grow a lot +fresher." + +"In an hour, Great Bear, we can signal to them. It will be best to send +forth a call, since one does not approach in the forest, in war, without +sending word ahead that he is a friend, else he may be met by a bullet." + +"That's good and solid truth, Tayoga. We couldn't have our meeting with +Robert spoiled at the last moment by a shot. But it's much too early yet +to send out a call." + +"So it is, Great Bear. I think, too, the rangers have increased their +speed. Their stride has lengthened, but, as before, the Mountain Wolf +and Dagaeoga keep together. They are great friends. You will recall that +they fought side by side on the shores of Andiatarocte." + +"I remember it well enough, Tayoga. Nobody could keep from liking +Robert. 'Tis a gallant spirit he has." + +"It is so, Great Bear. He carries light wherever he goes. Such as he are +needed among us. Because of that I never believed that Manitou had yet +taken him to himself. The rangers stopped here, sat on these fallen +logs, and ate food at noonday. There are little bones that they threw +away, and the birds, seeking shreds of food, are still hopping about." + +"That's clear, Tayoga, and since they would probably stay about fifteen +minutes we ought to come within earshot of them in another half hour." + +They pressed on at speed, and, within the appointed time, they sank down +in a dense clump of bushes, where Tayoga sent forth the mellow, +beautiful song of a bird, a note that penetrated a remarkable distance +in the still day. + +"It is a call that Dagaeoga knows," he said. "We have used it often in +the forest." + +In a few minutes the reply, exactly the same, faint but clear, came back +from the north. When the sound died away, Tayoga imitated the bird +again, and the second reply came as before. + +"Now we will go forward and shake the hand of Dagaeoga," said the +Onondaga. + +Rising from the bush, the two walked boldly in the direction whence the +reply had come, and they found a tall, straight young figure advancing +to meet them. + +"Robert, my lad!" exclaimed Willet. + +"Dagaeoga!" said the Onondaga. + +Each seized a hand of Robert and shook it. Their meeting was not +especially demonstrative, but their emotions were very deep. They were +bound together by no common ties. + +"You've changed, Robert," said Willet, merely as a sort of relief to his +feelings. + +"And you haven't, Dave," said Robert, with the same purpose in view. +"And you, Tayoga, you're the great Onondaga chief you always were." + +"I hope to be a chief some day," said Tayoga simply, "and then, when I +am old enough, to be a sachem too, but that rests with Tododaho and +Manitou. Dagaeoga has been away a long time, and we do not know where he +went, but since he has come back out of the mists and vapors, it is +well." + +"I understood your call at once," said Robert, "and as you know I gave +the reply. I came from Albany with Rogers to find you, and I found you +quicker than I had hoped. We had a meeting with hostile warriors last +night, but we beat 'em off, and we've been pushing on since then." + +"Your encounter last night was what enabled us to find you so quickly," +said Willet. "Tayoga read on the ground the whole story of the combat. +He understood every trace. He recognized the footprints of Rogers and +then your own. He always believed that you'd come back, but nobody else +did. He was right, and everybody else was wrong. You're bigger, Robert, +and you're graver than you were when you went away." + +"I've been where I had a chance to become both, Dave. I'll tell you all +about it later, for here's Rogers now, waiting to shake hands with you +too." + +"Welcome, old friend," said Rogers, grasping the hunter's powerful hand +in his own, almost as powerful, "and you too Tayoga. If there's a finer +lad in the wilderness anywhere, I don't know it." + +They said little more at present, joining the group of rangers and going +on steadily until nightfall. On the way Robert gave Willet and Tayoga an +outline of what had happened to him, not neglecting the dying words of +the slaver. + +"It was the hand of Van Zoon," he said. + +"Aye, it was Van Zoon," said the hunter. "It was his hand too that was +raised against you that time in New York. I've feared him on your +account, Robert. It's one reason why we've been so much in the forest. +You wonder why Huysman or Hardy or I don't tell you about him, but all +in good time. If we don't tell you now it's for powerful reasons." + +"The others have told me so too," said Robert, "and I'm not asking to +know anything I oughtn't to know now. If you put off such knowledge, +Dave, I'm sure it ought to be put off." + +They overtook the main body of the rangers that night, and Rogers now +had a force of more than two hundred men, but information from his +second in command decided him to join in the great movement of Sir +William Johnson and Prideaux against Niagara. The duties of Willet and +Tayoga called them to Amherst, and of course Robert went with them. So +the next morning they parted from Rogers. + +"I think there'll be big things to tell the next time we meet," said +Willet to Rogers. "Mr. Pitt doesn't make his plans for nothing. He not +only makes big plans, but he prepares big armies and fleets to carry 'em +out." + +"We have faith in him everywhere here," said Rogers, "and I hear they've +the same faith in him on the other side of the Atlantic. The failure +before Ticonderoga didn't seem to weaken it a particle. Take care of +yourselves, my friends." + +It was a sincere farewell on both sides, but quickly over, and the three +pressed on to Amherst's camp, in the valley near the head of Lake +George, that had already seen so many warlike gatherings. Here a +numerous and powerful army, bent upon taking Ticonderoga and Crown +Point, was being trained already, and Robert, after visiting it, looked +once more and with emotion upon the shores of Andiatarocte. + +Fate was continually calling him back to this lake and Champlain, around +which so much of American story is wrapped. The mighty drama known as +the Seven Years' War, that involved nearly all the civilized world, +found many of its springs and also much of its culmination here. The +efforts made by the young British colonies, and by the mother country, +England, were colossal, and the battles were great for the time. To the +colonies, and to those in Canada as well, the campaigns were a matter of +life or death. For the English colonies the war, despite valor and +heroic endurance, had been going badly in the main, but now almost all +felt that a change was coming, and it seemed to be due chiefly to one +man, Pitt. It was Napoleon who said later that "Men are nothing, a man +is everything," but America, as well as England, knew that in the Seven +Years' War Pitt, in himself, was more than an army--he was a host. And +America as well as England has known ever since that there was never a +greater Englishman, and that he was an architect who built mightily for +both. + +The future was not wholly veiled to Robert as he looked down anew upon +the glittering waters of Andiatarocte. He had come in contact with the +great forces that were at work, he had vision anew and greater vision, +and he knew the gigantic character of the stakes for which men played. +If the French triumphed here in America, then the old Bourbon monarchy, +which Willet told him was so diseased and corrupt, would appear +triumphant to all the world. It would invent new tyrannies, the cause +of liberty and growth would be set back generations, and nobody would be +trodden under the heel more than the French people themselves. Robert +liked the French, and sometimes the thought occurred to him that the +English and Americans were fighting not only their own battle but that +of the French as well. + +He knew as he stood with Willet and Tayoga looking at Lake George that +the great crisis of the war was at hand. All that had gone before was +mere preparation. He had felt the difference at once when he came back +from his island. The old indecision, doubt and despondency were gone; +now there was a mighty upward surge. Everybody was full of hope, and the +evidence of one's own eyes showed that the Anglo-American line was +moving forward at all points. A great army would soon be converging on +Ticonderoga, where a great army had been defeated the year before, but +now there would be no Montcalm to meet. He must be in Quebec to defend +the very citadel and heart of New France against the army and fleet of +Wolfe. The French in Canada were being assailed on all sides, and the +decaying Bourbon monarchy could or would send no help. Robert's +occasional thought, that the English and Americans might be fighting for +the French as well as themselves, did not project itself far enough to +foresee that out of the ashes left by the fall of Canada might spring +another and far stronger France. + +"I'm glad I'm back here to join in the new advance on Ticonderoga," said +Robert. "As I was with Montcalm and saw our army defeated when it ought +not to have been, I think it only a just decree of fate that I should be +here when it wins." + +"We'll take Ticonderoga this time, Robert. Never fear," said Willet. +"We'll advance with our artillery, and the French have no force there +that can stop us. Amherst is building a fort that he calls Edward, but +we'll never need it. He's very cautious, but it's as well, our curse in +this war has been the lack of caution, lack of caution by both English +and Americans. Still, that over-confidence has a certain strength in it. +You've noticed how we endure disaster. We've had heavy defeats, but we +rise after every fall, and go into the combat once more, stronger than +we went before." + +The three spent some time with Amherst, and saw his great force continue +its preparation and drilling, until at last the general thought they +were fit to cope with anything that lay before them. Then, a year +lacking but a few days after Abercrombie embarked with his great army +for the conquest of Ticonderoga, Amherst with another army, mostly +Americans, embarked upon the same waters, and upon the same errand. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet were in a canoe in the van of the fleet. They +were roving scouts, held by the orders of nobody, and they could do as +they pleased, but for the present they pleased to go forward with the +army. Robert and Tayoga were paddling with powerful strokes, while +Willet watched the shores, the lake and the long procession. The sun was +brilliant, but there was a strong wind off the mountains and the boats +rocked heavily in the waves. Nevertheless, the fleet, carrying its +artillery with it, bore steadily on. + +"The French have as big a force at Ticonderoga as they had when Montcalm +defeated Abercrombie," said the hunter, "and it's commanded by +Bourlamaque." + +"A brave and skillful man," said Robert. "I saw him when I was a +prisoner of the French." + +"But he knows Amherst will not make the mistake Abercrombie did," said +Willet. "Our big guns will talk for us, and they'll say things that +wooden walls can't listen to long. I'm thinking that Bourlamaque won't +stand. I've heard that he'll retreat to the outlet of Lake Champlain and +make a last desperate defense at Isle-aux-noix. If he's wise, and I +think he is, he'll do it." + +"Do you know whether St. Luc is with him or if he has gone to Quebec +with Montcalm?" asked Robert. + +"I haven't heard, but I think it's likely that he's here, because he has +so much influence with the Indians, who are far more useful in the woods +than in a fortress like Quebec. It's probable that we'll hear from him +in the morning when we try a landing." + +"You mean we'll spend the night on the lake?" + +"Aye, lad. It's blowing harder, and we've a rough sea here, though 'tis +a mountain lake. We make way but slowly, and we must be full of caution, +or risk a shipwreck, with land in sight on both sides of us." + +Night drew on, dark and blowy, with the army still on the water, as +Willet had predicted, and much of it seasick. The lofty shores, green by +day, were clothed in mists and vapor, and the three saw no trace of the +French or the Indians, but they were quite sure they were watching from +the high forests. Robert believed now that St. Luc was there, and that +once again they would come into conflict. + +"Do you think we'd better try the shore to-night?" he asked. + +Willet shook his head. + +"'Twould be too risky," he replied, "and, even if we succeeded, 'twould +do no good. We'll find out in the morning all we want to know." + +They tied their canoe to one of the long boats, and, going on board the +latter, slept a little. But slumber could not claim Robert long. All +about, it was a battle-ground to him, whether land or water. Armies had +been passing and repassing, and fighting here from the beginning. It was +the center of the world to him, and in the morning they would be in +battle again. If St. Luc held the shore they would not land unscorched. +He tried to see signals on the mountain, but the French did not have to +talk to one another. They and their red allies lay silent and unseen in +the dark woods and waited. + +Dawn came, and the three were back in their canoe. The wind had died, +and the fleet, bearing the army, moved forward to the landing. Officers +searched the woods with their strongest glasses, while the scouts in +their canoes, daring every peril, shot forward and leaped upon the +shore. Then a sheet of musketry and rifle fire burst from the woods. Men +fell from the boats into the water, but others held on to the land that +they had gained. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet among the first fired at dusky figures in the +woods, and once or twice they caught the gleam of French uniforms. + +"It is surely St. Luc," said Robert, when he heard the notes of a silver +whistle, "but he can't keep us from landing." + +"Aye, it's he," said Willet, "and he's making a game fight of it against +overwhelming forces." + +Cannon from the boats also swept the forest with grape and round shot, +and the troops began to debark. It was evident that the French and +Indians were not in sufficient numbers to hold them back. Not all the +skill of St. Luc could avail. The three soon had evidence that the +formidable Ojibway chief was there also. Tayoga saw a huge trace in the +earth, and called the attention of Willet and Robert to it. + +"Tandakora is in the bush," he said. "Sharp Sword does not like him, but +Manitou has willed that they must often be allies. Now the battle +thickens, but the end is sure." + +The shores of Lake George, so often the scene of fierce strife, blazed +with the fury of the combat. The mountains gave back the thunder of guns +on the big boats, and muskets and rifles crackled in the forest. Now and +then the shouts of the French and the Indian yell rose, but the +triumphant American cheer always replied. The troops poured ashore and +the odds against St. Luc rose steadily. + +"The Chevalier can't hold us back many minutes longer," said Willet. "If +he doesn't give ground, he'll be destroyed." + +A few minutes more of resolute fighting and they heard the long, clear +call of the silver whistle. Then the forces in front of them vanished +suddenly, and not a rifle replied to their fire. French, Canadians and +Indians were gone, as completely as if they had never been, but, when +the Americans advanced a little farther, they saw the dead, whom St. Luc +had not found time to take away. Although the combat had been short, it +had been resolute and fierce, and it left its proofs behind. + +"Here went Tandakora," said Tayoga. "His great footsteps are far apart, +which shows that he was running. Perhaps he hopes to lay an ambush later +on. The heart of the Ojibway was full of rage because he could not +withstand us." + +"And I imagine that the heart of the Chevalier de St. Luc is also +heavy," said Robert. "He knows that General Amherst is bringing his +artillery with him. When I was at Ticonderoga last year and General +Abercrombie advanced, the French, considering the smallness of their +forces, were in doubt a long time about standing, and I know from what I +heard that they finally decided to defend the place because we did not +bring up our guns. We're making no such mistake now; we're not +underrating the enemy in that way. It's glorious, Dave, to come back +over the ground where you were beaten and retrieve your errors." + +"So it is, Robert. We'll soon see this famous Ticonderoga again." + +Robert's heart beat hard once more. All the country about him was +familiar. So much had been concentrated here, and now it seemed to him +that the climax was approaching. Many of the actors in last year's great +drama were now on another stage, but Bourlamaque and St. Luc were at +hand, and Tandakora had come too with his savages. He looked around it +the splendid landscape of lake and mountain and green forest, and the +pulses in his temples throbbed fast. + +"Aye, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, who was looking at him, "it is a great day +that has come." + +"I think so," said Robert, "and what pleases me most is the sight of the +big guns. Look how they come off the boats! They'll smash down that +wooden wall against which so many good men hurled themselves to death +last year. We've got a general who may not be the greatest genius in the +world, but he'll have neither a Braddock's defeat nor a Ticonderoga +disaster." + +Caution, supreme caution, was evident to them all as they moved slowly +forward, with the bristling guns at the front. Robert's faith in the +cannon was supreme. He looked upon them as their protectors. They were +to be the match for Ticonderoga. + +On they went, winding through the forest and valleys, but they met +nothing. The green woods were silent and deserted, though much was there +for Tayoga to read. + +"Here still goes Tandakora," he said, "and his heart is as angry as +ever. He is bitter against the French, too, because he fears now that he +has taken the wrong side. He sees the power of his enemies growing and +growing, and Montcalm is not here to lead the French. I do not think +Tandakora will go into the fort with St. Luc and Bourlamaque. His place +is not inside the walls. He wants the great forest to roam in." + +"In that Tandakora is right," said Willet; "he acts according to his +lights. A fortress is no place for an Indian." + +"Tandakora is now going more slowly," resumed the Onondaga. "His paces +shorten. It may be that he will stop to talk with some one. Ah! he does, +and it is no less a man than Sharp Sword himself. I have looked upon +Sharp Sword's footprints so often that I know them at a glance. He and +Tandakora stood here, facing each other, and talked. Neither moved from +his tracks while he spoke, and so I think it was not a friendly +conference. It is likely that the Ojibway spoke of the defeat of the +French, and Sharp Sword replied that in defeat as well as victory true +allies stand together. Moreover, he said that defeat might be followed +by victory and one must always hope. But Tandakora was not convinced. It +is the custom of the Indian to run away when he knows that his enemy is +too strong for him, and it may be wise. Now Tandakora turns from the +course and goes toward the west. And, lo! his warriors all fall in +behind him! Here is their great trail. Sharp Sword heads in another +direction. He is going with the French and Canadians to the fortress." + +The army, under the shadow of its great guns, moved slowly on, and +presently they came upon the terrible field of the year before. Before +them lay the wall, stronger than ever with earth and logs, but not a man +held it. The French and Canadians were in the fortress, and the +Americans and English were free to use the intrenchments as a shelter +for themselves if they chose. + +"It's going to be a siege," said Willet. + +The cannon of Ticonderoga soon opened, and Amherst's guns replied, the +cautious general moving his great force forward in a manner that +betokened a sure triumph, though it might be slow. But on the following +night the whole French army, save a few hundred men under Hebecourt, +left to make a last desperate stand, stole away and made for +Isle-aux-Noix. Hebecourt replied to Amherst's artillery with the +numerous guns of the fort for three days. Amherst still would not allow +his army to move forward for the assault, having in mind the terrible +losses of last year and knowing that he was bound to win. + +The brave Hebecourt and his soldiers also left the fort at last, +escaping in boats, and leaving a match burning in the magazine. One of +the bastions of Ticonderoga blew up with a tremendous explosion, and +then the victorious army marched in. Ticonderoga, such a looming and +tremendous name in America, a fortress for which so much blood had been +shed, had fallen at last. Robert did not dream that in another war, less +than twenty years away, it would change hands three times. + +They found, a little later, that Crown Point, the great fortress upon +which the French king had spent untold millions, had been abandoned also +and was there for the Anglo-American army to take whenever it chose. +Then Amherst talked of going on into Canada and cooeperating with Wolfe, +but, true to his cautious soul, he began to build forts and arrange for +the mastery of Lake Champlain. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet grew impatient as the days passed. The news +came that Prideaux had been killed before Niagara, but Sir William +Johnson, the Waraiyageh of the Mohawks, assuming command in his stead, +had taken the place, winning a great victory. After the long night the +dawn had come. Everything seemed to favor the English and Americans, and +now the eyes of the three turned upon Quebec. It was evident that the +war would be won or lost there, and they could bear the delays no +longer. Saying farewell to their comrades of Amherst's army, they +plunged into the northern wilderness, taking an almost direct course for +Quebec. + +They were entering a region haunted by warriors, and still ranged by +daring French partisans, but they had no fear. Robert believed that the +surpassing woodcraft of the hunter and the Onondaga would carry them +safely through, and he longed for Quebec, upon which the eyes of both +the New World and the Old now turned. They had heard that Wolfe had +suffered a defeat at the Montmorency River, due largely to the +impetuosity of his men, but that he was hanging on and controlled most +of the country about Quebec. But Montcalm on the great rock was as +defiant as ever, and it seemed impossible to get at him. + +"We'll be there in ample time to see the result, whatever it is," said +Willet. + +"And we may find the trail of Sharp Sword and Tandakora who go ahead of +us," said Tayoga. + +"But the Ojibway turned away at Ticonderoga," said Robert. "Why do you +think he'll go to Quebec?" + +"Because he thinks he will get profit out of it, whatever the event. If +our army is defeated, he may have a great scalping, such as there was at +Fort William Henry; if the French are beaten, it will be easy enough for +him to get away in time. But as long as the issue hangs in the balance, +Tandakora means to be present." + +"Sound reasoning," said the hunter, "and we'll watch for the trail of +both St. Luc and the Ojibway. And now, lads, with eyes and ears open, +we'll make speed." + +And northward they went at a great rate, watching on all sides for the +perils that were never absent from the woods and peaks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BEFORE QUEBEC + + +True to the predictions of Tayoga, they struck the trail of St. Luc and +Tandakora far up in the province of New York and west of Lake Champlain. +Ever since the white man came, hostile forces had been going north or +south along well-defined passes in these regions, and, doubtless, bands +of Indians had been traveling the same course from time immemorial; so +it was not hard for them to come upon the traces of French and Indians +going to Quebec to make the great stand against Wolfe and his fleet. + +"It is a broad trail because many Frenchmen and Indians make it," said +the Onondaga. "As I have said, Sharp Sword and Tandakora do not like +each other, but circumstances make them allies. They have rejoined and +they go together to Quebec. Here is the trail of at least three hundred +men, perhaps two hundred Frenchmen and a hundred warriors. The footsteps +of Sharp Sword are unmistakable, and so are those of Tandakora. Behold +their great size, Dagaeoga; and here are the prints of boots which +belong to De Courcelles and Jumonville. I have seen them often before, +Dagaeoga. How could you believe they might have been left by somebody +else?" + +"I see nothing but some faint traces in the earth," said Robert. "If you +didn't tell me, I wouldn't be even sure that they were made by a man." + +"But they are plain to us who were born in the woods, and whose +ancestors have lived in the woods since the beginning of the world. It +is where we are superior to the white man, much as the white man thinks +of his wisdom, though there be those, like the Great Bear, the Mountain +Wolf and Black Rifle, who know much. But the feet of the two Frenchmen +who love not Dagaeoga have passed here." + +"It is true they do not love me, Tayoga. I wounded one of them last +year, shortly before Ticonderoga, as you know, and I fancy that I'd +receive short shrift from either if I fell into his hands." + +"That is so. But Dagaeoga will not let himself be captured again. He has +been captured often enough now." + +"I don't seem to be any the worse for it," said Robert, laughing. +"You're right, though, Tayoga. For me to be captured once more would be +once too much. As St. Luc doesn't like Tandakora, I imagine you don't +see him walking with them." + +"I do not, Dagaeoga. Sharp Sword keeps by himself, and now De Courcelles +and Jumonville walk with the Ojibway chief. Here are their three trails, +that of Tandakora between the other two. Doubtless the two Frenchmen are +trying to make him their friend, and it is equally sure that they speak +ill to him of St. Luc. But Sharp Sword does not care. He expects little +from Tandakora and his warriors. He is thinking of Quebec and the great +fight that Montcalm must make there against Wolfe. He is eager to arrive +at Stadacona, which you call Quebec, and help Montcalm. He knows that it +is all over here on Andiatarocte and Oneadatote, that Ticonderoga is +lost forever, that Crown Point is lost forever, and that Isle-aux-Noix +must go in time, but he hopes for Stadacona. Yet Sharp Sword is +depressed. He does not walk with his usual spring and courage. His paces +are shorter, and they are shorter because his footsteps drag. Truly, it +was a dagger in the heart of Sharp Sword to give up Ticonderoga and +Crown Point." + +"I can believe you, Tayoga," said Willet. "It's bitter to lose such +lakes and such a land, and the French have fought well for them. Do you +think there's any danger of our running into an ambush? It would be like +Tandakora to lie in wait for pursuers." + +"I am not sure, Great Bear. He, like the Frenchman, is in a great hurry +to reach Stadacona." + +An hour or two later they came to a dead campfire of St. Luc's force, +and, a little farther on, a new trail, coming from the west, joined the +Chevalier's. They surmised that it had been made by a band from Niagara +or some other fallen French fort in that direction, and that everywhere +along the border Montcalm was drawing in his lines that he might +concentrate his full strength at Quebec to meet the daring challenge of +Wolfe. + +"But I take it that the drawing in of the French won't keep down +scalping parties of the warriors," said Willet. "If they can find +anything on the border to raid, they'll raid it." + +"It is so," said Tayoga. "It may be that Tandakora and his warriors will +turn aside soon to see if they cannot ambush somebody." + +"In that case it will be wise for us to watch out for ourselves. You +think Tandakora may leave St. Luc and lie in wait, perhaps, for us?" + +"For any one who may come. He does not yet know that it is the Great +Bear, Dagaeoga and I who follow. Suppose we go on a while longer and see +if he leaves the main trail. Is it the wish of Great Bear and Dagaeoga?" + +"It is," they replied together. + +They advanced several hours, and then the great trail split, or rather +it threw off a stem that curved to the west. + +"It is made by about twenty warriors," said Tayoga, "and here are the +huge footsteps of Tandakora in the very center of it. I think they will +go northwest a while, and then come back toward the main trail, hoping +to trap any one who may be rash enough to follow Sharp Sword. But, if +the Great Bear and Dagaeoga wish it, we will pursue Tandakora himself +and ambush him when he is expecting to ambush others." + +The dark eyes of the Onondaga gleamed. + +"I can see, Tayoga, that you're hoping for a chance to settle that score +between you and the Ojibway," said the hunter. "Maybe you'll get it this +time, and maybe you won't, but I'm willing to take the trail after him, +and so is Robert here. We may stop a lot of mischief." + +It was then about two o'clock in the afternoon, and, as Tayoga said that +Tandakora's trail was not more than a few hours old, they pushed on +rapidly, hoping to stalk his camp that very night. The traces soon +curved back toward St. Luc's and they knew they were right in their +surmise that an ambush was being laid by the Ojibway. He and his +warriors would halt in the dense bush beside the great trail and shoot +down any who followed. + +"We'll shatter his innocent little plan," said Willet, his spirits +mounting at the prospect. + +"Tandakora will not build a fire to-night," said Tayoga. "He will wait +in the darkness beside Sharp Sword's path, hoping that some one will +come. He will lie in the forest like a panther waiting to spring on its +prey." + +"And we'll just disturb that panther a little," said Robert, +appreciating the merit of their enterprise, which now seemed to all +three a kind of great game. + +"Aye, we'll make Tandakora think all the spirits of earth and air are +after him," said Willet. + +They now moved with great caution as the trail was growing quite fresh. + +"We will soon be back to Sharp Sword's line of march," said Tayoga, "and +I think we will find Tandakora and his warriors lying in the bushes not +more than a mile ahead." + +They redoubled their caution, and, when they approached a dense thicket, +Robert and Willet lay down and Tayoga went on, creeping on hands and +knees. In a half hour he came back and said that Tandakora and his band +were in the thicket watching the great trail left by St. Luc. + +"The Ojibway does not dream that he himself is being watched," said the +Onondaga, "and now I think we would better eat a little food from our +knapsacks and wait until the dark night that is promised has fully +come." + +Tayoga's report was wholly true. Tandakora and twenty fierce warriors +lay in the thicket, waiting to fall upon those who might follow the +trail of St. Luc. He had no doubt that a force of some kind would come. +The Bostonnais and the English always followed a retreating enemy, and +experience never kept them from walking into an ambush. Tandakora was +already counting the scalps he would take, and his savage heart was +filled with delight. He had been aghast when Bourlamaque abandoned +Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Throughout the region over which he had +been roaming for three or four years the Bostonnais would be triumphant. +Andiatarocte and Oneadatote would pass into their possession forever. +The Ojibway chief belonged far to the westward, to the west of the Great +Lakes, but the great war had called him, like so many others of the +savage tribes, into the east, and he had been there so long that he had +grown to look upon the country as his own, or at least held by him and +his like in partnership with the French, a belief confirmed by the great +victories at Duquesne and Oswego, William Henry and Ticonderoga. + +Now Tandakora's whole world was overthrown. The French were withdrawing +into Canada. St. Luc, whom he did not like, but whom he knew to be a +great warrior, was retreating in haste, and the invincible Montcalm was +beleaguered in Quebec. He would have to go too, but he meant to take +scalps with him. Bostonnais were sure to appear on the trail, and they +would come in the night, pursuing St. Luc. It was a good night for such +work as his, heavy with clouds and very dark. He would creep close and +strike before his presence was even suspected. + +Tandakora lay quiet with his warriors, while night came and its darkness +grew, and he listened for the sound of men on the trail. Instead he +heard the weird, desolate cry of an owl to his left, and then the +equally lone and desolate cry of another to his right. But the warriors +still lay quiet. They had heard owls often and were not afraid of them. +Then the cry came from the north, and now it was repeated from the +south. There was a surfeit of owls, very much too many of them, and they +called to one another too much. Tandakora did not like it. It was almost +like a visitation of evil spirits. Those weird, long-drawn cries, +singularly piercing on a still night, were bad omens. Some of his +warriors stirred and became uneasy, but Tandakora quieted them sternly +and promised that the Bostonnais would soon be along. Hope aroused +again, the men plucked up courage and resumed their patient waiting. + +Then the cry of the panther, long drawn, wailing like the shriek of a +woman, came from the east and the west, and presently from the north and +the south also, followed soon by the dreadful hooting of the owls, and +then by the fierce growls of the bear. Tandakora, in spite of himself, +in spite of his undoubted courage, in spite of his vast experience in +the forest, shuddered. The darkness was certainly full of wicked +spirits, and they were seeking prey. So many owls and bears and panthers +could not be abroad at once in a circle about him. But Tandakora shook +himself and resolved to stand fast. He encouraged his warriors, who were +already showing signs of fright, and refused to let any one go. + +But the forest chorus grew. Tandakora heard the gobble of the wild +turkey as he used to hear it in his native west, only he was sure that +the gobble now was made by a spirit and not by a real turkey. Then the +owl hooted, the panther shrieked and the bear growled. The cry of a +moose, not any moose at all, as Tandakora well knew, but the foul +emanation of a wicked spirit, came, merely to be succeeded by the weird +cries of night birds which the Ojibway chief had never seen, and of +which he had never dreamed. He knew, though, that they must be hideous, +misshapen creatures. But he still stood fast, although all of his +warriors were eager to go, and the demon chorus came nearer and nearer, +multiplying its cries, and adding to the strange notes of birds the +equally strange notes of animals, worse even than the growl of bear or +shriek of panther. + +Tandakora knew now that the wicked spirits of earth and air were abroad +in greater numbers than he had ever known before. They fairly swarmed +all about him and his warriors, continually coming closer and closer and +making dire threats. The night was particularly suited to them. The +heavy black clouds floating before the moon and stars were met by thick +mists and vapors that fairly oozed out of the damp earth. It was an evil +night, full of spells and magic, and the moment came when the chief +wished he was in his own hunting grounds far to the west by the greatest +of the Great Lakes. + +The darkness was not too great for him to see several of his warriors +trembling and he rebuked them fiercely, though his own nerves, tough as +they were, were becoming frayed and uneasy. He forgot to watch the trail +and listen for the sound of footsteps. All his attention was centered +upon that horrible and circling chorus of sound. The Bostonnais might +come and pass and he would not see them. He went into the forest a +little way, trying to persuade himself that they were really persecuted +by animals. He would find one of these annoying panthers or bears and +shoot it, or he would not even hesitate to send a bullet through an owl +on a bough, but he saw nothing, and, as he went back to his warriors, a +hideous snapping and barking of wolves followed him. + +The note of the wolf had not been present hitherto in the demon chorus, +but now it predominated. What it lacked in the earliness of coming it +made up in the vigor of arrival. It had in it all the human qualities, +that is, the wicked or menacing ones--hunger, derision, revenge, desire +for blood and threat of death. Tandakora, veteran of a hundred battles, +one of the fiercest warriors that ever ranged the woods, shook. His +blood turned to water, ice water at that, and the bones of his gigantic +frame seemed to crumble. He knew, as all the Indians knew, that the +souls of dead warriors, usually those who had been wicked in life, +dwelled for a while in the bodies of animals, preferably those of +wolves, and the wolves about him were certainly inhabited by the worst +warriors that had ever lived. In every growl and snap and bark there was +a threat. He could hear it, and he knew it was meant for him. But what +he feared most of all was the deadly whine with which growl, snap and +bark alike ended. Perspiration stood out on his face, but he could not +afford to show fear to his men, and, retreating slowly, he rejoined +them. He would make no more explorations in the haunted wood that lay +all about them. + +As the chief went back to his men the snarling and snapping of the demon +wolves distinctly expressed laughter, derision of the most sinister +kind. They were not only threatening him, they were laughing at him, and +his bones continued to crumble through sheer weakness and fear. It was +not worth while for him to fire at any of the sounds. The bullet might +go through a wolf, but it would not hurt him, it would merely increase +his ferocity and make him all the more hungry for the blood of +Tandakora. + +The band pressed close together as the wolves growled and snapped all +about them, but the warriors still saw nothing. How could they see +anything when such wolves had the power of making themselves invisible? +But their claws would tear and their teeth would rend just the same when +they sprang upon their victims, and now they were coming so close that +they might make a spring, the prodigious kind of spring that a demon +wolf could make. + +It was more than Tandakora and his warriors could stand. Human beings, +white or red, they would fight, but not the wicked and powerful spirits +of earth and air which were now closing down upon them. The chief could +resist no longer. He uttered a great howl of fear, which was taken up +and repeated in a huge chorus by his warriors. Then, and by the same +impulse, they burst from the thicket, rushed into St. Luc's trail and +sped northward at an amazing pace. + +Tayoga, Willet and Robert emerged from the woods, lay down in the trail +and panted for breath. + +"Well, that's the easiest victory we ever gained," said Robert. "Even +easier than one somewhat like it that I won on the island." + +"I don't know about that," gasped Willet. "It's hard work being an owl +and a bear and a panther and a wolf and trying, too, to be in three or +four places at the same time. I worked hardest as a wolf toward the +last; every muscle in me is tired, and I think my throat is the most +tired of all. I must lie by for a day." + +"Great Bear is a splendid animal," said Tayoga in his precise, book +English, "nor is he wanting as a bird, either. I think he turned himself +into birds that were never seen in this world, and they were very +dreadful birds, too. But he excelled most as a wolf. His growling and +snapping and whining were better than that of ninety-nine out of a +hundred wolves, only a master wolf could have equaled it, and when I +stood beside him I was often in fear lest he turn and tear me to pieces +with tooth and claw." + +"Tandakora was in mortal terror," said Robert, who was not as tired as +the others, who had done most of the work in the demon chorus. "I caught +a glimpse of his big back, and I don't think I ever saw anybody run +faster. He'll not stop this side of the St. Lawrence, and you'll have to +postpone your vengeance a while, Tayoga." + +"I could have shot him down as he stood in the woods, shaking with +fear," said the Onondaga, "but that never would have done. That would +have spoiled our plan, and I must wait, as you say, Dagaeoga, to settle +the score with the Ojibway." + +"I think we'd better go into the bushes and sleep," said the hunter. +"Being a demon is hard work, and there is no further danger from the +warriors." + +But Robert, who was comparatively fresh, insisted on keeping the watch, +and the other two, lying down on their blankets, were soon in deep +slumber. The next day they shot a young bear, and had a feast in the +woods, a reward to which they thought themselves entitled after the +great and inspired effort they had made the night before. As they sat +around their cooking fire, eating the juicy steaks, they planned how +they should enter Canada and join Wolfe, still keeping their +independence as scouts and skirmishers. + +"Most of the country around the city is held by the English, or at least +they overrun it from time to time," said Willet, "and we ought to get +past the French villages in a single night. Then we can join whatever +part of the force we wish. I think it likely that we can be of most use +with the New England rangers, who are doing a lot of the scouting and +skirmishing for Wolfe." + +"But I want to see the Royal Americans first," said Robert. "I heard in +Boston that Colden, Wilton, Carson, Stuart and Cabell had gone on with +them, and I know that Grosvenor is there with his regiment. I should +like to see them all again." + +"And so would I," said the hunter. "A lot of fine lads. I hope that all +of them will come through the campaign alive." + +They traveled the whole of the following night and remained in the +forest through the day, and following this plan they arrived before +Quebec without adventure, finding the army of Wolfe posted along the St. +Lawrence, his fleet commanding the river, but the army of Montcalm +holding Quebec and all the French elated over the victory of the +Montmorency River. Robert went at once to the camp of the Royal +Americans, where Colden was the first of his friends whom he saw. The +Philadelphian, like all the others, was astounded and delighted. + +"Lennox!" he exclaimed, grasping his hand. "I heard that you were dead, +killed by a spy named Garay, and your body thrown into the Hudson, where +it was lost! Now, I know that reports are generally lies! And you're no +ghost. 'Tis a solid hand that I hold in mine!" + +"I'm no ghost, though I did vanish from the world for a while," said +Robert. "But, as you see, I've come back and I mean to have a part in +the taking of Quebec." + +Wilton and Carson, Stuart and Cabell soon came, and then Grosvenor, and +every one in his turn welcomed Robert back from the dead, after which he +gave to them collectively a rapid outline of his story. + +"'Tis a strange tale, a romance," said Grosvenor. "It's evident that +it's not intended you shall lose your life in this war, Lennox. What has +become of that wonderful Onondaga Indian, Tayoga, and the great hunter, +Willet?" + +"They're both here. You shall see them before the day is over. But what +is the feeling in the army?" + +"We're depressed and the French are elated. It's because we lost the +Montmorency battle. The Royal Americans and the Grenadiers were too +impulsive. We tried to rush slopes damp and slippery from rain, and we +were cut up. I received a wound there, and so did Wilton, but neither +amounts to anything, and I want to tell you, Lennox, that, although +we're depressed, we're not withdrawing. Our general is sick a good deal, +but the sicker he grows the braver he grows. We hang on. The French say +we can continue hanging on, and then the winter will drive us away. You +know what the Quebec winter is. But we'll see. Maybe something will +happen before winter comes." + +As Robert turned away from the little group he came face to face with a +tall young officer dressed with scrupulousness and very careful of his +dignity. + +"Charteris!"[A] he exclaimed. + +"Lennox!" + +They shook hands with the greatest surprise and pleasure. + +"When I last saw you at Ticonderoga you were a prisoner of the French," +said Robert. + +"And so were you." + +"But I escaped in a day or two." + +"I escaped also, though not in a day or two. I was held a prisoner in +Quebec all through the winter and spring and much befell me, but at last +I escaped to General Wolfe and rejoined my old command, the Royal +Americans." + +"And he took part in the battle of Montmorency, a brave part too," said +Colden. + +"No braver than the others. No more than you yourself, Colden," +protested Charteris. + +"And 'tis said that, though he left Quebec in the night, he left his +heart there in the possession of a very lovely lady who speaks French +better than she speaks English," said Colden. + +"'Tis not a subject of which you have definite information," rejoined +Charteris, flushing very red and then laughing. + +But Colden, suspecting that his jest was truth rather, had too much +delicacy to pursue the subject. Later in the day Robert returned with +Willet and Tayoga and they had a reunion. + +"When we take Quebec," said Tayoga to Grosvenor, "Red Coat must go back +with us into the wilderness and learn to become a great warrior. We can +go beyond the Great Lakes and stay two or three years." + +"I wish I could," laughed Grosvenor, "but that is one of the things I +must deny myself. If the war should be finished, I shall have to return +to England." + +"St. Luc is in Quebec," said Willet. "We followed his trail a long +distance." + +"Which means that our task here will be the harder," said Colden. + +Robert went with Willet, Charteris and Tayoga the next day to Monckton's +camp at Point Levis, whence the English batteries had poured destruction +upon the lower town of Quebec, firing across the St. Lawrence, that most +magnificent of all rivers, where its channel was narrow. He could see +the houses lying in ashes or ruins, but above them the French flag +floated defiantly over the upper city. + +"Montcalm and his lieutenants made great preparations to receive General +Wolfe," said Charteris. "As I was in Quebec then, I know something +about them, and I've learned more since I escaped. They threw up +earthworks, bastions and redoubts almost all the way from Quebec to +Montcalm's camp at Beauport. Over there at Beauport the Marquis' first +headquarters were located in a big stone house. Across the mouth of the +St. Charles they put a great boom of logs, fastened together by chains, +and strengthened further by two cut-down ships on which they mounted +batteries. Forces passing between the city and the Beauport camp crossed +the St. Charles on a bridge of boats, and each entrance of the bridge +was guarded by earthworks. In the city they closed and fortified every +gate, except the Palace Gate, through which they passed to the bridge or +from it. They had more than a hundred cannon on the walls, a floating +battery carried twelve more guns, and big ones too, and they had a lot +of gun-boats and fire ships and fire rafts. They gathered about fifteen +thousand men in the Beauport camp, besides Indians, with the regulars in +the center, and the militia on the flank. In addition to these there +were a couple of thousand in the city itself under De Ramesay, and I +think Montcalm had, all told, near to twenty thousand men, about double +our force, though 'tis true many of theirs are militia and we have a +powerful fleet. I suppose their numbers have not decreased, and it's a +great task we've undertaken, though I think we'll achieve it." + +Robert looked again and with great emotion upon Quebec, that heart and +soul of the French power in North America. Truly much water had flowed +down the St. Lawrence since he was there before. He could not forget the +thrill with which he had first approached it, nor could he forget those +gallant young Frenchmen who had given him a welcome, although he was +already, in effect, an official enemy. And then, too, he had seen Bigot, +Pean, Cadet and their corrupt group who were doing so much to wreck the +fortunes of New France. Not all the valor of Montcalm, De Levis, +Bourlamaque, St. Luc and the others could stay the work of their +destructive hands. + +The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small. It was +true! The years had passed. The French victories in North America had +been numerous. Again and again they had hurled back the English and +Americans, and year after year they had dammed the flood. They had +struck terrible blows at Duquesne and Oswego, at William Henry and at +Ticonderoga. But the mills of God ground on, and here at last was the +might of Britain before Quebec, and Robert's heart, loyal as he was to +the mother country, always throbbed with pride when he recalled that his +own Americans were there too, the New England rangers and the staunch +regiment of Royal Americans, the bravest of the brave, who had already +given so much of their blood at Montmorency. In these world-shaking +events the Americans played their splendid part beside their English +kin, as they were destined to do one hundred and fifty-nine years later +upon the soil of Europe itself, closing up forever, as most of us hope, +the cleavage between nations of the same language and same ideals. + +Robert looked long at Quebec on its heights, gleaming now in the sun +which turned it into a magic city, increasing its size, heightening the +splendor of the buildings and heightening, too, the formidable obstacles +over which Wolfe must prevail. Nature here had done wonders for the +defense. With its mighty river and mighty cliffs it seemed that a +capable general and a capable army could hold the city forever. + +"Aye, it's strong, Lennox," said Charteris, who read his thoughts. +"General Wolfe, as I know, has written back to England that it's the +strongest place in the world, and he may be right, but we've had some +successes here, mingled with some failures. Aside from the Battle of +Montmorency most of the land fighting has been in our favor, and our +command of the river through our fleet is a powerful factor in our +favor. Yet, the short Quebec summer draws to a close, and if we take the +city we must take it soon. General Wolfe is lying ill again in a farm +house, but his spirit is not quenched and all our operations are +directed from his sick bed." + +As Charteris spoke, the batteries on the Heights of Levis opened again, +pouring round shot, grape and canister upon the Lower Town. Fragments of +buildings crashed to the earth, and other fragments burst into flames. +Cannon on the frigates in the river also fired upon the devoted city and +from the great rock cannon replied. Coils of smoke arose, and, uniting +into a huge cloud, floated westward on the wind. It was a great +spectacle and Robert's heart throbbed. But he was sad too. He had much +pity for the people of Quebec, exposed to that terrible siege and the +rain of death. + +"We've ravaged a good deal of the country around Quebec," continued +Charteris. "It's hard, but we're trying to cut off the subsistence of +the French army, and, on the other hand, bands of their Indian allies +raid our outposts and take scalps. It's the New England rangers mostly +that deal with these war parties, in which the French and Canadians +themselves take a part." + +"Then Tandakora will find plenty of employment here," said Willet. +"Nothing will give him more joy than to steal upon a sentinel in the +dark and cut him down." + +"And while Tandakora hunts our people," said Tayoga, "we will hunt him. +What better work can we do, Great Bear, than to meet these raiding +parties?" + +"That's our task, Tayoga," replied the hunter. + +As they turned away from the Heights of Levis the batteries were still +thundering, pouring their terrible flood of destruction upon the Lower +Town, and far up on the cliffs cannon were firing at the ships in the +river. Robert looked back and his heart leaped as before. The eyes of +the world he knew were on Quebec, and well it deserved the gaze of the +nations. It was fitting that the mighty drama should be played out +there, on that incomparable stage, where earth rose up to make a fitting +channel for its most magnificent river. + +"It's all that you think it is," said Charteris, again reading his +thoughts; "a prize worth the efforts of the most warlike nations." + +"The Quebec of the English and French," said Tayoga, "but the lost +Stadacona of the Mohawks, lost to them forever. Whatever the issue of +the war the Mohawks will not regain their own." + +The others were silent, not knowing what to say. A little later a tall, +lank youth to whom Charteris gave a warm welcome met them. + +"Been taking a look at the town, Leftenant?" he said. + +"Aye, Zeb," replied Charteris. "I've been showing it to some friends of +mine who, however, have seen it before, though not under the same +conditions. These gentlemen are David Willet, Robert Lennox and Tayoga, +the Onondaga, and this is Zebedee Crane,[B] a wonderful scout to whom I +owe my escape from Quebec." + +Willet seized the lank lad's hand and gave it a warm grasp. + +"I've heard of you, Zeb Crane," he said. "You're from the Mohawk Valley +and you're one of the best scouts and trailers in the whole Province of +New York, or anywhere, for that matter." + +"And I've heard uv all three uv you," said the boy, looking at them +appreciatively. "I wuz at Ticonderogy, an' two uv you at least wuz thar. +I didn't git to see you, but I heard uv you. You're a great hunter, Mr. +Willet, whom the Iroquois call the Great Bear, an' ez fur Tayoga I know +that he belongs to the Clan of the Bear uv the nation Onondaga, an' that +he's the grandest trailer the world hez ever seed." + +Tayoga actually blushed under his bronze. + +"The flattery of my friends should be received at a heavy discount," he +said in his prim, precise English. + +"It ain't no flattery," said Zebedee. "It's the squar' an' solid truth. +I've heard tales uv you that are plum' impossible, but I know that they +hev happened all the same. Ef they wuz to tell me that you had tracked +the wild goose through the air or the leapin' salmon through the water +I'd believe 'em." + +"It would be very little exaggeration," said Robert, earnestly. "Be +quiet, Tayoga! If we want to sing your praises we'll sing 'em and you +can't help it." + +The five recrossed the river together, and went to Wolfe's camp below +the town facing the Montmorency, Charteris going back into camp with the +Royal Americans to whom he belonged, and the others going as free lances +with the New England rangers. Robert also resumed his acquaintance with +Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanhan of the _Hawk_, who were delighted to +meet him again. + +Soon they found that there was much for them to do. Robert's heart bled +at the sight of the devastated country. Houses and farms were in ruins +and their people fled. Everywhere war had blazed a red path. Nor was it +safe for the rangers unless they were in strong parties. Ferocious +Indians roamed about and cut off all stragglers, sometimes those of +their own French or Canadian allies. Once they came upon the trail of +Tandakora. They found the dead bodies of four English soldiers lying +beside an abandoned farm house, and Tayoga, looking at the traces in the +earth, told the tale as truly as if he had been there. + +"Tandakora and his warriors stood behind these vines," he said, going to +a little arbor. "See their traces and in the center of them the prints +left by the gigantic footsteps of the Ojibway chief. The house had been +plundered by some one, maybe by the warriors themselves, before the +soldiers came. Then the Ojibway and his band hid here and waited. It was +easy for them. The soldiers knew nothing of wilderness war, and they +came up to the house, unsuspecting. They were at the front door, when +Tandakora and his men fired. Three of them fell dead where they lie. The +fourth was wounded and tried to escape. Tandakora ran from behind the +vines. Here goes his trail and here he stopped, balanced himself and +threw his tomahawk." + +"And it clove the wounded soldier's head," said Robert. "Here he lies, +telling the rest of the tale." + +They buried the four, but they found new tragedies. Thus the month of +August with its successes and failures, its attacks and counter-attacks +dragged on, as the great siege of Quebec waged by Phipps and the New +Englanders nearly three-quarters of a century before had dragged. + + + [A] The story of Edward Charteris is told in the author's novel, "A + Soldier of Manhattan." + + [B] The story of Zeb Crane and his remarkable achievements is + contained in the author's novel, "A Soldier of Manhattan." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE LONE CHATEAU + + +Despite his courage and the new resolution that he had acquired during +his long months on the island, Robert's heart often sank. They seemed to +make no progress with the siege of Quebec. Just so far had they gone and +they could go no farther. The fortress of France in the New World +appeared impregnable. There it was, cut clear against the sky, the light +shining on its stone buildings, proud and defiant, saying with every new +day to those who attacked it that it could not be taken, while Montcalm, +De Levis, Bougainville, St. Luc and the others showed all their old +skill in defense. They heard too that Bourlamaque after his retreat from +Ticonderoga and Crown Point was sitting securely within his lines and +intrenchments at Isle-aux-Noix and that the cautious Amherst would delay +longer and yet longer. + +It was now certain that no help could be expected from Amherst and his +strong army that year. The most that he would do would be to keep +Bourlamaque and his men from coming to the relief of Quebec. So far as +the capital of New France was concerned the issue must be fought out by +the forces now gathered there for the defense and the offense, the +French and the Indians against the English and the Americans. + +Robert realized more keenly every day that the time was short and +becoming shorter. Hot summer days were passing, nights came on crisp and +cool, the foliage along the king of rivers and its tributaries began to +glow with the intense colors of decay, there was more than a touch of +autumn in the air. They must be up and doing before the fierce winter +came down on Quebec. Military operations would be impossible then. + +In this depressing time Robert drew much courage from Charteris, who had +been a prisoner a long time in Quebec, and who understood even more +thoroughly than young Lennox the hollowness of the French power in North +America. + +"It is upheld by a few brave and skillful men and a small but heroic +army," he said. "In effect, New France has been deserted by the Bourbon +monarchy. If it were not for the extraordinary situation of Quebec, +adapted so splendidly to purposes of defense, we could crush the Marquis +de Montcalm in a short time. The French regulars are as good as any +troops in the world and they will fight to the last, but the Canadian +militia is not disciplined well, and is likely to break under a fierce +attack. You know, Lennox, what militiamen always are, no matter to what +nation they belong. They may fight and die like heroes at one time, and, +at another time, they may run away at the first fire, struck with panic. +What we want is a fair chance at the French army in the open. General +Wolfe himself, though cursed by much illness, never loses hope. I've had +occasion to talk with him more than once owing to my knowledge of Quebec +and the surrounding country, and there's a spirit for you, Lennox. It's +in an ugly body but no man was ever animated by a finer temper and +courage." + +Robert and Charteris formed a great friendship, a true friendship that +lasted all their long lives. But then Robert had a singular faculty for +making friends. Charteris interested him vastly. He had a proud, +reserved and somewhat haughty nature. Many people thought him exclusive, +but Robert soon learned that his fastidiousness was due to a certain shy +quality, and a natural taste for the best in everything. Under his +apparent coldness lay a brave and staunch nature and an absolute +integrity. + +Robert's interest in Charteris was heightened by the delicate cloud of +romance that floated about him, a cloud that rose from the hints thrown +forth now and then by Zebedee Crane. The young French lady in Quebec who +loved him was as beautiful as the dawn and she had the spirit of a +queen. Charteris lived in the hope that they might take Quebec and her +with it. But Robert was far too fine of feeling ever to allude to such +an affair of the heart to Charteris, or in truth to any one else. + +It was a period of waiting and yet it was a period of activity. The +partisans were incessant in their ways. Robert heard that his old +friend, Langlade, was leading a numerous band against the English, and +the evidences of Tandakora's murderous ferocity multiplied. Nor were the +outlying French themselves safe from him. News arrived that he intended +an attack upon a chateau called Chatillard farther up the river but +within the English lines. A band of the New England rangers, led by +Willet, was sent to drive him off, and to destroy the Ojibway pest, if +possible. Robert, Tayoga and Zeb Crane went with him. + +They arrived at the chateau just before twilight. It was a solid stone +building overlooking the St. Lawrence, and the lands about it had a +narrow frontage on the river, but it ran back miles after the old French +custom in making such grants, in order that every estate might have a +river landing. Willet's troops numbered about forty men, and, respecting +the aged M. de Chatillard, who was quite ill and in bed, they did not +for the present go into the house, eating their own supper on the long, +narrow lawn, which was thick with dwarfed and clipped pines and other +shrubbery. + +But they lighted no fires, and they kept very quiet, since they wished +for Tandakora to walk into an ambush. The information, most of which had +been obtained by Zeb Crane, was to the effect that Tandakora believed a +guard of English soldiers was in the house. After his custom he would +swoop down upon them, slaughter them, and then be up and away. It was a +trick in which the savage heart of the Ojibway delighted, and he had +achieved it more than once. + +The August night came down thick and dark. A few lights shone in the +Chateau de Chatillard, but Willet and his rangers stood in black gloom. +Almost at their feet the great St. Lawrence flowed in its mighty +channel, a dim blue under the dusky sky. Nothing was visible there save +the slow stream, majestic, an incalculable weight of water. Nothing +appeared upon its surface, and the far shore was lost in the night. It +seemed to Robert, despite the stone walls of the chateau by their side, +that they were back in the wilderness. It was a northern wilderness too. +The light wind off the river made him shiver. + +The front door of the house opened and a figure outlined against the +light appeared. It was an old man in a black robe, tall, thin and +ascetic, and Robert seeing him so clearly in the light of a lamp that he +held in his hand recognized him at once. It was Father Philibert +Drouillard, the same whom he had defeated in the test of oratory in the +vale of Onondaga before the wise sachems, when so much depended on +victory. + +"Father Drouillard!" he exclaimed impulsively, stepping forward out of +the shadows. + +"Who is it who speaks?" asked the priest, holding the lamp a little +higher. + +"Father Drouillard, don't you know me?" exclaimed Robert, advancing +within the circle of light. + +"Ah, it is young Lennox!" said the priest. "What a meeting! And under +what circumstances!" + +"And there are others here whom you know," said Robert. "Look, this is +David Willet who commands us, and here also is Tayoga, whom you remember +in the vale of Onondaga." + +Father Drouillard saluted them gravely. + +"You are the enemies of my country," he said, "but I will not deny that +I am glad to see you here. I understand that the savage, Tandakora, +means to attack this house to-night, thinking that it holds a British +garrison. Well, it seems that he will not be far wrong in his thought." + +A ghost of a smile flickered over the priest's pale face. + +"A garrison but not the garrison that he expects to destroy," said +Willet. "Tandakora fights nominally under the flag of France, but as you +know, Father, he fights chiefly to gratify his own cruel desires." + +"I know it too well. Come inside. M. de Chatillard wishes to see you." + +Willet, Robert, Tayoga and Zeb Crane went in, and were shown into the +bedroom where the Seigneur Louis Henri Anatole de Chatillard, past +ninety years of age, lay upon his last bed. He was a large, handsome old +man, fair like so many of the Northern French, and his dying eyes were +full of fire. Two women of middle years, his granddaughters, knelt +weeping by each side of his bed, and two servants, tears on their faces, +stood at the foot. Willet and his comrades halted respectfully at the +door. + +"Step closer," said the old man, "that I may see you well." + +The four entered and stood within the light shed by two tall candles. +The old man gazed at them a long time in silence, but finally he said: + +"And so the English have come at last." + +"We're not English, M. de Chatillard," said Willet, "we're Americans, +Bostonnais, as you call us." + +"It is the same. You are but the children of the English and you fight +together against us. You increase too fast in the south. You thrive in +your towns and in the woods, and you send greater and greater numbers +against us. But you cannot take Quebec. The capital of New France is +inviolate." + +Willet said nothing. How could he argue with a man past ninety who lay +upon his dying bed? + +"You cannot take Quebec," repeated M. de Chatillard, rising, strength +showing in his voice. "The Bostonnais have come before. It was in +Frontenac's time nearly three-quarters of a century ago, when Phipps and +his armada from New England arrived before Quebec. I was but a lad then +newly come from France, but the great governor, Frontenac, made ready +for them. We had batteries in the Sault-au-Matelot on Palace Hill, on +Mount Carmel, before the Jesuits' college, in the Lower Town and +everywhere. Three-quarters of a century ago did I say? No, it was +yesterday! I remember how we fought. Frontenac was a great man as +Montcalm is!" + +"Peace, M. de Chatillard," said Father Drouillard soothingly. "You speak +of old, old times and old, old things!" + +"They were the days of my youth," said the old man, "and they are not +old to me. It was a great siege, but the valor of France and Canada were +not to be overcome. The armies and ships of the Bostonnais went back +whence they came, and the new invasion of the Bostonnais will have no +better fate." + +Willet was still silent. He saw that the old siege of Quebec was much +more in M. de Chatillard's mind than the present one, and if he could +pass away in the odor of triumph the hunter would not willingly change +it. + +"Who is the youth who stands near you?" said M. de Chatillard, looking +at Robert. + +"He is Robert Lennox of the Province of New York," replied Father +Drouillard, speaking for Willet. "One of the Bostonnais, but a good +youth." + +"One of the Bostonnais! Then I do not know him! I thought for a moment +that I saw in him the look of some one else, but maybe I was mistaken. +An old man cheats himself with fancies. Lad, come thou farther into the +light and let me see thee more clearly." + +The tone of command was strong in his voice, and Robert, obeying it, +stepped close to the bed. The old man raised his head a little, and +looked at him long with hawk's eyes. Robert felt that intent gaze +cutting into him, but he did not move. Then the Seigneur Louis Henri +Anatole de Chatillard laughed scornfully and said to Father Drouillard: + +"Why do you deceive me, Father? Why do you tell me that is one, Robert +Lennox, a youth of the Bostonnais, who stands before me, when my own +eyes tell me that it is the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, come as +befits a soldier of France to say farewell to an old man before he +dies." + +Robert felt an extraordinary thrill of emotion. M. de Chatillard, seeing +with the eyes of the past, had taken him for the Chevalier. But why? + +"It is not the Chevalier de St. Luc," said Father Drouillard, gently. +"It is the lad, Robert Lennox, from the Province of New York." + +"But it is St. Luc!" insisted the old man. "The face is the same, the +eyes are the same! Should I not know? I have known the Chevalier, and +his father and grandfather before him." + +The priest signed to Robert, and he withdrew into the shadow of the +room. Then Father Drouillard whispered into M. de Chatillard's ear, one +of the servants gave him medicine from a glass, and presently he sank +into quiet, seeming to be conscious no longer of the presence of the +strangers. Willet, Robert and the others withdrew softly. Robert was +still influenced by strong emotion. Did he look like St. Luc? And why? +What was the tie between them? The question that had agitated him so +often stirred him anew. + +"Very old men, when they come to their last hours, have many illusions," +said Willet. + +"It may be so," said Robert, "but it was strange that he should take me +for St. Luc." + +Willet was silent. Robert saw that as usual the hunter did not wish to +make any explanations, but he felt once more that the time for the +solution of his problem was not far away. He could afford to wait. + +"The Seigneur cannot live to know whether Quebec will fall," said +Tayoga. + +"No," said Willet, "and it's just as well. His time runs out. His mind +at the last will be filled with the old days when Frontenac held the +town against the New Englanders." + +The rangers were disposed well about the house, and they also watched +the landing. Tandakora and his men might come in canoes, stealing along +in the shadow of the high cliffs, or they might creep through the fields +and forest. Zeb Crane, who could see in the dark like an owl and who had +already proved his great qualities as a scout and ranger, watched at the +river, and Willet with Robert and Tayoga was on the land side. But they +learned there was another chateau landing less than a quarter of a mile +lower down, and Tandakora, coming on the river, might use that, and yet +make his immediate approach by land. + +Willet stood by a grape arbor with Robert and the Onondaga, and watched +with eye and ear. + +"Tandakora is sure to come," said the hunter. "It's just such a night as +he loves. Little would he care whether he found English or French in the +house; if not the English whom he expects, then the French, and dead men +have nothing to say, nor dead women either. It may be, Tayoga, that you +will have your chance to-night to settle your score with him." + +"I do not think so, Great Bear," replied the Onondaga. "The night is so +dark that I cannot see Tododaho on his star, but no whisper from him +reaches me. I think that when the time comes for the Ojibway and me to +see which shall continue to live, Tododaho or the spirits in the air +will give warning." + +Robert shivered a little. Tayoga's tone was cool and matter of fact, but +his comrades knew that he was in deadly earnest. At the appointed time +he and Tandakora would fight their quarrel out, fight it to the death. +In the last analysis Tayoga was an Indian, strong in Indian customs and +beliefs. + +"Tandakora will come about an hour before midnight," said the Onondaga, +"because it will be very dark then and there will yet be plenty of time +for his work. He will expect to find everybody asleep, save perhaps an +English sentinel whom he can easily tomahawk in the darkness. He does +not know that the old Seigneur lies dying, and that they watch by his +bed." + +"In that case," said the hunter with his absolute belief in all that +Tayoga said, "we can settle ourselves for quite a wait." + +They relapsed into silence and Robert began to look at the light that +shone from the bedroom of M. de Chatillard, the only light in the house +now visible. He was an old, old man between ninety and a hundred, and +Willett was right in saying that he might well pass on before the fate +of Quebec was decided. Robert was sure that it was going to fall, and M. +de Chatillard at the end of a long, long life would be spared a great +blow. But what a life! What events had been crowded into his three +generations of living! He could remember Le Grand Monarque, The Sun King +and the buildings of Versailles. He was approaching middle age when +Blenheim was fought. He could remember mighty battles, great changes, +and the opening of new worlds, and like Virgil's hero, he had been a +great part of them. That was a life to live, and, if Quebec were going +to fall, it was well that M. de Chatillard with his more than ninety +years should cease to live, before the sun of France set in North +America. Yes, Willet was right. + +A long time passed and Tayoga, lying down with his ear to the earth, was +listening. It was so dark now that hearing, not sight, must tell when +Tandakora came. + +"I go into the forest," whispered the Onondaga, "but I return soon." + +"Don't take any needless risks," said Willet. + +Tayoga slipped into the dusk, fading from sight like a wraith, but in +five minutes he came back. + +"Tandakora is at hand," he whispered. "He lies with his warriors in the +belt of pine woods. They are watching the light in the Seigneur's +window, but presently they will steal upon the house." + +"And find us on watch," said Willet, an exultant tone appearing in his +voice. "To the landing, Robert, and tell Zeb they're here on our side." + +The lank lad returned with Robert, though he left part of his men at +that point to guard against surprise, and the bulk of the force, under +Willet, crowded behind the grape arbor awaiting the onslaught of +Tandakora who, they knew, would come in caution and silence. + +Another period that seemed to Robert interminable, though it was not +more than half an hour, passed, and then he saw dimly a gigantic figure, +made yet greater by the dusk. He knew that it was Tandakora and his hand +slid to the trigger and hammer of his rifle. But he knew also that he +would not fire. It was no part of their plan to give an alarm so early. +The Ojibway vanished and then he thought he caught the gleam of a +uniform. So, a Frenchman, probably an officer, was with the warriors! + +"They have scouted about the house somewhat," whispered Tayoga, "and +they think the soldiers are inside." + +"In that case," Willet whispered back, "they'll break down the front +door and rush in for slaughter." + +"So they will. It is likely that they are looking now for a big log." + +Soon a long, dark shape emerged from the dark, a shape that looked like +one of the vast primeval saurians. It was a dozen warriors carrying the +trunk of a small tree, and all molded into one by the dusk. They +gathered headway, as they advanced, and it was a powerful door that +could withstand their blow. One of the ambushed rangers moved a little, +and, in doing so, made a noise. Quick as a flash the warriors dropped +the log, and another farther back fired at the noise. + +"Give it to 'em, lads!" cried Willet. + +A score of rifles flashed and the warriors replied instantly, but they +were caught at a disadvantage. They had come there for rapine and +murder, expecting an easy victory, and while Tandakora rallied them they +were no match for the rangers, led by such men as Willet and his +lieutenants. The battle, fierce and sanguinary, though it was, lasted a +bare five minutes and then the Ojibway and those of his band who +survived took to flight. Robert caught a glimpse among the fleeing men +of one whom he knew to be the spy, Garay. Stirred by a fierce impulse he +fired at him, but missed in the dusk, and then Garay vanished with the +others. Robert, however, did not believe that he had been recognized by +the spy and he was glad of it. He preferred that Garay should consider +him dead, and then he would be free of danger from that source. + +The firing was succeeded by a few minutes of intense silence and then +the great door of the Chateau de Chatillard opened again. Once more +Father Drouillard stood on the step, holding a lamp in his hand. + +"It is over, Father," said Willet. "We've driven off part of 'em and the +others lie here." + +"I heard the noise of the battle from within," said Father Drouillard +calmly, "and for the first time in my life I prayed that the Bostonnais +might win." + +"If you don't mind, Father, bring the lamp, and let us see the fallen. +There must be at least fifteen here." + +Father Drouillard, holding the light high, walked out upon the lawn with +steady step. + +"Here is a Montagnais," said Willet, "and this a St. Regis, and this a +St. Francis, and this a Huron, and this an Ojibway from the far west! +Ah, and here is a Frenchman, an officer, too, and he isn't quite dead! +Hold the lamp a little closer, will you, Father?" + +The priest threw the rays of the lamp upon the figure. + +"Jumonville!" exclaimed Robert. + +It was in truth Francois de Jumonville, shot through the body and dying, +slain in a raid for the sake of robbery and murder. When he saw the +faces of white men looking down at him, he raised himself feebly on one +elbow and said: + +"It is you again, Willet, and you, too, Lennox and Tayoga. Always across +my path, but for the last time, because I'm going on a long journey, +longer than any I ever undertook before." + +Father Drouillard fell on his knees and said a prayer for the dying man. +Robert looked down pityingly. He realized then that he hated nobody. +Life was much too busy an affair for the cherishing of hate and the +plotting of revenge. Jumonville had done him as much injury as he could, +but he was sorry for him, and had he been able to stay the ebbing of his +life, he would have done so. As the good priest finished his prayer the +head of Francois de Jumonville fell back. He was dead. + +"We will take his body into the house," said Father Drouillard, "prepare +it for the grave and give him Christian burial. I cannot forget that he +was an officer of France." + +"And my men shall help you," said Willet. + +They carried the body of Jumonville into the chateau and put it on a +bench, while the servants, remarkably composed, used as they were to +scenes of violence, began at once to array it for the grave. + +"Come into the Seigneur's room," said Father Drouillard, and Robert and +Willet followed him into the old man's chamber. M. de Chatillard lay +silent and rigid. He, too, had gone on the longest of all journeys. + +"His soul fled," said Father Drouillard, "when the battle outside was at +its height, but his mind then was not here. It was far back in the past, +three-quarters of a century since when Frontenac and Phipps fought +before Quebec, and he was little more than a lad in the thick of the +combat. I heard him say aloud: 'The Bostonnais are going. Quebec remains +ours!' and in that happy moment his soul fled." + +"A good ending," said Willet gravely, "and I, one of the Bostonnais, am +far from grudging him that felicity. Can my men help you with the +burial, Father? We remain here for the rest of the night at least." + +"If you will," said Father Drouillard. + +Zeb Crane touched Robert on the arm a little later. + +"Tayoga has come back," he said. + +"I didn't know he'd gone away," said Robert surprised. + +"He pursued Tandakora into the dark. Mebbe he thought Tododaho was wrong +and that the time for him to settle score with the Ojibway had re'lly +come. Any way he wuz off after him like an arrer from the bow." + +Robert went outside and found Tayoga standing quietly by the front door. + +"Did you overtake him?" he asked. + +"No," replied the Onondaga. "I knew that I could not, because Tododaho +had not whispered to me that the time was at hand, but, since I had seen +him and he was running away, I felt bound to pursue him. The legs of +Tandakora are long, and he fled with incredible speed. I followed him to +the landing of the next chateau, where he ran down the slope, leaped +into a canoe, and disappeared into the mists and vapors that hang so +heavily over the river. His time is not yet." + +"It seems not, but at any rate we inflicted a very thorough defeat upon +him to-night. His band is annihilated." + +The bodies of all the fallen warriors were buried the next day, and +decent burial was also given to Jumonville. But that of the Seigneur de +Chatillard was still lying in state when Willet and the rangers left. + +"If you wish," said the hunter to Father Drouillard, "I can procure you +a pass through our lines, and you can return that way to the city. We +don't make war on priests." + +"I thank you," said Father Drouillard, "but I do not need it. It is easy +for me to go into Quebec, whenever I choose, but, for a day or two, my +duty will lie here. To-morrow we bury the Seigneur, and after that must +put this household in order. Though one of the Bostonnais, you are a +good man, David Willet. Take care of yourself, and of the lad, Robert +Lennox." + +The hunter promised and, saying farewell to the priest, they went back +to Wolfe's camp, east of the Montmorency, across which stream De Levis +lay facing them. During their absence a party of skirmishers had been +cut off by St. Luc, and the whole British army had been disturbed by the +activities of the daring Chevalier. But, on the other hand, Wolfe was +recovering from a serious illness. The sound mind was finding for itself +a sounder body, and he was full of ideas, all of the boldest kind, to +take Quebec. If one plan failed he devised another. He thought of +fording the Montmorency several miles above its mouth, and of attacking +Montcalm in his Beauport camp while another force made a simultaneous +attack upon him in front. He had a second scheme to cross the river, +march along the edge of the St. Lawrence, and then scale the rock of +Quebec, and a third for a general attack upon Montcalm's army in its +Beauport intrenchments. And he had two or three more that were +variations of the first three, but his generals, Murray, Monckton and +Townshend, would not agree to any one of them, and he searched his +fertile mind for still another. + +But a brave general, even, might well have despaired. The siege made no +apparent progress. Nothing could diminish the tremendous strength that +nature had given to the position of Quebec, and the skill of Montcalm, +Bougainville, and St. Luc met every emergency. Most ominous of all, the +summer was waning. The colors that betoken autumn were deepening. Wolfe +realized anew that the time for taking Quebec was shortening fast. The +deep red appearing in the leaves spoke a language that could not be +denied. + +Robert, about this time, received an important letter from Benjamin +Hardy. It came by way of Boston, Louisbourg and the St. Lawrence. It +told him in the polite phrase of the day how glad he had been to hear +from Master Jacobus Huysman that he was not dead, although Robert read +easily between the lines and saw how genuine and deep was his joy. Mr. +Hardy saw in his escape from so many dangers the hand of providence, a +direct interposition in his behalf. He said, from motives of prudence, +no mention of Robert's return from the grave had been made to his +acquaintances in New York, and Master Jacobus Huysman in Albany had been +cautioned to say as little about it as possible. He deemed this wise, +for the present, because those who had made the attempts upon his life +would know nothing of their failure and so he would have nothing to fear +from them. He was glad too, since he was sure to return to some field of +the war, that he had joined the expedition against Quebec. The risk of +battle there would be great, but it was likely that in so remote a +theater of action he would be safe from his unknown enemies. + +Mr. Hardy added that great hopes were centered on Wolfe's daring siege. +All the campaigns elsewhere were going well, at last. The full strength +of the colonies was being exerted and England was making a mighty +effort. Success must come. Everybody had confidence in Mr. Pitt, and in +New York they were hopeful that the shadow, hovering so long in the +north, would soon be dispelled forever. + +In closing he said that when the campaign was over Robert must come to +him in New York at once, and that Willet must come with him. His wild +life in the woods must cease. Ample provision for his future would be +made and he must develop the talents with which he was so obviously +endowed. + +The water was in Robert's eyes when he finished the letter. Aye, he read +between the lines, and he read well. The old thought that he had +friends, powerful friends, came to him with renewed strength. It was +obvious that the New York merchant had a deep affection for him and was +watching over him. It was true of Willet too, and also of Mr. Huysman. +His mind, as ever, turned to the problem of himself, and once more he +felt that the solution was not far away. + +The next day after he had received the letter Zeb Crane returned from +Quebec, into which he had stolen as a spy, and he told Robert and +Charteris that the people there, though suffering from privation, were +now in great spirits. They were confident that Montcalm, the +fortifications and the natural strength of the city would hold off the +invader until winter, soon to come, should drive him away forever. + +August was now gone and Wolfe wrote to the great Pitt a letter destined +to be his last official dispatch, a strange mixture of despondency and +resolution. He spoke of the help for Montcalm that had been thrown into +Quebec, of his own illness, of the decline in his army's strength +through the operations already carried out, of the fact that practically +the whole force of Canada was now against him, but, in closing, he +assured the minister that the little time left to the campaign should be +used to the utmost. + +While plan after plan presented itself to the mind of Wolfe, to be +discarded as futile, Robert saw incessant activity with the rangers and +fought in many skirmishes with the French, the Canadians and Indians. +Tandakora had gathered a new band and was as great a danger as ever. +They came upon his ruthless trail repeatedly, but they were not able to +bring him to battle again. Once they revisited the Chateau de +Chatillard, and found the life there going on peacefully within the +English lines. Father Drouillard had returned to Quebec. + +Another shade of color was added to the leaves and then Robert saw a +great movement in Wolfe's camp before the Montmorency. The whole army +seemed to be leaving the position and to be going on board the fleet. At +first he thought the siege was to be abandoned utterly and his heart +sank. But Charteris, whom he saw just before he went on his ship with +the Royal Americans, reassured him. + +"I think," he said, "that the die is cast at last. The general has some +great plan in his head, I know not what, but I feel in every bone that +we're about to attack Quebec." + +Robert now felt that way, too. The army merely concentrated its strength +on the Heights of Levis and Orleans on the other side, then took ship +again, and in the darkness of night, heavily armed and provisioned, ran +by the batteries of the city, dropping anchor at Cap Rouge, above +Quebec. + +Throughout these movements on the water Robert was in a long boat with +Willet, Tayoga and a small body of rangers. In the darkness he watched +the great St. Lawrence and the lights of the town far above them. What +they would do next he did not know, and he no longer asked. He believed +that Charteris was right, and that the issue was at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE RECKONING + + +Robert's belief that the issue was at hand was so strong that it was not +shaken at all, while they hovered about the town for a while. He heard +through Charteris that Wolfe was again ill, that he had suffered a +terrible night, but that day had found him better, and, despite his +wasted frame and weakness, he was among the troops, kindling their +courage anew, and stimulating them to greater efforts. + +"A soul of fire in an invalid's frame," said Charteris, and Robert +agreed with him. + +Through Zeb Crane's amazing powers as a spy, he heard that the French +were in the greatest anxiety over Wolfe's movements. They had thought at +first that he was abandoning the siege, and then that he meditated an +attack at some new point. Montcalm below the town and Bougainville above +it were watching incessantly. Their doubts were increased by the fierce +bombardments of the British fleet, which poured heavy shot into the +Lower Town and the French camp. The French cannon replied, and the hills +echoed with the roar, while great clouds of smoke drifted along the +river. + +Then an afternoon came when Robert felt that the next night and day +would tell a mighty tale. It was in the air. Everybody showed a tense +excitement. The army was being stripped for battle. He knew that the +troops on the Heights of Levis and at Orleans had been ordered to march +along the south shore of the St. Lawrence and join the others. The fleet +was ready, as always, and the army was to embark. This concentration +could not be for nothing. Before the twilight he saw Charteris and they +shook hands, which was both a salute and a farewell. + +"We take ship after dark," said Charteris, "and I know as surely as I'm +standing here that we make some great attempt to-night. The omens and +presages are all about us." + +"I feel that way, too," said Robert. + +"Tododaho will soon appear on his star," said Tayoga, who was with +Robert, "but, though I cannot see him, I hear his whisper already." + +"What does it say?" asked Robert. + +"The whisper of Tododaho tells me that the time has come. We shall meet +the enemy in a great battle, but he does not say who will win." + +"I believe that, if we can bring Montcalm to battle, we can gain the +victory," said Charteris. "I for one, Tayoga, thank you for the +prophecy." + +"And I," said Robert. "But we'll be together to the end." + +"Aye, Dagaeoga, and together we shall see what happens." + +Robert also saw the Philadelphians and the Virginians, and he shook +hands with them in turn, every one of them giving a silent toast to +victory or death. He found Grosvenor with his own regiment, the +Grenadiers. + +"We may meet somewhere to-morrow, Grosvenor," he said, "but neither of +us knows where, nor under what circumstances." + +"Just so we meet after victory, that's enough," said Grosvenor. + +"Aye, so it is." + +The boom of a cannon came from down the river, it was followed by +another and another and then by many, singularly clear in the September +twilight. A powerful British fleet ranged up in front of the Beauport +shore and opened a fierce fire on the French redoubts. It seemed as if +Wolfe were trying to force a landing there, and the French guns replied. +In the distance, with the thunder of the cannonade and the flashes of +fire, it looked as if a great battle were raging. + +"It is nothing," said Willet to Robert, "or rather it is only a feint. +It will make Montcalm below the town think he is going to be attacked, +and it will make Bougainville above it rest more easily. The French are +already worn down by their efforts in racing back and forth to meet us. +Our command over the water is a wonderful thing, and it alone makes +victory possible." + +Robert, Willet and Tayoga with a dozen rangers went into a long boat, +whence they looked up at the tall ships that carried the army, and +waited as patiently as they could for the order to move. + +"See the big fellow over there," said Willet, pointing to one of the +ships. + +Robert nodded. + +"That's the _Sutherland_, and she carries General Wolfe. Like the boat +of Caesar, she bears our fortunes." + +"Truly 'tis so," said Robert. + +A good breeze was blowing down the river, and, at that moment, the stars +were out. + +"I see Tododaho with the wise snakes in his hair," said Tayoga in an +awed whisper, "and he looks directly down at me. His eyes speak more +plainly than his whisper that I heard in the twilight. Now, I know that +some mighty event is going to happen, and that the dawn will be heavy +with the fate of men." + +The sullen boom of a cannon came from a point far down the river, and +then the sullen boom of another replying. Quebec, on its rock, lay dark +and silent. Robert was shaken by a kind of shiver, and a thrill of +tremendous anticipation shot through him. He too knew instinctively that +they were upon the threshold of some mighty event. Whatever happened, he +could say, if he lived, that he was there, and, if he fell, he would at +least die a glorious death. His was the thrill of youth, and it was +wholly true. + +It was two hours past midnight and the ebb tide set in. The good wind +was still blowing down the river. Two lanterns went aloft in the rigging +of the _Sutherland_, and the signal for one of the great adventures of +history was given. All the troops had gone into boats earlier in the +evening, and now they pulled silently down the stream, Wolfe in one of +the foremost. + +Robert sat beside Tayoga, and Willet was just in front of them. Some of +the stars were still out, but there was no moon and the night was dark. +It seemed that all things had agreed finally to favor Wolfe's supreme +and last effort. The boats carrying the army were invisible from the +lofty cliffs and no spying canoes were on the stream to tell that they +were there. Robert gazed up at the black heights, and wondered where +were the French. + +"Are we going directly against Quebec?" he whispered to Willet. "'Tis +impossible to storm it upon its heights." + +"Nay, lad, nothing is impossible. As you see, we go toward Quebec and I +think we land in the rear of it. 'Tis young men who lead us, the boldest +of young men, and they will dare anything. But I tell you, Robert, our +coming to Quebec is very different from what it was when we came here +with a message from the Governor of the Province of New York." + +"And our reception is like to be different, too. What was that? It +sounded like the splash of a paddle ahead of us." + +"It was only a great fish leaping out of the water and then falling back +again," said Tayoga. "There is no enemy on the stream. Truly Manitou +to-night has blinded the French and the warriors, their allies. Montcalm +is a great leader, and so is St. Luc, but they do not know what is +coming. We shall meet them in the morning. Tododaho has said so to me." + +The boats passed on in their slow drifting with the tide. Once near to a +lofty headland, they were hailed by a French sentinel, who heard the +creaking of the boats, and who saw dim outlines in the dark, but a +Scotch officer, who spoke good French, made a satisfactory reply. The +boats drifted on, and the sentinel went back to his dreams, perhaps of +the girl that he had left in France. + +"Did I not tell you that Manitou had blinded the French and the +warriors, their allies, to-night?" whispered Tayoga to Robert. +"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the sentinel would have asked more, +or he would have insisted upon seeing more in the dark, but Manitou +dulled his senses. The good spirits are abroad, and they work for us." + +"Truly, I believe it is so, Tayoga," said Robert. + +"The French don't lack in vigilance, but they must be worn out," said +Willet. "It's one thing to sail on ships up and down a river, but it's +quite another for an army racing along lofty, rough and curving shores +to keep pace with it." + +They were challenged from another point of vantage by a sentinel and +they saw him running down to the St. Lawrence, pistol in hand, to make +good his question. But the same Scotch officer who had answered the +first placated him, telling him that theirs were boats loaded with +provisions, and not to make a noise or the English would hear him. Again +was French vigilance lulled, and they passed on around the headland +above Anse du Foulon. + +"The omens are ours," whispered Tayoga, with deep conviction. "Now, I +know that we shall arrive at the place to which we want to go. Unless +Manitou wishes us to go there, he would not have twice dulled the senses +of French sentinels who could have brought a French army down upon us +while we are yet in the river. And, lo! here where we are going to land +there is no sentinel!" + +"Under heaven, I believe you're right, Tayoga!" exclaimed Willet, with +intense earnestness. + +The boats swung in to the narrow beach at the foot of the lofty cliff +and the men disembarked rapidly. Then, hanging to rocks and shrubs, they +began to climb. There was still no alarm, and Robert held his breath in +suspense, and in amazement too. He did not know just where they were, +but they could not be very far from Quebec, and General Wolfe was +literally putting his head in the lion's mouth. He knew, and every one +around him knew, that it was now victory or death. He felt again that +tremendous thrill. Whatever happened, he would be in it. He kept +repeating that fact to himself and the thought of death was not with +him. + +"The dawn will soon be at hand," he said; "I feel it coming. If we can +have only a half hour more! Only a half hour!" + +"It will come with clouds," said Tayoga. "Manitou still favors us. He +wills that we shall reach the top." + +Robert made another pull and surmounted the crest. Everywhere the +soldiers were pouring over the top. A small body of French sentinels was +taken by surprise. Some of them were captured, and the others escaped in +the dusk to carry the alarm to the city, to Montcalm and to +Bougainville. But Wolfe was on the heights before Quebec. From points +farther up the river came the crash of cannon. It was the French +batteries firing upon the last of the boats, and upon the ships bringing +down the rest of the troops. But it was too late to stop the British +army, which included Americans, who were then British too. + +"The dawn is here," said Tayoga. + +The east was breaking slowly into dull light. Heavy clouds were floating +up from the west, and the air was damp with the promise of rain. The +British army was forming rapidly into line of battle, but no army was in +front of it. The daring enterprise of the night was a complete success, +and Montcalm had been surprised. He was yet to know that his enemy had +scaled the heights and was before Quebec. + +"We've gained a field of battle for ourselves," said Willet, "and it's +now for us to win the battle itself." + +The mind of Wolfe was at its supreme activity. A detachment, sent +swiftly, seized the battery at Samos that was firing upon the ships and +boats. Another battery, farther away at Sillery, was taken also, and the +landing of additional troops was covered. A party of Canadians who came +out of the town to see who these intrusive strangers might be, were +driven back in a hurry, and then Wolfe and his officers advanced to +choose their ground, the rangers hovering on the flanks of the regulars. + +Where the plateau was only a mile wide and before Quebec, the general +took his stand with the lofty cliffs of the St. Lawrence on the south +and the meadows of the St. Charles on the north. The field, the famous +Plains of Abraham, was fairly level with corn fields and bushes here and +there. A battalion of the Royal Americans was placed to guard the ford +of the St. Charles, but Robert saw the others, his friends among them, +formed up in the front ranks, where the brunt of the battle would fall. +Another regiment was in reserve. The rangers, with Robert, Tayoga and +Willet, still hovered on the flanks. + +Robert felt intense excitement. He always believed afterward that he +understood even at that instant the greatness of the cloudy dawn that +had come, and the momentous nature of the approaching conflict, holding +in its issue results far greater than those of many a battle in which +ten times the numbers were engaged. + +"How far away is Quebec?" he asked. + +"Over there about a mile," replied Willet. "We can't see it because the +ridge that the French call the Buttes-a-Neveu comes in between." + +"But look!" exclaimed Robert. "See, what is on the ridge!" + +The stretch of broken ground was suddenly covered with white uniforms. +They were French soldiers, the battalion of Guienne, aroused in their +camp near the St. Charles River by the firing, and come swiftly to see +what was the matter. There they stood, staring at the scarlet ranks, +drawn up in battle before them, unable to credit their eyes at first, +many of them believing for the moment that it was some vision of the +cloudy dawn. + +"I think that Montcalm's army will soon come," said Willet to Robert. +"You see, we're literally between three fires. We're facing the garrison +of Quebec, while we have Montcalm on one side of us and Bougainville on +the other. The question is which will it be, Bougainville or Montcalm, +but I think it will be Montcalm." + +"I know it will be Montcalm," said Robert, "and I know too that when he +comes St. Luc will be with him." + +"Aye, St. Luc will be with him. That's sure." + +It was even so. Montcalm was already on his way. The valiant general of +France, troubled by the hovering armies and fleets of Britain, uncertain +where they intended to strike or whether they meant to strike at all, +had passed a sleepless night. At dawn the distant boom of the cannon, +firing at the English ships above the town, had come to his ears. An +officer sent for news to the headquarters of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, +the Governor-General of New France, much nearer to the town, had not +returned, and, mounting, he galloped swiftly with one of his aides to +learn the cause of the firing. Near the Governor-General's house they +caught a distant gleam of the scarlet ranks of Wolfe's army, nearly two +miles away. + +When Montcalm saw that red flash his agitation and excitement became +intense. It is likely that he understood at once the full danger, that +he knew the crisis for Canada and France was at hand. But he dispatched +immediately the orders that would bring his army upon the scene. The +Governor-General, already alarmed, came out of his house and they +exchanged a few words. Then Montcalm galloped over the bridge across the +St. Charles and toward the British army. It is stated of him that during +this ride his face was set and that he never spoke once to his aides. + +Behind Montcalm came his army, hurrying to the battle-field, and, taking +the quickest course, it passed through Quebec, entering at the Palace +Gate and passing out through those of St. Louis and St. John, hastening, +always hastening, to join the battalion of Guienne, which already stood +in its white uniforms and beneath its banners on the Buttes-a-Neveu. + +Montcalm's army included the veterans of many victories. Through long +years they had fought valiantly for France in North America. At +Ticonderoga they had shown how they could triumph over great odds, over +men as brave as themselves, and, as they pressed through the narrow +streets of the quaint old town, they did not doubt that they were going +to another victory. With them, too, were the swart Canadians fighting +for their homes, their flag and, as they believed then, for their +religion, animated, too, by confidence in their courage, and belief in +the skill of their leaders who had so seldom failed. + +Behind the French and the Canadians were the Indians who had been drawn +so freely to Montcalm's banner by his success, thinking anew of +slaughter and untold spoil, such as they had known at William Henry and +such as they might have had at Ticonderoga. The gigantic Tandakora, +painted hideously, led them, and in all that motley array there was no +soul more eager than his for the battle. + +On that eventful morning, which the vast numbers of later wars cannot +dim, the councils of France were divided. Vaudreuil, fearing an attack +on the Beauport shore, did not give the valiant Montcalm all the help +that he could spare, nor did De Ramesay, commanding the garrison of +Quebec, send the artillery that the Marquis asked. + +But Montcalm was resolute. His soul was full of fire. He looked at the +ranks of Wolfe's army drawn up before him on the Plains of Abraham, and +he did not hesitate to attack. He would not wait for Bougainville, nor +would he hold back for the garrison of Quebec. He saw that the gauge of +battle had been flung down to him and he knew that he must march at once +upon the British--and the Americans. Mounted on a black horse, he rode +up and down the lines, waving or pointing his sword, his dark face alive +with energy. + +Montcalm now formed his men in three divisions. M. de Senezergues led +the left wing made up of the regiments of Guienne and Royal Roussillon, +supported by Canadian militia. M. de Saint Ours took the right wing with +the battalion of La Sarre and more Canadian militia. Montcalm was in the +center with the regiment of Languedoc and the battalion of Bearn. On +both flanks were Canadians and numerous Indians. + +Robert from his position on a little knoll with Willet and Tayoga +watched all these movements, and he was scarcely conscious of the +passage of time. There was a shifting in the British army also, as it +perfected its alignment, and the bagpipes of the Scotchmen were already +screaming defiance, but his eyes were mainly for the French before him. +He recognized Montcalm as he rode up and down the lines, raising his +sword, and presently he saw another gallant figure on horseback that he +knew. It was St. Luc, and the old thrill shot through him: St. Luc for +whom the ancient M. de Chatillard had taken him, St. Luc with whom he +must have some blood tie. + +Though it was now far beyond the time for the rising of the sun, the day +was still dark, heavy with clouds, and now and then a puff of rain was +blown in the faces of the waiting men, though few took notice. The wait +and the preparations had to Robert all the aspects of a duel, and the +incessant shrill screaming of the Scotch bagpipes put a fever in his +blood, setting all the little pulses in his head and body to beating. +Ever after he maintained that the call of the bagpipes was the most +martial music in the world. + +The crackle of firing broke out on the flanks. The Canadian and Indian +sharpshooters, from the shelter of houses, bushes and knolls, had opened +fire. Now and then a man in scarlet fell, but the army of Wolfe neither +moved nor replied, though some of the New England rangers, stealing +forward, began to send bullets at their targets. + +"I see Tandakora," said Tayoga, "and, in an hour, the score between us +will be settled. Tododaho told me so last night, but it is still +uncertain which shall be the victor." + +"Can't you get a shot at him?" asked Robert. + +"It is not yet time, Dagaeoga. Tododaho will say when the moment comes +for me to pull trigger on the Ojibway." + +Then Robert's gaze shifted back to the figure of St. Luc. The chevalier +rode a white horse, and he was helping Montcalm to form the lines in the +best order for the attack. He too held in his hand a sword, the small +sword that Robert had seen before, but he seldom waved it. + +"Are they ever coming?" asked Robert, who felt as if he had been +standing on the field many hours. + +"We've not long to wait now, lad," replied Willet. "Our own army is +ready and I think the fate of America will soon be decided here on this +cloudy morning." + +Another light puff of rain struck Robert in the face, but as before he +did not notice it. The crackling fire of the sharpshooters increased. +They were stinging the British flanks and more men in scarlet fell, but +the army of Wolfe remained immovable, waiting, always waiting. It was +for Montcalm now to act. French field pieces added their roar to the +crackle of rifles and muskets, and now and then the fierce yell of the +Indians rose above both. Robert thought he saw a general movement in the +French lines, and his thought was Willet's also. + +"The moment has come! Steady, lads! Steady!" said the hunter. + +The whole French army suddenly began to advance, the veterans and the +militia together, uttering great shouts, while the Indians on the flanks +gave forth the war whoop without ceasing. Robert remained motionless. +The steadfastness of soul that he had acquired on the island controlled +him now. Inwardly he was in a fever, but outwardly he showed no emotion. +He glanced at Montcalm on the black horse, and St. Luc on the white, and +then at the scarlet and silent ranks of Wolfe's army. But the French +were coming fast, and he knew that silence would soon burst into sudden +and terrible action. + +"The French lines are being thrown into confusion by the unevenness of +the ground and the rapidity of their advance," said Willet. "Their +surprise at our being here is so great that it has unsteadied them. Now +they are about to open fire!" + +The front of the charging French burst into flame and the bullets sang +in the scarlet ranks. Wolfe's army suddenly began to move forward, but +still it did not fire, although the battle of the skirmishers on the +flanks was rapidly increasing in ferocity. The rangers were busy now, +replying to the Indians and Canadians, but Robert still took rapid +glances and he looked oftenest toward the Americans, where his friends +stood. The advance of the French became almost a run, and he saw all the +muskets and rifles of his own army go up. + +A tremendous volley burst from the scarlet ranks, so loud and so close +together that it sounded like one vast cannon shot. It was succeeded +presently by another, and then by an irregular but fierce fire, which +died in its turn to let the smoke lift. + +Robert saw a terrible sight. The ground where the French army had stood +was literally covered with dead and wounded. The two volleys fired at +close range had mowed them down like grain. The French army, smitten +unto death, was reeling back, and the British, seizing the moment, +rushed forward with bayonet and drawn sword. The Highlanders, as they +charged with the broadsword, uttered a tremendous yell, and Robert saw +his own Americans in the front of the rush. He caught one glimpse of the +tall figure of Charteris and he saw Colden near him. Then they were all +lost in the smoke as they attacked. + +But Wolfe had fallen. Struck by three bullets, the last time in the +breast, he staggered and sat down. Men rushed to his aid, but he lived +just long enough to know that he had won the victory. Before the firing +died away, he was dead. Montcalm, still on horseback, was shot through +the body, but he was taken into the city, where he died the night of the +next day. Senezergues, his second in command, was also mortally wounded, +and Monckton, who was second to Wolfe, fell badly wounded too. + +But Robert did not yet know any of these facts. He was conscious only of +victory. He heard the triumphant cheers of Wolfe's army and he saw that +the French had stopped, then that they were breaking. He felt again that +powerful thrill, but now it was the thrill of victory. + +"We win! We win!" he cried. + +"Aye, so we do," said Willet, "but here are the Canadians and Indians +trying to wipe out us rangers." + +The fire in front of them from the knolls and bushes redoubled, but the +rangers, adept at such combats, pressed forward, pouring in their +bullets. The Canadians and Indians gave ground and the rangers, circling +about, attacked them on the flank. Tayoga suddenly uttered a fierce +shout and, dropping his rifle, leaped into the open. + +"Now, O Tandakora!" he cried. "The time has come and thou hast given me +the chance!" + +The gigantic figure of Tandakora emerged from the smoke, and the two, +tomahawk in hand, faced each other. + +"It is you, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of +the league of the Hodenosaunee," said the chief. "So you have come at +last that I may spit upon your dead body. I have long sought this +moment." + +"Not longer than I, Ojibway savage!" replied Tayoga. "Now you shall know +what it is to strike an Onondaga in the mouth, when he is bound and +helpless." + +The huge warrior threw back his head and laughed. + +"Look your last at the skies, Onondaga," he said, "because you will soon +pass into silence and darkness. It is not for a great chief to be slain +by a mere boy." + +Tayoga said no more, but gazed steadily into the eyes of the Ojibway. +Then the two circled slowly, each intently watching every movement of +the other. The great body of Tandakora was poised like that of a +panther, the huge muscles rippling under his bronze skin. But the +slender figure of Tayoga was instinct also with strength, and with an +incomparable grace and lightness. He seemed to move without effort, like +a beam of light. + +Tandakora crouched as he moved slowly toward the right. Then his arm +suddenly shot back and he hurled his tomahawk with incredible force. The +Onondaga threw his head to one side and the glittering blade, flying on, +clove a ranger to the chin. Then Tayoga threw his own weapon, but +Tandakora, with a quick shift evading it, drew his knife and, rushing +in, cried: + +"Now I have you, dog of an Onondaga!" + +Not in vain was Tayoga as swift as a beam of light. Not in vain was that +light figure made of wrought steel. Leaping to one side, he drew his own +knife and struck with all his might at the heart of that huge, rushing +figure. The blade went true, and so tremendous was the blow that +Tandakora, falling in a heap, gave up his fierce and savage soul. + +"They run! They run!" cried Robert. "The whole French army is running!" + +It was true. The entire French force was pouring back toward the gates +of the city, their leaders vainly trying to rally the soldiers. The +skirmishers fell back with them. A figure, darting from a bush, turned +to pull trigger on Robert, and then uttered a cry of terror. + +"A ghost! It is a ghost!" he exclaimed in French. + +But a second look told Achille Garay that it was no ghost. It may have +been a miracle, but it was Robert Lennox come back in the flesh, and his +finger returned to the trigger. Another was quicker. The hunter saw him. + +"That for you, Garay!" he cried, and sent a bullet through the spy's +heart. Then, drawing the two lads with him, he rushed forward in +pursuit. + +The confusion in the French army was increasing. Its defeat was fast +becoming a rout, but some of the officers still strove to stay the +panic. Robert saw one on a white horse gallop before a huddle of fleeing +men. But the soldiers, swerving, ran on. A bullet struck the horse and +he fell. The man leaped clear, but looked around in a dazed manner. Then +a bullet struck him too, and he staggered. Robert with a cry rushed +forward, and received into his arms the falling figure of St. Luc. + +He eased the Chevalier to the ground and rested his head upon his knee. + +"He isn't dead!" he exclaimed. "He's only shot through the shoulder!" + +"Now, this is in truth the hand of Providence," said Willet gravely, +"when you are here in the height of a great battle to break the fall of +your own uncle!" + +"My uncle!" exclaimed Robert. + +The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc smiled wanly. + +"Yes, my nephew," he said, "your own uncle, though wounded grievously, +on this the saddest of all days for France, son of my dear, dead sister, +Gabrielle." + +Then he fainted dead away from loss of blood, and the Canadian, Dubois, +appearing suddenly, helped them to revive him. Robert hung over him with +irrepressible anxiety. + +"The brother of my mother!" he exclaimed. "I always felt there was a +powerful tie, a blood tie, uniting us! That was why he spared me so +often! That was why he told me how to escape at Ticonderoga! He will not +die, Dave? He will not die?" + +"No, he will not die," replied Willet. "The Marquis de Clermont can +receive a greater wound than that, and yet live and flourish." + +"The Marquis de Clermont!" + +"Aye, the Chevalier de St. Luc is head of one of the greatest families +of France and you're his next of kin." + +"And so I'm half a Frenchman!" + +"Aye, half a Frenchman, half an Englishman, and all an American." + +"And so I am!" said Robert. + +"Truly it is a great morning," said Tayoga gravely. "Tododaho has given +to me the triumph, and Tandakora has gone to his hereafter, wherever it +may be; the soul of Garay is sped too, France has lost Canada, and +Dagaeoga has found the brother of his mother." + +"It's true," said Willet in a whimsical tone. "When things begin to +happen they happen fast. The battle is almost over." + +But the victorious army, as it advanced, was subjected to a severe fire +on the flank from ambushed Canadians. Many of the French threw +themselves into the thickets on the Cote Ste.-Genevieve, and poured a +hail of bullets into the ranks of the advancing Highlanders. Vaudreuil +came up from Beauport and was all in terror, but Bougainville and +others, arriving, showed a firmer spirit. The gates of Quebec were shut, +and it seemed to show defiance, while the English and Americans, still +in the presence of forces greater than their own, intrenched on the +field where they had won the victory, a victory that remains one of the +decisive battles of the world, mighty and far-reaching in its +consequences. + +A night of mixed triumph and grief came, grief for the loss of Wolfe and +so many brave men, triumph that a daring chance had brought such a +brilliant success. Robert found Charteris, Grosvenor, Colden and the +Virginians unharmed. Wilton was wounded severely, but ultimately +recovered his full strength. Carson was wounded also, but was as well as +ever in a month, while Robert himself, Tayoga, Willet and Zeb Crane were +not touched. + +But his greatest interest that night was in the Chevalier de St. Luc, +Marquis de Clermont. They had made him a pallet in a tent and one of the +best army surgeons was attending so famous and gallant an enemy. But he +seemed easiest when Robert was by. + +"My boy," he said, "I always tried to save you. Whenever I looked upon +you I saw in your face my sister Gabrielle." + +"But why did you not tell me?" asked Robert. "Why did not some one of +the others who seemed to know tell me?" + +"There were excellent reasons," replied the wounded man. "Gabrielle +loved one of the Bostonnais, a young man whom she met in Paris. He was +brave, gallant and true, was your father, Richard Lennox. I have nothing +to say against him, but our family did not consider it wise for her to +marry a foreigner, a member of another race. They eloped and were +married in a little hamlet on the wild coast of Brittany. Then they fled +to America, where you were born, and when you were a year old they +undertook to return to France, seeking forgiveness. But it was only a +start. The ship was driven on the rocks of Maine and they were lost, +your brave, handsome father and my beautiful sister--but you were saved. +Willet came and took you into the wilderness with him. He has stood in +the place of your own father." + +"But why did not they tell me?" repeated Robert. "Why was I left so long +in ignorance?" + +"There was a flaw. The priest who performed the marriage was dead. The +records were lost. The evil said there had been no marriage, and that +you were no rightful member of the great family of De Clermont. We could +not prove the marriage then and so you were left for the time with +Willet." + +"Why did Willet take me?" + +Raymond Louis de St. Luc turned to Willet, who sat on the other side of +the pallet, and smiled. + +"I will answer you, Robert," said the hunter. "I was one of those who +loved your mother. How could any one help loving her? As beautiful as a +dream, and a soul of pure gold. She married another, but when she was +lost at sea something went out of my life that could never be replaced +in this world. You have replaced it partly, Robert, but not wholly. It +seemed fitting to the others that, being what I was, and loving +Gabrielle de Clermont as I had, I should take you. I should have taken +you anyhow." + +Robert's head swam, and there was a mist before his eyes. He was +thinking of the beautiful young mother whom he could not remember. + +"Then I am by blood a De Clermont, and yet not a De Clermont," he said. + +"You're a De Clermont by blood, by right, and before all the world," +said Willet. "I've a letter from Benjamin Hardy in New York, stating +that the records have been found in the ruins of the burned church on +the coast of Brittany, where the marriage was performed. Their +authenticity has been acknowledged by the French government and all the +members of the De Clermont family who are in France. Copies of them have +been smuggled through from France." + +"Thanks to the good God!" murmured St. Luc. + +"And Adrian Van Zoon? Why has he made such war against me?" asked +Robert. + +"Because of money," replied Willet. "Your father was a great owner of +shipping, inherited, as Richard Lennox was a young man under thirty when +he was lost at sea. At his death the control of it passed into the hands +of his father's partner, Adrian Van Zoon. Van Zoon wanted it all, and, +since you had no relatives, he probably would have secured it if you had +been put out of the way. That is why you were safer with me at Albany +and in the woods, until your rightful claims could be established. +Benjamin Hardy, who had been a schoolmate and great friend of your +father, knew of this and kept watch on Van Zoon. Your estate has not +suffered in the man's hands, because, expecting it to be his own, he has +made it increase. Jonathan Pillsbury knew your history too. So did +Jacobus Huysman, in whose house we placed you when you went to school, +and so did your teacher, Master Alexander McLean." + +"I had powerful friends. I felt it all the time," said Robert. + +"So you had, lad, and it was largely because they saw you grow up worthy +of such friendship. You're a very rich man, Robert. There are ships +belonging to you on nearly every sea, or at least there would be if we +had no war." + +"And a Marquis of France--when I die," said St. Luc. + +"No! No!" exclaimed Robert. "You'll live as long as I will! Why, you're +only a young man!" + +"Twenty-nine," said St. Luc. "Gabrielle was twelve years older than I +am. You are more a younger brother than a nephew to me, Robert." + +"But I will never become a Marquis of France," said Robert. "I am +American, English to the core. I have fought against France, though I do +not hate her. I cannot go to France, nor even to England. I must stay in +the country in which I was born, and in which my father was born." + +"Spoken well," said Willet. "It was what I wanted to hear you say. The +Chevalier will return to France. He will marry and have children of his +own. Haven't we heard him sing often about the girl he left on the +bridge of Avignon? The next Marquis of Clermont will be his son and not +his nephew." + +Which came to pass, as Willet predicted. + +Robert stayed long that night by the pallet of his uncle, to whom the +English gave the best of attention, respecting the worth of a wounded +prisoner so well known for his bravery, skill and lofty character. St. +Luc finally fell asleep, and, going outside, Robert found Tayoga +awaiting him. When he told him all the strange and wonderful story that +he had heard inside the tent, the Onondaga said: + +"I suppose that Dagaeoga, being a great man, will go to Europe and +forget us here." + +"Never!" exclaimed Robert. "My home is in America. All I know is +America, and I'd be out of place in any other country." + +And then he added whimsically: + +"I couldn't go so far away from the Hodenosaunee." + +"Dagaeoga might go far and yet never come to a nation greater than the +great League," said Tayoga, with deep conviction. + +"That's true, Tayoga. How stands the battle? I had almost forgotten it +in the amazing tide of my own fortunes." + +"General Wolfe is dead, but his spirit lives after him. We are +victorious at all points. The French have fled into Quebec, and they yet +have an army much more numerous than ours, if they get it all together. +But Montcalm was wounded and they say he is dying. The soul has gone out +of them. I think Quebec will be yielded very soon." + +And surrendered it was a few days later, but the victors soon found that +the city they had won with so much daring would have to be defended with +the utmost courage and pertinacity. St. Luc, fast recovering from his +wound, was sent a prisoner to New York, together with De Galissonniere, +who had been taken unhurt, but Robert did not get away as soon as he had +expected. Quebec was in peril again, but now from the French. De Levis, +who succeeded Montcalm as the military leader of New France, gathering +together at Montreal all the fragments of the French power in Canada, +swore to retake Quebec. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet, with the rangers, served in the garrison of +Quebec throughout the long and bitter winter that followed. In the +spring they moved out with the army to meet De Levis, who was advancing +from Montreal to keep his oath. Robert received a slight wound in the +battle of Ste. Foy that followed, in which the English and Americans +were defeated, and were compelled to retreat into Quebec. + +This battle of Ste. Foy, in which Robert distinguished himself again +with the New England rangers, was long and fierce, one of the most +sanguinary ever fought on Canadian soil. De Levis, the French commander, +showed all the courage and skill of Montcalm, proving himself a worthy +successor to the leader who had fallen with Wolfe, and his men displayed +the usual French fire and courage. + +Hazen, the chief of the rangers, was badly wounded in the height of the +action, but Robert and Willet succeeded in bringing him off the field, +while Tayoga protected their retreat. A bullet from the Onondaga's rifle +here slew Colonel de Courcelles, and Robert, on the whole, was glad that +the man's death had been a valiant one. He had learned not to cherish +rancor against any one, and the Onondaga and the hunter agreed with him. + +"There is some good in everybody," said Willet. "We'll remember that and +forget the rest." + +But Robert's friends in the Royal Americans had a hard time of it in the +battle of Ste. Foy, even harder than in Wolfe's battle on the Plains of +Abraham. They were conspicuous for their valor and suffered many +casualties. Colden, Cabell and Stuart were wounded, but took no +permanent hurt. Charteris also received a slight wound, but he recovered +entirely before his marriage in the summer with the lovely Louise de St. +Maur, the daughter of the Seigneur Raymond de St. Maur, in whose house +he had been a prisoner a long time in Quebec. + +It was Robert's own personal contact and his great friendship for +Charteris, continuing throughout their long lives in New York, that +caused him to take such a strong and permanent interest in this +particular regiment which had been raised wholly in the colonies and +which fought so valiantly at Duquesne, Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, Quebec, +Ste. Foy, and in truth in nearly all the great North American battles of +the Seven Years' War. + +It was at first the Sixty-Second Regular Regiment of the British Army, +"Royal American Provincials," but through the lapsing of two other +regiments it soon became the Sixtieth. Its valor and distinction were so +high when composed wholly of Americans, except the superior officers, +that nearly seventy years subsequent to the fall of Quebec the +Englishmen, who after the great quarrel had replaced the Americans in +it, asked that they be allowed to use as their motto the Latin phrase, +_Celer et audax_, "Swift and Bold," "Quick and Ready," which Wolfe +himself was said to have conferred upon it shortly before his fall upon +the Plains of Abraham. And in memory of the great deeds of their +American predecessors, the gallant Englishmen who succeeded them were +permitted by the British government to use that motto. + +Despite their defeat at Ste. Foy, the English and Americans held the +capital against De Levis until another British fleet arrived and +compelled the retreat of the brave Frenchmen. More reenforcements came +from England, the powerful army of Amherst advanced from the south, +Montreal was taken, and it was soon all over with New France. + +Canada passed to England, and after its fall English and American +troops, men of the same blood, language and institutions, did not stand +together again in a great battle for more than a century and a half, and +then, strangely enough, it was in defense of that France which under one +flag they had fought at Duquesne and Ticonderoga, at Quebec and Ste. +Foy. + +Robert, Tayoga and Willet went back to the colonies by land, and after a +long journey stopped at Albany, where they received the warmest of +welcomes from Master Jacobus Huysman, Master Alexander McLean and +Caterina. + +"I knew Robert that some time you would come into your own. I hold some +of the papers about you in my great chest here," said Jacobus Huysman. +"Now it iss for you to show that you understand how to use great fortune +well." + +"And never forget your dates," said Master Alexander. "It is well to +know history. All the more so, because you have had a part in the making +of it." + +Warm as was their welcome in Albany, it was no warmer than that given +them in New York by Benjamin Hardy and Jonathan Pillsbury. The very next +day they went to the house of Adrian Van Zoon for a reckoning, only to +find him dead in his bed. He had heard the night before of Robert's +arrival; in truth, it was his first intimation that young Lennox was +alive, and that all his wicked schemes against him had failed. + +"It may have been a stroke of heart disease," said Benjamin Hardy, as +they turned away, "or----" + +"He has gone and his crimes have gone with him," said Robert. "I don't +wish ever to know how he went." + +A little later the Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc, Marquis de +Clermont, the war now being over, sailed with his faithful Canadian +attendant, Dubois, from New York for France. The parting between him and +his nephew was not demonstrative, but it was marked by the deepest +affection on either side. + +"France has been defeated, but she is the eternal nation," said St. Luc. +"She will be greater than ever. She will be more splendid than before." + +The De Clermonts were a powerful stock, with their roots deep in the +soil. A son of St. Luc's became a famous general under Napoleon, a great +cavalry leader of singular courage and capacity, and a lineal descendant +of his, a general also, fought with the same courage and ability under +Joffre and Foch in the World War, being especially conspicuous for his +services at both the First and Second Marne. At the Second Marne he gave +a heartfelt greeting to two young American officers named Lennox, +calling them his cousins and brothers-in-arms, in blood as well as in +spirit. They were together in the immortal counter-stroke on the morning +of July 18, 1918, when Americans and French turned the tide of the World +War, and sealed anew an old friendship. They were also together +throughout those blazing one hundred and nineteen days when British, +French and Americans together, old enemies and old friends who had +mingled their blood on innumerable battle-fields, destroyed the greatest +menace of modern times and hurled the pretender to divine honors from +his throne. + +Robert found his fortune to be one of the largest in the New World, but +he kept it in the hands of Benjamin Hardy and David Willet, who +increased it, and he became the lawyer, orator and statesman for which +his talents fitted him so eminently. A marked characteristic in the life +of Robert Lennox, noted by all who knew him, was his liberality of +opinion. He had his share in public life, but the bitterness of +politics, then so common in this country as well as others, seemed never +to touch him. He was always willing to give his opponent credit for +sincerity, and even to admit that his cause had justice. In his opinion +the other man's point of view could always be considered. + +This broadness of mind often caused him to incur criticism, but it had +become so much his nature, and his courage was so great, that he would +not depart from it. He had been through the terrible war with the +French, and, even before he knew that he was half a Frenchman by blood, +he had gladly acknowledged the splendid qualities of the French, their +bravery and patience, and their logical minds. He always said during the +worst throes of their revolution that the French would emerge from it +greater than ever. + +His position was similar in the Revolutionary War with the English. +While he cast in his lot with his own people, and suffered with them, he +invariably maintained that the English nation was sound at the core. He +had fought beside them in a great struggle and he knew how strong and +true they were, and when our own strife was over he was most eager for a +renewal of good relations with the English, always saying that the fact +that they had quarreled and parted did not keep them from being of the +same blood and family, and hence natural allies. + +He consistently refused to hate an individual. He always insisted that +life was too busy to cherish a grudge or seek revenge. Bad acts +invariably punished themselves in the course of time. He was able to see +some good, a little at least, in everybody. Searching his mind in after +years, he could even find excuses for Adrian Van Zoon. He would say to +Willet that the man loved nothing but money, that perhaps he had been +born that way and could not help it, that he had made his attempts upon +him under the influence of what was the greatest of all temptations to +him, and that while he paid the slaver to carry him away he had not paid +him to kill him. As for Garay, he would say that he might have exceeded +orders. He would say the same about the shots the slaver had fired at +him at Albany. + +This tolerance came partly from his own character, and partly from an +enormous experience of life in the raw in his young and formative years. +He knew how men were to a large extent the creatures of circumstances, +and on the individual in particular his judgments were always mild. He +had two favorite sayings: + +"No man is as bad as he seems to his worst enemy." + +"No man is as good as he seems to his best friend." + +His own faults he knew perfectly well to be quickness of temper and a +proneness to hasty action. Throughout his life he fought against them +and he took as his models Willet and Tayoga, who always appeared to him +to have a more thorough command over their own minds and impulses than +any other men he ever knew. + +Aside from his brilliancy and power in public life, Lennox had other +qualities that distinguished him as a man. He was noted for his +cosmopolitan views concerning human affairs. He had an uncommon +largeness and breadth of vision, all the more notable then, as America +was, in many respects, outside the greater world of Europe. People in +speaking of him, however, recalled the extraordinary variety and +intensity of his experiences. Much of his story was known and it was not +diminished in the telling. He was always at home in the woods. He had an +uncommon sympathy for hunters, borderers, pathfinders and all kinds of +wilderness rovers. He understood them and they instinctively understood +him, invariably finding in him a redoubtable champion. He was also +closely in touch with the Indian soul, and his friends used to say +laughingly that he had something of the Indian in his own nature. At all +events, the Great League of the Hodenosaunee found in him a defender and +he was more than once an honored guest in the Vale of Onondaga. + +On the other hand, his interest in European affairs was always keen and +intelligent, especially in those of England and France, with whose sons +he had come into contact so much during the great war. He maintained a +lifelong correspondence with his friend, Alfred Grosvenor, who +ultimately became a nobleman and who sat for more than forty years in +the House of Lords. Lennox visited him several times in England, both +before and after the quarrel between the colonies and the mother +country, which, however, did not diminish their friendship a particle. +In truth, during those troubled times Grosvenor, who was noted for the +liberality of his sentiments and for an affection for Americans, +conceived during his service as a soldier on their continent in the +Seven Years' War, often defended them against the criticism of his +countrymen, while Lennox, on his side, very boldly told the people that +nothing could alter the fact that England was their mother country, and +that no one should even wish to alter it. + +But his correspondence with his uncle, Raymond Louis de St. Luc, Marquis +de Clermont, not so many years older than himself, covered a period of +nearly sixty years filled with world-shaking events, and, though it has +been printed for private circulation only, it is a perfect mine of fact, +comment and illumination. St. Luc was one of the few French noblemen to +foresee the great Revolution in his country, and, while he mourned its +excesses, he knew that much of it was justified. His patriotism and +courage were so high and so obvious that neither Danton, Marat nor +Robespierre dared to attack him. As an old man he supported Napoleon +ardently until the empire and the ambitions of the emperor became too +swollen, and, while he mourned Waterloo, he told his son, General Robert +Lennox de St. Luc, who distinguished himself so greatly there and who +almost took the chateau of Hougoumont from the English, that it was for +the best, and that it was inevitable. It was the comment of St. Luc, +then eighty-five years old and full of experience and wisdom, that a +very great man may become too great. + +Lennox was noted for his great geniality and his extraordinary capacity +for making friends. Yet there was a strain of remarkable gravity, even +austerity, in his character. There came times when he wished to be +alone, to hear no human voices about him. It was then perhaps that he +thought his best thoughts and took, too, his best resolutions. In the +great silences he seemed to see more clearly, and the path lay straight +before him. Many of his friends thought it an eccentricity, but he knew +it was an inheritance from his long stay alone upon the island, a period +in his life that had so much effect in molding his character. + +It was this ripeness of mind, based upon fullness of information and +deep meditation, that made him such a great man in the true sense of the +word. As a speaker he was without a rival either in form or substance in +the New World. It was said everywhere in New York that the famous +Alexander Hamilton and the equally skillful Aaron Burr went to the +courtroom regularly to study his methods. Both admitted quite freely in +private that they copied his style, though neither was ever able to +acquire the wonderful golden voice, the genuine phenomenon that made +Lennox so notable. + +On one of these occasions, after making a thrilling speech, when he +filled the souls of both Hamilton and Burr with despair, a great +Onondaga sachem, in the full costume of his nation, said to his friend +Willet, once a renowned hunter: + +"I always knew Dagaeoga could use more words than any one else could +find in the biggest dictionary." + + + + +THE END + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Page numbers in the table of contents and in the transcriber's notes +below refer to the original printed version. + +Footnotes have been moved to the end of their respective chapters. + +The following typographical errors in the original printed version have +been noted below and corrected only where indicated. + + +CHARACTERS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR SERIES + +The character Louis de Galissonniere appears here as "GALISONNIERE." +Although he appears only at one other point in this book, the correct +spelling comes from his more frequent appearances in another novel of +the series, _The Masters of The Peaks_. + +The captain of the _Hawk_, Stuart Whyte, is listed here as "WHITE." + +The lieutenant of the _Hawk_, John Lanham, is listed here as "LATHAM." + + +CHAPTER I + +(Page 2) The character of Jacobus Huysman has a very noticeable dialect. +The spelling of "iss," "wass," and "hass," plus various other words in +his dialogue, is preserved as in the original text. + +(Page 17) Alfred Grosvenor is referred as "Grovenor's." + + +CHAPTER III + +(Page 53) "hiden" instead of "hidden." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER IV + +(Page 71) A missing closing quote at "... and so I decided against +him." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER V + +(Page 92) "probabilty" instead of "probability." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 93) "She's going almost due south ..." opens with a single quote. +Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER VIII + +(Page 144) "firce" instead of "fierce." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER XI + +(Page 203) Once again, Captain Stuart Whyte is referred to as "White." + +(Page 214) A missing closing quote at "... for the term of the war, at +least." Corrected in this text. + + +CHAPTER XII + +(Page 221) "You" instead of "your" in "your look iss changed!" Corrected +in this text. + + +CHAPTER XIII + +(Pages 245, 246). The name "Todohado" appears twice in quick succession +on these pages. Presumably the spirit Tododaho was intended. + +(Page 247). Tayoga uses "Degaeoga," presumably meaning Dagaeoga, his +name for Lennox. + +(Page 248) "atack" instead of "attack." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 255) The location of Isle-aux-Noix appears here as +"Isle-aux-noix." + + +CHAPTER XIV + +(Page 266) A comma appeared to terminate the sentence "... laid by the +Ojibway." Corrected in this text. + +(Page 282) The lieutenant of the _Hawk_, John Lanham, is referred to as +"Lanhan." + +CHAPTER XV + +(Page 293) David Willet is referred to as "Willett." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Sun Of Quebec, by Joseph A. 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