CHAPTER XII
THE MARVELOUS TRAILER
"Where are we, Tayoga?"
Robert stirred from a doze and the words were involuntary. He looked uponwater, covered with mists and vapors, and the driving wind was still behindthem.
"I know not, Dagaeoga," replied the Onondaga in devout tones. "I too havedozed for a while, and awoke to find nothing changed. All I know is that weare yet on the bosom of Ganoatohale, and that the west wind has borne uson. I have always loved the west wind, Dagaeoga. Its breath is sweet on myface. It comes from the setting sun, from the greatest of all seas thatlies beyond our continent, it blows over the vast unknown plains that aretrodden by the buffalo in myriads, it comes across the mighty forests ofthe great valley, it is loaded with all the odors and perfumes of ourimmense land, and now it carries us, too, to safety."
"You talk in hexameters, Tayoga, but I think your rhapsody is justified. Ialso have plenty of cause now to love the west wind. How long do you thinkit will be until we feel the dawn on our faces?"
"Two hours, perhaps, but we may reach land before then. While I cannotsmell the dawn I seem to perceive the odor of the forest. Now it growsstronger, and lo, Dagaeoga, there is another sign! Do you not notice it?"
"No, what is it?"
"The west wind that has served us so well is dying. _Gaoh_, which inour language of the Hodenosaunee is the spirit of the winds, knows that weneed it no more. Surely the land is near because _Gaoh_ after being abenevolent spirit to us so long would not desert us at the last moment."
"I think you must be right, Tayoga, because now I also notice the strong,keen perfume of the woods, and our west wind has sunk to almost nothing."
"Nay, Dagaeoga, it is more than that. It has died wholly. _Gaoh_tells us that having brought us so near the land we can now fend forourselves."
The air became absolutely still, the swell ceased, the surface of the lakebecame as smooth as glass, and, as if swept back by a mighty, unseen hand,the mists and vapors suddenly floated away toward the east. Tayoga andRobert uttered cries of admiration and gratitude, as a high, green shoreappeared, veiled but not hidden in the dusk.
"So Tododaho has brought us safely across the waters of Ganoatohale," saidthe Onondaga.
"Have you any idea of the point to which we have come?" asked Robert.
"No, but it is sufficient that we have come to the shore anywhere. And see,Dagaeoga, the mists and vapors still hang heavily over the western half ofthe lake, forming an impenetrable wall that shuts us off from Tandakoraand his warriors. Truly we are for the time the favorites of the gods."
"Even so, Tayoga, you see, too, that we have come to land just where alittle river empties into the lake, and we can go on up it."
They paddled with vigorous arms into the mouth of the stream, and did notstop until the day came. It was a beautiful little river, the massedvegetation growing in walls of green to the very water's edge, the songs ofinnumerable birds coming out of the cool gloom on either side. Robert wasenchanted. His spirits were still at the high key to which they had beenraised by the events of the night. Both he and Tayoga had enjoyed manyhours of rest in the canoe, and now they were keen and strong for the day'swork. So, it was long after dawn when they stopped paddling, and pushedtheir prow into a little cove.
"And now," said Robert, "I think we can land, dress, and cook some of thisprecious deer, which we have brought with us in spite of everything."
Their clothing had been dried by the sun, and they resumed it. Then, takingall risks, they lighted a fire, broiled tender steaks and ate like giantswho had finished great labors.
"I think," said Tayoga, "that when we proceed a few miles farther it willbe better to leave the canoe. It is likely that as we advance the riverwill become narrower, and we would be an easy target for a shot from thebank."
"I don't like to abandon a canoe which has brought us safely across thelake."
"We will put it away where it can await our coming another time. But Ithink we can dare the river for some distance yet."
Robert had spoken for the sake of precaution, and he was easily persuadedto continue in the river some miles, as traveling by canoe was pleasant,and after their miraculous escape or rather rescue, as it seemed to them,their spirits, already high, were steadily rising higher. The lone littleriver of the north, on which they were traveling, presented a spectacle ofuncommon beauty. Its waters flowed in a clear, silver stream down to thelake, deeper in tint on the still reaches, and, flashing in the sunlight,where it rushed over the shallows.
All the time they moved between two lofty, green walls, the forest growingso densely on either shore that they could not see back into it more thanfifty yards, while the green along its lower edges was dotted with pink andblue and red, where the delicate wild flowers were blooming. The birds inthe odorous depths of the foliage sang incessantly, and Robert had neverbefore heard them sing so sweetly.
"I don't think any of our foes can be in ambush along the river," he said."It's too peaceful and the birds sing with too much enthusiasm. Youremember how they warned us of danger once by all going away?"
"True, Dagaeoga, and at any time now they may leave. But, like you, I amwilling to take the risk for several hours more. Most of the warriors mustbe far south of us unless the rangers are in this region, and a specialforce has been sent to meet them."
They came by and by to a long stretch of rippling shallows, and they werecompelled to carry the canoe with its load through the woods and aroundthem, the task, owing to the density of the forest and thicket and theweight of their burden, straining their muscles and drawing perspirationfrom their faces. But they took consolation from the fact that game wasamazingly plentiful. Deer sprang up everywhere, and twice they caughtglimpses of bears shambling away. Squirrels chattered over their heads andthe little people of the forest rustled all about them.
"It shows that no human being has been through here recently," said Tayoga,"else the game, big and little, would not have been stirring abroad with somuch confidence."
"Then as soon as we make the portage we can return to the river with thecanoe."
"Dagaeoga grows lazy. Does he not know that to do the hard thingstrengthens both mind and body? Has he forgotten what Mynheer JacobusHuysman told us so often in Albany? Now is a splendid opportunity forDagaeoga to harden himself a great deal."
"I realize it, Tayoga, but I don't want my mind and body to grow too hard.When one is all steel one ceases to be receptive. Can you see the riverthrough the trees there?"
"I catch the glitter of sunlight on the water."
"I hope it looks like deep water."
"It is sufficient to float the canoe and the lazy Dagaeoga can take to hispaddle again."
They put their boat back into the stream, uttering great sighs of relief,and resumed the far more pleasant travel by water, the day remaining goldenas if doing its best to please them. They had another long stretch of goodwater, and they did not stop until they were well into the afternoon. ThenTayoga proposed that they make a fire and cook all of the deer.
"It seems that the risk here is not great," he said, "and we may not havethe chance later on."
Robert, who still felt that they were protected and that for a day or twono harm could come to them under any circumstances, was more than willing,and they spent the remainder of the day in their culinary task. After darkhe slept three hours, to be followed by Tayoga for the same length of time,and about midnight they started up the stream again, with their food cookedand ready beside them.
Although the Onondaga shared Robert's feeling that they were protected forthe time, both exercised all their usual caution, believing thoroughly inthe old saying that heaven helps those who help themselves. It was thiswatchfulness, particularly of ear, that caused them to hear the dip ofpaddles approaching up the stream. Softly and in silence, they lifted thecanoe out of water and hid with it in the greenwood. Then they saw a fleetof eight large canoes go by, all containing warriors, armed heavily and infull w
ar paint.
"Hurons," whispered Tayoga. "They go south for a great taking of scalps,doubtless to join Montcalm, who is surely meditating another sudden andterrible blow."
"And he will strike at our forts by Andiatarocte," rejoined Robert. "I hopewe can find Willet and Rogers soon and take the news. All the woods must befull of warriors going south to Montcalm."
"They have French guns, and good ones too, and they are wrapped in Frenchblankets. Onontio does not forget the power of the warriors and draws themto him."
The silent file of war canoes passed on and out of sight, and, for a space,Robert's heart was heavy within him. He felt the call of battle, he oughtto be in the south, giving what he could to the defense against the mightof Montcalm, but to go now would be merely a dash in the dark. They mustcontinue to seek Willet and Rogers.
When the last Indian canoe was far beyond hearing they relaunched their ownand paddled until nearly daybreak, coming to a place where bushes and tallgrass grew thick in the shallow water at the edge of the river.
"Here," said Tayoga, "we will leave the canoe. A good hiding place offersitself, and with the dawn it will be time for us to take to the woods."
They concealed with great art the little boat that had served them so well,sinking it in the heart of the densest growth and then drawing back thebushes and weeds so skillfully that the keenest Indian eye would not havenoticed that anyone had ever been there.
"I hope," said Robert sincerely, "that we'll have the chance to returnhere some time or other and use it again."
"That rests in the keeping of Manitou," said the Onondaga, "and now we willtake up our packs and go eastward toward Oneadatote."
"But we won't go fast, because my pack, with all this venison in it, is byno means light."
"It is no heavier than mine, Dagaeoga, but, as you say, we will not hasten,lest we pass the Great Bear and the Mountain Wolf in the forest and notknow it. But I think we are safe in going toward Oneadatote, as Rogers andhis rangers usually operate in the region of George and Champlain."
They traveled two days and two nights and came once more among the highridges and peaks. They saw many Indian trails and always they watched foranother. On the third day Tayoga discovered traces in moss and he said withgreat satisfaction to his comrade:
"Lo, Dagaeoga, we, too, be wise in our time. The print here speaks to melike the print on the page of a book. It says that the Great Bear haspassed this way."
"I can tell that the traces were made by the feet of a white man," saidRobert, "but how do you know they are Dave's?"
"I have noticed that the Great Bear's feet are more slender than theaverage. Also he bears less upon the heel. He poises himself more upon thetoe, like the great swordsman we saw him to be that time in Quebec."
"The distinctions are too fine for me, Tayoga, but I don't question yourown powers of observation. I accept your statement with gratitude and joy,too, because now we know that Dave is alive, and somewhere in the greatnorthern forest of the Province of New York. I knew he could not be dead,but it's a relief anyhow to have the proof. But as I see no other traces,how is it, do you think, that he happens to be alone?"
"The Great Bear may have been making a little scout by himself. I stillthink that he is with Rogers and the rangers, and when we follow his trailwe are likely to find soon that he has rejoined them."
The traces led north and east until they came to rocky ground, where theywere lost, and Tayoga assumed from the fact that they were several daysold, otherwise he could have made them out even in the more difficultregion. But when the path, despite all his searching, vanished in the air,he began to look higher than the earth. Soon he smiled and said:
"Ah, the Great Bear is as wise as the fox and the serpent combined. Heknows that a little chance may lead to great results, and so he neglectsnone of the little chances."
"I don't understand you," said Robert, puzzled.
The Onondaga bent over a bush and showed where a twig had been cut off.
"See the wound made by his knife," he said, "and look! here is another on abush farther on. Both wounds are partly healed, showing that the cut of theknife was made several days ago. It occurred to the Great Bear that wemight strike his trail some time or other, and when he came to the stonyuplift upon which his moccasins would leave no sign, he made traceselsewhere. He knew the chance of our ever seeing them was slight, and hemay have made thousands of other traces that we never will see, but thepossibility that we would see some one of the many became a probability."
"As you present it, it seems simple, Tayoga, but what an infinity of painshe must have taken!"
"The Great Bear is that kind of a man."
The hard, rocky ground extended several miles and their progress over itwas, of necessity, very slow, as Tayoga was compelled to look with extremecare for the signs the hunter might have left. He found the cut twigs fivetimes and twice footprints where softer soil existed between the rocks,making the proofs conclusive to both, and when they emerged into a normalregion beyond they picked up his defined and clear trail once more.
"I shall be glad to see the Great Bear," said the Onondaga, "and I think hewill be as pleased to know certainly that we are alive as we are to beassured that he is."
"He'd never desert us, and if you hadn't come to the Indian village I thinkhe'd have done so later on."
"The Great Bear is a man such as few men are. Now, his trail leads on,straight and bold. He took no trouble to hide it, which proves that he hadfriends in this region, and was not afraid to be followed. Here he sat on afallen log and rested a while."
"How do you know that, Tayoga?"
"See the prints in front of the log. They were made by the heels of hismoccasins only. He tilted his feet up until they rested merely on theheels. The Great Bear could not have been in that attitude while standing.Nay, there is more. The Great Bear sat down here not to rest but to think."
"It's just supposition with you, Tayoga."
"It is not supposition at all, Dagaeoga, it is certainty. Look, severallittle pieces of the bark on the dead log where the Great Bear sat, arepicked off. Here are the places from which they were taken, and here arethe fragments themselves lying on the ground. The Great Bear must have beenthinking very hard and he must have been in great doubt to have had uneasyhands, because, as you and I know, Dagaeoga, his mind and nerves are of thecalmest."
"What, then, do you think was on his mind?"
"He was undecided whether to go on towards Oneadatote or to turn back andseek us anew. Here are three or four traces, a short and detached trailleading in the direction from which we have come. Then the traces suddenlyturn. He sat down again and thought it over a second time."
"You can't possibly know that he resumed his seat on the log!"
"Oh, yes, I can, Dagaeoga. I wish all that we had to see was as easy,because here is the second place on the log where he picked at the bark.Mighty as the Great Bear is he cannot sit in two places at once. NotTododaho himself could do that."
"It's conclusive, and I find here at the end of the log his trail, leadingon toward the east."
"And he went fast, because the distance between his footprints lengthens.But he did not do so long. He became very slow suddenly. The space betweenthe footprints shortens all at once. He turned aside, too, from his course,and crept through the bushes toward the south."
"How do you know that he crept?"
"Because for many steps he rested his weight wholly on his toes. The tracesshow it very clearly. The Great Bear was stalking something, and it was nota foe."
"That, at least, is supposition, Tayoga."
"Not supposition, Dagaeoga, and while not absolute certainty it is a greatprobability. The toeprints lead straight toward the tiny little lake thatyou see shining through the foliage. It was game and not a foe that theGreat Bear was seeking. He wished to shoot a wild fowl. Look, the edge ofthe lake here is low, and the tender water grasses grow to a distance ofseveral yards from the shore. It is just the plac
e where wild ducks or wildgeese would be found, and the Great Bear secured the one he wanted. If youwill look closely, Dagaeoga, you will see the faint trace of blood on thegrass. Blood lasts a long time. Manitou has willed that it should be so,because it is the life fluid of his creatures. It was a wild goose that theGreat Bear shot."
"And why not a wild duck?"
"Because here are two of the feathers, and even Dagaeoga knows they arethe feathers of a goose and not of a duck. It was, too, the fattest goosein the flock."
"Which you have no possible way of knowing, Tayoga."
"But I do, Dagaeoga. It was the fattest goose of the flock, because thefattest goose of the flock was the one that so wise and skillful a hunteras the Great Bear would, as a matter of course, select and kill. Learn, O,Dagaeoga, to trail with your mind as well as with your eye, and ear. Theday may come when the white man will equal the red man in intellect, but itis yet far off. The Great Bear was very, very hungry, and we shall soonreach the place where he cleaned and cooked his goose."
"Come, come, Tayoga! You may draw good conclusions from what you see, butthere are no prophets nowadays. You don't know anything about the state ofDave's appetite, when he shot that goose, and you can't predict withcertainty that we'll soon come to the place where he made it ready for theeating."
"I cannot, Dagaeoga! Why, I am doing it this very instant. Mind! Mind! DidI not tell you to use your mind? O, Dagaeoga, when will you learn thesimpler things of life? The Great Bear would not have risked a shot at awild goose in enemy country, if he had not been very hungry. Otherwise hewould have waited until he rejoined the rangers to obtain food. And, havingrisked his shot, and having obtained his goose, which was the fattest inthe flock, he became hungrier than ever. And having risked so much he waswilling to risk more in order to complete the task he had undertaken,without which the other risks that he had run would have been all in vain."
"Tayoga, I can almost believe that you have your dictionary with you inyour knapsack."
"Not in my knapsack, Dagaeoga, but in my head, where yours also ought tobe. Ah, here is where the Great Bear began to make preparations to cook hisgoose! His trail wanders back and forth. He was looking for fallen wood tobuild the fire. And there, in the little sink between the hills, was wherehe built it. Even you, Dagaeoga, can see the ashes and burnt ends ofsticks. The Great Bear must have been as hungry as a wolf to have eaten awhole goose, and the fattest goose of the flock, too. How do I know he ateit all? Look in the grass and leaves and you will find enough bones to makethe complete frame of a goose, and every bone is picked clean. Wild animalsmight have gleaned on them, you say? No. Here is the trail of a wolf thatcame to the dip after the Great Bear had gone, drawn by the savory odors,but he turned back. He never really entered the dip. Why? When he stood atthe edge his acute and delicate senses told him no meat was left on thebones, and a wolf neither makes idle exertion, nor takes foolish risk. Hewent back at once. And if the wolf had not come, there is another reasonwhy I knew the Great Bear ate all the goose. He would not have thrown awayany of the bones with flesh still on them. He is too wise a man to waste.He would have taken with him what was left of the goose. Having finishedhis most excellent dinner, the Great Bear looked for a brook."
"Why a brook?"
"Because he was thirsty. Everyone is thirsty after a heavy meal. He turnedto the right, as the ground slopes down in that direction. Even you,Dagaeoga, know that one is more likely to find a brook in a valley than ona hilltop. Here is the brook, a fine, clear little stream with a sandybottom, and here is where the Great Bear knelt and drank of the cool water.The prints of his strong knees show like carving on a wall. Finding that hewas still thirsty he came back for another drink, because the second printsare a little distance from the first.
"Then, after rejoicing over the tender goose and his renewed strength, hesuddenly became very cautious. The danger from the warriors, which he hadforgotten or overlooked in his hunger, returned in acute form to his mind.He came to the brook a third time, but not to drink. He intended to wade inthe stream that he might hide his trail, which, as you well know, Dagaeoga,is the oldest and best of all forest devices for such purposes. How manymillions of times must the people of the wilderness have used it!
"Now the Great Bear had two ways to go in the water, up the stream or downthe stream, and you and I, Dagaeoga, think he went down the stream, becausethe current leads on the whole eastward, which was the way in which hewished to go. At least, we will choose that direction and I will take oneside of the bank and you the other."
They followed the brook more than a mile with questing eyes, and Tayogadetected the point at which Willet had emerged, plunging anew into theforest.
"Warriors, if they had picked up his trail, could have followed the brookas we did," said Robert.
"Of course," said Tayoga, "but the object of the Great Bear was not so muchto hide his flight as to gain time. While we went slowly, looking for theemergence of his trail, he went fast. Now I think he meant to spend thenight in the woods alone. The rangers must still have been far away. Ifthey had been near he would not have felt the need of throwing off possiblepursuit."
They followed the dim traces several hours, and then Tayoga announced withcertainty that the hunter had slept alone in the forest, wrapped in hisblanket.
"He crept into this dense clump of bushes," he said, "and lay within theirheart, sheltered and hidden by them. You, Dagaeoga, can see where hisweight has pressed them down. Why, here is the outline of a human bodyalmost as clear and distinct as if it were drawn with black ink upon whitepaper! And the Great Bear slept well, too. The bushes are not broken orshoved aside except in the space merely wide enough to contain his frame.Perhaps the goose was so very tender and his nerves and tissues had cravedit so much that they were supremely happy when he gave it to them. That iswhy they rested so well.
"In the morning the Great Bear resumed his journey toward the east. He hadno breakfast and doubtless he wished for another goose, but he wasrefreshed and he was very strong. The traces are fainter than they were,because the Great Bear was so vigorous that his feet almost spurned theearth."
"Don't you think, Tayoga, that he'll soon turn aside again to hunt? Sostrong a man as Dave won't go long without food, especially when the forestis full of it. We've noticed everywhere that the war has caused the game toincrease greatly in numbers."
"It will depend upon the position of the force to which the Great Bearbelongs. If it is near he will not seek game, waiting for food until herejoins the rangers, but if they are distant he will look for a deer oranother goose, or maybe a duck. But by following we will see what he did.It cannot be hidden from us. The forest has few secrets from those who areborn in it. Ah, what is this? The Great Bear hid in a bush, and he leapedsuddenly! Behold the distance between the footprints! He saw something thatalarmed him. It may have been a war party passing, and of which he suddenlycaught sight. If so we can soon tell."
A hundred yards beyond the clump of bushes they found a broad trail,indicating that at least twenty warriors had gone by, their line of marchleading toward the southeast.
"They were in no hurry," said the Onondaga, "as they had no fear ofenemies. Their steps are irregular, showing that sometimes they stopped andtalked. Doubtless they meant to join Montcalm, but as they can travel muchfaster than an army they were taking their time about it. We will nowreturn to the bushes in which the Great Bear lay hidden while he watched.The traces of his footsteps in the heart of the clump are much deeper thanusual, which proves that he stood there quite a while. It is also anotherproof that the warriors stopped and talked when they were near him, else hewould not have remained in the clump so long. It is likely, too, that theGreat Bear followed them when they resumed their journey. Yes, here is histrail leading from the bushes. But it is faint, the Great Bear was steppinglightly and here is where it merges with the trail of the warriors. Hecould not have been more than three or four hundred yards behind them. TheGreat Bear was very bold, or else the
y were very careless. He will notfollow them long, as he merely wishes to get a general idea of theircourse, it being his main object to rejoin the rangers."
"And at this point he turned away from their trail," said Robert, afterthey had followed it about a mile. "He is now going due east, and histraces lead on so straight that he must have known exactly where heintended to go."
"Stated with much correctness," said Tayoga in his precise school English."Dagaeoga is taking to heart my assertion that the mind is intended forhuman use, and he is beginning to think a little. But we shall have to stopsoon for a while, because the night comes. We, too, will sleep in the heartof the bushes as the Great Bear did."
"And glad am I to stop," said Robert. "My burden of buffalo robe and deerand arms and ammunition is beginning to weigh on me. A buffalo robe doesn'tseem of much use on a warm, summer day, but it is such a fine one and youtook so much trouble to get it for me, Tayoga, that I haven't had the heartto abandon it."
"It is well that you have brought it, in spite of its weight," said theOnondaga, "as the night, at this height, is sure to be cold, and the robewill envelop you in its warmth. See, the dark comes fast."
The sun sank behind the forest, and the twilight advanced, the deeper duskfollowing in its trail, a cold wind began to blow out of the north, andRobert, as Tayoga had predicted, was thankful now that he had retained thebuffalo robe, despite its weight. He wrapped it around his body and sat ona blanket in a thicket. Tayoga, by his side, used his two blankets in asimilar manner, and they ate of the deer which they had had the forethoughtto cook, and make ready for all times.
The dusk deepened into the thick dark, and the night grew colder, but theywere warm and at ease. Robert was full of courage and hope. The elementsand all things had served them so much that he was quite sure they wouldsucceed in everything they undertook. By and by, he stretched himself onthe blanket, and clothed from head to foot in the great robe he slept thedeep sleep of one who had toiled hard and well. An hour later Tayoga alsoslept, but in another hour he awoke and sat up, listening with all themarvelous powers of hearing that nature and cultivation had given him.
Something was stirring in the thicket, not any of the wild animals, big orlittle, but a human being, and Tayoga knew the chances were a hundred toone that it was a hostile human being. He put his ear to the earth and thesound came more clearly. Now his wonderful gifts of intuition and forestreasoning told him what it was. Slowly he rose again, cleared himself ofthe blankets, and put his rifle upon them. Then, loosening the pistol inhis belt, but drawing his long hunting knife, he crept from the thicket.
Tayoga, despite his thorough white education and his constant associationwith white comrades, was always an Indian first. Now, as he stole from thethicket in the dark, knife in hand, he was the very quintessence of a greatwarrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the greatLeague of the Hodenosaunee. He was what his ancestors had been forunnumbered generations, a primeval son of the wilderness, seeking the lifeof the enemy who came seeking his.
He kept to his hands and knees, and made no sound as he advanced, but atintervals he dropped his ear to the ground, and heard the faint rustlingthat was drawing nearer. He decided that it was a single warrior who bysome chance had struck their trail in the dusk, and who, with minute painsand with slowness but certainty, was following it.
His course took him about thirty yards among the bushes and then throughhigh grass growing luxuriantly in the open. In the grass his eye alsohelped him, because at a point straight ahead the tall stems were movingslightly in a direction opposed to the wind. He took the knife in his teethand went on, sure that bold means would be best.
The stalking warrior who in his turn was stalked did not hear him until hewas near, and then, startled, he sprang to his feet, knife in hand. Tayogasnatched his own from his teeth and stood erect facing him. The warrior, aHuron, was the heavier though not the taller of the two, and recognizing anenemy, a hated Iroquois, he stared fiercely into the eyes that were soclose to his. Then he struck, but, agile as a panther, Tayoga leaped aside,and the next instant his own blade went home. The Huron sank down without asound, and the Onondaga stood over him, the spirit of his ancestorsswelling in fierce triumph.
But the feeling soon died in the heart of Tayoga. His second nature, whichwas that of his white training and association, prevailed. He was sorrythat he had been compelled to take life, and, dragging the heavy body muchfarther away, he hid it in the bushes. Then, making a circle through theforest to assure himself that no other enemies were near, he went swiftlyback to the thicket and lay down again between his blankets. He had acurious feeling that he did not want Robert to know what had happened.
Tayoga remained awake the remainder of the night, and, although he did notstir again from the thicket, he kept a vigilant watch. He would hear anysound within a hundred yards and he would know what it was, but there wasnone save the rustlings of the little animals, and dawn came, peaceful andclear. Robert moved, threw off the buffalo robe and stood up among thebushes.
"A big sleep and a fine sleep, Tayoga," he said.
"It was a good time for Dagaeoga to sleep," said the Onondaga.
"I was warm, and your Tododaho watched over me."
"Aye, Dagaeoga, Tododaho was watching well last night."
"And you slept well, too, Tayoga?"
"I slept as I should, Dagaeoga. No man can ask more."
"Philosophical and true. It's breakfast now, slices of deer, and water of abrook. Deer is good, Tayoga, but I'm beginning to find I could do withoutit for quite a long time. I envy Dave the fat goose he had, and I don'twonder that he ate it all at one time. Maybe we could find a juicy goose orduck this morning."
"But we have the deer and the Great Bear had nothing when he sought thegoose. We will even make the best of what we have, and take no risk."
"It was merely a happy thought of mine, and I didn't expect it to beaccepted. My happiest thoughts are approved by myself alone, and so I'llkeep 'em to myself. My second-rate thoughts are for others, over the headsof whom they will not pass."
"Dagaeoga is in a good humor this morning."
"It is because I slept so well last night. Now, having had a sufficiency ofthe deer I shall seek a brook. I'm pretty sure to find one in the lowground over there."
He started to the right, but Tayoga immediately suggested that he go tothe left--the hidden body of the warrior lay in the bushes on theright--and Robert, never dreaming of the reason, tried the left where hefound plenty of good water. Tayoga also drank, and with some regret theyleft the lair in the bushes.
"It was a good house," said Robert. "It lacked only walls, a roof and afloor, and it had an abundance of fresh air. I've known worse homes for thenight."
"Take up your buffalo robe again," said the Onondaga, "because when anothernight comes you will need it as before."
They shouldered their heavy burdens and resumed the trail of the hunter,expecting that it would soon show a divergence from its straight course.
"The rangers seem to be farther away than we thought," said Tayoga, "andthe Great Bear must eat. One goose, however pleasant the memory, will notlast forever. It is likely that he will turn aside again to one of thelittle lakes or ponds that are so numerous in this region."
In two hours they found that he had done so, and this time his victim was aduck, as the feathers showed. They saw the ashes where he had cooked it,and as before only the bones were left. Evidently he had lingered theresome time, as Tayoga announced a distinctly fresher trail, indicating thatthey were gaining upon him fast, and they increased their own speed, hopingthat they would soon overtake him.
But the traces led on all day, and the next morning, after another nightspent in the thickets, Tayoga said that the Great Bear was still farahead, and it was possible they might not overtake him until theyapproached the shores of Champlain.
"But if necessary we'll follow him there, won't we, Tayoga?" said Robert.
"To Oneadatote and be
yond, if need be," said the Onondaga with confidence.
The Masters of the Peaks: A Story of the Great North Woods Page 14