CHAPTER V
TAYOGA'S SKILL
They still had food left in their knapsacks, and they ate a portion,drinking afterward from the creek. Then they resumed their placesin the dense undergrowth, where they could watch well and yet remainhidden. They could also see from where they lay the shimmering watersof Andiatarocte, and the lake seemed to be once more at peace. Theyfelt satisfaction that they had completed their part of the greatenterprise, but their anxiety nevertheless was intense. As Willet hadtruly said, Tayoga's share was the more dangerous and delicate by far.
"Do you think he will come?" Robert asked after a long silence.
"If any human being could come under such circumstances and bringGrosvenor with him, it is Tayoga," replied the hunter. "I thinksometimes that the Onondaga is superhuman in the forest."
"Then he will come," said Robert hopefully.
"Best not place our hopes too high. The hours alone will tell. It'shard work waiting, but that's our task."
The morning drew on. Another beautiful day had dawned, but Robertscarcely noticed its character. He was thinking with all his soul ofTayoga and Grosvenor. Would they come? Willet was able to read hismind. He was intensely anxious himself, but he knew that the strainof waiting upon Robert, with his youthful and imaginative mind, wasgreater. He was bound to be suffering cruelly.
"We must give them time," he said. "Remember that Grosvenor is notused to the woods, and can't go through them as fast as we can. Wemust have confidence too. We both know what a wonder Tayoga is."
Robert sprang suddenly to his feet.
"What was that!" he exclaimed.
A sound had come out of the north, just a breath, but it was not thewind among the leaves, nor yet the distant song of a bird. It was thefaint howl of a wolf, and yet Robert believed that it was not a wolfthat made it.
"Did you hear it?" he repeated.
"Aye, lad, I heard it," replied the hunter. "'Tis a signal, and 'tisTayoga too who comes. But whether he comes alone, or with a friend, Iknow not. To tell that we must bide here and see."
"Should not we send our answer?"
"Nay, lad. He knows where we are. This is the appointed place, and thefewer signals we give the less likely the enemy is to get a hint we'rehere. I don't think we will hear from Tayoga again until he shows inperson."
Robert said no more, knowing full well the truth of the hunter'swords, but his heart was beating hard, and he stirred nervously. Hehad been drawn strongly to Grosvenor, and he knew what a horrible fateawaited him at the hands of Tandakora, unless the Onondaga savedhim. Nor would there be another chance for interruption by Tayoga oranybody else. But the minutes passed and he took courage. Tayogahad not yet come. If alone he would have arrived by this time. Hisslowness must be due to the fact that he had Grosvenor with him. Moreminutes passed and he heard steps in the undergrowth. Now he was sure.Tayoga was not alone. His moccasins never left any sound. He stoodup expectant, and two figures appeared among the bushes. They wereTayoga, calm, his breath unhurried, a faint smile in his dark eyes,and Grosvenor, exhausted, reeling, his clothing worse torn than ever,but the light of hope on his face. Robert uttered a cry of joy andgrasped the young Englishman's hand.
"Thank God, you are here!" he exclaimed.
"I thank God and I thank this wonderful young Indian too," pantedGrosvenor. "It was a miracle! I had given up hope when he dropped fromthe skies and saved me!"
"Sit down and get your breath, man," said Willet. "Then you can tellus about it."
Grosvenor sank upon the ground, and did not speak again until thepain in his laboring chest was gone. Tayoga leaned against a tree, andRobert noticed then that he carried an extra rifle and ammunition. TheOnondaga thought of everything. Willet filled his cap with water atthe creek, and brought it to Grosvenor, who drank long and deeply.
"Tastes good!" said the hunter, smiling.
"Like nectar," said the Englishman, "but it's nectar to me too to seeboth of you, Mr. Willet and Mr. Lennox. I don't understand yet how ithappened. It's really and truly a miracle."
"A miracle mostly of Tayoga's working," said the hunter.
"I thought the end of everything for me had come," said Grosvenor,"and I was only praying that it might not be harder for me than Icould stand, when the alarm was heard in the forest, and nearly allthe Indians ran off in pursuit of something or other. Only two wereleft with me. There was a shot from the woods, one of them fell, thiswonderful friend of yours appeared from the forest, wounded the other,who took to his heels, then we started running in the other direction,and here we are. It's a marvel and I don't yet see how it was done."
"Tayoga's marvelous knowledge of the woods, his skill and hisquickness made the greater part of the miracle," said the hunter, "andyou see too, Lieutenant Grosvenor, that he even had the forethoughtto bring away with him the rifle and ammunition of the fallen warrior,that you might have arms now that you are strong enough to bear themagain."
Tayoga without a word handed him the rifle and ammunition, andGrosvenor felt strength flowing back into his body when he took them.
"Could you eat a bite?" asked Willet.
"I think I could now," replied the Englishman, "although I'll confessI've had no appetite up to the present. My situation didn't permithunger."
Willet handed him a piece of venison and he ate. Meanwhile Tayoga, whoseemed to feel no weariness, and the others were watching. In a shorttime the hunter announced that it was time to go.
"We can't afford to delay here any longer and have 'em overtake us!"he said. "We're out of the ring now, and it's our affair to keep out.Lieutenant Grosvenor, you can tell us as we go along how you happenedto be the prisoner of Tandakora."
"It needs only a few words," said the Englishman as they took theirway southward through the woods. "I was at Albany with a body oftroops, a vanguard for the force that we mean to march against theFrench at Ticonderoga. I was sent northward with ten men to scourthe country, and in the woods we were set upon suddenly by savagewarriors. My troopers were either killed or scattered, and I wastaken. That was yesterday morning. Since then I have been hurriedthrough the forest, I know not where, and I have had a most appallingexperience. As I have said before, I'd long since given up hope for amiracle like the one that has saved me. What a horrible creature thatgiant Indian was!"
"Tandakora is all that you think him and more. He's been hunting ustoo, and when he comes back to his camp he'll be after us all fouragain. So, that's why we hurry."
"You're in no bigger hurry than I am," said Grosvenor with attempt ata smile. "If I could find the seven-league boots I'd put them on."
Tayoga once more led the way, and he examined the forest on all sideswith eyes that saw everything.
Robert and Willet were greatly refreshed by their rest at the creek,and the promise of life that had been made again so wonderfully putnew strength in Grosvenor's frame. So they were able to travel at agood pace, though the three listened continually for any sound thatmight indicate pursuit.
Yet as the morning progressed there was no hostile sign and theirconfidence rose.
Robert hoped most devoutly that they would soon come within the regionof friends. While the French and Indians held the whole length of LakeChamplain and it was believed Montcalm would fortify somewherenear Ticonderoga, yet Lake George was debatable. It was generallyconsidered within the British and American sphere, although they werehaving ample proof that fierce bands of the enemy roved about it atwill.
Aside from the danger there was another reason why he wished soearnestly for escape from this tenacious pursuit. They were seeingthe bottoms of their knapsacks. One could not live on air and mountainlakes alone, however splendid they might be, and, although thewilderness usually furnished food to three such capable hunters,they could not seek game while Tandakora and his savage warriors wereseeking them. So, their problem was, in a sense, economic, and couldnot be fought with weapons only.
At a signal from Willet, who observed that Grosvenor was somewhattire
d, they sank their pace to a slow walk, and in about three hoursstopped entirely, sitting down on fallen timber which had been heapedin a windrow by a passing hurricane. They were still in dense forestand had borne away somewhat from Andiatarocte, but, through thefoliage, they caught glimpses of the lake rippling peacefully insilver and blue and purple.
"Once more I want to thank you fellows for saving me," said Grosvenor.
"Don't mention it again," said the hunter. "In the wilderness we haveto save one another now and then, or none of us would live. Your turnto rescue us may come before you think."
"I know nothing of the forest. I feel helpless here."
"Just the same, you don't know what weapon Tayoga's Manitou may placein your hands. The border brings strange and unexpected chances. Butour present crisis is not over. We're not saved yet, and we can'tafford to relax our efforts a particle. What is it, Tayoga?"
The Onondaga, rising from the fallen tree, had gone about twenty yardsinto the forest, where he was examining the ground, obviously withgreat concentration of both eye and mind. He waited at least a minutebefore replying. Then he said:
"Our friend, the lone ranger, Black Rifle, has passed here."
"How can you know that?" asked Grosvenor in surprise.
"Come and look at his traces," said Tayoga. "See where he has writtenhis name in the earth; that is, he has left what you would call inEurope his visiting card."
Grosvenor looked attentively at the ground, but he saw only a veryfaint impression, and he never would have noticed that had not theOnondaga pointed it out to him.
"It might have been left by a deer," he objected.
"Impossible," said Tayoga. "The entire imprint is not made, but thereis enough to indicate very clearly that a human foot and nothingelse pressed there. Here is another trace, although lighter, and hereanother and another. The trail leads southward."
"But granting it to be that of a man," Grosvenor again objected, "itmight be that of any one of the thousands who roam the wilderness."
The great red trailer who had inherited the forest lore of countlessgenerations smiled.
"It is not any one of the thousands and it could not be," he said. "Itis easy to tell that. The footsteps are those of a white man, becausethey turn out, and not in, as do ours of the red race. That is veryeasy; even Dagaeoga here, the great talker, knows it. The footstepsare far apart, so we are sure that they are those of a tall man; theimprints are deep, proving them to have been made by a heavy man, andat the outer edge of the heel the impression is deeper than on theinner edge. I noticed, when we last saw Black Rifle, which was notlong ago, that he wore moccasins of moose hide, that he had turnedthem outward a little, through wear, and that a small strip of thehardest moose hide had been sewed on the right edge of each heel inorder to keep them level. Those strips have made their marks here."
"Somebody else might have put strips of hide on his moccasin heels!"
"It is so, but Black Rifle is tall and large and heavy, and we knowthat the man who made this trail is tall, large and heavy. The chancesare a hundred to one against the fact that any other man tall, largeand heavy with moose hide strips to even the wear of his moccasinheels has passed here, especially as this is within the range of BlackRifle. I know that it is he as truly as I know that I am standinghere."
"Of course," said Robert, who had never felt the slightest doubt ofTayoga's knowledge. "What was Black Rifle doing?"
"He was looking for St. Luc or Tandakora, because his trail does notlead straight on. See! here it comes, and here again. If Black Riflehad been on a journey he would have gone straight, but he is seekingsomething and so he turns about. Ah, he wishes to see if there areany canoes visible on the lake, for lo! the trail now leads towardthe water! Here he found that none was to be seen and here he rested.Black Rifle had been long on his feet, two days and two nightsperhaps, because it takes much to make him weary. He sat on this log.He left a strand from the fringe of his buckskin hunting shirt, caughton a splinter. Do you not see it, Lieutenant Grosvenor?"
"Now that you hold it up before my eyes I notice it But I should neverhave found it in the wilderness." "Minute observation is what everytrailer has to learn," said Willet, "else you are no trailer at all,and you'll learn, Lieutenant, while you are with us, that Tayoga isprobably the greatest trailer the world has ever produced."
"Peace, Great Bear! Peace!" protested the Onondaga.
"It's so, just the same. Now, what did Black Rifle do after he restedhimself on the log?"
"He went back farther into the woods, turning away from the lake,"replied Tayoga, "and he sat down again on another fallen log. BlackRifle was hungry, and he ate. Here is the small bone of a deer,picked quite clean, lying on the ground by the log. Black Rifle was afortunate man. He had bread, too. See, here is a crumb in this crackin the log too deep down for any bird to reach with his bill. BlackRifle sat here quite a long time. He was thinking hard. He did notneed so much time for resting. He remained sitting on the log while hewas trying to decide what he would do. It is likely that Black Riflethought a great force was behind him, and he turned back to see. Hadhe kept straight on toward the south, as he was going at first, hewould not have needed so much time for thinking over his plans. Ah, hehas turned! Lo! his trail goes almost directly back on his own course.It will lead to the top of the hillock there, because he wants to seefar, and I think that after seeing he will turn again, and follow hisoriginal course."
"Why do you think that?" asked Grosvenor.
"Because, O Red Coat, it is likely that Black Rifle knew from thefirst which way he wanted to go and went that way. He has merelyturned back, like a wise general, to scout a little, and see that nodanger comes from the rear. Yes, he stood here on the hillock fromwhich we can get a good view over the country, and walked to everyside of the crest to find where the best view could be obtained. That,Red Coat, is the simplest of all things. Behold the traces of hismoccasins as he walked from side to side. Nothing else could have madeBlack Rifle move about so much in the space of a few square yards. Nowhe leaves the hillock and goes down its side toward a low valley inwhich runs a brook. Black Rifle is thirsty and will drink deep."
"That you can't possibly know, Tayoga."
"But I do know it, Red Coat."
"You don't even know a brook is near."
"I know it, because I have seen it. My eyes are trained to the forest,and I caught the gleam of running water through the leaves to thewest. Running water, of course, means a brook. Black Rifle's trail nowleads toward it, and I assume that he was thirsty because he had justeaten well. We are nearly always thirsty after eating. But we shallsee whether I am right. Here is the brook, and there are the fainttraces made by Black Rifle's knees, when he knelt to reach the water.He started away, but found that he was still thirsty, so he came backand drank again. Here are his footprints about a yard from the others.This time, he will go back toward the south, and I think it is surethat he is looking for St. Luc, who must have gone in that directionwith a strong force, Tandakora having stayed behind to take us. It islikely that Black Rifle went on, because a great British and Americanarmy is gathering below, which fact he knows well, and it is probablethat Black Rifle follows St. Luc, because he will hunt the biggestgame."
Grosvenor's eyes sparkled.
"I understand," he said. "It is a great art, that of trailing throughthe wilderness, and I can see how circumstances compel you to learnit."
"We have to learn it to live," said the hunter gravely, "but withTayoga it is an art carried to the highest degree of perfection. Hewas born with a gift for it, a very great gift. He inherited all thelearning accumulated by a thousand years of ancestors, and then headded to it by his own supreme efforts."
"Do not believe all that Great Bear tells you," said Tayoga modestly."For unknown reasons he is partial to me, and enlarges my smallmerits."
"I think this would be a good place for all of you to wait, whileI went back on the trail a piece," said the hunter. "If Black Riflefound
it necessary to cover the rear, it's a much more urgent duty forus who know that we've been followed by Tandakora to do the same."
"The Great Bear is always wise," said Tayoga. "We will take our easewhile we await him."
He flung himself down on the turf and relaxed his figure completely.He had learned long since to make the most of every passing minute,and, seeing Robert imitate him exactly, Grosvenor did likewise. Thehunter had disappeared already in the bushes and the three lay insilence.
Grosvenor felt an immense peace. Brave as a young lion, he had beenoverwhelmed nevertheless by his appalling experiences, and his suddenrescue where rescue seemed impossible had taken him back to theheights. Now, it seemed to him that the three, and especially theOnondaga, could do everything. Tayoga's skill as a trailer and scoutwas so marvelous that no enemy could come anywhere near withouthis knowledge. The young Englishman felt that he was defended byimpassable walls, and he was so free from apprehension that his nervesbecame absolutely quiet. Then worn nature took its toll, and hiseyelids drooped. Before he was aware that he was sleepy he was asleep.
"You might do as Red Coat has done, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga. "I canwatch for us all, and it is wise in the forest to take sleep when wecan."
"I'll try," said Robert, and he tried so successfully that in a fewminutes he too slumbered, with his figure outstretched, and his headon his arm. Tayoga made a circle about three hundred yards in diameterabout them, but finding no hostile sign came back and lay on the turfnear them. He relaxed his figure again and closed his eyes, which mayhave seemed strange but which was not so in the case of Tayoga. Hishearing was extraordinarily acute, and, when his eyes were shut, itgrew much stronger than ever. Now he knew that no warrior could comewithin rifle shot of them without his ears telling him of the savageapproach. Every creeping footstep would be registered upon thatdelicate drum.
With eyes shut and brain rested, Tayoga nevertheless knew all that wasgoing on near him. That eardrum of infinite delicacy told him that awoodpecker was tapping on a tree, well toward the north; that a littlegray bird almost as far to the south was singing with great vigor andsweetness; that a rabbit was hopping about in the undergrowth,curious and yet fearful; that an eagle with a faint whirr of wingshad alighted on a bough, and was looking at the three; that the eaglethinking they might be dangerous had unfolded his wings again and wasflying away; that a deer passing to the west had caught a whiffof them on the wind and was running with all speed in the otherdirection; that a lynx had climbed a tree, and, after staring at them,had climbed down again, and had fled, his coward heart filled withterror.
Thus Tayoga, with his ears, watched his world. He too, his eyelidslowered, felt a peace that was soothing and almost dreamy, but, thoughhis body relaxed, those wonderfully sensitive drums of his ears caughtand registered everything. The record showed that for nearly two hoursthe life of the wilderness went on as usual, the ordinary work andplay of animal and bird, and then the drums told him that man wascoming. A footstep was registered very clearly, and then another andanother, but Tayoga did not open his eyes. He knew who was coming aswell as if he had seen him. The drums of his ears made signals thathis mind recognized at once. He had long known the faint sound ofthose footsteps. Willet was coming back.
Tayoga, through the faculty of hearing, was aware of much more thanthe mere fact that the hunter was returning. He knew that Willet hadfound nothing, that the pursuit was still far away and that they werein no immediate danger. He knew it by his easy, regular walk, freefrom either haste or lagging delay. He knew it by the straight, directline he took for the three young men, devoid of any stops or turningsaside to watch and listen. Willet's course was without care.
Tayoga opened his eyes, and lazily regarded the giant figure of hisfriend now in full view. Robert and Grosvenor slept on. "I am glad,"said the Onondaga.
It was significant of the way in which they understood each other andthe way they could read the signs of the forest that they could talkalmost without words.
"So am I," said the hunter, "but I had hoped for it."
"Since it is so, we need not awaken them just yet."
"No, let them sleep another hour."
Tayoga meant that he was glad the enemy had not approached and Willetreplied that he had hoped for such good luck. No further explanationwas needed.
"You had the heaviest part of the burden to carry, last night," saidthe hunter, "so it would be wise for you to join them if you can, inthe hour that's left. See if you can't follow them, at once."
"I think I can," said Tayoga. "At least I will try."
In five minutes he too had gone to the land of dreams and the hunterwatched alone. Willet, although weary, was in high spirits. They hadcome marvelously through many perils, and Tayoga's achievement inrescuing Grosvenor, he repeated to himself, was well nigh miraculous.After such startling luck they could not fail, and an omen ofcontinued good fortune was the fact they had encountered the trail ofBlack Rifle. He would be a powerful addition to their little force,when found, and Willet did not doubt that they would overtake him. Theonly problem that really worried him now was that of food. Smallas was their army of four, it had to be provisioned, and, for thepresent, he did not see the way to do it.
He let the three sleep overtime, and when they awoke they weregrateful to him for it.
"I am quite made over," said Grosvenor, "and I think that if I stay inthe wilderness long enough I may learn to be a scout too. But as allmy life has been spent in quite different kinds of country, I supposeit will take a hundred years to give me a good start."
Tayoga smiled.
"Not a hundred years," he said. "Red Coat has begun very well."
"And now with a lot of good solid food I'll feel equal to any march,"continued Grosvenor. "Most Englishmen, you know, eat well."
Tayoga looked at Robert, who looked at Willet, who in his turn lookedat the Onondaga.
"That's just what we'll have to do without," said the hunter gravely."The bottoms of our knapsacks are looking up at us. We'll have asplendid chance to see how long we can do without food. One needs sucha test now and then."
Grosvenor's face fell, but his was the true mettle. In an instant hiscountenance became cheerful again.
"I'm not hungry!" he exclaimed. "It was the delusion of a moment, andit passed as quickly as it came. I suffer from such brief spells."
The others laughed.
"That's the right spirit," said Willet, "and while we have nothing toeat we have lots of hope. I've been hungrier than this often, and,as you see, I've never starved to death a single time. There's alwayslots of food somewhere in the wilderness, if you only know how to putyour hand on it."
"I think it is now best for us to follow on the trail of Black Rifle,"said Tayoga.
"That's so," responded the hunter. "It's grown a lot colder, whileyou lads slept, though I think you can follow it without any trouble,Tayoga."
The red lad said nothing, but at once picked up the traces, which nowled south, slanting back a little toward the lake.
"Black Rifle was going fast," he said. "His stride lengthens. He musthave divined where St. Luc with his force lay, and he took a directcourse for it. Ah, he turns suddenly aside and walks to and fro."
"That's curious," said the hunter. "I see the footprints all about.What did Black Rifle mean by moving about in such a manner?"
"It is not odd at all," said Tayoga. "Doubtless Black Rifle wassuffering from the same lack that we are, and it was necessary for himto provision his army of one at once. He suddenly saw a chance to doso and he turned aside from his direct journey toward the south. So weshall soon see where Black Rifle shot his bear."
"And why not a deer?" said Grosvenor.
"Because his trail now leads toward that deep thicket on our right, athicket made up of bushes and vines and briars. A deer could not havegone into it, but a bear could, and we know now it was a bear, becausehere are its tracks. Black Rifle killed the bear in the thicket."
"Are you sure of
that, Tayoga?" asked Robert.
"Absolutely sure, Dagaeoga. It is in this case a matter of mind andnot of eye. Black Rifle is too good a hunter to fire a useless shot,and too experienced to miss his game, when he needs it so badly. Hewould take every precaution for success. My mind tells me that it wasimpossible for him to miss."
"And he didn't miss," said Robert, as they entered the thicket. "Seewhere the vines and briars were threshed about by the bear as he fell.Here are spots of blood, and here goes the path along which he draggedthe body. All this is as plain as day."
"It was a fat bear too," said Tayoga. "Although it is early spring hehad found so many good roots and berries that he had more than madeup for the loss of weight in his long winter fast. We will soon findwhere Black Rifle cleaned his prize. A bear is too heavy to carry far.Ah, he did his work just beyond us in the little valley!"
"How do you know that?" asked Grosvenor. "We can't yet see into thevalley."
The great red trailer smiled.
"This time, O Red Coat," he replied, "it is a combination of mind andeye. Mind tells me that Black Rifle could not clean and dress his bearunless he got it to water. Mind tells me that a brook is flowing inthe valley just ahead of us, because there is scarcely a valley in thecountry that does not have its brook. Eye tells me that Black Riflefinished his task by the great oak there. Do you not see the hugebuzzards flying above the tree? They are conclusive. Ah, the forestpeople gathered fast in numbers! They expected that Black Rifle wouldleave them a great feast."
They found a little brook of clear, cold water and, beside it, theplace where Black Rifle had cleaned his bear, reserving afterward thechoice portion for himself.
"When he went on," said Tayoga, "the forest people made a rush forwhat he did not want, which was much. Great birds came. We cannot seetheir trail through the air, but we can see where they hopped abouthere on the ground, tore at the flesh, and fought with one another forthe spoil. A lynx came, and then another, and then wolves. The weaseland the mink too hung on the outskirts, waiting for what the biggeranimals might leave. Among them they left nothing and they were notlong in the task."
Only shining bones lay on the ground. They had been picked clean andall the forest people had gone after their brief banquet. The trailsled away in different directions, but that of Black Rifle went ontoward the south. The traces, however, were more distinct than theyhad been before he stopped for the bear.
"It is because he is carrying much weight," said Tayoga. "Black Rifleno longer skips along like a youth, as Red Coat here does."
"You can have all the sport with me you wish," said Grosvenor. "Idon't forget that you saved my life, when by all the rules of logic itwas lost beyond the hope of recovery."
"Black Rifle would not eat so much bear meat himself," said Tayoga,"nor would he carry such a burden, without good cause. It may be thathe expects us. He has perhaps heard that we are in this region."
"It's possible," said the hunter.
Full of eagerness, they pressed forward on the trail.
The Lords of the Wild: A Story of the Old New York Border Page 7