CHAPTER XII
THE SINISTER SIEGE
Dawn came, very clear and beautiful, with the air crisp and cool. Robertdivided the last of the venison between Tayoga and himself, and when hehad eaten his portion he was still hungry. He was quite certain that theOnondaga also craved more, but a stoic like Tayoga would never admit it.His belief the day before that this was the time for him to go forth andhunt was confirmed. The game would be out, and so might be the savages,but he must take the chance.
Tayoga had kept his bow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back duringtheir retreat, and now they lay on a shelf in the cave. Robert looked atthem doubtfully and the eyes of the Onondaga followed him.
"Perhaps it would be best," he said.
"I can't bend the bow of Ulysses," said Robert, "but I may be able tosend in a useful arrow or two nevertheless."
"You can try."
"But I don't want any shot to go amiss."
"Strap your rifle on your back, and take the bow and arrows also. If thearrows fail you, or rather if you should fail the arrows, which alwaysgo where they are sent, you can take the rifle, with which you arealmost as good as the Great Bear himself. And if you should encounterhostile warriors prowling through the woods the rifle will be your bestdefense."
"I'll do as you advise, Tayoga, and do you keep a good watch at theentrance. You're feeling a lot stronger today, are you not?"
"So much so that I am almost tempted to take the bow and arrows myself,while I leave you on guard."
"Don't be too proud and boastful. Let's see you walk across the cave."
Tayoga rose from the bed of leaves, on which he had been sitting, andstrode firmly back and forth two or three times. He was much thinnerthan he had been a week before, but his eyes were sparkling now and thebronze of his skin was clear and beautiful. All his nerves and muscleswere under complete control.
"You're a great warrior again, Tayoga, thanks to my protecting care,"said Robert, "but I don't think you're yet quite the equal of Tododahoand Hayowentha when they walked the earth, and, for that reason, I shallnot let you go out hunting. Now, take your rifle, which I saved alongwith you, and sit on that ledge of stone, where you can see everythingapproaching the cave and not be seen yourself."
"I obey, O Dagaeoga. I obey you always when the words you speak areworth being obeyed. See, I take the seat you direct, and I hold my rifleready."
"Very good. Be prepared to fire on an instant's notice, but be sure youdon't fire at me when I come striding down the valley bearing on myshoulders a fat young deer that I have just killed."
"Have no fear, Dagaeoga. I shall be too glad to see you and the deer tofire."
With the rifle so adjusted across his back that, if need be, he coulddisengage it at once, the quiver fastened also and Tayoga's bow in hishand, Robert made ready.
"Now, Tayoga," he said, "exert that famous will of yours like a truemedicine man of the Hodenosaunee. While I am absent, so direct me withthe concentrated power of your mind that I shall soon find a fat youngdeer, and that my arrow shall not miss. I'll gratefully receive all thehelp you can give me in this way, though I won't neglect, if I see thedeer, to take the best aim I can with bow and arrow."
"Do not scoff, O Dagaeoga. The lore and belief of my nation and of thewhole Hodenosaunee are based upon the experience of many centuries. Anddo you not say in your religion that the prayer of the righteousavaileth? Do you think your God, who is the same as my Manitou, intendedthat only the prayers of the white men should have weight, and thatthose of the red men should vanish into nothingness like a snowflakemelting in the air? I may not be righteous,--who knows whether he isrighteous or not?--but, at least, I shall pray in a righteous cause."
"I don't mock, Tayoga, and maybe the power of your wish, poured in aflood upon me, will help. Yes, I know it will, and I go now, sure that Iwill soon find what I seek."
He left the cave and passed up the valley, full of confidence. Theearnestness of Tayoga had made a great impression upon him, clothing himabout with an atmosphere that was surcharged with belief, and, as hebreathed in this air, it made his veins fairly sparkle, not alone withhope, but with certainty.
He walked up a deep defile which gradually grew shallower, and thenascended rapidly. Finally he came out on a crest, crowned with splendidtrees, and he drew a great breath of pleasure as he looked upon a vastgreen wilderness, deepened in color by the long and recent rains, andupon the far western horizon a dim but splendid band of silver which heknew was Andiatarocte. A lover of beauty, and with the soul of a poet,he could have stood, gazing a long time, but there was a sterner taskforward than the contemplation of nature in the wild.
He must sink the poet in the hunter, and he began to look for tracks ofgame, which he felt sure would be plentiful in the forest, since men hadlong been hunting one another instead of the deer. He had an abundanceof will of his own, but he felt also, despite a certain incredulity ofthe reason, that the concentrated will of his distant comrade wasdriving him on.
He walked about a mile, remaining well under cover, having a doubleobject, to keep himself hidden from foes and also to find traces ofgame. His confidence that he would find it, and very quickly, was notabated, and, at the end of a mile, he saw a broad footprint on the turfthat made him utter a low exclamation of delight. It was larger thanthat of a cow, and more pointed. He knew at once that it had been madeby a moose, the great animal which was then still to be found in theforests of Northern New York.
The tracks led northward and he studied them with care. The wind hadrisen and was blowing toward him, which was favorable for his pursuit,as the sound of his own footsteps rustling the grass or breaking alittle stick would not be likely to reach the ear of the moose. He wasconvinced, too, that the tracks were not much more than two hours old,and since the big animal was likely to be rambling along, nibbling atthe twigs, the chance was in favor of the hunter overtaking him verysoon.
It was easy to follow the trail, the hoof prints were so large, and hesoon saw, too, the broken ends of twigs that had been nibbled by themoose, and also exposed places on the trunks of trees where the bark hadbeen peeled off by the animal's teeth. He was sure that the game couldnot be much more than a mile ahead, and his soul was filled with theardor of the chase. He was confident that he was pursuing a big bull, asthe fact was indicated by the size of the prints, the length of thestride, and the height at which the moose had browsed on the twigs.There were other facts he had learned among the Iroquois, indicating tohim it was a bull. While the tracks were pointed, they were less pointedthan those the cow generally makes, and the twigs that had been nibbledwere those of the fir, while the cow usually prefers the birch.
The tracks now seemed to Robert to grow much fresher. Tayoga, with hisinfallible eye and his wonderful gifts, both inherited and improved,would have known just how fresh they were, but Robert was compelled toconfine his surmise to the region of the comparative. Nevertheless, heknew that he was gaining upon the moose and that was enough. But as itwas evident by his frequent browsing that the animal was going slowly,he controlled his eagerness sufficiently to exercise great wariness onhis own part. It might be that while he was hunting he could also becomethe hunted. It was not at all impossible that the warriors of Tandakorawould fall upon his own track and follow.
He looked back apprehensively, and once he returned and retraced hissteps for a little distance, but he could discern no evidence of anenemy and he resumed his pursuit of the moose, going faster now, andseeing twigs which apparently had been broken off only a few minutesbefore. Then, as he topped a little rise, he saw the animal itself,browsing lazily on the succulent bushes. It was a large moose, but toRobert, although an experienced hunter, it loomed up at the moment likean elephant. He had staked so much upon securing the game, and the issuewas so important that his heart beat hard with excitement.
The wind was still in his favor, and, creeping as near as he dared, hefitted an arrow to Tayoga's bow and pulled the string. The arrow struckwell i
n behind the shoulder and the moose leaped high. Another arrowsang from the bow and found its heart, after which it ran a few stepsand fell. Robert's laborious task began, to remove at least a part ofthe skin, and then great portions of the meat, as much as he couldcarry, wrapped in the folds of the skin, portions from which he intendedto make steaks.
He secured at least fifty pounds, and then he looked with regret at thegreat body. He was not one to slay animals for sport's sake, and hewished that the rangers and Mohawks might have the hundreds of poundsof good moose meat, but he knew it was not destined for them. As he drewaway with his own burden his heirs to the rest were already showingsigns of their presence. From the thick bushes about came the rustlingof light feet, and now and then an eager and impatient snarl. Red eyesshowed, and as he turned away the wolves of the hills made a wild rushfor the fallen monarch. Robert, for some distance, heard them yappingand snarling over the feast, and, despite his own success in securingwhat he needed so badly, he felt remorse because he had been compelledto give so fine an animal over to the wolves.
His heart grew light again as he made his way back to the defile and thecave. He carried enough food to last Tayoga and himself many days, ifnecessity compelled them to remain long in the cave, but he did notforget in his triumph to take every precaution for the hiding of histrail, devoutly glad that it was hard ground, thick with stones, onwhich he could step from one to another.
Thus he returned, bearing his burden, and Tayoga, sitting near theentrance, rifle on knee, greeted him with becoming words as one whomTododaho and Areskoui had guided to victory.
"It is well, Dagaeoga," he said. "I was wishing for you to find a mooseand you found one. You were not compelled to use the rifle!"
"No, the bow served, but I had to shoot two arrows where you would haveshot only one."
"It is no disgrace to you. The bow is not the white man's weapon, atleast not on this continent. You withdrew the arrows, cleaned them andreturned them to the quiver?"
"Yes. I didn't forget that. I know how precious arrows are, and now,Tayoga, since it's important for you to get back your strength fasterthan a wounded man ever got it back before, I think we'd better risk afire, and broil some of these fat, juicy steaks."
"It is a danger, but we will do it. You gather the dead wood and we willbuild the fire beside the mouth of the cave. Both of us can cook."
It was an easy task for two such foresters to light a fire with flintand steel, and they soon had a big bed of coals. Then they broiled thesteaks on the ends of sharpened sticks, passing them back and forthquickly, in order to retain the juices.
"Now, Tayoga," announced Robert, "I have a word or two to say to you."
"Then say them quickly and do not let your eloquence become a stream,because I am hungry and would eat, and where the moose steaks are plentytalk is needed but little."
"I merely wished to tell you that besides being our hunter, I'm also thefamily doctor. Hence I give you my instructions."
"What are they, O youth of many words?"
"You can eat just as much of the moose steak as you like, and thequicker you begin the better you will please me, because my mannerswon't allow me to start first. Fall on, Tayoga! Fall on!"
They ate hungrily and long. They would have been glad had they breadalso, but they did not waste time in vain regrets. When they hadfinished and the measure of their happiness was full, they extinguishedthe coals carefully, hid their store of moose meat on a high ledge inthe cave, and withdrew also to its shelter.
"How much stronger do you feel now, Tayoga?" asked Robert.
"In the language of your schools, my strength has increased at leastfifty per cent in the last hour."
"I've the strength of two men myself now, and thinking it over, Tayoga,I've come to the conclusion that was the best moose I ever tasted. Hewas a big bull, and he may not have been young, but he furnished goodsteaks. I'm sorry he had to die, but he died in a good cause."
"Even so, Dagaeoga, and since we have eaten tremendously and have cookedmuch of the meat for further use, it would be best for us to put out thefire, and hide all trace of it, a task in which I am strong enough tohelp you."
They extinguished carefully every brand and coal, and even went so faras to take dead leaves from the cave and throw them over the remains ofthe fire in careless fashion as if they had been swept there by thewind.
"And now," said Robert, "if I had the power I would summon from the skyanother mighty rain to hide all signs of our banquet and of thepreparations for it. Suppose, Tayoga, you pray to Tododaho and Areskouifor it and also project your mind so forcibly in the direction of yourwish that the wish will come true."
"It is well not to push one's favor too far," replied Tayoga gravely."The heavens are too bright and shining now for rain. Moreover, if oneshould pray every day for help, Tododaho and Areskoui would grow tiredof giving it. I think, however, that we have covered our traces well,and the chance of discovery here by our enemies is remote."
They put away the moose meat on a high ledge in the cave, and sat downagain to wait. Tayoga's wound was healing rapidly. The miracle for whichhe had hoped was happening. His recovery was faster than that of anyother injured warrior whom he had ever known. He could fairly feel theclean flesh knitting itself together in innumerable little fibers, andalready he could move his left arm, and use the fingers of his lefthand. Being a stoic, and hiding his feelings as he usually did, he said:
"I shall recover, I shall be wholly myself again in time for the greatbattle between the army of Waraiyageh and that of Dieskau."
"I think, too, that we'll be in it," said Robert confidently. "Armiesmove slowly and they won't come together for quite a while yet.Meantime, I'm wondering what became of the rangers and the Mohawks."
"We shall have to keep on wondering, but I am thinking it likely thatthey prevailed over the forces of St. Luc and have passed on towardCrown Point and Oneadatote. It may be that the present area of conflicthas passed north and east of us and we have little to fear from ourenemies."
"It sounds as if you were talking out of a book again, Tayoga, but Ibelieve you're right."
"I think the only foes whom we may dread in the next night and day arefour-footed."
"You mean the wolves?"
"Yes, Dagaeoga. When you left the body of the moose did they notappear?"
"They were fighting over it before I was out of sight. But they wouldn'tdare to attack you and me."
"It is a strange thing, Dagaeoga, but whenever there is war in the woodsamong men the wolves grow numerous, powerful and bold. They know thatwhen men turn their arms upon one another they are turned aside from thewolves. They hang upon the fringes of the bands and armies, and wherethe wounded are they learn to attack. I have noticed, too, since thegreat war began that we have here bigger and fiercer wolves than anywe've ever known before, coming out of the vast wilderness of the farnorth."
"You mean the timber wolves, those monsters, five or six feet long, andalmost as powerful and dangerous as a tiger or a lion?"
"So I do, Dagaeoga, and they will be abroad tonight, led by the body ofyour moose and the portion we have here. Tododaho, sitting on his star,has whispered to me that we are about to incur a great danger, one thatwe did not expect."
"You give me a creepy feeling, Tayoga. All this is weird and uncanny.We've nothing to fear from wolves."
"A thousand times we might have nothing to fear from them, but one timewe will, and this is the time. In a voice that I did not hear, but whichI felt, Tododaho told me so, and I know."
"Then all we have to do is to build a fire in front of the cave mouthand shut them off as thoroughly, as if we had raised a steel wall beforeus."
"The danger from a fire burning all night would be too great. While I donot think any warriors of the enemy are wandering in this immediateregion, yet it is possible, and our bonfire would be a beacon to drawthem."
"Then we'll have to meet 'em with bullets, but the reports of our riflesmight also draw Tanda
kora's warriors."
"We will not use the rifles. We will sit at the entrance of the cave,and you shall fight them with my bow and arrows. If we are pressed toohard, we may resort to the rifles."
Tayoga's words were so earnest and sententious, his manner so much thatof a prophet, that Robert, in spite of himself, believed in the greatimpending danger that would come in the dark, and the hair on the backof his neck lifted a little. Yet the day was still great and shining,the forest tinted gold with the flowing sunlight, and the pure fresh airblowing into the cave. There the two youths, the white and the red, tooktheir seats at either side of the entrance. Tayoga held his rifle acrosshis knees, but Robert put his and the quiver at his feet, while he heldthe bow and one arrow in his hands.
They talked a little from time to time and then relapsed into a longsilence. Robert noticed that nothing living stirred in the defile. Nomore rabbits came out to play and no birds sang in the trees. Heconsidered it a sign, nay more, an omen that Tayoga's prediction wascoming true. The peril threatening them was great and imminent. Hissense of the sinister and uncanny increased. A chill ran through hisveins. The great shining day was going, and, although it was midsummer,a cold wind was herald of the coming twilight. He shivered again, andlooked at the long shadows falling in the defile.
"Tayoga," he said, "that uncanny talk of yours has affected me, but Ibelieve you've just made it all up. No wolves are coming to attack us."
"Dagaeoga does not believe anything of the kind. He believes, instead,what I have told him. His voice and his manner show it. He is sure thewolves are coming."
"You're right, Tayoga, I do believe it. There's every reason why Ishouldn't, but, in very truth and fact, I do. Our fine day is goingfast. Look how the twilight is growing on the mountains. From our nookhere I can just see the rim of the sun, who is your God, Areskoui. Soonhe will be gone entirely and then all the ridges will be lost in thedusk. I hope--and I'm not jesting either--that you've said your prayerto him."
"As I told you, Dagaeoga, one must not ask too many favors. But now thesun is wholly gone and the night will be dark. The wind rises and itmoans like the soul of an evil warrior condemned to wander betweenheaven and earth. The night will be dark, and in two hours the wolveswill be here."
Robert looked at him, but the face of the Onondaga was that of a seer,and once more the blood of the white youth ran chill in his veins. Hewas silent again, and now the minutes were leaden-footed, so slow, intruth, that it seemed an hour would never pass and the two hours Tayogahad predicted were an eternity. The afterglow disappeared and thedarkness was deep in the defile. The trees above were fused into a blackmass, and then, after an infinity of waiting, a faint note, sinister andfull of menace, came out of the wilderness. Tayoga and Robert glanced ateach other.
"It is as you predicted," said Robert.
"It is the howl of the great timber wolf from the far north who has madehimself the leader of the band," said the Onondaga. "When he howls againhe will be much nearer."
Robert waited for an almost breathless minute or two, and then came themalignant note, much nearer, as Tayoga had predicted, and directly aftercame other howls, faint but equally sinister.
"The great leader gives tongue a second time," said Tayoga, "and hispack imitate him, but their voices are not so loud, because their lungsare not so strong. They come straight toward us. Do you see, Dagaeoga,that your nerves are steady, your muscles strong and your eyes bright. Iwould that I could use the bow myself tonight, for the chance will beglorious, but Manitou has willed otherwise. It is for you, Dagaeoga, tohandle my weapon as if you had been familiar with it all your life."
"I will do my best, Tayoga. No man can do more."
"Dagaeoga's best is very good indeed. Remember that if they undertake torush us we will use our rifles, but they are to be held in reserve.Hark, the giant leader howls for the third time!"
The long, piercing note came now from a point not very distant. Heardin all the loneliness of the black forest it was inexpressivelythreatening and evil. Not until his own note died did the howl of hispack follow. All doubts that Robert may have felt fled at once. Hebelieved everything that Tayoga had said, and he knew that thewolf-pack, reenforced by mighty timber wolves from the far north, wascoming straight toward the cave for what was left of the moose meat andTayoga and himself. His nerves shook for an instant, but the next momenthe put them under command, and carefully tested the bowstring.
"It is good and strong," he said to Tayoga. "It will not be any fault ofthe bow and arrow if the work is not done well. The fault will be mineinstead."
"You will not fail, Dagaeoga," said the Onondaga. "Your greatimagination always excites you somewhat before the event, but when itcomes you are calm and steady."
"I'll try to prove that you estimate me correctly."
As their eyes were used to the dusk they could see each other well,sitting on opposite sides of the cave mouth and sheltered by theprojection of the rocks. The great wolf howled once more and the packhowled after him, but there followed an interval of silence that causedRobert to think they had, perhaps, turned aside. But Tayoga whisperedpresently:
"I see the leader on the opposite side of the defile among the shortbushes. The pack is farther back. They know, of course, that we arehere. The leader is, as we surmised, a huge timber wolf, come down fromthe far north. Do not shoot, Dagaeoga, until you get a good chance."
"Do you think I should wait for the leader himself?"
"No. Often the soul of a wicked warrior goes into the body of a wolf,and the wolf becomes wicked, and also full of craft. The leader may notcome forward at first himself, but will send others to receive ourblows."
There was no yapping and snarling from the wolves such as was usual, andsuch as Robert had often heard, but they had become a phantom pack,silent and ghost-like, creeping among the bushes, sinister andthreatening beyond all reckoning. Robert began to feel that, in verytruth, it was a phantom pack, and he wondered if his arrows, even ifthey struck full and true, would slay. Nature, in her chance moments,touches one among the millions with genius, and she had so tipped himwith living fire. His vivid and powerful imagination often made him seethings others could not see and caused him to clothe objects in colorsinvisible to common eyes.
Now the wolves, with their demon leader, were moving in silence amongthe bushes, and he felt that in truth he would soon be fighting withwhat Tayoga called evil spirits. For the moment, not the demon leaderalone, but every wolf represented the soul of a wicked warrior, and theywould approach with all the cunning that the warriors had known andpracticed in their lives.
"Do you see the great beast now, Tayoga?" he whispered.
"No, he is behind a rock, but there is another slinking forward, drawinghimself without noise over the ground. He must have been in life asavage from the far region, west of the Great Lakes, perhaps an eater ofhis own kind, as the wolf eats his."
"I see him, Tayoga, just there on the right where the darkness lies likea shroud. I see his jaws slavering too. He comes forward as a stalker,and I've no doubt the soul of a most utter savage is hidden in his body.He shall meet my arrow."
"Wait a little, Dagaeoga, until you can be sure of your shot. There isanother creeping forward on the left in the same manner, and you'll wantto send a second arrow quickly at him."
"I never saw a wolf-pack attack in this way before. They come like aband of warriors with scouts and skirmishers, and I can see that theyhave a force massed in the center for the main rush."
"In a few more seconds you can take the wolf on the right. Bury yourarrow in his throat. It is as I said, Dagaeoga. Now that the moment hascome your hand is steady, your nerves are firm, and even in the dusk Ican see that your eyes are bright."
It was true. Robert's imagination had painted the danger in the mostvivid colors, but now, that it was here, the beat of his pulse was asregular as the ticking of a clock. Yet the unreal and sinisteratmosphere that clothed him about was not dispelled in the least, and hecould n
ot rid himself of the feeling that in fighting them he wasfighting dead and gone warriors.
Nearer and nearer came the great wolf on his right, dragging his bodyover the ground for all the world like a creeping Indian. Robert's eyes,become uncommonly keen in the dusk, saw the long fangs, the slaveringjaws and the red eyes, and he also saw the spot in the pulsing throatwhere he intended that the sharp point of his arrow should strike.
"Now!" whispered Tayoga.
Robert fitted the shaft to the string, and deftly throwing his weightinto it bent the great bow. Then he loosed the arrow, and, singingthrough the air, it buried itself almost to the feather in the bigbeast's throat, just at the spot that he had chosen. The strangled howlof despair and death that followed was almost like that of a humanbeing, but Robert did not stop to listen, as with all speed he fittedanother arrow to the string and fired at the beast on the left, withequal success, piercing him in the heart.
"Well done, Dagaeoga," whispered Tayoga. "Two shots and two wolvesslain. The skirmisher on the right and the skirmisher on the left bothare gone. There will be a wait now while the living devour their deadcomrades. Listen, you can hear them dragging the bodies into thebushes."
"After they have finished their cannibalism perhaps they will go away."
"No, it is a great pack, and they are very hungry. In ten or fifteenminutes they will be stalking us again. You must seek a shot at thegiant leader, but it will be hard for you to get it because he will keephimself under cover, while he sends forth his warriors to meet yourarrows. Ah, he is great and cunning! Now, I am more sure than ever thathis body contains the soul of one of the most wicked of all warriors,perhaps that of a brother of Tandakora. Yes, it must be a brother, theblood of Tandakora."
"Then Tandakora's brother would better beware. My desire to slay himhas increased, and if he's incautious and I get good aim I think I canplace an arrow so deep in him that the Ojibway's wicked soul will haveto seek another home."
"Hear them growling and snarling in the bushes. It is over theircannibalistic feast. Soon they will have finished and then they willcome back to us."
The deadly stalking, more hideous than that carried on by men, becauseit was more unnatural, was resumed. Robert discharged a third arrow, butthe fierce yelp following told him that he had inflicted only a wound.He glanced instinctively at the Onondaga, fearing a reproof, but Tayogamerely said:
"If one shoots many times one must miss sometimes."
A fourth shot touched nothing, but the Onondaga had no rebuke, a fifthshot killed a wolf, a sixth did likewise, and Robert's pride returned.The wolves drew off, to indulge in cannibalism again, and to consultwith their leader, who carried the soul of a savage in his body.
Robert had sought in vain for a fair shot at the giant wolf. He hadcaught one or two glimpses of him, but they were too fleeting for theflight of an arrow, and, despite all reason and logic, he found himselfaccepting Tayoga's theory that he was, in reality, a lost brother ofTandakora, marshaling forward his forces, but keeping himself secure.After the snarling and yelping over the horrible repast, another silencefollowed in the bushes.
"Perhaps they've had enough and have gone away," said Robert, hazardingthe hopeful guess a second time.
"No. They will make a new attack. They care nothing for those that havefallen. Watch well, Dagaeoga, and keep your arrows ready."
"I think I'll become a good bowman in time," said Robert lightly, toease his feelings, "because I'm getting a lot of practice, and it seemsthat I'll have a lot more. Perhaps I need this rest, but, so far as myfeelings are concerned, I wish the wolves would come on and make a finalrush. Their silence and invisibility are pretty hard on the nerves."
He examined the bow carefully again, and put six arrows on the floor ofthe cave beside him, with the quiver just beyond them. Tayoga satimmovable, his rifle across his knees, ready in the last emergency touse the bullet. Thus more time passed in silence and without action.
It often seemed to Robert afterward that there was something unnaturalabout both time and place. The darkness came down thicker and heavier,and to his imaginative ear it had a faint sliding sound like thedropping of many veils. So highly charged had become his faculties thatthey were able to clothe the intangible and the invisible with bodilyreality. He glanced across at his comrade, whom his accustomed eyescould see despite the blackness of the night. Tayoga was quite still. Sofar as Robert could tell he had not stirred by a hair's breadth in thelast hour.
"Do you hear anything?" whispered the white youth.
"Nothing," replied the Onondaga. "Not even a dead leaf stirs before thewind. There is no wind to stir it. But I think the pack will be comingagain very soon. They will not leave us until you shoot their demonleader."
"You mean Tandakora's brother! If I get a fair chance I'll certainlysend my best arrow at him, and I'm only sorry that it's not Tandakorahimself. You persist in your belief that the soul of a wicked warrior isin the body of the wolf?"
"Of course! As I have said, it is surely a brother of Tandakora, becauseTandakora himself is alive, and, as it cannot be his own, it must bethat of a monstrous one so much like his that it can be only abrother's. That is why the wolf leader is so large, so fierce and socunning. I persist, too, in saying that all the wolves of this packcontain the souls of wicked warriors. It is natural that they shoulddraw together and hunt together, and hunt men as they hunted them inlife."
"I'm not disputing you, Tayoga. Both day and night have more things thanI can ever hope to understand, but it seems to me that night has themore. I've been listening so hard, Tayoga, that I can't tell now whereimagination ends and reality begins, but I think I hear a footfall, assoft as that of a leaf dropping to the ground, but a footfall just thesame."
"I hear it too, Dagaeoga, and it is not the dropping of a leaf. It is awolf creeping forward, seeking to stalk us. He is on the right, andthere are others on both right and left. Now I know they are warriors,or have been, since they use the arts of warriors rather than those ofwolves."
"But if they should get in here they would use the teeth and claws ofwolves."
"Teeth and claws are no worse than the torch, the faggot and the stake,perhaps better. I hear two sliding wolves now, Dagaeoga, but I know thatneither is the giant leader. As before, he keeps under cover, while hesends forward others to the attack."
"Which proves that Tandakora's brother is a real general. I think I canmake out a dim outline now. It is that of the first wolf on the right,and he does slide forward as if he were a warrior and not a wolf. Ithink I'll give him an arrow."
"Wait until he comes a dozen feet nearer, Dagaeoga, and you can be quitesure. But when you do shoot snatch up another arrow quicker than youever did before in your life, because the leader, thinking you are notready, may jump from the shelter of the rocks to drive the rest of thepack in a rush upon us."
"You speak as if they were human beings, Tayoga."
"Such is my thought, Dagaeoga."
"Very well. I'll bear in mind what you say, and I'll pick an arrow forTandakora's brother."
He chose a second arrow carefully and put it on the ledge beside him,where it required but one sweep of his hand to seize it and fit it tothe string, when the first had been sent. He now distinctly saw thecreeping wolf, and again fancy laid hold of him and played strangetricks with his eyes. The creeping figure changed. It was not that of awolf, but a warrior, intent upon his life. A strange terror, the terrorof the weird and unknown, seized him, but in an instant it passed, andhe drew the bowstring. When he loosed it the arrow stood deep in thewolf's throat, but Robert did not see it. His eyes passed on like aflash of lightning to a gigantic form that upreared itself from therocks, an enormous wolf with red eyes, glistening fangs and slaveringjaws.
"Now!" shot forth Tayoga.
Robert had already fitted a second arrow to the string and the immensethroat presented a target full and fair. Now, as always in the moment ofimminent crisis, his nerves were steady, never had they been moresteady, a
nd his eyes pierced the darkness. Never before and never againdid he bend so well the bow of Ulysses. The arrow, feathered and barbed,hummed through the air, going as straight and swift as a bullet to itsmark, and then it pierced the throat of the wolf so deep that the barbstood out on one side and the feathers on the other.
The wolf uttered a horrible growling shriek that was almost human toRobert, leaped convulsively back and out of sight, but for a minute ortwo they heard him threshing among the rocks and bushes. The whole packuttered a dismal howl. Their sliding sounds ceased, and the last dimfigure vanished.
"I think it is all over with Tandakora's brother," said Robert.
Tayoga said nothing, and Robert glanced at him. Beads of perspirationstood on the brow of the Onondago, but his eyes glittered.
"You have shot well tonight, O Dagaeoga," he said. "Never did a manshoot better. Tonight you have been the greatest bowman in all theworld. You have slain the demon wolf, the leader of the pack. Perhapsthe wicked soul that inhabited his body has gone to inhabit the body ofanother evil brute, but we are delivered. They will not attack again."
"How do you know that, Tayoga?"
"Because Tododaho, Tododaho who protects us, is whispering it to me. Ido not see him, but he is leaning down from his star, and his voiceenters my ear. Our fight with the wolf pack and its terrible leader isfinished. Steady, Dagaeoga! Steady! Make no excuses! The greatest ofwarriors, the hero of a hundred battles, might well sink for a fewmoments after such a combat!"
Robert had collapsed suddenly. The great imagination driving forward hiswill, and attuning him for such swift and tremendous action, failed, nowthat the crisis had passed, and he dropped back against the ledge,though his fingers still instinctively clutched the bow. Darkness wasbefore his eyes, and he was weak and trembling, but he projected hiswill anew, and a little later sat upright, collected and firm.Nevertheless, it was Tayoga who now took supreme command.
"You have surely done enough for one night, Dagaeoga," he said."Tododaho himself, after doing so much, would have rested. Lie down nowon your blanket and I will watch for the remainder of the darkness. Itis true my left arm is lame and of no use for the present, but nothingwill come."
"I'll do as you tell me, Tayoga," said Robert, "but first I give youback your bow and arrows. They've served us well, though I littlethought I'd ever have to do work as a bowman."
He was glad enough to stretch himself on the blanket and leaves, as herealized that despite his will he had become weak. Presently he sankinto a deep slumber. When he awoke the sun was shining in the mouth ofthe cave and Tayoga was offering him some of the tenderest of the moosesteak.
"Eat, Dagaeoga," he said. "Though a warrior of the clan of the Bear, ofthe nation Onondaga of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, I am proudto serve the king of bowmen."
"Cease your jesting at my expense, Tayoga."
"It is not wholly a jest, but eat."
"I will. Have you seen what is outside?"
"Not yet. We will take our breakfast together, and then we will go forthto see what we may see."
They ate heartily, and then with rifles cocked passed into the defile,where they found only the bones of wolves, picked clean by the others.But the skeleton of the huge leader was gone, although the arrow thathad slain him was lying among the rocks.
"The living must have dragged away his bones. A curious thing to do,"said Robert.
Tayoga was silent.
The Rulers of the Lakes: A Story of George and Champlain Page 14