CHAPTER XIII
THE BOWMEN
Robert looked back and saw the roofs and spires of Quebec sitting on itsmighty rock, and he remembered how much had happened during their shortstay there. He could recall the whole time, hour by hour, and he knewthat he would never forget any part of it. The town was intense,glowing, vivid in the clear northern sunlight, and he had seen it, as heso often had longed to do. A quality in his nature had responded to it,but at the last his heart had turned against it. The splendor of thatcity into which he had enjoyed such a remarkable introduction had in itsomething hot and feverish.
"You're thinking a farewell to Quebec, Robert," said the hunter. "Itlooks grand and strong up there, but I've an idea there'll be a day whenwe'll come again."
"Americans and English have besieged it before," said Robert, "butthey've never taken it."
"Which proves nothing, but we'll turn our minds now to our journey intothe south. It's good to breathe this clean air again, and the sooner wereach the deep woods the better I'll like it. What say you, Tayoga?"
The nostrils of the Onondaga expanded, as he inhaled the odors of leafand grass, borne on the gentle wind.
"I have lived in the white man's house in Albany," he said, "and in ourown log house in the vale of Onondaga, and I know the English and theFrench have many things that the nations of the Hodenosaunee have not,but we can do without most of them. If the great chiefs were to drinkand dance all night as Bigot and his friends do, then indeed would wecease to be the mighty League of the Hodenosaunee."
They traveled all that day on foot, but at a great pace, showing theirsafe conduct twice to French soldiers, and so thin was the line ofsettlements along the St. Lawrence that when night came they were beyondthe cultivated fields and had entered the deep woods. The three, inaddition to their weapons, carried on their backs packs containingblankets and food, and as Willet and Tayoga put them down they drew longbreaths of relief like those of prisoners escaped.
"Home, Tayoga! Home!" said the hunter, joyfully. "I've nothing againstcities in general, but I breathed some pretty foul air in Quebec, andit's sweet and clean here. There comes a time when you are glad no housecrosses your view and you are with the world as it was made in thebeginning. Don't these trees look splendid! Did you ever see a finer lotof tender young leaves? And the night sky you see up there has beenwashed and scrubbed until it's nothing but clean blue!"
"Why, you're only a boy, Dave, the youngest of us three," laughedRobert. "Here you are singing songs about leaves and trees just as ifyou were not the most terrible swordsman in the world."
A shadow crossed Willet's face, but it was quick in passing.
"Let's not talk about Boucher, Robert," he said. "I don't regret what Idid, knowing that it saved the lives of others, but I won't recall itany oftener than I can help. You're right when you term me a boy, and Ibelieve you're right, too, when you say I'm the youngest of the three.I'm so glad to be here that just now I'm not more'n fifteen years old. Icould run, jump, laugh and sing. And I think the woods are a deal saferand friendlier than Quebec. There's nobody, at least not here, lyingaround seeking a chance to stick a rapier in your back."
He unbuckled his sword and laid it upon the grass. Robert put his besideit.
"I don't think we'll need to use 'em again for a long time," said thehunter, "but they're mighty fine as decorations, and sometimes adecoration is worth while. It impresses. Now, Tayoga, you kindle thefire, and Robert, you find a spring. It's pleasant to feel that you'reagain on land that belongs to nobody, and can do as you please."
Robert found a spring less than a hundred yards away, and Tayoga soonkindled a fire near it with his flint and steel, on which the hunterwarmed their food. Each had a small tin cup from which he drank clearwater as they ate, and Robert, elastic of temperament, rejoiced with thehunter.
"You are right, Dave," he said. "These are splendid trees, and everyleaf on 'em is splendid, too, and the little spring I found is justabout as fine a spring as the forest holds. I slept in a good bed at theInn of the Eagle, but when I scrape up the dead leaves here, roll myselfin my blanket and lie on 'em I think I'll sleep better than I didbetween four walls. What did you think of the Marquis Duquesne, Dave?"
"A man of parts, Robert. He has more military authority than any of ourGovernors have, and if war comes he'll be a dangerous opponent."
"And it will come, Dave?"
"Looks like a certainty. You see, Robert, the King of France and theKing of England sitting on their golden thrones, only three or fourhundred miles apart, but three or four thousand miles from us, have adyspeptic fit, make faces at each other, and here in the woods we mustfall to fighting. Even Tayoga's people--and the King of France and theKing of England are nothing to them--must be drawn into it."
"Both Kings claim the Ohio country, which they will never see, and ofwhich they know nothing," said Tayoga, with a faint touch of sarcasm,"but perhaps it belongs to the people who live in it."
"Maybe so, Tayoga! Maybe!" said Willet briskly, "but we'll not look fortrouble or unpleasant thoughts now. We three are too glad to be in thewoods again. Tayoga, suppose you scout about and see that no enemy'snear. Then we'll build up the fire, till it's burning bright, andrejoice."
"It is well!" said Tayoga, as he slipped away among the trees, makingno sound as he went. Robert meanwhile gathered dead wood which layeverywhere in abundance, and heaped it beside the fire ready for use.But as Tayoga was gone some time he sat down again with his back to atree, taking long deep breaths of the cool fresh air, and feeling hispulses leap. The hunter sat in a similar position, gazing meditativelyinto the fire. Robert heard a rattling of bark over his head, but heknew that it was a squirrel scuttling up the trunk of the tree, andpausing now and then to examine the strange invaders of his forest.
"Do you see the squirrel, Dave?" he asked.
"Yes, he's about twenty feet above you now, sitting in a fork. He's afine big fellow with a bushy tail curved so far over his back that itnearly touches his head. He has little red eyes and he's just burning upwith curiosity. The firelight falls on him in such a way that I can see.Perhaps he has never seen a man before. Now he's looking at you, Robert,trying to decide what kind of an animal you are, and forming an estimateof your character and disposition."
"You're developing your imagination, Dave, but since I saw what you saidand did in Quebec I'm not surprised."
"Encouraged by your motionless state he's left the fork, and come a halfdozen feet down the trunk in order to get a better look at you. I thinkhe likes you, Robert. He lies flattened against the bark, and if I hadnot seen him descending I would not notice him now, but the glow of thecoals still enables me to make out his blazing little red eyes likesparks of fire. Now he is looking at me, and I don't think he has asmuch confidence in my harmlessness as he has in yours. Perhaps it'sbecause he sees my eyes are upon him and he doesn't like to be watched.He's a saucy little fellow. Sit still, Robert! I see a black shadow overyour head, and I think our little friend, the squirrel, should look out.Ah, there he goes! Missed! And our handsome young friend, the graysquirrel, is safe! He has scuttled into his hole higher up the tree!"
Robert had heard a rush of wings and he had seen a long black shadowpass.
"What was it, Dave?" he asked.
"A great horned owl. His iron beak missed our little squirrel friendjust about three inches. Those three inches were enough, but I don'tthink that squirrel will very soon again stay out at night so late. Thewoods are beautiful, Robert, but you see they're not always safe evenfor those who can't live anywhere else."
"I know, Dave, but I'm not going to think about it tonight, because I'vemade up my mind to be happy. Here comes Tayoga. Is any enemy near,Tayoga?"
"None," replied the Onondaga, sitting down by the fire. "But the forestis full of its own people, and they are all very curious about us."
"That's true," said Willet, "a squirrel over Robert's head was soinquisitive that he forgot his vigilance for a few moments a
nd came nearlosing his life as the price of his carelessness. I'm not surprised tohear you say, Tayoga, they're all looking at us. I've felt for some timethat we're being watched, admired and perhaps a little feared. It's atribute to the enormously interesting qualities of us three."
"That is, Dave, because we're human beings we're kings in the forestamong the animals."
"You put it right, Robert. They look up to us. Is anything watching usamong the leaves near by, Tayoga?"
"A huge bald-headed eagle, Great Bear, is sitting on a bough in thecenter of a mass of green leaves. He is looking at us, and while he isfull of curiosity and some admiration he fears and hates us more."
"What is he saying to himself, Tayoga?"
"You can read his words to himself by the look in his eyes. He is sayingthat he does not like our appearance, that we are too large, that wehave created here something hot and flaming, that we behave with toomuch assurance, going about just as if the forest was ours, and payingno attention to its rightful owners."
"He has got a grievance, and perhaps it's a just one," laughed Robert.
"No, it is not," said Tayoga, "because there is plenty of room in theforest for him and for us, too. I can read his eyes quite well. There ismuch malice and anger in his heart, and I will give him some cause forrage."
He picked up a live coal between the ends of two sticks, and holding itfirmly in that manner, walked a little distance among the trees. Thenswinging the sticks he hurled the coal far up among the boughs. Therewas an angry screech and whirr and Robert saw a swift shadow passingbetween his eyes and the sky.
"His heart can burn more than ever now," laughed Tayoga, as he returnedto the fire.
"You've hurt his dignity, Tayoga," said Robert.
"So I have, but why should he not suffer a loss of pride? He is ruthlessand cruel and when he has his way he makes desolation about him."
"What else is watching us, Tayoga?"
"A beast upon the ground, and his heart is much like that of the eaglein the air. He is crouched in a thicket about twenty yards away, and hislips are drawn back from his sharp fangs. His nostrils twitch with theodor of our food, and his yellow eyes are staring at us. Oh, he hates usbecause he hates everything except his own kind and very often he hatesthat. He wants our food because he's hungry--he's always hungry--and hewould try to eat us too if he were not so much afraid of us."
"Tayoga, one needs only a single glance to tell that this animal you'retalking about is a wolf."
"It is so, Dagaeoga. A very hungry and a very angry wolf. He is cunning,but he does not know everything. He thinks we do not see him, that we donot know he is there and that maybe, after awhile, when we go to sleep,he can slip up and steal our food, or perhaps he can bring many of hisbrothers, and they can eat us before we awake. Now, I will tell him in alanguage he can understand that it's time for him to go away."
He picked up a heavy stick and threw it with all his might into thebushes on their right. It sped straighter to the target than he hadhoped, as there was a thud, a snarling yelp, and then the swift pad offlying feet. Tayoga lay back and laughed.
"The Spirit of Jest guided my hand," he said, "and the stick struck himupon the nose. He will run far and his wrath and fear will grow as heruns. Then he will lie down again in some thicket, and he will not dareto come back. Now, we will wait a little."
"Anything more looking at us?" asked Robert after awhile.
"Yes, we have a new visitor," replied Tayoga in a low tone. "Speak onlyin a whisper and do not move, because the animal that is looking at ushas no malice in its heart, and does not wish us harm. It has come verysoftly and, while its eyes are larger, they are mild and have onlycuriosity."
"A deer, I should say, Tayoga."
"Yes, a deer, Lennox, a very beautiful deer. It has been drawn by thefire, and having come as near as it dares it stands there, shivering alittle, but wondering and admiring."
"We won't trouble it, Tayoga. We'll need the meat of a deer before long,but we'll spare our guest of tonight."
"He is staring very straight at us," said Tayoga, "but something hasstirred in the brushwood--perhaps it's another wolf--and now he hasgone."
"We seem to be an attraction," said Willet, "and so I suppose we'dbetter give 'em as good a look as we can."
He cast a great quantity of the dry wood on the fire, and it blazed upgayly, throwing the red glow in a wide circle, and lighting up thepleasant glade. The figures of the three, as they leaned in luxuriousattitudes, were outlined clearly and sharply, a view they would not haveallowed had not Tayoga been sure no enemy was near.
"Now let the spectators come on," said Willet genially, "because wewon't be on display forever. After a while we'll get sleepy, and then itwill be best to put out the fire."
The flames leaped higher and the glowing circle widened. Robert, leaningagainst a tree, with his blanket wrapped around him and the cushion ofdead leaves beneath him, felt the grateful warmth upon his face, and itrejoiced body and mind alike. Tayoga and the hunter were in a similarstate of content, and they were silent for a while. Then Robert said:
"Who's looking at us now, Tayoga?"
"Two creatures, Dagaeoga, that belong upon the ground, but that are notnow upon it."
"Your answer sounds like a puzzle. If they're not now upon the groundthey're probably in the air, but they're not birds, because birds don'tbelong on the ground. Then they're animals that have climbed trees."
"Dagaeoga's mind is becoming wondrous wise. In time he may be a sachemamong his adopted people."
"Don't you have sport with me, Tayoga, because bear in mind that if youdo I will pay you back some day. Have these creatures a mean, viciouslook?"
"I could not claim, Dagaeoga, that they are as beautiful as the deerthat came to look at us but lately."
"Then I make so bold as to say, Tayoga, that they have tufted ear tips,spotted fur, and short tails, in brief a gentleman lynx and a lady lynx,his wife. They are gazing at us with respect and fear as the wolf did,and also with just as much malice and hate. They're wondering who andwhat we are, and why we come into their woods, the pair of bloodthirstyrabbit slayers."
"Did I not say you would be a sachem some day, Dagaeoga? You have readaright. An Onondaga warrior could not have done better. The two lynxesare on a bough ten feet from the ground, and perhaps in their foolishhearts they think because they are so high above the earth that wecannot reach them."
"You're not going to shoot at 'em, Tayoga? We don't want to waste goodbullets on a lynx."
"Not I, Dagaeoga, but I will make them acquainted with something theywill dread as much as bullets. It's right that those who come to look atus should be made to pay the price of it."
"So you think that Monsieur and Madame Lynx have looked long enough atthe illustrious three?"
"Yes, Dagaeoga. It is time for them to go. And since they do not go oftheir own will I must make them go."
He snatched a long brand from the fire, and whirling it around his head,and shouting at the same time, he dashed toward an old dead tree somedistance away. Two stump-tailed, tuft-eared animals, uttering loudferocious screams, leaped from the boughs and tore away through thethickets, terror stabbing at their hearts, as the circling flame of redpursued them. Tayoga returned laughing.
"They will run and they will run," he said, throwing down his brand.
"You don't give 'em much chance to see us, Tayoga," said the hunter."Since we're on exhibition tonight you might have let 'em look andadmire a while longer."
"So I could, Great Bear, but I do not like the lynx. Its habits areunpleasant, and its scream is harsh. Hence, I drove the two of themaway."
"I suppose you're right. I don't dare care much about 'em either. Nowwe'll rest and see what other visitors come to admire."
Tayoga sat down again. Their packs were put in a neat heap near thethree, Robert's and Willet's swords, and Tayoga's bow and arrows intheir case resting on the top. Robert threw more wood on the fire, andcontentedly watched the gre
at, glowing circle of light extend itscircumference.
"We knew we'd find peace and rest here," said Willet, "but we didn'tknow we'd be watched and admired like people on the stage at a theater."
"Have you seen many plays, Dave?" asked Robert.
"A lot, especially in London at Drury Lane and other theaters."
"And so you know London, as well as Paris?"
"Well, yes, I've been there. Some day, Robert, I'll tell you more aboutboth Paris and London and why I happened to be in such great cities,but not now. We'll keep our minds on the forest, which is worth ourattention. Don't you hear a tread approaching, Tayoga?"
"Yes, Great Bear, and it's very heavy. A lord of the forest is coming."
"A moose, think you, Tayoga?"
"Yes, Great Bear, a mighty bull, one far beyond the common size. I cantell by his tread, and I think he is angry, or he would not march soboldly toward the fire."
"Then," said the hunter, "we'd better stand up, and be ready with ourweapons. I've no wish to be trodden to death by a mad bull moose, justwhen I'm feeling so happy and so contented with the world."
"The Great Bear's advice is good," said Tayoga, and the three took it.The approaching tread grew heavier, and the largest moose that Roberthad ever seen, pushing his way through the bushes, stood looking at thefire, and those who had built it. He was a truly magnificent specimen,and Tayoga had been right in calling him a lord of the forest, but hiseyes were red and inflamed and his look was menacing.
"Mad! Quite mad!" whispered the hunter. "He sees us, but he doesn'tadmire us. He hates us, and he isn't afraid of us."
The three moved softly and discreetly into a place where both trees andbushes were so dense that the moose could not get at them.
"What troubles him?" asked Robert.
"I don't know," said the hunter. "He may be suffering yet from a woundby an Indian arrow, or he may have a spell of some kind. We can becertain only that he's raging mad, every inch of him. Look at thosegreat sharp hoofs of his, Robert. I'd as soon be struck with an axe."
The moose, after some hesitation, rushed into the glade, leaped towardthe fire, leaped back again, pawed and trampled the earth in a terribleconvulsion of rage, and then sprang away, crashing through the forest.They heard the beat of his hoofs a long time, and when the sound ceasedthey returned and resumed their seats by the fire.
"That moose was a great animal," said Tayoga with irony, "but his mindwas the mind of a little child. He did nothing with his strength andagility but tear the earth and tire himself. Now he runs away among thetrees, scratching his body with bushes and briars."
"At any rate, he was an important visitor, Tayoga," said the hunter,"and since we've had a good look at him we're glad he's gone away. Ithink it likely now that all who wanted to look at us have had theirlook, and we might go to sleep. How are your leaves, Robert?"
"Fine and soft. They make a splendid bed, and I'm off to slumberland."
He pushed up the leaves at one end of his couch high enough to form apillow, and stretched himself luxuriously. The night was turning cold,but he had his blanket, and there was the fire. He felt as comfortableas at the Inn of the Eagle in Quebec, and freer from plots and danger.
They were allowing the fire to die now, but the coals would glow for along time, and Robert looked at them sleepily. His feeling of cozinessand content increased, and presently he slept. The hunter soon followedhim, but Tayoga slept not at all. His subtle Indian instinct warned himnot to do so. For the Onondaga the forest was not free now from danger,and he would watch while his white friends slept.
Tayoga arose, after a while, and taking a stick, scattered the coals ofthe fire. But he did it in such a manner that he made no noise, thehunter and young Lennox continuing to sleep soundly. Then he watched theembers, having lost that union which is strength, die one by one. Theconquered darkness came back, recovering its lost ground, slowlyinvading the glade, until it was one in the dusk with the rest of theforest. Then Tayoga felt better satisfied, and he looked at thesleepers, whose faces he could still discern, despite the absence of thefire, a fair moonlight falling.
Robert and the hunter slept peacefully, but their sleep was deep. Theyouth was weary from the long march in the woods, but as he slept hisstrong healthy tissues rapidly regained their vitality. The Onondagalooked at the two longer than usual. These comrades of his were knittedto him by innumerable labors and dangers shared. In him dwelled the soulof a great Indian chief, the spirit that has animated Pontiac, andLittle Turtle, and Tecumseh and Red Cloud and other dauntless leaders ofhis race, but it had been refined though not weakened by his whiteeducation. Gratitude and truth were as frequent Indian traits as thememory of injuries, and while he was surcharged with pride because hewas born a warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, ofthe great League of the Hodenosaunee, he felt as truly as any knightever felt that he must accept and fulfill all the duties of his place.
Standing in a dusk made luminous by a silvery moonlight he was a fittingson of the forest, one of its finest products. He belonged to it, and itbelonged to him, each being the perfect complement of the other. Hisface cut in bronze was lofty, not without a spiritual cast, and hisblack eyes flamed with his resolve. He looked up at the heavens, fleecywith white vapors, and shot with a million stars, the same sky that hadbent over his race for generations no man could count, and his soul wasfilled with admiration. Then he made his voiceless prayer:
"O, Tododaho, first and greatest sachem of the Onondagas, greatest andnoblest sachem of the League, look down from your home on another star,and watch over your people, for whom the storms gather! Let the serpentsin your hair whisper to you of wisdom that you in turn may whisper it tous through the winds! Direct our footsteps in the great war that iscoming between the white nations and save to us our green forests, ourblue lakes and our silver rivers! Remember, O, Tododaho, that althoughthe centuries have passed since Manitou took you from us, your namestill stands among us for all that is great, noble and wise! I beseechyou that you give sparks of your own lofty and strong spirit to yourchildren, to the Hodenosaunee in this, their hour of need, and I asktoo, that you help one who is scarcely yet a warrior in years, one whoinvokes thee humbly, even, Tayoga, of the clan of the Bear, of thenation Onondaga, of thy own great League of the Hodenosaunee!"
He bent his head a little to listen. All the legends and beliefs of hisrace, passed from generation to generation, crowded upon him. Tododaholeaning down from his star surely heard his prayer. Tayoga shivered alittle, not from cold or fear, but from emotion. The mystic spell wasupon him. Far above him in the limitless void little wreaths of vaporunited about a great shining star, taking the shape of a man, the shapeof a great chief, wise beyond all other chiefs that had ever lived, andhe distinctly saw the wise serpents, coil on coil, in Tododaho's hair.They were whispering in his ear, and bending his head a little fartherhe heard the words of the serpents which the rising wind brought,repeated, from the lips of Tododaho:
"Fear not, O young warrior of the Onondagas! Tododaho leaning down fromhis star hears thy pious appeal! Tododaho, for more than four hundredyears, has watched over the great League, night and day! Let the fiftysachems, old in years and wisdom, walk in the straight path of truth,and let the warriors follow! Let them be keepers of the faith, friendsto those who have been their friends, sage in council, brave in battle,and they shall hold their green forests, their blue lakes and theirsilver rivers! And to thee, Tayoga, I say, thou shalt encounter manydangers, but because thy soul is pure, thou shalt have great rewards!"
Then the wind died suddenly. The leaves hung motionless. The vaporsabout the great shining star dissolved, the face of Tododaho, with thewise serpents, coil on coil in his hair, disappeared, and the luminousheavens were without a sign. But they had spoken.
Tayoga trembled, but again it was from emotion. Tododaho had sent hiswords of promise on the wind, and they had been whispered in his ear.Great would be his dangers but great would be his rewards. He wasuplift
ed. His heart exulted. His deeds would be all the mightier becauseof the dangers, and he would never forget that he had the promise ofTododaho, greatest, wisest and noblest of the chiefs of theHodenosaunee, who had gone to a shining star more than four hundredyears ago.
He sat down under one of the trees and sleep remained far from him. Hestill listened with all the power of his sensitive hearing for any soundthat might come in the forest, and after awhile he took his bow andquiver from their case, putting his quiver over his shoulder. He coveredhis rifle with the leaves, and holding the bow in his hand stole awayamong the trees.
The faintest of sounds had come to him, and Tayoga did not doubt itsnature. It was strange to the forest and it was hostile. The mysticspell was still upon him, and it heightened his faculties to anextraordinary degree. He had almost the power of divination. A hundredyards, and he crouched low behind the trunk of a great oak. Then as themoonlight fell upon a small opening just ahead he saw them, Tandakoraand two warriors.
The Ojibway was in full war paint, and the luminous quality of themoon's rays enlarged his huge form. He towered like Hanegoategeh, theEvil Spirit, and the figures upon his shoulders and chest stood out likecarving. He and the two warriors also carried bows and arrows, andTayoga surmised that they had meant to slay in silence. His heart burnedwith rage and he felt, too, an unlimited daring. Did he not have thepromise of Tododaho that he should pass through all dangers and receivegreat rewards? He felt himself a match for the three, and he did notneed secrecy and silence. He raised his voice and cried:
"Stand forth, Tandakora, and fight. I too have only _waano_ (the bow)and _gano_ (the arrow), but I meet the three of you!"
Tandakora and the two warriors sprang back and in an instant were hiddenby the trees, but Tayoga had expected them to do so, and he droppeddown, moving silently to another and hidden point, where he waited, anarrow on the string. He knew that Tandakora had recognized his voice,and would make every effort, his shoulder healed enough for use, tosecure such a prize. The Ojibway would believe, too, that three mustprevail against one, and he would push the attack. So the Onondagaremained motionless, but confident.
Nearly ten minutes of absolute silence followed, but his hearing was soacute that he did not think any of the three could move without hisknowledge. Then a slight sliding sound came. One of the warriors waspassing to the right, and that, too, he had expected, as they wouldsurely try to flank him. He moved back a little, and with the end of hisbow shook gently a bush seven or eight feet away. In an instant, anarrow, coming from the night, whistled through the bush. But Tayoga drewback the bow quick as lightning, fitted an arrow to the string and shotwith all the power of his arm at a bronze body showing among the leavesat the point whence the arrow had come.
The shaft sang in the air, and so great was its speed and so short therange that it passed entirely through the chest of the warrior, cuttingoff his breath so quickly that he had no time to utter his death cry.There was no sound but that of his fall as he crashed among the leaves.Nor did Tayoga utter the usual shout of triumph. He sank back and fittedanother arrow to the string, turning his attention now to the left.
It had been the Onondaga's belief that Tandakora would remain in front,sending the warriors on either flank, and now he expected a movement onthe left. He did not have to make any feint of his own to draw thesecond warrior, who must have been lacking somewhat in skill, as hepresently saw a dim figure in the bushes and his second arrow sped withthe same speed and deadly result that had marked the first. Fitting histhird arrow to the string, he called:
"Stand forth, Tandakora, and show yourself like a man! Then we shall seewho shoots the better!"
But being a knight of the woods, and to convince the Ojibway that it wasno trick, he showed himself first. Tandakora shot at once, but Tayogadropped back like a flash, and the arrow cut the air, where hisfeathered head had been. Then all his Indian nature, the training andhabit of generations, leaped up in him and he began to taunt.
"You shot quickly, Tandakora," he called, "and your arm was strong, butthe arrow struck not! You followed us all the way from Stadacona, andyou thought to have our scalps! The Great Bear and Lennox did notsuspect, but I did! The warriors who came with you are dead, and you andI alone face each other! I have shown myself and I have risked yourarrow, now show yourself, Tandakora, and risk mine!"
But the Ojibway, it seemed, had too much respect for the bow of Tayoga.He remained close, and did not disclose an inch of his brown body. TheOnondaga did not show himself again, but crouched for a shot, in casethe opportunity came. He knew that Tandakora was a great bowman, but hehad supreme confidence in his own skill against anybody. Nothing stirredwhere his enemy lay and no sound came from the little camp, which wasbeyond the reach of the words they had uttered.
A quarter of an hour, a half hour, an hour passed, and neither moved,showing all the patience natural to the Indian on the war path. ThenTayoga shook a bush a few feet from him, but Tandakora divined thetrick, and his arrow remained on the string. Another quarter of an hour,and seeing some leaves quiver, Tayoga, at a chance, sent an arrow amongthem. No sound came back, and he knew that it had been sped in vain.
Then he began to move slowly and with infinite care toward the right,resolved to bring the affair to a head. At the end of twenty feet herustled the bushes a little once more and lay flat. An arrow flew overhis head, but he did not reply, resuming his slow advance after hisenemy's shaft had sped. Another twenty feet and he made the bushes moveagain. Tandakora shot, and in doing so he exposed a little of his rightarm. Tayoga sent a prompt arrow at the brown flesh. He heard a cry ofpain, wrenched in spite of his stoical self from the Ojibway, and thenas he sank down again and put his ear to the ground came the sound ofretreating footsteps.
The affair, unfinished in a way, so far as the vital issue wasconcerned, was concluded for the present, at least. Ear and mind toldTayoga as clearly as if eye had seen. His arrow had ploughed its pathacross Tandakora's arm near the shoulder, inflicting a wound that wouldheal, but which was extremely painful and from which so much blood wascoming that a quick bandage was needed. Tandakora could no longer meetTayoga with the bow and arrow and so he must retreat. Nor was it likelythat his first wound was yet more than half healed.
The Onondaga waited until he was sure his enemy was at least a half mileaway, when he rose boldly and approached the place where Tandakora hadlast lain hidden. He detected at once drops of dark blood on the leavesand grass, and he found his arrow, which Tandakora had snatched fromthe wound and thrown upon the ground. He wiped the barb carefully andreplaced it in his quiver. Then he followed the trail at least threemiles, a trail marked here and there by ruddy spots.
Tayoga did not feel sorry for his enemy. Tandakora was a savage and anassassin, and he deserved this new hurt. He was a dangerous enemy, onewho had made up his mind to secure revenge upon the Onondaga and hisfriends, but his fresh wound would keep him quiet for a while. One couldnot have an arrow through his forearm and continue a hunt with greatvigor and zest.
Tayoga marked twice the places where Tandakora had stopped to rest.There the drops of blood were clustered, indicating a pause of someduration, and a third stop showed where he had bound up his wound. Freshleaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or twoindicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistclothto fasten over the leaves. After that the trail was free from the ruddyspots, but Tayoga did not follow it much farther. He was sure thatTandakora would not return, as he had lost much blood, and for a while,despite his huge power and strength, exertion would make him weak anddizzy. Evidently, the bullet in his shoulder, received when they were ontheir way to Quebec, had merely shaken him, but the arrow had taken aheavier toll.
Tayoga returned to the camp of the three. All the fire had gone out, andWillet and Robert, wrapped in their blankets, still slept peacefully.The entire combat between the bowmen had passed without their knowledge,and Tayoga, quietly returning the bow and quiver to their case, andtakin
g his rifle instead, sat down with his back against a tree, and hisweapon across his knees. He was on the whole satisfied. He had notremoved Tandakora, but he had inflicted another painful and mortifyingdefeat upon him. The pride of the Indian had been touched in its mostsensitive place, and the Ojibway would burn with rage for a long time.Tayoga's white education did not keep him from taking pleasure in thethought.
He had no intention of going to sleep. Although Tandakora would notreturn, others might come, and for the night the care of the three washis. It had grown a little darker, but the blue of the skies was merelydeeper and more luminous. There in the east was the great shining star,on which Tododaho, mightiest of chiefs, lived with the wise serpentscoiled in his hair. He gazed and his heart leaped. The vapors about thestar were gathering again, and for a brief moment or two they formed theface of Tododaho, a face that smiled upon him. His soul rejoiced.
"O Tododaho," were his unspoken words. "Thou hast kept thy promise! Thouhast watched over me in the fight with Tandakora, and thou hast given methe victory! Thou hast sent all his arrows astray and thou hast sentmine aright! I thank thee, O, Tododaho!"
The vapors were dissolved, but Tayoga never doubted that he had seen fora second time the face of the wise chief who had gone to his star morethan four hundred years ago. A great peace filled him. He had acceptedthe white man's religion as he had learned it in the white man's school,and at the same time he had kept his own. He did not see any realdifference between them. Manitou and God were the same, one was the namein Iroquois and the other was the name in English. When he prayed toeither he prayed to both.
The darkness that precedes the dawn came. The great star on whichTododaho lived went away, and the whole host swam into the void that iswithout ending. The deeper dusk crept up, but Tayoga still satmotionless, his eyes wide open, his ecstatic state lasting. He heard thelittle animals stirring once more in the forest as the dawn approached,and he felt very friendly toward them. He would not harm the largest orthe least of them. It was their wilderness as well as his, and Manitouhad made them as well as him.
The darkness presently began to thin away, and Tayoga saw the firstsilver shoot of dawn in the east. The sun would soon rise over the greatwilderness that was his heritage and that he loved, clothing in fine,spun gold the green forests, the blue lakes and the silver rivers. Hetook a mighty breath. It was a beautiful world and he was glad that helived in it.
He awoke Robert and Willet, and they stood up sleepily.
"Did you have a good rest, Tayoga?" Robert asked.
"I did not sleep," the Onondaga replied.
"Didn't sleep? Why not, Tayoga?"
"In the night, Tandakora and two more came."
"What? Do you mean it, Tayoga?"
"They were coming, seeking to slay us as we slept, but I heard them.Lest the Great Bear and Dagaeoga be awakened and lose the sleep theyneeded so much, I took my bow and arrows and went into the forest andmet them."
Robert's breath came quickly. Tayoga's manner was quiet, but it was notwithout a certain exultation, and the youth knew that he did not jest.Yet it seemed incredible.
"You met them, Tayoga?" he repeated.
"Yes, Dagaeoga."
"And what happened?"
"The two warriors whom Tandakora brought with him lie stillin the forest. They will never move again. Tandakora escapedwith an arrow through his arm. He will not trouble us for aweek, but he will seek us later."
"Why didn't you awake us, Tayoga, and take us with you?"
"I wished to do this deed alone."
"You've done it well, that's sure," said Willet, "and now that alldanger has been removed we'll light our fire and cook breakfast."
After breakfast they shouldered their packs and plunged once more intothe greenwood, intending to reach as quickly as they could the hiddencanoe on the Richelieu, and then make an easy journey by water.
The Hunters of the Hills Page 15