sted before the siege closed in that a
great deal of grass be cut for them, though should the French and
Indians hang on for a month or two, they would certainly become a
problem. Food for the men would last indefinitely, but a time might
arrive when none would be left for the horses.

"If the pinch comes," said Willet, "we know how to relieve it."

"How?" asked Colden.

"We'll eat the horses."

Colden made a wry face.

"It's often been done in Europe," said the hunter. "At the famous
sieges of Leyden and Haarlem, when the Dutch held out so long against
the Spanish, they'd have been glad enough to have had horseflesh."

"I look ahead again," said Robert, hiding a humorous gleam in his eyes
from Colden, "and I see a number of young men behind a palisade which
they have held gallantly for months. They come mostly from
Philadelphia and they call themselves Quakers. They are thin, awfully
thin, terribly thin, so thin that there is scarcely enough to make a
circle for their belts. They have not eaten for four days, and they
are about to kill their last horse. When he is gone they will have to
live on fresh air and scenery."

"Now I know Lennox that you're drawing on your imagination and that
you're a false prophet," said Colden.

"I hope my prediction won't come true, and I don't believe it will,"
said Robert cheerfully.

Several nights later when there was no moon, and no stars, Willet and
Tayoga slipped out of the fort. Colden was much opposed to their
going, fearing for their lives, and knowing, too, how great a loss
they would be if they were taken or slain, but the hunter and the
Onondaga showed the utmost confidence, assuring him they would return
in safety.

Colden became quite uneasy for them after they had been gone some
hours, and Robert, although he refused to show it, felt a trace of
apprehension. He knew their great skill in the forest, but Tandakora
was a master of woodcraft too, and the Frenchmen also were experienced
and alert. As he, Colden, Wilton and Carson watched at the palisade he
was in fear lest a triumphant shout from the Indian lines would show
that the hunter and the Onondaga had been trapped.

But the long hours passed without an alarm and about three o'clock in
the morning two shadows appeared at the palisade and whispered to
them. Robert felt great relief as Willet and Tayoga climbed silently
over.

"We're half frozen," said the hunter. "Take us into the blockhouse and
over the