"Whatever
happens we'll hold out to the last. I suppose, though, that St. Luc's
force also will see the smoke."

"Quite likely," replied Willet, "and the Frenchman may send a runner,
too, to see what it means, but however good a runner he may be he'll
be no match for Tayoga."

"That's sure," said Robert.

So great was his confidence in the Onondaga that it never occurred to
him that he might be killed or taken, and he awaited his certain
return, either with or without a helping force. He lay now near the
edge of the cliff, whence he could look toward the west, the point of
hope, whenever he wished, ate another strip of venison, and took
another drink of water out of a friendly canteen.

The west was now blazing with terraces of red and yellow, rising above
one another, and the east was misty, gray and dim. Twilight was not
far away. The thread of smoke that had lain against the sky above the
forest was gone, the glittering bar of red and gold being absolutely
free from any trace. St. Luc's force opened fire again, bullets
clipping twigs and leaves, but the defense lay quiet, except Black
Rifle, who crept back and forth, continually seeking a target, and
pulling the trigger whenever he found it.

The misty gray in the east turned to darkness, in the west the sun
went down the slope of the world, and the brilliant terraces of color
began to fade. The firing ceased and another tense period of quiet,
hard, to endure, came. At the suggestion of the hunter Colden drew in
his whole troop near the cliff and waited, all, despite their
weariness and strain, keeping the keenest watch they could.

But Robert, instead of looking toward the east, where St. Luc's force
was, invariably looked into the sunset, because it was there that
Tayoga had gone, and it was there that they had seen the smoke, of
which they expected so much. The terraces of color, already grown dim,
were now fading fast. At the top they were gone altogether, and they
only lingered low down. But on the forest the red light yet blazed.
Every twig and leaf seemed to stand individual and distinct, black
against a scarlet shield. But it was for merely a few minutes. Then
all the red glow disappeared, like a great light going out suddenly,
and the western forest as well as the eastern, lay in a gray gloom.

It always seemed to Robert that the last going of the sunset that day
was like a signal, because, when the night swept down, black and
complete everywhere,