gh so many dangers. They were contained in a small
deerskin pouch, and were only two in number. Bowing again, he handed
them to the Governor General, who said:

"Pray be seated, and excuse me for a few minutes while I read them."

He read slowly, stopping at times to consider, and when he had finished
he read them over again.

"Do you and Mr. Willet know the contents of these letters?" he said to
Robert.

"We do," replied the youth. "They were read to us by the Governor of New
York before he sealed them. If we were robbed of them on the way to
Quebec, and he knew the way was dangerous, we were to continue our
journey and deliver the message to you verbally."

"Their nature does credit to both the heart and head of the Governor of
New York. He makes a personal appeal to me to use all my influence
against the war seemingly at hand. He says that England and France have
nothing to gain by attacking each other in the American woods, which are
large enough to hide whole European kingdoms. But he wishes the letters
to be a secret with him and me and you three who have brought them. You
understand that?"

Robert bowed once more.

"The second letter explains and amplifies the first, contains, I should
say, his afterthoughts. As I said, 'tis a noble act, but what can I do?
A war may look to many men like a sudden outburst, but it is nearly
always the result of conditions that have been a long time in the
growth. Your hunters, your traders and your surveyors pressed forward
into the Ohio country, which is ours."

He looked at them as if he expected them to challenge the French claim
to the Ohio regions, but they were wisely silent.

"The letters do not demand an immediate reply," he continued. "His
Excellency prays me to consider. Perhaps I shall send one later through
a trusted messenger by sloop or schooner to New York, and naturally, I
shall choose one of my own officers."

"Naturally, my lord," said Robert. "We did not expect to take back the
answer."

The Marquis Duquesne looked at him very keenly.

"You speak as if you were relieved at not having the errand," he said.
"Perhaps there is something else on your mind which you wish to do and
with which such a mission would interfere."

Robert was silent and the Marquis laughed.

"I will not press the question, because I've no right to do so," he
said. "But I will let it remain an inference."

Then his eye rested upon Tayoga, at whom he looked long and searchin