he great need of caution, since the
woods might be full of warriors of the hostile tribes. They were sure,
too, that Tandakora would find their trail and that he would not
relinquish the pursuit until they were near the villages of the
Hodenosaunee. The trail might be hidden from the Ojibway alone, but
since many war parties of their foes were in the woods he would learn of
it from some of them. So they followed the plan they had used on the
lake of traveling by night and of lying in the bush by day.

Another deer fell to Tayoga's deadly arrow, and on the third day as they
were concealed in dense forest they saw smoke on a high hill, rising in
rings, as if a blanket were passed rapidly over a fire and back again
in a steady alternation.

"Can you read what they say, Tayoga?" asked Willet.

"No," replied the Onondaga. "They are strange to me, and so it cannot be
any talk of the Hodenosaunee. Ah, look to the west! See, on another
hill, two miles away, rings of smoke also are rising!"

"Which means that two bands of French Indians are talking to each other,
Tayoga?"

"It is so, Great Bear, and here within the lands of the Hodenosaunee!
Perhaps Frenchmen are with them, Frenchmen from Carillon or some other
post that Onontio has pushed far to the south."

The young Onondaga spoke with deep resentment. The sight of the two
smokes made by the foes of the Hodenosaunee filled him with anger, and
Willet, who observed his face, easily read his mind from it.

"You would like to see more of the warriors who are making those
signals," he said. "Well, I don't blame you for your curiosity and
perhaps it would be wise for us to take a look. Suppose we stalk the
first fire."

Tayoga nodded, and the three, although hampered somewhat by their packs,
began a slow approach through the bushes. Half the distance, and Tayoga,
who was in advance, putting his finger upon his lips, sank almost flat.

"What is it, Tayoga?" whispered Willet.

"Someone else stalking them too. On the right. I heard a bush move."

Both Willet and Robert heard it also as they waited, and used as they
were to the forest they knew that it was made by a human being.

"What's your opinion, Tayoga?" asked the hunter.

"A warrior or warriors of the Hodenosaunee, seeking, as we are, to see
those who are sending up the rings of smoke," replied the Onondaga.

"If you're right they're likely to be Mohawks, the Keepers of the
Eastern Gate."

Tayoga nodded.

"Le