l him some day
that we were here, to be taken if he had only seen us. Now Lennox
awakes also! O Dagaeoga, you have slept and missed all the great
jest."

"What do you mean, Tayoga?"

"Tandakora built his fire just beyond the big bush that grows ten feet
away, and sat there two hours without suspecting our presence here."

"Now I know you are romancing, Tayoga, because I can see the twinkle
in your eyes. But I suspect that what you say bears some remote
relation to the truth."

"The hostile hunters passed while you slept, and while I slept also,
but the Great Bear was all eyes and ears and he did not think it
needful to awaken us."

"What are we going to do now, Dave?"

"Eat more venison. We must never fail to keep the body strong."

"And then?"

"I'm not sure. I thought once that we'd better go south to our army at
Lake George with news of this big band, but it's a long distance down
there, and it may be wiser to stay here and watch St. Luc. What do you
say, Robert?"

"Stay here."

"And you, Tayoga?"

"Watch St. Luc."

"I was inclining to that view myself, and it's settled now. But we
mustn't move from this place until dark; it would be too dangerous in
the day."

The lads nodded and the three settled into another long period of
waiting.

CHAPTER II

ON THE RIDGES

Late in the afternoon Willet went to sleep and Robert and Tayoga
watched, although, as the hunter had done, they depended more upon
ear than eye. They too heard now and then the faint report of distant
shots from the hunt, and Robert's heart beat very fast, but, if the
young Onondaga felt emotion, he did not show it. At twilight, they
ate a frugal supper, and when the night had fully come they rose and
walked about a little to make their stiffened muscles elastic again.

"The hunters have all gone back to the camp now," said Tayoga, "since
it is not easy to pursue the game by dusk, and we need not keep so
close, like a bear in its den."

"And the danger of our being seen is reduced to almost nothing," said
Robert.

"It is so, Dagaeoga, but we will have another fight to make. We must
strive to keep ourselves from freezing. It turns very cold on the
mountains! The wind is now blowing from the north, and do you not feel
a keener edge to it?"

"I do," replied Robert, sensitive of body as well as mind, and he
shivered as he spoke. "It's a most unfortunate change for us. But now
that I think of it we've got to expect it up amo