ow and then only the light brush of a moccasin. A hundred
men flitted through the greenwood and they passed like phantoms.

In a brief hour they struck the trail that Haace had found, and followed
it swiftly, but with alert eyes for ambush. Presently other little
trails flowed into it, some from the east, and some from the west, and
the tributaries included imprints, which obviously were those of white
men. Then the whole broad trail, apparently a force of about one
hundred, curved back toward the west.

"They go to Andiatarocte," said Daganoweda. "Perhaps they meet another
force there."

"It's probably so," said Willet. "Knowing that our army is about to
advance they wouldn't come to the southwest shore of the lake unless
they were in strength. I still feel that St. Luc is leading them, but
other Frenchmen are surely with him. It behooves us to use all the
caution of which white men and red together are capable. In truth, there
must be no ambush for us. Besides the loss which we should suffer it
would be a terrible decrease of prestige for it to be known that the
Mountain Wolf and Daganoweda, the most warlike of all the chiefs of the
Ganeagaono, were trapped by the French and their savage allies."

Willet spoke artfully and the response was instantaneous. The great
chest of Daganoweda swelled, and a spark leaped from his eyes.

"It will never be told of us," he said, "because it cannot happen. There
are not enough of the French and their savage allies in the world to
trap the Great Bear, the Mountain Wolf, Daganoweda, and the lads Tayoga
and Dagaeoga."

Willet smiled. It was the reply that he had expected. Moreover, both his
words and those of the chief were heard by many warriors, and he knew
that they would respond in every fiber to the battle cry of their
leader. His contemptuous allusion to the allies of the French as
"savages" met a ready response in their hearts, since the nations of the
Hodenosaunee considered themselves civilized and enlightened, which, in
truth, they were in many respects.

Robert always remembered the place at which they held their brief
council. They stood in a little grove of oaks and elms, clear of
underbrush. The trees were heavy with foliage, and the leaves were yet
green. The dawn had not yet fully come, and the heavens, save low down
in the east, were still silver, casting a silvery veil which gave an
extraordinary and delicate tint to the green of foliage. In the distance
on t