, lifted
his own to his lips, tasted it and said aloud:

"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!"

Then he shut his eyes and when he shut them he saw the three tasting
their own glasses, and he heard them say with him:

"To the victory of our cause under the walls of Quebec!"

CHAPTER IX

THE VOICE IN THE AIR

Robert slept long and peacefully the night after his Christmas dinner,
and, when he rose the next morning, he felt more buoyant and hopeful
than for days past. The celebration had been a sort of anchor to his
spirit, keeping him firm against any tide of depression that in his
situation might well have swept him toward despair. As he recalled it
the day after, Tayoga, Willet and Grosvenor were very vivid figures at
his table, sitting opposite him, and to right and left. They had
responded to his toast, he had seen the flash in their eyes, and their
tones were resonant with hope and confidence. It was clear they had
meant to tell him that rescue was coming.

He accepted these voices out of the distance as definite and real. It
could not be long until he saw the hunter, the Onondaga and the young
Englishman once more. His lonely life caused him, despite himself, to
lend a greater belief to signs and omens. Tayoga was right when he
peopled the air with spirits, and most of the spirits on that island
must be good spirits, since all things, except escape, had been made
easy for him, house, clothes, food and safety.

The day itself was singularly crisp and bright, inciting to further
cheerfulness. It was also the coldest he had yet felt on the island,
having a northern tang that stirred his blood. He could shut his eyes
and see the great forests, not in winter, but as they were in autumn,
glowing in many colors, and with an air that was the very breath of
life. The sea also sang a pleasant song as it rolled in and broke on the
rocks, and Robert, looking around at his island, felt that he could have
fared far worse.

Rifle on shoulder he went off for a long and brisk walk, and his steps
unconsciously took him, as they often did, toward the high hill in the
center of the island, a crest that he used as a lookout. On his way he
passed his friend, the old bull, grazing in a meadow, and, watching his
herd, like the faithful guardian he was. Robert called to him
cheerfully. The big fellow looked up, shook his horns, not in hostile
fashion but in the manner of comrade saluting comrade, and the