ld not have been firing at game, because there
were too many of them, and the game would not have stayed to be fired at
so long. Therefore, Great Bear, and you know it as well as I, they must
have been in battle. All the points of ambush to which we have come are
at an almost equal distance from some other point."

"Which, Tayoga, is that hill yonder, crowned with bushes, but with bare
slopes, a good place for a defense, and just about a long rifle or
musket shot from the forest here."

"So it is, Great Bear. It could be nothing else. The defenders lay among
the bushes on top of the hill, and the battle was fought in the night,
because those who attacked were not numerous enough to push a combat in
the day. The defenders must have been white men, as we know from the
footprints here that the assailants were warriors. Ah, here are other
traces, Great Bear, and here are more, all trodden about in the same
manner, indicating a long stay, and all at about an equal distance from
the hill! I think the warriors lay in the forest all night firing upon
the hill, and probably doing little damage. But they suffered more hurt
themselves. See, here are faint traces of blood, yet staining the grass,
and here is a trail leading out of the bushes and into the grass that
lines the slopes of the hill. The trail goes forward, and then it comes
back. It is quite clear to both of us, Dagaeoga, that a warrior,
creeping through the long grass, tried to stalk the hill, but met a
bullet instead. Those who lay upon the hill and defended themselves were
not asleep. They could detect warriors who tried to steal forward and
secure good shots at them. And they could fire at long range and hit
their targets. Now, soldiers know too little of the forest to do that,
and so it must have been scouts or rangers."

"Perhaps some of the rangers belonging to Rogers. We know that he's
operating in this region."

"It was in my thought too, Great Bear, that the rangers of the Mountain
Wolf lay on the hill. See, here is a second trace of blood, and it also
came from a warrior who tried to stalk the hill, but who had to come
back again after he had been kissed by a bullet. The men up there among
the bushes never slept, and they allowed no one of their enemies to come
near enough for a good shot with a musket. The chances are ninety-nine
out of a hundred that they were rangers, Great Bear, and we may speak of
them as rangers. Now, we come to a spot where at least