yards behind us.
There, you will be safe."

"And leave you alone, Tayoga! What have I ever done to make you think
I'd do such a thing?"

"It is not Tayoga whom they want. It is Dagaeoga. I cannot go without
taking a shot at them, else my pistol would burn me inside my tunic. Be
wise as I am, Dagaeoga. Always carry a pistol when you are in the white
man's towns. Life is reasonably safe only in the red man's forest."

"It looks as if you were right, Tayoga, but remember that I stay here
with you as long as you stay."

"Then keep close to the earth. Roll back a bit and you will be sheltered
better by that little rise."

Robert obeyed, and it was well that he did so, as the heavy rifle
cracked a second time, and a plowing bullet caused fine particles of
earth to fly over him. Tayoga leveled his pistol at the flash and smoke,
but did not pull the trigger.

"Why didn't you fire, Tayoga?" asked Robert.

"I could not see well enough. They and their boat are still hidden by
the bushes in which they remain, because from there they can command the
bank where we lie."

"Then it looks as if each side held the other. If they come out of the
bushes you use your pistol on 'em, and if we retreat farther they use
their rifle on us. You'll notice, Tayoga, that we're in a little dip,
and if we go out of it on our far side in retreat we'll make a target of
ourselves. If they leave the bushes on their far side to climb their own
bank they come into view. It's checkmate for both."

"It is so, Dagaeoga. It is a difficult position for you, but not for me.
We of the red races learn to have patience, because we are not in such a
hurry to consume time as you white people are."

"That is true, but it is not a moment for a discussion of the relative
merits of white and red."

"We are likely to have plenty of leisure for it, since I think we are
doomed to a long wait."

"I think you're happy over it, Tayoga. Your voice has a pleased ring."

"I'm not unhappy. I see a chance to gratify a curiosity that I have long
had. I wish to see whether the white race, even in great danger, where
it is most needed, has as much patience as the red. Ah, Dagaeoga, you
were incautious! Do not raise your head again. You, at least, do not
have as much patience as the occasion requires."

The third bullet had passed so near Robert that cold shivers raced over
his body and he resolved not to raise his head again a single inch, no
matter what the temptati