u'll claim the
American to be as good as the Englishman anywhere and at any time."

"Certainly!" said Robert, with emphasis.

St. Luc laughed again and with real pleasure, his blue eyes dancing and
his white teeth flashing.

"And some day that independence will cause trouble for the good British
mother," he said, "but we'll pass from the future to the present. Sit
down, Tandakora, and you too, Dubois. Monsieur Lennox is, for the
present, our host, and that too in the woods we claim to be our own. But
we are none the less grateful for his hospitality."

Robert unwrapped the venison and cut off large slices as he surmised
that all three were hungry. St. Luc ate delicately but the other two did
not conceal their pleasure in food. Robert now and then glanced a little
anxiously at the woods, hoping his comrades would return. He did not
know exactly how to deal with the strangers and he would find comfort in
numbers. He was conscious, too, that St. Luc was watching him all the
time intently, reading his expression and looking into his thoughts.

"How are the good Dutch burghers at Albany?" asked the chevalier. "I
don't seek to penetrate any of your secrets. I merely make
conversation."

"I reveal nothing," replied Robert, "when I say they still barter with
success and enjoy the pleasant ways of commerce. I am not one to
underrate the merchant. More than the soldier they build up a nation."

"It's a large spirit that can put the trade of another before one's own,
because I am a soldier, and you, I judge, will become one if you are not
such now. Peace, Tandakora, it is doubtless the friends of Monsieur
Lennox who come!"

The gigantic Indian had risen suddenly and had thrust forward the good
French musket that he carried. Robert had never beheld a more sinister
figure. The lips were drawn back a little from his long white teeth and
his eyes were those of a hunter who sought to kill for the sake of
killing. But at the chiding words of St. Luc the tense muscles relaxed
and he lowered the weapon. Robert was compelled to notice anew the great
influence the French had acquired over the Indians, and he recognized it
with dread, knowing what it might portend.

The footsteps which the savage had heard first were now audible to him,
and he stood up, knowing that Tayoga and Willet were returning, and he
was glad of it.

"My friends are here," he said.

The Chevalier de St. Luc, with his customary politeness, rose to his
feet