mmissioners at Albany," he said.
"Those Dutchmen think more of cheating the tribes than they do of the
good of either white man or red man, but I can tell you, Robert, and you
too, Tayoga, that I'm worried about that Frenchman coming down here
among the Six Nations. He's as sharp as a razor, and as quick as
lightning. I could see that, and there's mischief brewing. He's not
going to the Onondaga Valley for nothing."

"Tandakora, the Ojibway, goes with a heavy foot," said the Onondaga.

"What do you mean, Tayoga?" asked Willet.

"He comes of a savage tribe, which is hostile to the Hodenosaunee and
all white men. He has seen three scalps which still grow on the heads of
their owners."

"Which means that he might not keep on following St. Luc. Well, we'll be
on our guard and now I don't see any reason why we should stay here
longer."

"Nor I," said Robert, and, Tayoga agreeing with them, they returned the
canoe to the stream, paddling back into the lake, and continuing their
course until they came to its end. There they carried the canoe across a
portage and launched it on a second lake as beautiful as the first. None
of the three spoke much now, their minds being filled with thoughts of
St. Luc and his companions.

They were yet on the water when the day began to wane. The green forest
on the high western shore was touched with flame from the setting sun.
Then the surface of the lake blazed with red light, and in the east the
gray of twilight came.

"It will be night in half an hour," said Robert, "and I think we'd
better make a landing, and camp."

"Here's a cove on the right," said Willet. "We'll take the canoe up
among the trees, and wrap ourselves in our blankets. It's a good thing
we have them, as the darkness is going to bring a chill with it."

They found good shelter among the trees and bushes, a small hollow
protected by great trees and undergrowth, into which they carried the
canoe.

"Since it's not raining this is as good as a house for us," said Willet.

"I think it's better," said Robert. "The odor of spruce and hemlock is
so wonderful I wouldn't like to have it shut away from me by walls."

The Onondaga drew in deep inhalations of the pure, healing air, and as
his black eyes gleamed he walked to the edge of the little hollow and
looked out in the dusk over the vast tangled wilderness of mountain and
lake, forest and river. The twilight was still infused with the red from
the setting sun, and i