et his canoe?" he asked.

"The Frenchmen like as not used it when they came down from Canada,"
replied the hunter, "and left it hid to be used again when they went
back. It won't be worth our while to look for it. Besides, we've got to
be moving soon."

After breakfast they carried their own canoe to the lake and paddled
northward to its end. Then they took their craft a long portage across a
range of hills and launched it anew on a swift stream flowing northward,
on the current of which they traveled until nightfall, seeing throughout
that time no sign of a human being. It was the primeval wilderness, and
since it lay between the British colonies on the south and the French on
the north it had been abandoned almost wholly in the last year or two,
letting the game, abundant at any time, increase greatly. They saw deer
in the thickets, they heard the splash of a beaver, and a black bear,
sitting on a tiny island in the river, watched them as they passed.

On the second day after Robert's escape from the tomahawk they left the
river, made a long portage and entered another river, also flowing
northward, having in mind a double purpose, to throw off the trail
anyone who might be following them and to obtain a more direct course
toward their journey's end. Knowing the dangers of the wilderness, they
also increased their caution, traveling sometimes at night and lying in
camp by day.

But they lived well. All three knew the importance of preserving their
strength, and to do so an abundance of food was the first requisite.
Tayoga shot another deer with the bow and arrow, and with the use of
fishing tackle which they had brought in the canoe they made the river
pay ample tribute. They lighted the cooking fires, however, in the most
sheltered places they could find, and invariably extinguished them as
soon as possible.

"You can't be too careful in the woods," said Willet, "especially in
times like these. While the English and French are not yet fighting
there's always danger from the savages."

"The warriors from the wild tribes in Canada and the west will take a
scalp wherever there's a chance," said the young Onondaga.

Robert often noticed the manner in which Tayoga spoke of the tribes
outside the great League. To him those that did not belong to the
Hodenosaunee, while they might be of the same red race, were
nevertheless inferior. He looked upon them as an ancient Greek looked
upon those who were not Greeks.

"T