r laughed a little.

"Garay doesn't want to face St. Luc," he said, "but he will do it
anyhow. He won't dare to come back on the trail in face of bullets,
and now we're sure to deliver his letter in ample time."

"Should we go direct to Albany?" asked Robert.

The hunter cupped his chin in his hand and meditated.

"I'm all for Colonel Johnson," he replied at last. "He understands the
French and Indians and has more vigor than the authorities at Albany.
It seems likely to me that he will still be at the head of Lake George
where we left him, perhaps building the fort of which they were
talking before we left there."

"His wound did not give promise of getting well so very early," said
Robert, "and he would not move while he was in a weakened condition."

"Then it's almost sure that he's at the head of the lake and we'll
turn our course toward that point. What do you say, Tayoga?"

"Waraiyageh is the man to have the letter, Great Bear. If it becomes
necessary for him to march to the defense of Albany he will do it."

"Then the three of us are in unanimity and Lake George it is instead
of Albany."

They started in an hour, and changing their course somewhat, began a
journey across the maze of mountains toward Andiatarocte, the lake
that men now call George, and Robert's heart throbbed at the thought
that he would soon see it again in all its splendor and beauty. He had
passed so much of his life near them that his fortunes seemed to him
to be interwoven inseparably with George and Champlain.

They thought they would reach the lake in a few days, but in a
wilderness and in war the plans of men often come to naught. Before
the close of the day they came upon traces of a numerous band
traveling on the great trail between east and west, and they also
found among them footprints that turned out. These Willet and Tayoga
examined with the greatest care and interest and they lingered longest
over a pair uncommonly long and slender.

"I think they're his," the hunter finally said.

"So do I," said the Onondaga.

"Those long, slim feet could belong to nobody but the Owl."

"It can be only the Owl."

"Now, who under the sun is the Owl?" asked Robert, mystified.

"The Owl is, in truth, a most dangerous man," replied the hunter. "His
name, which the Indians have given him, indicates he works by night,
though he's no sloth in the day, either. But he has another name,
also, the one by which he was christened. It's Char