st of
your servants. O Tododaho, you have given my valiant comrade and
myself a safe home in the wilderness in our great need, and I beseech
you that you will always hold your protecting shield between us and
our enemies."

He paused, his eyes still closed, and stood tense and erect, the north
wind blowing on his face. A shiver ran through Robert, not a shiver of
fear, but a shiver caused by the mysterious and the unknown. His own
eyes were open, and he gazed steadily into the northern heavens.
The occult quality in the air deepened, and now his nerves began to
tingle. His soul thrilled with a coming event. Suddenly the deep,
leaden clouds parted for a few moments, and in the clear space between
he could have sworn that he saw a great dancing star, from which a
mighty, benevolent face looked down upon them.

"I saw him! I saw him!" he exclaimed in excitement. "It was Tododaho
himself!"

"I did not see him with my eyes, but I saw him with my soul," said the
Onondaga, opening his eyes, "and he whispered to me that his favor was
with us. We cannot fail in what we wish to do."

"Look in the next valley, Tayoga. What do you behold now?"

"It is the bears, Dagaeoga. They come to their long winter sleep."

Rolling figures, enlarged and fantastic, emerged from the mist. Robert
saw great, red eyes, sharp teeth and claws, and yet he felt neither
fear nor hostility. Tayoga's statement that they were bears, into
which the souls of great warriors had gone, was strong in his mind,
and he believed. They looked up at him, but they did not pause, moving
on to the little caves.

"They see us," he said.

"So they do," said Tayoga, "but they do not fear us. The spirits of
mighty warriors look out of their eyes at us, and knowing that they
were once as we are they know also that we will not harm them."

"Have you ever seen the like of this before, Tayoga?"

"No! But a few of the old men of the Hodenosaunee have told of their
grandfathers who have seen it. I think it is a mark of favor to us
that we are permitted to behold such a sight. Now I am sure Tododaho
has looked upon us with great approval. Lo, Dagaeoga, more of them
come out of the mist! Before morning every cave, save those in our own
little corner of the valley, will be filled. All of them gaze up at
us, recognize us as friends and pass on. It is a wonderful sight,
Dagaeoga, and we shall never look upon its like again."

"No," said Robert, as the extraordinary thrill