ly intervention of Tododaho.

Nor was it long until the truth was demonstrated to him once more, and in a
conclusive manner. The entire party departed, taking with them the portions
of the deer, and they passed so very close to him that their wary eyes,
which always watched on all sides, would have been compelled to see him, if
Tododaho, or perhaps it was Areskoui, or even Manitou, had not seen fit
just at that moment to draw a veil before the moon and stars and make the
shadow so deep under the bush where young Lennox lay that he was invisible,
although they stepped within fifteen feet of him. They went on in their
usual single file, disappearing in the direction of the village, while he
lay still and gave thanks.

They had not been gone more than fifteen minutes when there was a faint
rustle in the thicket, and Tayoga stood before him.

"I was hid in a clump of weeds not far away and I saw," said the Onondaga.
"It was a narrow escape, but you were protected by the great powers of the
earth and the air. Else they would have seen you."

"It is so," said Robert, devoutly, "and it makes me all the more glad to
see you, Tayoga. I hope your journey, like all the others, has been
fruitful."

The Onondaga smiled in the dusk.

"It is a good village to which I go," he replied in his precise fashion.
"You will recall that they had in Albany what they call in the English
tongue a chemist's shop. It is such that I sought in the village, and I
found it in one lodge, the owners of which were absent, and which I could
reach at my leisure. Here is a gourd of Indian tea, very strong, made from
the essence of the sassafras root. It will purge the impurities from your
blood, and, in another day, your appetite will be exceedingly strong. Then
your strength will grow so fast that in a short time you will be ready for
a long journey. I have also brought a small sack filled with samp."

Robert uttered a little cry of joy. He craved bread, or at least something
that would take its place, and samp, a variation of which is known as
hominy, was a most acceptable substitute.

"You are, in truth, a most efficient burglar, Tayoga," he said.

"I obtained also information," continued the Onondaga. "While I lay in one
of the lodges, hidden under furs, I heard two of the old men talking. They
believe since they have taken Oswego that all things are possible for them
and the French. Montcalm appears to them the greatest of all leaders and
he wi