hat our own officers
would do the same. The French are marvelously expert in dealing with
Indians. They can handle them all, except the Hodenosaunee. But don't you
think they held a short council here by this log, after they had eaten
their suppers?"

"It cannot be doubted, Great Bear. Montcalm and his captains sat on the
log. The Indian chiefs sat in a half circle before it, and they smoked a
pipe. See, the traces of the ashes on the grass. They were planning the
attack upon the fort. It is bound to be William Henry, because the trail
leads in that direction."

"And these marks on the log, Tayoga, show that there was some indecision,
at first, and much talking. Two or three of the French officers had their
hunting knives in their hands, and they carved nervously at the log, just
as a man will often whittle as he argues."

"Well stated, O, Great Bear. After the conference, the chiefs went back in
single file to their own part of the camp. Here goes their trail, and you
can nearly fancy that all stepped exactly in the footprints of the first."

"The straight, decisive line proves too, Tayoga, that the plan was
completed and everything ready for the attack. The chiefs would not have
gone away in such a manner if they had not been satisfied."

"Well stated again, Great Bear. The Marquis de Montcalm also went directly
back to his tent. See, where the boot heels pressed."

"But you have no way of knowing," said Robert, "that the traces of boot
heels indicate the Marquis."

"O, Dagaeoga, after all my teaching, you forget again that mind can see
where the eye cannot. Train the mind! Train the mind, and you will get much
profit from it. The traces of these boot heels lead directly to the place
where the largest tent stood. We know it was the largest, because the holes
left by the tent pegs are farthest apart. And we know it belonged to the
Marquis de Montcalm, because, always having that keen eye for effect, the
French Commander-in-Chief would have no tent but the largest."

"True as Gospel, Tayoga," said the hunter, "and the French officers
themselves had a little conference in the tent of the Marquis, after they
had finished with the Indian chiefs. Here, within the square made by the
pegs, are the prints of many boot heels and they were not all made by the
Marquis, since they are of different sizes. Probably they were completing
some plans in regard to the artillery, since the warriors would have
nothing to do with th