ttin' up on his golden throne, wuz willin' to tote fair
an' let the Greeks an' Trojans fight it out among theirselves, but the
women critters, whut had more power than wuz good fur 'em, couldn't keep
their hands off. Every one uv 'em hed a fav'rite either among the Greeks
or the Trojans, an' she had to go snoopin' 'roun', makin' his enemy see
double, or throwin' a cloud over him so he couldn't see at all, or
pumpin' all the blood out uv his veins an' fillin' 'em full uv water in
the place. Why, there ain't a Shawnee or Miami in all these woods thet
would he mean enough to take sech an' advantage ez askin' to be helped out
by a squaw thet knowed witchcraft. Ez fur thet Paris feller, he wouldn't
a-lived a week down in Kain-tuck-ee!"

"But all this happened a long, long time ago, Tom, when ways were
different," said Paul.

Henry always listened with attention to these stories, and the sight of
Paul's flushed face and vivid eyes, as he talked, would please him. He
understood Paul. He knew that his comrade's mind ranged over not only the
wilderness in which they dwelt, but over the whole world, and far into
past and future times. Hence he respected Paul with a deep respect.

Presently the cold abated a little--just enough to let the surface of the
ice and snow soften a bit, and make walking easier. Then Henry and Ross
crossed once more to the mainland, partly to scout and partly to hunt.
They easily killed a large deer which was half-imbedded in a snowdrift,
and might have taken a fine cow buffalo in the same way; but, as the deer
was enough, they spared her. They dressed the body of the deer where it
had fallen, and, carrying it between them, started back. With instinctive
caution they kept to the thickest part of the forest, wishing to be hidden
as much as possible by the tree trunks, and they plodded along in silence,
carrying their burden easily, because the two were very, very strong. Near
the edge of the lake, but still in dense forest, Henry paused and looked
down. Tom Ross also paused and looked down, his glance following Henry's.
It was never necessary for these two to say much to each other. They did
not talk about things, they saw them.

"Tracks of two Indians and one white," said Henry.

"Yes," said Tom Ross. "White is Braxton Wyatt, uv course. He's still
hangin' about the Miami village."

"And perhaps suspecting that we are yet in these parts."

"Uv course. An' maybe thar will be trouble."

They said no