self favored it. The famous leader of rangers
had a bold and adventurous mind. No risk was too great for him, and
dangers, instead of repelling, invited him.

Robert, as became him, listened to them in silence. Prudence told him
that they ought to stay on the lake, but his was the soul of youth, and
the fiery eloquence of Daganoweda found an answer in his heart. It was
decided at last to leave a small guard with the fleet, while rangers and
Mohawks to the number of fifty should pursue toward Oneadatote. All
three of the leaders, with Black Rifle, Tayoga and Robert, were to share
in the pursuit, while a trusty man named White was left in command of
the guard over the boats.

The fifty--the force had been so much reduced by the fighting that no
more could be mustered--climbed the lofty shore, making their way up a
ravine, thick with brush, until they came out on a crest more than a
thousand feet above the lake. Nor did they forget, as they climbed, to
exercise the utmost caution, looking everywhere for an ambush. They knew
that St. Luc, while defeated, would never be dismayed, and it would be
like him to turn on the rangers and Mohawks in the very moment of their
victory and snatch it from them. But there was no sign of a foe's
presence, although Daganoweda's men soon struck the trail of the fleeing
enemy.

They paused at the summit a minute or two for breath, and Robert looked
back with mixed emotions at Andiatarocte, a vast sheet of blue, then of
green under the changing sky, the scene of a naval victory of which he
had not dreamed a few days ago. But the lake bore no sign of strife now.
The islands were all in peaceful green and the warlike boats were gone,
save at the foot of the cliff they had just climbed. There they, too,
looked peaceful enough, as if they were the boats of fishermen, and the
guards, some of whom were aboard the fleet and some of whom lay at ease
near the edge of the water, seemed to be men engaged in pursuits that
had nothing to do with violence and war.

Tayoga's eyes followed Robert's.

"Andiatarocte is worth fighting for," he said. "It is well for us to be
the rulers of it, even for a day. Where will you find a more splendid
lake, a lake set deep in high green mountains, a lake whose waters may
take on a dozen colors within a day, and every color beautiful?"

"I don't believe the world can show its superior, Tayoga," replied
Robert, "and I, like you, am full of pride, because we are lords