The Hunters of the Hills

t alone in the glade th

nn

in you the makings of an orator and diplomatist. The governor of New

in at praise and m

or which he is best fitt

ng, "and I suggest that we resume our journey now. There doesn't

Dayohogo and his warriors won't go far toward Ticonderoga, but will soon turn south to meet those savages and acquire a few scalps i

dian and Western Indians. Like Robert, he regarded those who had built up the great politi

e Great Bear, is right

have gone toward the

m, and they cannot sta

e to destroy us Tandakora went back to St. Luc, giving a false

d Tayoga, "but I ha

n they bore it down to the river again, putting it back into the strea

satisfaction, "but when you're used to it your muscles can stand

shot down the stream. They were still in the wilderness, racing between solid banks of green forest, and they frequently saw dee

e siege, and he had sowed fruitful seed in the mind of Dayohogo, the powerful Mohawk chief. He had also come to a realization of hims

sed in power, and his figure seemed to grow. Swelling confidence bore him on. He was anxious to reach Quebec and fulfill his mission. Then he would

a. There the nobles of France, then the most glittering country in the world, came in silks and laces and with gold hilted swords by their sides. The young French officers fought with a jest on their lips, but always with skill and courage, as none knew better than the British colonials themselves. Th

'll reach the St. Law

ain," replied the hunter, "and then we'll get

ey let u

y? There's no war,

gorge may not have been war, bu

p in his throat, and i

e Intendant, Fran?ois Bigot, the most corrupt and ambitious man in North America, will say that they obtained no rifles, no muskets, no powder, no lead from him or his agents. Oh, no, these fine French gentlemen will disown the attack upon us, as they would have disavowed it, just the same, if we had been killed. I want to warn you, Robert, and you, Tayoga, that when you reach Quebec you'll br

med now to Robert, despite his forest dress, to be a man of t

uite sure you know a great deal more than you would have people t

words before, but I've been in Europe. I'll talk to you abo

he felt anew that David Willet, called the Great Bear by the Iroquois, had not spent his whole life in the woods and that when the t

red. The slope of the land made the current of the river much swifter, and Robert and Willet drew in their paddles, leaving the

and apparently it was made without effort. There was no shortening of the breath nor any sudden and violent movement of his figure. It was all as smooth a

ney trailed across the sky. It was the forest as the Indian had known it for centuries. Robert, sitting in the center of the canoe, quit dreaming of great cities and came back to his own time and place. He felt the majesty of all that surrounded him, but he

nal strokes of his paddle, but the current remained swift and the speed of the canoe was not slackened. The young Onondaga devoted most of his time to watching. Much wreckage from storms or the suction of flood water often floated on the surface of these wild rivers, and

ss clouds drifted away and disclosed a full moon, which turned the dusk of the water to silver. The stars came out in cluster after

he words were his and they were t

Then we can land, take the canoe into the

the Onondaga. "We are

d, has borne us on its

ear heavy of eye and min

nti

sunset we'll be meeting French, not the Canadian French that they call habitants, but outposts made up mostly of officers and soldiers from France. They'll be very

replied young Lennox.

y. By the middle of the afternoon they saw signs of habitation, or at least of the presence of human beings. They beheld two smokes on the right bank, an

on the eastern shore, and as they drew near the figur

tpost, and, likely, an officer of some importance is in charge. Ours is a m

two of the paddle, and sending the canoe in

ench of France. One was about forty years of age, rather tall, built well, his face browned by forest life. He had black, piercing eyes and a strong hooked nose. A man of resolution but cold of heart, Robert said to himself. The other, a li

ccupants sprang out. Then they bowed politely, though Robert fancied that h

ening, g

Robert, remembering that he was

adily that tw

of a great Onondaga chief,

challenged his assertion about Tayoga, but he did not seem to notice it, as

David Willet, a famous scout and hunter, known to the Indians, and perhaps to some of the French, too, as the Great Bear. My own name is Robert Lennox, of Albany and New York, and I ha

slight mission," said

ed you on your way. My

one of France's most g

a colonel by fortune's

sty, Kin

that has given you such important rank. Your manner and presence are suff

ed a little, but it

st of the English," he said, "and I coul

ourt than Alba

greater, because you have acquired

Colonel de Courcelles bowe

trails," said de Courcelles, "but I hope

a warning glance, a

a slight obstacle or two, but

lifted his eye

interpret them, 'tis an inducement for them to take up the tomahawk against our good Canadians. Oh, don't be offended, Mr. Lennox!

on them at the hollow beside the river? Did he seek to forestall by saying the English were corrupting the Indians and sending them forth with the tomahawk? A

seeks at all times to keep peace among the Indians, and the fact that I am bea

good faith. Why should we discuss politics, when we are well met here in the woods? We have a fairly good ca

rt, "and we shall be glad indeed to

Indians were seated. All the French and Canadians were in uniform, and the Canadians, although living in a colde

heavily with beads. Trousers and waistcoats were of the same material as the coats, but their feet were inclosed in Indian moccasins, also adorned profusely with beads. They wore long hair in a queue, incased in an eel-skin, and with their swarthy complexions and high

est, in very little costume at all, one or two of them wearing only the breech cloth. The looks they bestowed upon Robert and his comrades were far from frien

ve you variety, none the less. This portion of His Majesty's territ

y it was the northern part of the Province of New York, but his second and wiser thought caused him to refrain. He would enter upon no controversy with the old

ht bread and some thin red wine," he said. "Yo

d Robert, "becau

and which we know how to drink in moderation. In some respects we are a people of more restraint than you are. The slow, cold English mind starts with an

d with Jumonville upon his duties as host. Both were graceful, easy, assured, and they fulfilled Robert's conception of French officers, as men of the world who knew courts and

ndors of Paris and Versailles. It was a time when the French monarchy loomed as the greatest power in the world. The hollowness and decay of the House of Bourbon were not yet disclosed, even to the shrewdest observers, and a spell was cast upon all the civi

rt, despite his habitual caution, found his heart warming toward his French hosts. It could not be possible that the Indians had been set upon his comrades and himself by the French! The warmth of his heart increased when one of the Canadians took a violin from a cloth cover and began to play wailing old airs. Like so ma

, s'en va

mironton,

s'en va

quand re

t Malbrouck

le pont

chanter

n,

chanter

ait d'un t

une de

n,

ne demo

around them and the sighing wind created an effect that no stage scenery could ever have given it. W

ad a kiss or two, but all that is far away now. This is a bolder country than France, Mr. Lennox, larger, more majestic, but it is wild and savage, and will

n the mind of young Lennox men's standards should be the same, whether in the wilderness of New York and Canada or in the op

Play

fitting to the night, since the black shadows were creeping up closer, leaving only the fire, as a core of light with the dusky figures around it. During all the talk the Indians had been sil

ort. The last of the old French airs was finished, and the player put his violin away. Jumonville, who

g that when I am in it at night a little shiver will come now and then. I suppose our

od. Why shouldn't they when it brings light in the dark, and lifts up our souls, when it warms us and makes us feel strong, when it

o undervalue fi

p the coals alive until morning. And now I suppose you are weary with your day's travels a

molded figure, and his superiority to the other Indians, who were not of the Hodenosaunee and who to him were, therefore, as much barbarians as all people who were not Greeks were barbarians to the ancient Greeks. Not a wor

omes in th

s looked up

nothing,

e forest!" repeated

en he knew that the Onondaga was right. Now Robert also heard a moccasined and light footstep approaching. A darker shadow a

dakora, th