The Lords of the Wild | Page 6

He knew the need of doing
everything to gain a little more strength. It was his experience in border
war and the stern training of Willet and Tayoga that made him able to
do so, and he was ruler enough of himself to wait yet a little longer than
he had planned. Then when he felt that Tandakora must be near, he
straightened up, though not to his full height, and ran swiftly down the
long slope to the lake.
He found at the bottom a narrow place between cliff and water, grown
thickly with bushes, and he followed it at least half a mile, until the
shores towered above him dark and steep, and the lake came up against
them like a wall. He could go no farther and he waded into a dense
growth of bushes and weeds, where he stood up to his waist in water
and waited, hidden well.
He knew that if the warriors followed and saw him he would have little
opportunity to escape, but the chances were a hundred to one against
their finding him in such a covert. Rock and water had blotted out his
trail and he felt safe. He secured his belt, containing his smaller
weapons and ammunition, about his shoulders beyond touch of water,
and put his rifle in the forks of two bushes, convenient to his hands.
It was a luxury to rest, even if one did stand half-sunken in a lake. The
water was cold, but he did not yet feel the chill, and he listened for
possible sounds of pursuit. He heard, after a while, the calls of warriors
to one another and he laughed softly to himself. The shouts were faint
and moreover they came from the crest of the cliff. They had not found
his trail down the slope and they were hunting for him on the heights.

He laughed again with sheer satisfaction. He had been right. Rock and
water had come to his aid, and he was too well hidden even for the
eager eyes of Tandakora and his warriors to follow him.
He waited a long time. He heard the cries nearer him, then farther away,
and, at last, at such a great distance that they could barely be separated
from the lap of the waters. He was growing cold now; the chill from the
lake was rising in his body, but with infinite patience bred by long
practice of the wilderness he did not stir. He knew that silence could be
deceptive. Some of the warriors might come back, and might wait in a
thicket, hoping that he would rise and disclose himself, thinking the
danger past. More than one careless wanderer in the past had been
caught in such a manner, and he was resolved to guard against the trick.
Making the last call upon his patience, he stood motionless, while the
chill crept steadily upward through his veins and muscles.
He could see the surface of the open lake through the veil of bushes and
tall grass. The water broke in gentle waves under a light wind, and kept
up a soft sighing that was musical and soothing. Had he been upon dry
land he could have closed his eyes and gone to sleep, but, as it was, he
did not complain, since he had found safety, if not comfort. He even
found strength in himself, despite his situation, to admire the gleaming
expanse of Andiatarocte with its shifting colors, and the far cliffs lofty
and dim.
Much of Robert's life, much of its most eventful portion, was passing
around this lake, and he had a peculiar affection for it. It always
aroused in him a sense of beauty, of charm and of majesty, and he had
grown too to look upon it as a friend and protector. He believed that it
had brought him good luck, and he did not doubt that it would do so
again.
He looked for a canoe, one perhaps that might contain Willet and
Tayoga, seeking him and keeping well beyond the aim of a lurking
marksman on the shore, but he saw no shadow on the water, nothing
that could be persuaded into the likeness of a boat, only wild fowl
circling and dipping, and, now and then, a gleam where a fish leaped up
to fall swiftly back again. He was alone, and he must depend upon

himself only.
He began to move a little, to lift one foot and then the other, careful to
make no splash in the water, and the slight exercise checked the
creeping chill. Encouraged, he increased it, stopping at intervals to
listen for the approach of a foe. There was no sound and he walked
back and forth a little. Presently his eyes, trained to observe