The Lords of the Wild | Page 7

all things,
noticed a change in the air. A gray tint, so far a matter of quality rather
than color, was coming into it, and his heart leaped with joy. Absorbed
in his vital struggle he had failed to reckon the passage of time. The
day was closing and blessed, covering night was at hand. Robert loved
the day and the sun, but darkness was always a friend of those who fled,
and now he prayed that it would come thick and dark.
The sun still hung over the eastern shores, red and blazing, but before
long it went down, seeming to sink into the lake, and the night that
Robert had wished, heavy and black, swept over the earth. Then he left
the water, and stood upon dry land, the narrow ledge between the cliff
and the waves, where he took off his lower garments, wrung them as
nearly dry as he could, and, hanging them on the bushes, waited for the
wind to do the rest. His sense of triumph had never been so strong.
Alone and relying only upon his own courage and skill, he had escaped
the fierce Tandakora and his persistent warriors. He could even boast of
it to Willet and Tayoga, when he found them again.
It was wonderful to feel safe, after great peril, and his bright
imagination climbed the heights. As he had escaped them then, so he
would slip always from the snares of his foes. It was this quality in him,
the spirit of eternal hope, that appealed so strongly to all who knew him,
and that made him so attractive.
After a while, he took venison and hominy from his knapsack and ate
with content. Then he resumed his clothing, now dried completely by
the wind, and felt that he had never been stronger or more fitted to cope
with attack.
The darkness was intense and the surface of the lake showed through it,
only a fitful gray. The cliff behind him was now a black bank, and its

crest could not be seen at all. He was eager to go, but he still used the
patience so necessary in the wilderness, knowing that the longer he
waited the less likely he was to meet the band of Tandakora.
He lay down in a thicket of tall grass and bushes, resolved not to start
before midnight, and he felt so much at peace that before he knew he
was going to sleep he was sleeping. When he awoke he felt a little
dismay at first, but it was soon gone. After all, he had passed the time
of waiting in the easiest way, and no enemy had come. The moon and
stars were not to be seen, but instinct told him that it was not beyond
midnight.
He arose to go, but a slight sound came from the lake, and he stayed. It
was merely the cry of the night bird, calling to its mate, one would have
said, but Robert's attention was attracted by an odd inflection in it, a
strain that seemed familiar. He listened with the utmost attention, and
when it came a second time, he was so sure that his pulses beat very
fast.
Willet and Tayoga, as he had hoped in the day, were out there on the
lake. It had been foolish of him to think they would come in the full
sunlight, exposed to every hostile eye. It was their natural course to
approach in the dark and send a signal that he would know. He imitated
the call, a soft, low note, but one that traveled far, and soon the answer
came. No more was needed. The circle was complete. Willet and
Tayoga were on the lake and they knew that he was at the foot of the
cliff, waiting.
He took a long breath of intense relief and delight. Tandakora would
resume the search for him in the morning, hunting along the crest, and
he might even find his way to the narrow ledge on which Robert now
stood, but the lad would be gone across the waters, where he left no
trail.
He saw a stout young bush growing on the edge of the lake, and,
leaning far out while he held on to it with one hand, he watched. He did
not repeat the call. One less cautious would have done so, but he knew
that his friends had located him already and he meant to run no risk of

telling the warriors also where he stood. Meanwhile, he listened
attentively for the sound of the paddles, but many long minutes passed
before he heard the faint dip, dip that betokened the approach of Willet
and Tayoga. He never doubted for an instant that it was their canoe and
again