The Masters of the Peaks | Page 9

portion of the wilderness
was full of game, and, since the coming of the war, deer and bear were
increasing rapidly. Willet often noted how quickly game returned to
regions abandoned by man, as if the wild animals promptly told one
another the danger had passed.
Joyous shouts came now and then and he knew that they marked the
taking of game, but about the middle of the afternoon the hunt drifted
entirely away. A little later Tayoga awoke and sat up. Then Willet
moved slightly and spoke.
"Tandakora's hunters have been all about us while you slept," he said,
"but I knew they wouldn't find us."
"Dagaeoga and I were safe in the care of the Great Bear," said the
Onondaga confidently. "Tandakora will rage if we tell him some day
that we were here, to be taken if he had only seen us. Now Lennox
awakes also! O Dagaeoga, you have slept and missed all the great jest."
"What do you mean, Tayoga?"
"Tandakora built his fire just beyond the big bush that grows ten feet
away, and sat there two hours without suspecting our presence here."
"Now I know you are romancing, Tayoga, because I can see the twinkle
in your eyes. But I suspect that what you say bears some remote
relation to the truth."
"The hostile hunters passed while you slept, and while I slept also, but
the Great Bear was all eyes and ears and he did not think it needful to
awaken us."

"What are we going to do now, Dave?"
"Eat more venison. We must never fail to keep the body strong."
"And then?"
"I'm not sure. I thought once that we'd better go south to our army at
Lake George with news of this big band, but it's a long distance down
there, and it may be wiser to stay here and watch St. Luc. What do you
say, Robert?"
"Stay here."
"And you, Tayoga?"
"Watch St. Luc."
"I was inclining to that view myself, and it's settled now. But we
mustn't move from this place until dark; it would be too dangerous in
the day."
The lads nodded and the three settled into another long period of
waiting.
CHAPTER II
ON THE RIDGES
Late in the afternoon Willet went to sleep and Robert and Tayoga
watched, although, as the hunter had done, they depended more upon
ear than eye. They too heard now and then the faint report of distant
shots from the hunt, and Robert's heart beat very fast, but, if the young
Onondaga felt emotion, he did not show it. At twilight, they ate a frugal
supper, and when the night had fully come they rose and walked about
a little to make their stiffened muscles elastic again.
"The hunters have all gone back to the camp now," said Tayoga, "since
it is not easy to pursue the game by dusk, and we need not keep so

close, like a bear in its den."
"And the danger of our being seen is reduced to almost nothing," said
Robert.
"It is so, Dagaeoga, but we will have another fight to make. We must
strive to keep ourselves from freezing. It turns very cold on the
mountains! The wind is now blowing from the north, and do you not
feel a keener edge to it?"
"I do," replied Robert, sensitive of body as well as mind, and he
shivered as he spoke. "It's a most unfortunate change for us. But now
that I think of it we've got to expect it up among the high mountains
toward Canada. Shall we light another fire?"
"We'll talk of that later with the Great Bear when he comes out of his
sleep. But it fast grows colder and colder, Dagaeoga!"
Weather was an enormous factor in the lives of the borderers.
Wilderness storms and bitter cold often defeated their best plans, and
shelterless men, they were in a continual struggle against them. And
here in the far north, among the high peaks and ridges, there was much
to be feared, even with official winter yet several weeks away.
Robert began to rub his cold hands, and, unfolding his blanket, he
wrapped it about his body, drawing it well up over his neck and ears.
Tayoga imitated him and Willet, who was soon awakened by the cold
blast, protected himself in a similar manner.
"What does the Great Bear think?" asked the Onondaga.
The hunter, with his face to the wind, meditated a few moments before
replying.
"I was testing that current of air on my face and eyes," he said, "and,
speaking the truth, Tayoga, I don't like it. The wind seemed to grow
colder as I waited to answer you. Listen to the leaves falling before it!
Their rustle tells of a bitter night."

"And