The Shadow of the North | Page 6

each leaning against his
tree, did not move but kept their rifles across their knees ready at once
for possible use. Tayoga had fastened his bow over his back by the side
of his quiver, and their packs were adjusted also.
Robert was anxious not so much for himself as for the unknown others
who were marching through the wilderness, and for whom the French
and Indians were laying an ambush. It had been put forward first as a
suggestion, but it quickly became a conviction with him, and he felt
that his comrades and he must act as if it were a certainty. But no sound
that would tell them which way to go came out of this black forest, and
they remained silent, waiting for the word.
The night thickened and they were still uncertain what to do. Robert
made a silent prayer to the God of the white man, the Manitou of the
red man, for a sign, but none came, and infected strongly as he was
with the Indian philosophy and religion, he felt that it must be due to
some lack of virtue in himself. He searched his memory, but he could
not discover in what particular he had erred, and he was forced to
continue his anxious waiting, until the stars should choose to fight for
him.
Tayoga too was troubled, his mind in its own way being as active as
Robert's. He knew all the spirits of earth, air and water were abroad, but
he hoped at least one of them would look upon him with favor, and
give him a warning. He sought Tododaho's star in the heavens, but the
clouds were too thick, and, eye failing, he relied upon his ear for the
signal which he and his young white comrade sought so earnestly.
If Tayoga had erred either in omission or commission then the spirits
that hovered about him forgave him, as when the night was thickest
they gave the sign. It was but the faint fall of a foot, and, at first, he
thought a bear or a deer had made it, but at the fourth or fifth fall he
knew that it was a human footstep and he whispered to his comrades:
"Some one comes!"

As if by preconcerted signal the three arose and crept silently into the
dense underbrush, where they crouched, their rifles thrust forward.
"It is but one man and he walks directly toward us," whispered Tayoga.
"I hear him now," said Robert. "He is wearing moccasins, as his step is
too light for boots."
"Which means that he's a rover like ourselves," said Willet. "Now he's
stopped. There isn't a sound. The man, whoever he is, has taken alarm,
or at least he's decided that it's best for him to be more watchful.
Perhaps he's caught a whiff from the ashes of our fire. He's white or he
wouldn't be here alone, and he's used to the forest, or he wouldn't have
suspected a presence from so little."
"The Great Bear thinks clearly," said Tayoga. "It is surely a white man
and some great scout or hunter. He moved a little now to the right,
because I heard his buckskin brush lightly against a bush. I think Great
Bear is right about the fire. The wind has brought the ashes from it to
his nostrils, and he will lie in the bush long before moving."
"Which doesn't suit our plans at all," said Willet. "There's a chance, just
a chance, that I may know who he is. White men of the kind to go
scouting through the wilderness are not so plenty on the border that one
has to make many guesses. You lads move away a little so you won't be
in line if a shot comes, and I'll give a signal."
Robert and Tayoga crept to other points in the brush, and the hunter
uttered a whistle, low but very clear and musical. In a moment or two, a
like answer came from a place about a hundred yards away, and Willet
rising, advanced without hesitation. Robert and Tayoga followed
promptly, and a tall figure, emerging from the darkness, came forward
to meet them.
The stranger was a man of middle years, and of a singularly wild
appearance. His eyes roved continually, and were full of suspicion, and
of a sort of smoldering anger, as if he had a grievance against all the
world. His hair was long and tangled, his face brown with sun and

storm, and his dress more Indian than white. He was heavily armed,
and, whether seen in the dusk or in the light, his whole aspect was
formidable and dangerous. But Willet continued to advance without
hesitation.
"Captain Jack," he said extending his hand. "We were not looking for