A hundred yards beyond the clump of bushes they found a broad trail, indicating that at least twenty warriors had gone by, their line of march leading toward the southeast.

“They were in no hurry,” said the Onondaga, “as they had no fear of enemies.  Their steps are irregular, showing that sometimes they stopped and talked.  Doubtless they meant to join Montcalm, but as they can travel much faster than an army they were taking their time about it.  We will now return to the bushes in which the Great Bear lay hidden while he watched.  The traces of his footsteps in the heart of the clump are much deeper than usual, which proves that he stood there quite a while.  It is also another proof that the warriors stopped and talked when they were near him, else he would not have remained in the clump so long.  It is likely, too, that the Great Bear followed them when they resumed their journey.  Yes, here is his trail leading from the bushes.  But it is faint, the Great Bear was stepping lightly and here is where it merges with the trail of the warriors.  He could not have been more than three or four hundred yards behind them.  The Great Bear was very bold, or else they were very careless.  He will not follow them long, as he merely wishes to get a general idea of their course, it being his main object to rejoin the rangers.”

“And at this point he turned away from their trail,” said Robert, after they had followed it about a mile.  “He is now going due east, and his traces lead on so straight that he must have known exactly where he intended to go.”

“Stated with much correctness,” said Tayoga in his precise school English.  “Dagaeoga is taking to heart my assertion that the mind is intended for human use, and he is beginning to think a little.  But we shall have to stop soon for a while, because the night comes.  We, too, will sleep in the heart of the bushes as the Great Bear did.”

“And glad am I to stop,” said Robert.  “My burden of buffalo robe and deer and arms and ammunition is beginning to weigh on me.  A buffalo robe doesn’t seem of much use on a warm, summer day, but it is such a fine one and you took so much trouble to get it for me, Tayoga, that I haven’t had the heart to abandon it.”

“It is well that you have brought it, in spite of its weight,” said the Onondaga, “as the night, at this height, is sure to be cold, and the robe will envelop you in its warmth.  See, the dark comes fast.”

The sun sank behind the forest, and the twilight advanced, the deeper dusk following in its trail, a cold wind began to blow out of the north, and Robert, as Tayoga had predicted, was thankful now that he had retained the buffalo robe, despite its weight.  He wrapped it around his body and sat on a blanket in a thicket.  Tayoga, by his side, used his two blankets in a similar manner, and they ate of the deer which they had had the forethought to cook, and make ready for all times.