Before morning they saw other smoke signals in the south, and it became quite evident then that the passage could not be tried, except at a risk perhaps too great to take.

“There’s nothing for it but the north,” said Willet, “and we’ll trust to luck to get the letter to Waraiyageh in time.  Perhaps we can find Rogers.  He must be roaming with his rangers somewhere near Champlain.”

At dawn they were up and away, but all through the forenoon they saw rings of smoke rising from the peaks and ridges, and the last lingering hope that they were not followed disappeared.  It became quite evident to their trained observation and the powers of inference from circumstances which had become almost a sixth sense with them that there was a vigorous pursuit, closing in from three points of the compass, south, east and west.  They slept again the next night in the forest without fire and arose the following morning cold, stiff and out of temper.  While they eased their muscles and prepared for the day’s flight they resolved upon a desperate expedient.

It was vital now to carry the letter to Johnson and then to Albany, which they considered more important than their own escape, and they could not afford to be driven farther and farther into the recesses of the north, while St. Luc might be marching with a formidable force on Albany itself.

“With us it’s unite to fight and divide for flight,” said Robert, divining what was in the mind of the others.

“The decision is forced upon us,” said Willet, regretfully.

Tayoga nodded.

“We’ll read the letter again several times, until all of us know it by heart,” said the hunter.

The precious document was produced, and they went over it until each could repeat it from memory.  Then Willet said: 

“I’m the oldest and I’ll take the letter and go south past their bands.  One can slip through where three can’t.”

He spoke with such decision that the others, although Tayoga wanted the task of risk and honor, said nothing.

“And do you, Robert and Tayoga,” resumed the hunter, “continue your flight to the northward.  You can keep ahead of these bands, and, when you discover the chase has stopped, curve back for Lake George.  If by any chance I should fall by the way, though it’s not likely, you can repeat the letter to Colonel Johnson, and let’s hope you’ll be in time.  Now good-by, and God bless you both.”

Willet never displayed emotion, but his feeling was very deep as he wrung the outstretched hand of each.  Then he turned at an angle to the east and south and disappeared in the undergrowth.

“He has been more than a father to me,” said Robert.

“The Great Bear is a man, a man who is pleasing to Areskoui himself,” said Tayoga with emphasis.

“Do you think he will get safely through?”

“There is no warrior, not even of the Clan of the Bear, of the Nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who can surpass the Great Bear in forest skill and cunning.  In the night he will creep by Tandakora himself, with such stealth, that not a leaf will stir, and there will be not the slightest whisper in the grass.  His step, too, will be so light that his trail will be no more than a bird’s in the air.”