“Open Eyes will do well,” said Tayoga.

“Open Eyes?”

“Aye, Dagaeoga.  The colonel who is named Strong I will call Open Eyes, because he is willing to look and see.  He will look when you tell him to look, and many who come from the cities will not do that.  And because his eyes are open he will not stick his head into an ambush.  Yet he will always complain of others.”

“And sometimes of himself, too,” laughed Robert.  “I think he’ll be fair in that respect.  Now, Tayoga, we’ll rest here, and be easy with ourselves until to-morrow morning, when we advance.”

“We will stay, Dagaeoga, but I do not know whether it will be so easy.  Since Jumonville saw us escape he will tell St. Luc of it, and Sharp Sword will send a force here to harry Open Eyes, and to make him think the forest is full of warriors.  But Open Eyes, though he may complain, will not be afraid.”

It was even as the Onondaga predicted.  The foe came with the twilight.  The dark wilderness about them gave back whoops and yells, and furtive bands skirmished with Strong’s scouts.  Then the shouts of the warriors increased greatly in number, and seemed to come from all points about the camp.  It was obvious to Robert that the enemy was trying to make Strong’s men believe that a great force was confronting them, and some of them, unused to the woods, showed apprehension lest such an unseen and elusive danger overwhelm them.  But Elihu Strong never flinched.  The forest was almost as much of a mystery to him as it was to his troops, but he was there to dare its perils and he dared them.

“I shall keep my men in camp and await attack, if they make it,” he said to Robert, to whom he seemed to have taken a great fancy, “and whatever happens I shall move forward in the morning to the relief of Colden.”

He shut his thin lips tightly together and his pale blue eyes flashed.  The merchant, turned soldier, had the stoutest of hearts, and a stout heart was what was needed in his camp that night.  The warriors gave his men no rest.  They circled about continually, firing and whooping, and trying to create panic, or at least a fear that would hold Strong where he was.

Robert went to sleep early, and, when he awakened far in the night, the turmoil was still going on.  But he saw Elihu Strong walking back and forth near one of the fires, and in the glow his thin face still reflected an iron resolution.  Satisfied that the camp was in no danger of being frightened, young Lennox went back to sleep.

A gray, chilly morning came, and soon after dawn Elihu Strong began to prepare his men for their perilous progress, serving first an ample hot breakfast with plenty of tea and coffee.

“Open Eyes not only watches but he knows much,” said Tayoga.  “He has learned that an army marches better on a full stomach.”

Strong then asked Robert and Tayoga to serve in a way as guides, and he made his dispositions, sending his scouts in advance, putting his most experienced soldiers on the flanks and heading his main column with the two brass cannon.  The strictest injunctions that nobody straggle were given, and then the force took up its march.