“If they return and come much nearer we must immerse to the eyes,” whispered Willet.  “Then they would have to be almost upon us before they saw us.  It will make it much harder for us to get at our weapons, but we must take that risk too.”

“They have turned,” said Robert, “and here they come!”

It looked this time as if the savages had decided to make a close and careful inspection of the tree, bearing directly toward it, and coming so close that Robert could see their fierce, painted faces well and the muscles rising and falling on their powerful arms as they swept their paddles through the water.  Now, he prayed that the foliage of the tree would hide them well and he sank his body so deep in the lake that a little water trickled into his mouth, while only the tips of his fingers rested on the trunk.  The hunter and the Onondaga were submerged as deeply as he, the upper parts of their faces and their hair blending with the water.  When he saw how little they were disclosed in the dusk his confidence returned.

The four savages brought the canoe within thirty feet, but the floating tree kept its secret.  Its lazy drift was that of complete innocence and their eyes could not see the dark heads that merged so well with the dark trunk.  They gazed for a half minute or so, then brought their canoe about in a half circle and paddled swiftly away toward the second tree.

“Now Tododaho on his star surely put it in their minds to go away,” whispered the Onondaga, “and I do not think they will come back again.”

“Even so, we can’t yet make haste,” said the hunter cautiously.  “If this tree seems to act wrong they’ll see it though at a long distance and come flying down on us.”

“The Great Bear is right, as always, but the wind is blowing again, and we can begin to edge in toward the shore.”

“So we can.  Now we’ll push the tree slowly toward the right.  All together, but be very gentle.  Robert, don’t let your enthusiasm run away with you.  If we depart much from the course of the wind they’ll be after us again no matter how far away they are now.”

“They have finished their examination of the second tree,” said Tayoga in his precise school English, “and now they are going to the third, which will take them a yet greater distance from us.”

“So they are.  Fortune is with us.”

They no longer felt it necessary to keep submerged to the mouth, but drew themselves up, resting their elbows on the trunk, floating easily in the buoyant water.  They had carefully avoided turning the tree in any manner, and their arms, ammunition and packs were dry and safe.  But they had been submerged so long that they were growing cold, and now that the immediate danger seemed to have been passed they realized it.

“I like Lake George,” said Robert.  “It’s a glorious lake, a beautiful lake, a majestic lake, the finest lake I know; but that is no reason why I should want to live in its waters.”