Grosvenor’s eyes sparkled.

“I understand,” he said.  “It is a great art, that of trailing through the wilderness, and I can see how circumstances compel you to learn it.”

“We have to learn it to live,” said the hunter gravely, “but with Tayoga it is an art carried to the highest degree of perfection.  He was born with a gift for it, a very great gift.  He inherited all the learning accumulated by a thousand years of ancestors, and then he added to it by his own supreme efforts.”

“Do not believe all that Great Bear tells you,” said Tayoga modestly.  “For unknown reasons he is partial to me, and enlarges my small merits.”

“I think this would be a good place for all of you to wait, while I went back on the trail a piece,” said the hunter.  “If Black Rifle found it necessary to cover the rear, it’s a much more urgent duty for us who know that we’ve been followed by Tandakora to do the same.”

“The Great Bear is always wise,” said Tayoga.  “We will take our ease while we await him.”

He flung himself down on the turf and relaxed his figure completely.  He had learned long since to make the most of every passing minute, and, seeing Robert imitate him exactly, Grosvenor did likewise.  The hunter had disappeared already in the bushes and the three lay in silence.

Grosvenor felt an immense peace.  Brave as a young lion, he had been overwhelmed nevertheless by his appalling experiences, and his sudden rescue where rescue seemed impossible had taken him back to the heights.  Now, it seemed to him that the three, and especially the Onondaga, could do everything.  Tayoga’s skill as a trailer and scout was so marvelous that no enemy could come anywhere near without his knowledge.  The young Englishman felt that he was defended by impassable walls, and he was so free from apprehension that his nerves became absolutely quiet.  Then worn nature took its toll, and his eyelids drooped.  Before he was aware that he was sleepy he was asleep.

“You might do as Red Coat has done, Dagaeoga,” said Tayoga.  “I can watch for us all, and it is wise in the forest to take sleep when we can.”

“I’ll try,” said Robert, and he tried so successfully that in a few minutes he too slumbered, with his figure outstretched, and his head on his arm.  Tayoga made a circle about three hundred yards in diameter about them, but finding no hostile sign came back and lay on the turf near them.  He relaxed his figure again and closed his eyes, which may have seemed strange but which was not so in the case of Tayoga.  His hearing was extraordinarily acute, and, when his eyes were shut, it grew much stronger than ever.  Now he knew that no warrior could come within rifle shot of them without his ears telling him of the savage approach.  Every creeping footstep would be registered upon that delicate drum.