“It was too late,” he repeated.  “Whatever threatened the man in the canoe, whatever the danger was, it has struck.  I heard a little splash.  It was made by the man falling into the water.  He has gone.  Now, what has become of the canoe?  Perhaps the warrior when he fell dropped the paddle into the water, and the canoe is drifting slowly away.  No, I think some one is swimming to it.  Ah, he is in the canoe now, and he has recovered the paddle!  I hear the strokes, which are different from those made by the man who was in it before.  They have a longer sweep.  The new man is stronger.  He is very powerful, and he does not take the canoe back and forth.  He is coming toward the land.  Stand here, and we will welcome Daganoweda of the Ganeagaono.  It might be some other, but I do not think it possible.  It is surely Daganoweda.”

A canoe shot from the mists and vapors.  The fierce young Mohawk chief put down the paddle, and, stepping from the light craft into the shallow water, raised his hand in a proud salute.  He was truly a striking figure.  The dusk enlarged him until he appeared gigantic.  He was naked except for belt and breech cloth, and water ran from his shining bronze body.  A tomahawk and knife in the belt were his only weapons, but Robert knew instinctively that one of them had been wielded well.

“Welcome, Daganoweda,” he said.  “We were not looking for you, but if we had taken thought about it we might have known that you would come.”

The dark eyes of the Mohawk flashed and his figure seemed to grow in stature.

“There has been a battle,” he said, “and Sharp Sword with a great force is pressing hard upon the white brothers of the Ganeagaono.  It was not possible for Daganoweda to stay away.”

“That is true.  You are a great chief.  You scent the conflict afar, and you always come to it.  Our people could have no truer, no braver ally.  The arrival of Daganoweda alone is as the coming of ten men.”

The nostrils of the chief dilated.  Obviously he was pleased at Robert’s round and swelling sentences.

“I come in the canoe of a foe,” he said.  “The warrior who was in it has gone into the lake.”

“We know that.  Tayoga, who is a wonder for hearing, and a still greater wonder at interpreting what he hears, followed your marvelous achievement and told us every step in its progress.  He even knew that it was you, and announced your coming through the mists and vapors.”

“Tayoga of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, is a great warrior, and the greatest trailer in the world, even though he be so young.”

Tayoga said nothing, and his face did not move, but his eyes gleamed.

“Do you come alone?” asked Robert.

“The warriors who were with me when you met us in the woods are at hand,” replied the chief, “and they await my signal.  They have crept past the line of Sharp Sword, though Tandakora and many men watched, and are not far away.  I will call them.”