“If I should tell them what Onontio tells to me they would say:  ’Go back to Quebec, which is by right the Stadacona of our great warrior nation, the Mohawks, and say to Onontio that his words are like the songs of birds, but we, the Hodenosaunee, do not forget.  We remember Frontenac, and we remember Champlain, the first of the white men to come among us with guns, the use of which we did not know, killing our warriors.’”

“Time makes changes, Tayoga, and the Iroquois must change too.”

Tayoga, was silent, but his haughty face did not relax a particle.  The Marquis was about to say more upon the subject, but he had a penetrating mind and he saw that his words would be wasted.

“We shall see what we shall see,” he said.  “My master, His Majesty King Louis, keeps his promises.  Mr. Lennox, as I take it, still clinging to my inference, it will be some time before you see the Governor of New York again.  But, when you do see him, and if my letter has not then reached him, tell him it is coming by ship to New York.  As for you and your comrades, I wish you a safe journey whithersoever you go.  An aide-de-camp will give the three of you, as you go out, passports which will be your safe conduct until you reach the borders of Canada.  Of course, I cannot speak with certainty concerning anything that will happen to you beyond that point.  Mr. Willet, I am sorry that a sword such as yours is not French.”

Willet bowed, and so did Robert.  Then the three withdrew, receiving their safe conducts as they went.  At the inn they made hurried preparations for departure, deciding that they would cross at once to the south side of the St. Lawrence and travel on foot through the woods until they reached the Richelieu, where in a secret cove a canoe belonging to Willet lay hidden.  The canoe would take them into Lake Champlain and then they could proceed by water to the point they wished.

Robert wrote a note of thanks to the Intendant for his courtesy, expressing their united regrets that the brevity of time would not permit them to pay a formal call, and as it departed in the hands of a messenger, de Galisonniere came to say farewell.

“It’s likely,” he said, “that if we meet again it will be on the battlefield.  I see nothing for it but a war, but if we do meet, Mr. Willet, you must promise that you will not use that sword against me.”

“I promise, Captain de Galisonniere,” said Willet, smiling, “but if the war does come, and I hope it may not, it will be fought chiefly in the woods, and there will be little need for swords.  And now we wish to thank you for your great kindness and help.”

He shook hands with them all, showing some emotion, and then left hastily.  The three deferred their departure, concluding to spend the night at the inn, but before dawn the next morning they crossed the St. Lawrence and began their journey.

CHAPTER XIII