The darkness that precedes the dawn came.  The great star on which Tododaho lived went away, and the whole host swam into the void that is without ending.  The deeper dusk crept up, but Tayoga still sat motionless, his eyes wide open, his ecstatic state lasting.  He heard the little animals stirring once more in the forest as the dawn approached, and he felt very friendly toward them.  He would not harm the largest or the least of them.  It was their wilderness as well as his, and Manitou had made them as well as him.

The darkness presently began to thin away, and Tayoga saw the first silver shoot of dawn in the east.  The sun would soon rise over the great wilderness that was his heritage and that he loved, clothing in fine, spun gold the green forests, the blue lakes and the silver rivers.  He took a mighty breath.  It was a beautiful world and he was glad that he lived in it.

He awoke Robert and Willet, and they stood up sleepily.

“Did you have a good rest, Tayoga?” Robert asked.

“I did not sleep,” the Onondaga replied.

“Didn’t sleep?  Why not, Tayoga?”

“In the night, Tandakora and two more came.”

“What?  Do you mean it, Tayoga?”

“They were coming, seeking to slay us as we slept, but I heard them.  Lest the Great Bear and Dagaeoga be awakened and lose the sleep they needed so much, I took my bow and arrows and went into the forest and met them.”

Robert’s breath came quickly.  Tayoga’s manner was quiet, but it was not without a certain exultation, and the youth knew that he did not jest.  Yet it seemed incredible.

“You met them, Tayoga?” he repeated.

“Yes, Dagaeoga.”

“And what happened?”

“The two warriors whom Tandakora brought with him lie still in the forest.  They will never move again.  Tandakora escaped with an arrow through his arm.  He will not trouble us for a week, but he will seek us later.”

“Why didn’t you awake us, Tayoga, and take us with you?”

“I wished to do this deed alone.”

“You’ve done it well, that’s sure,” said Willet, “and now that all danger has been removed we’ll light our fire and cook breakfast.”

After breakfast they shouldered their packs and plunged once more into the greenwood, intending to reach as quickly as they could the hidden canoe on the Richelieu, and then make an easy journey by water.

CHAPTER XIV

ON CHAMPLAIN

The three arrived at the Richelieu without further hostile encounter, but they met a white forest runner who told them the aspect of affairs in the Ohio country was growing more threatening.  A small force from Virginia was starting there under a young officer named Washington, and it was reported that the French from Canada in numbers were already in the disputed country.

“We know what we know,” said Willet thoughtfully.  “I’ve never doubted that English and French would come into conflict in the woods, and if I had felt any such doubts, our visit to Quebec would have driven them away.  I don’t think our letters from the Governor of New York to the Governor General of Canada will be of any avail.”