“Ours isn’t and shouldn’t be a hostile meeting in the forest, Chevalier de St. Luc,” he said.  “To you and your good friends I offer my greetings.  As for myself, I am Robert Lennox, with two homes, one in Albany, and the other in the wilderness, wherever I choose to make it.”

He paused a moment, because he felt the gaze of St. Luc upon him, very intent and penetrating, but in an instant he resumed: 

“I came here with two friends whom you shall see if you stay with me long enough.  One is David Willet, a hunter and scout, well known from the Hudson to the Great Lakes, a man to whom I owe much, one who has stood to me almost in the place of a father.  The other I can truly call a brother.  He is Tayoga, a young warrior of the clan of the Bear, of the nation Onondaga, of the League of the Hodenosaunee.  My catalogue, sir, is just the same length as yours, and it also is complete.”

The Chevalier Raymond Louis de St. Luc laughed, and the laugh was genuine.

“A youth of spirit, I see,” he said.  “Well, I am glad.  It’s a pleasure to meet with wit and perception in the wilderness.  One prefers to talk with gentlemen.  ’Tis said that the English are heavy, but I do not always find them so.  Perhaps it’s merely a slur that one nation wishes to cast upon another.”

“It’s scarcely correct to call me English,” said Robert, “since I am a native of this country, and the term American applies more properly.”

The eyes of St. Luc glistened.

“I note the spirit,” he said.  “The British colonies left to themselves grow strong and proud, while ours, drawing their strength from the King and the government, would resent being called anything but Frenchmen.  Now, I’ll wager you a louis against any odds that you’ll claim the American to be as good as the Englishman anywhere and at any time.”

“Certainly!” said Robert, with emphasis.

St. Luc laughed again and with real pleasure, his blue eyes dancing and his white teeth flashing.

“And some day that independence will cause trouble for the good British mother,” he said, “but we’ll pass from the future to the present.  Sit down, Tandakora, and you too, Dubois.  Monsieur Lennox is, for the present, our host, and that too in the woods we claim to be our own.  But we are none the less grateful for his hospitality.”

Robert unwrapped the venison and cut off large slices as he surmised that all three were hungry.  St. Luc ate delicately but the other two did not conceal their pleasure in food.  Robert now and then glanced a little anxiously at the woods, hoping his comrades would return.  He did not know exactly how to deal with the strangers and he would find comfort in numbers.  He was conscious, too, that St. Luc was watching him all the time intently, reading his expression and looking into his thoughts.

“How are the good Dutch burghers at Albany?” asked the chevalier.  “I don’t seek to penetrate any of your secrets.  I merely make conversation.”