“I have heard much of Stadacona, which you call Quebec,” said Tayoga, without any alteration of tone.  “Our old men speak often of it, when it belonged to our brethren, the Ganeagaono, known to you as the Mohawks, who never sold or ceded it to anybody.”

De Galisonniere’s face fell a little, but he recovered himself quickly.

“That was generations ago,” he said, “and time makes many shifts and changes.  There is a flux and efflux of all people, including the white, like the ceaseless movement of sand upon a beach.”

The Onondaga was silent, but Robert saw that he did not unbend, and de Galisonniere, feeling that it was unwise to pursue the topic, turned his attention to the mighty river and its lofty wooded banks.

“I don’t believe there’s another river in the world the equal of this giant French stream of ours,” he said.

“Our noble British river, the Hudson, has much to say for itself,” said Robert.

“A grand river, in truth.  I have seen it, but large and splendid as it is it lacks the length and size of the St. Lawrence.”

“It is beyond question a noble stream to travel on.  One makes greater speed here and suffers less hardship than in the forest.”

“I am glad that I can take you to Montreal.”

“Your hospitality to us, Captain de Galisonniere, is appreciated.  I have found French officers courteous and ready to share with us all they had.  You are not the first whom we have met on this journey.  We encountered far down in our province of New York the Chevalier Raymond de St. Luc.”

“St. Luc!  St. Luc!  The very flower of French chivalry!  He is a relative of the famous La Corne de St. Luc, of whom you have doubtless heard, and at Quebec he is considered a model of all the qualities that make a soldier and a gentleman.”

“He made a like impression upon me.  Farther north we were so fortunate as to meet more of your countrymen, Colonel de Courcelles and Captain de Jumonville.”

“I know them both!  Brave officers!” said de Galisonniere.

But he turned away the conversation from the Frenchmen who had gone down into territory that Robert considered a portion of the Province of New York, and the lad surmised that, knowing a good deal about the nature of their errands, he feared lest he might reveal something through chance allusions.  Instead, he talked of the St. Lawrence, Montreal, and the glories of Quebec to which he hoped he might return soon.  He addressed most of his talk to Robert, but he spoke at times to Willet and Tayoga, both of whom responded briefly.  The wind meanwhile remained strong, and it was not necessary to use the oars, the large sail carrying them swiftly toward Montreal.  Robert, while talking with de Galisonniere, watched eagerly the two shores, seeing the smoke rise from the stout log houses of the Canadians, and once the tall steeple of a church dominating a little village, and seeming out of all proportion to the congregation that surrounded it.