“Not before night, and then but little.  That little, though, I should have.  Tomorrow I will eat much more, and a few days later it will be all Dagaeoga can do to find enough food for me.  Be sure that you wait on me well.  It is the first rest that I have had in a long time, and it is my purpose to enjoy it.  If I should be fretful, humor me; if I should be hungry, feed me; if I should be sleepy, let me sleep, and see that I am not disturbed while I do sleep; if my bed is hard, make me a better, and through it all, O Dagaeoga, be thou the finest medicine man that ever breathed in these woods.”

“Come, now, Tayoga, you lay too great a burden upon me.  I’m not all the excellencies melted into one, and I’ve never pretended to be.  But I can see that you’re getting well, because the spirit of rulership is upon you as strong as ever, and, since you’re so much improved, I may take it into my mind to obey your commands, though only when I feel like it.”

The two lads looked at each other and laughed, and there was immense relief in Robert’s laugh.  Only now did he admit to himself that he had been terribly alarmed about Tayoga, and he recognized the enormous relief he felt when the Onondaga had passed his crisis.

“In truth, you pick up fast, Tayoga,” he said whimsically.  “Suppose we go forth now and hunt the enemy.  We might finish up what Rogers, Willet and Daganoweda have left of St. Luc’s force.”

“I would go,” replied Tayoga in the same tone, “but Tododaho and Areskoui have told me to bide here awhile.  Only a fear that my disobedience might cause me to lose their favor keeps me in the cave.  But I wish you to bear in mind, Dagaeoga, that I still exert my will as the medicine men of my nation bid the sick and the hurt to do, and that I feel the fevered blood cooling in my veins, strength flowing back into my weak muscles, and my nerves, that were all so loose and unattuned, becoming steady.”

“I’ll admit that your will may help, Tayoga, but it’s chiefly the long sleep you’ve had, the good home you enjoy, and the superb care of Dr. Robert Lennox of Albany, New York, and the Vale of Onondaga.  On the whole, weighing the question carefully, I should say that the ministrations of Dr. Lennox constitute at least eighty per cent of the whole.”

“You are still the great talker, Dagaeoga, that you were when you defeated St. Luc in the test of words in the Vale of Onondaga, and it is well.  The world needs good talkers, those who can make speech flow in a golden stream, else we should all grow dull and gloomy, though I will say for you, O Lennox, that you act as well as talk.  If I did not, I, whose life you have saved and who have seen you great in battle, should have little gratitude and less perception.”

“I’ve always told you, Tayoga, that when you speak English you speak out of a book, because you learned it out of a book and you take delight in long words.  Now I think that ‘gratitude’ and ‘perception’ are enough for you and you can rest.”