But Tayoga did not want to die.  As far as life here was concerned he was merely at the beginning of the chapter.  So many things were begun and nothing was finished.  Nor did he want to die at the hands of Tandakora, and allow his enemy to have a triumph that would always be sweet to the soul of the fierce Ojibway.  He saw many reasons why he did not wish yet to go to Tododaho’s great and shining star, despite the perfection of an eternal existence there, and, casting away the doubts that had assailed him, he hoped resolutely.

Tandakora had been regarding him with grim satisfaction.  It may be that he read some of the thoughts passing in the mind of the Onondaga, as he said: 

“You look for your white friends, Tayoga, but you do not see them.  Nor will they come.  Do you want to know why?”

“Why, Tandakora?”

“Because they are dead.  In the battle back there, toward Andiatarocte, Daganoweda, the Mohawk, was slain.  His scalp is hanging in the belt of a Pottawattomie who is now with Dieskau.  Black Rifle will roam the forest no more.  He was killed by my own men, and the wolves have eaten his body.  The hunter Willet was taken alive, but he perished at the stake.  He was a very strong man, and he burned nearly a whole day before the spirit left him.  The ranger, Rogers, whom you called the Mountain Wolf, was killed in the combat, and the wolves have eaten his body, too.”

“Now, I know, O Tandakora,” said the Onondaga, “that you are a liar, as well as a savage and a murderer.  Great Bear lives, Daganoweda lives, and the Mountain Wolf and Black Rifle live, too.  St. Luc was defeated in the battle, and he has gone to join Dieskau at Crown Point, else he would be here.  I see into your black heart, Tandakora, and I see there nothing but lies.”

The eyes of the huge savage once more shot dark fire, and he lifted his hand, but once again he controlled himself, though the taunts of Tayoga had gone in deep and they stung like barbs.  Then, feeling that the talk was not in his favor, but that the situation was all to his liking, he turned away and gave orders to his warriors.  They formed instantly in single file, Tayoga near the center, Tandakora just behind him, and marched swiftly toward the north.

The Onondaga knew that their course would not bring them to Crown Point, which now lay more toward the east.  Nor was it likely that they would go there.  Dieskau and the French officers would scarcely allow him to be burned in their camp, and Tandakora would keep away from it until his hideous work was done.

Now Tayoga, despite his cynicism and apparent indifference, was all watchfulness.  He knew that, for the present, any attempt to escape was hopeless, but he wished to observe the country through which he was passing, and see everything pertaining to it as far as the eye could reach.  It was always well to know where one was, and he had been taught from infancy to observe everything, the practice being one of the important conditions of life in the wilderness.