“You know this pond at which we are to meet?”

“Yes, it is in the hills, and the forest is thick all about it.  Often Onondaga and Mohawk have met there to take council, the one with the other.”

In another hour they were at the pond, and they found the Mohawk chieftain and his men sitting at its edge.

“Well, Daganoweda,” said Willet, “is it as we thought?” Daganoweda rose and waved his hand significantly toward the south.

“Dieskau with his army has gone to fall upon Waraiyageh,” he said.  “We went close up to the walls, and we even heard talk.  The French and the warriors were eager to advance, and so were their leaders.  It was said that St. Luc, whom we call Sharp Sword, urged them most, and the larger part of his great force soon started in canoes.  A portion of it he left at Ticonderoga, and the rest is going on.  They intend to take the fort called Lyman, that the English and Americans have built, and then to fall upon Waraiyageh.”

“It is for us to reach Waraiyageh first,” said Willet, quietly, “and we will.  God knows there is great need of our doing it.  If Johnson’s army is swept away, then Albany will fall, the Hodenosaunee, under terrific pressure, might be induced to turn against us, and the Province of New York would be ravaged with fire and the scalping knife.”

“But we will reach Waraiyageh and tell him,” said Tayoga, firmly.  “He will not be swept away.  Albany will not fall, and nothing can induce the Hodenosaunee to join the French.”

The eyes of the Great Bear glistened as he looked at the tall young warrior.

“That’s brave talk, and it’s true, too!” he exclaimed.  “You shame us, Tayoga!  If it’s for us to save our army by carrying the news of Dieskau’s sudden march, then we’ll save it.”

Daganoweda had told the exact truth.  Dieskau had reached Crown Point with a force mighty then for the wilderness, and, after a short rest, he issued orders to his troops to be prepared for advance at a moment’s notice.  He especially directed the officers to keep themselves in light marching order, every one of them to take only a bearskin, a blanket, one extra pair of shoes, one extra shirt, and no luxuries at all.

His orders to the Indians showed a savagery which, unfortunately, was not peculiar then to him.  In the heat of battle they were not to scalp those they slew, because time then was so valuable.  While they were taking a scalp they could kill ten men.  But when the enemy was routed completely they could go back on the field and scalp as they wished.

The Indian horde was commanded by Legardeur de St. Pierre, who had with him De Courcelles and Jumonville, and St. Luc with his faithful Dubois immediately organized a daring band of French Canadians and warriors to take the place of the one he had lost.  So great was his reputation as a forest fighter, and so well deserved was it, that his fame suffered no diminution, because of his defeat by the rangers and Mohawks, and the young French officers were eager to serve under him.