Black Rifle was silent a moment or two.  Then he said: 

“I feared Braddock would walk into an ambush, but I hardly believed his army would be annihilated.  I don’t hold it against him, because he turned my men and me away.  How could I when he died with his soldiers?”

“He was a brave man,” said Robert.

“I’m glad you found me.  I’ll leave the five Indians, though I could have ambushed ’em within the hour.  The whole border must be ablaze, and they’ll need us bad at Fort Refuge.”

The three, now four, slept but little that night and they pressed forward all the next day, their anxiety to reach the fort before an attack could be made, increasing.  It did not matter now if they arrived exhausted.  The burden of their task was to deliver the word, to carry the warning.  At dusk, they were within a few miles of the fort.  An hour later they noticed a thread of blue smoke across the clear sky.

“It comes from the fort,” said Tayoga.

“It’s not on fire?” said Robert, aghast.

“No, Dagaeoga, the fort is not burning.  We have come in time.  The smoke rises from the chimneys.”

“I say so, too,” said Willet.  “Unless there’s a siege on now, we’re ahead of the savages.”

“There is no siege,” said Tayoga calmly.  “Tododaho has held the warriors back.  Having willed for us to arrive first, nothing could prevent it.”

“Again, I think you’re right, Tayoga,” said Robert, “and now for the fort.  Let our feet devour the space that lies between.”

He was in a mood of high exaltation, and the others shared his enthusiasm.  They went faster than ever, and soon they saw rising in the moonlight the strong palisade and the stout log houses within it.  Smoke ascended from several chimneys, and, uniting, made the line across the sky that they had beheld from afar.  From their distant point of view they could not yet see the sentinels, and it was hard to imagine a more peaceful forest spectacle.

“At any rate, we can save ’em,” said Robert.

“Perhaps,” said Willet gravely, “but we come as heralds of disaster occurred, and of hardships to come.  It will be a task to persuade them to leave this comfortable place and plunge into the wilderness.”

“It’s fortunate,” said Robert, “that we know Colden and Wilton and Carson and all of them.  We warned ’em once when they were coming to the place where the fort now is, and they didn’t believe us, but they soon learned better.  This time they’ll know that we’re making no mistake.”

As they drew near they saw the heads of four sentinels projecting above the walls, one on each side of the square.  The forest within rifle shot had also been cleared away, and Black Rifle spoke words of approval.

“They’ve learned,” he said.  “The city lads with the white hands have become men.”

“A fine crowd of boys,” said Willet, with hearty emphasis.  “You’ll see ’em acting with promptness and courage.  Now, we want to tell ’em we’re here without getting a bullet for our pains.”