Chapter 13: The Reunion

Willet, the hunter, and Tayoga, the great young Onondaga trailer, were walking through the northern woods, examining forest and bush very cautiously as they advanced, knowing that the danger from ambushed warriors were always present. Willet was sadder and sterner than of old, while the countenance of the Onondaga was as grave and inscrutable as ever, though he looked older, more mature, more the mighty forest runner.

“Think you, Tayoga,” said the hunter, “that Tandakora and his men have dared to come into this region again?”

“Tandakora will dare much,” replied the Onondaga. “Though he is full of evil, we know that well. The French still hold Ticonderoga, and he can use it as a base for bands much farther south.”

“True, but I don’t think they’ll have Ticonderoga, or Crown Point, either, long. Amherst is gathering too big an army and there is no Montcalm to defend them. The Marquis will have his hands full and overflowing, defending Quebec against Wolfe. We’ve held both Duquesne and Louisbourg for a long while now. We’ve smashed the French line at both ends, and Mr. Pitt is going to see that it’s cut in the center too. How I wish that Robert were alive to see the taking of Ticonderoga! He saw all the great defeat there and he was entitled to this recompense.”

He sighed deeply.

“It may be, Great Bear,” said Tayoga, “that Dagaeoga will see the taking of Ticonderoga. No one has ever looked upon his dead body. How then do we know that he is dead?”

Willet shook his head.

“‘Tis no use, Tayoga,” he said. “The lad was murdered by Garay and the river took his body away. Why, it will be a year this coming autumn since he disappeared, and think you if he were alive he couldn’t have come back in that time! ‘Tis the part of youth to hope, and it does you credit, but the matter is past hope now. We’ve all given up except you.”

“When only one hopes, Great Bear, though all others have failed, there is still hope left. Last night I saw Tododaho on his star very clearly. He looked down at me, smiled, and seemed to speak. I could not hear his words, but at the time I was thinking of Dagaeoga. Since Tododaho sits with the great gods and is one of them, he knew my thoughts, and, if he smiled when I was thinking of Dagaeoga, he meant to give me hope.”

The hunter again shook his head sadly.

“You thought you saw it because you wished it so much,” he said, “or maybe the promise of Tododaho was for the future, the hereafter.”

“For the hereafter, we need no special promise, Great Bear. That has always been made to all of us by Manitou himself, but I was thinking of Dagaeoga alive, present with us in this life, when Tododaho smiled down on me. I hold it in my heart, Great Bear, as a sign, a promise.”

Willet shook his head for the third time, and with increasing sadness, said nothing more. If Tayoga cherished such hope it was a consolation, a beautiful thing, and he was not one to destroy anybody’s faith.

“Do you know this region?” he asked.

“I was through here once with the Mohawk chief, Daganoweda,” replied Tayoga. “It is mostly in heavy forest, and, since the war has gone on so long and the settlers have gone away, there has been a great increase in the game.”

“Aye, I know there’ll be no trouble on that point. If our supplies give out it won’t take long to find a deer or a bear. It’s a grand country in here, Tayoga, and sometimes it seems a pity to one that it should ever be settled by white people, or, for that matter, by red either. Let it remain a wilderness, and let men come in, just a little while every year, to hunt.”

“Great Bear talks wisdom, but it will not be done his way. Men have been coming here a long time now to fight and not to hunt. See, Great Bear, here is a footprint now to show that someone has passed!”

“‘Twas made by the moccasin of a warrior. A chance hunter.”

“Suppose we follow it, Great Bear. It is our business to keep guard and carry word to Amherst.”

“Good enough. Lead and I’ll follow.”

“It is not the step of a warrior hunting,” said Tayoga, as they pursued the traces. “The paces are even, regular and long. He goes swiftly, not looking for anything as he goes, but because he wishes to reach a destination as soon as possible. Ah, now he stopped and he leaned against this bush, two of the stems of which are broken! I do not know what he stopped for, Great Bear, but it may have been to give a signal, though that is but a surmise. Now he goes on, again walking straight and swift. Ah, another trail coming from the west joining his, and the two warriors walk together!”

The two followed the double trail a mile or more in silence, and then it was joined by the traces of three more warriors. The five evidently had stood there, talking a little while, after which they had scattered.

“Now, what does that mean?” exclaimed the hunter.

“I think if we follow every one of the five trails,” said Tayoga, “we will find that the men lay down in the bush. It is certain in my mind, Great Bear, that they were preparing for a battle, and they were but a part of a much larger force hidden in these thickets.”

“Now, that’s interesting, Tayoga. Let’s look around and see if we can find where more of the warriors lay.”

They circled to the right, and presently they came upon traces where three men had knelt behind bushes. The imprints of both knees and toes were plain.

“They were here a long time,” said Tayoga, “because they have moved about much within a little space. In places, the ground is kneaded by their knees. And lo! Great Bear, here on the bush several of the young leaves are burned. Now, you and I know well what alone would do that at such a time.”

“It was done by the flash from a big musket, such a musket as those French Indians carry.”

“It could have been nothing else. I think if we go still farther around the curve we will find other bushes behind which other warriors kneeled and fired, and maybe other leaves scorched by the flash of big muskets.”

A hundred yards more and they saw that for which they looked. The signs were just the same as at the other places.

“Now, it is quite clear to you and me, Great Bear,” said the Onondaga, “that these men, posted along a curving line, were firing at something. They were here a long time, as the numerous and crowded footprints at every place show. They could not have been firing at the game, because there were too many of them, and the game would not have stayed to be fired at so long. Therefore, Great Bear, and you know it as well as I, they must have been in battle. All the points of ambush to which we have come are at an almost equal distance from some other point.”

“Which, Tayoga, is that hill yonder, crowned with bushes, but with bare slopes, a good place for a defense, and just about a long rifle or musket shot from the forest here.”

“So it is, Great Bear. It could be nothing else. The defenders lay among the bushes on top of the hill, and the battle was fought in the night because those who attacked were not numerous enough to push combat in the day. The defenders must have been white men, as we know from the footprints here that the assailants were warriors. Ah, here are other traces, Great Bear, and here are more, all trodden about in the same manner, indicating a long stay, and all at about an equal distance from the hill! I think the warriors lay in the forest all night firing upon the hill, and probably doing little damage. But they suffered more hurt themselves. See, here are faint traces of blood, yet staining the grass, and here is a trail leading out of the bushes and into the grass that lines the slopes of the hill. The trail goes forward, and then it comes back. It is quite clear to both of us, Dagaeoga, that a warrior, creeping through the long grass, tried to stalk the hill, but met a bullet instead. Those who lay upon the hill and defended themselves were not asleep. They could detect warriors who tried to steal forward and secure good shots at them. And they could fire at long range and hit their targets. Now, soldiers know too little of the forest to do that, and so it must have been scouts or rangers.”

“Perhaps some of the rangers belonging to Rogers. We know that he’s operating in this region.”

“It was in my thought too, Great Bear, that the rangers of the Mountain Wolf lay on the hill. See, here is a second trace of blood, and it also came from a warrior who tried to stalk the hill, but who had to come back again after he had been kissed by a bullet. The men up there among the bushes never slept, and they allowed no one of their enemies to come near enough for a good shot with a musket. The chances are ninety-nine out of a hundred that they were rangers, Great Bear, and we may speak of them as rangers. Now, we come to a spot where at least a dozen warriors lay, and, since their largest force was here, it is probable that their chief stayed at this spot. See, the small bones of the deer picked clean are lying among the bushes. I draw from it the opinion, and so do you, Great Bear, that the warriors kept up the siege of the hill until dawn, because at dawn they would be most likely to eat their breakfast, and these little bones of the deer prove that they did eat this breakfast here. Now, it is very probable that they went away since they could win nothing from the defenders of the hill.”

“Here’s their broad trail leading directly from the hill.”

They followed the trail a little distance, finding those of other warriors joining, until the total was about forty. Willet laughed with quiet satisfaction.

“They had all they wanted of the hill,” he said, “and they’re off swiftly to see if they can’t find easier prey elsewhere.”

“And you and I, Great Bear, will go back and see what happened on the hill, besides discovering somewhat more about the identity of the defenders.”

“Long words, Tayoga, but good ones upon which we can act. I’m anxious about the top of that hill myself.”

They went back and walked slowly up the hill. They knew quite well that nobody was there now. The entire forest scene had vanished, so far as the actors were concerned, but few things disappear completely. The actors could go, but they could not do so without leaving traces which the two great scouts were able to read.

“How long ago do you think all this happened, Tayoga?” asked Willet.

“Not many hours since,” replied the Onondaga. “It is mid-morning now, and we know that the warriors departed at dawn. The people on the hill would stay but a little while after their enemies had gone, and since they were rangers they would not long remain blind to the fact that they had gone.”

They pushed into the bushes and were soon among the traces left by the defenders.

“Here is where the guard knelt,” said Tayoga, as they walked around the circle of the bushes, “and behind them is where the men slept in their blankets. That is further proof that they were rangers. They had so much experience, and they felt so little alarm that most of them slept placidly, although they knew warriors were watching below seeking to shoot them down. The character of the footprints indicates that all of the defenders were white men. Here is a trail that I have seen many times before, so many times that I would know it anywhere. It is that of the Mountain Wolf. He probably had a small part of his rangers here and was on his way to join his main force, to act either with Amherst or Waraiyageh (Sir William Johnson). Of course, he would depart with speed as soon as his enemy was beaten off.”

“Altogether reasonable, Tayoga, and I’m glad Rogers is in these parts again with his rangers. Our generals will need him.”

“The Mountain Wolf stood here a long time,” said Tayoga. “He walked now and then to the right, and also to the left, but he always came back to this place. He stood here because it is a little knoll, and from it, he could see better than from anywhere else into the forest that hid the enemy below. The Mountain Wolf is a wise man, a great forest fighter, and a great trailer, but he was not alone when he stood here.”

“I suppose he had a lieutenant, of course, a good man whom he could trust. Every leader has such a helper.”

The Onondaga knelt and examined the traces minutely. When he rose his eyes were blazing.

“He did have a good helper, an able assistant, O Great Bear!” he said. “He had one whom he trusted, one whom I could trust, one whom you could trust. The Mountain Wolf stood by this bush and talked often with one whom we shall be very glad to see, O Great Bear, one whom the Mountain Wolf himself was both surprised and glad to see.”

“Your meaning is beyond me, Tayoga.”

“It will not be beyond you very long, O Great Bear! When Tododaho, reading my thoughts, looked down on me last night from the great star on which he has lived four hundred years, and smiled upon me, his smile meant what it said. The Hodenosaunee are the children of Todohado and Hayowentha and they never make sport of them, nor of any one of them.”

“I’m still in the dark of the matter, Tayoga!”

“Does not Great Bear remember what I was thinking about when Todohado smiled? What I said and always believed is true, O Great Bear! I believed it against all the world and I was right. Look at the traces beside those of the Mountain Wolf! They are light and faint, but look well at them, O Great Bear! I would know them anywhere! I have seen them thousands of times, and so has the Great Bear! Dagaeoga has come back! He stood here beside the Mountain Wolf! He was on this hill among the bushes all through the night, while the rangers fought the warriors among the trees below! He and the Mountain Wolf talked together and consulted while they looked at the forest! Lo! My brother Dagaeoga has come back out of the mists and vapors into which he went nearly a year ago, for he is my brother, though my skin is red and his is white, and he has been my brother ever since we were little children together! Lo! Great Bear, Dagaeoga has come back as I told you, as I alone told you he would, and my heart sings a song of joy within me because I have loved my brother! Look! look, Great Bear, and see where the living Dagaeoga has walked, not six hours since!”

Willet knelt and examined the traces. He too was a great trailer, but he did not possess the superhuman instinct that had come down through the generations to the Onondaga. He merely saw traces, lighter than those made by Rogers. But if his eyes could not, his mind did tell him that Tayoga was right. The ring of conviction was so strong in the voice of the Onondaga that Willet’s faith was carried with it.

“It must be as you tell me, Tayoga,” he said. “I do not doubt it. Robert has been here with Rogers. He has come back out of the mists and vapors that you tell about, and he walked this hill in the living flesh only a few hours ago. Where could he have been? How has it happened?”

“That does not concern us just now, Great Bear. It is enough to know that he is alive, and we rejoice in it. Before many hours we shall speak with him, and then he can tell his tale. I know it will be a strange and wonderful one, and unless Degaeoga has lost his gift of words, which I think impossible, it will lose no color in the telling.”

“Let him spin what yarn he pleases, I care not. All I ask is to put eyes on the lad again. It seems, when I think of it in cold blood, that it can scarcely be true, Tayoga. You’re sure you made no mistake about the footsteps?”

“None, Great Bear. It is impossible. I know as true that the living Dagaeoga stood on this hill six hours ago as I know that you stand before me now.”

“Then lead on, Tayoga, and we’ll follow the trail of the rangers. We ought to overtake ‘em by noon or soon after.”

The broad path, left by the rangers, was like the trail of an army to Tayoga, and they followed it at great speed, keeping a wary eye for a possible ambush on either side. The traces grew fresher and fresher, and Tayoga read them with an eager eye.

“The Mountain Wolf, Dagaeoga, and the rangers are walking rapidly,” he said. “I think it likely that they are going to join Amherst in his advance on Ticonderoga or Crown Point, or maybe they will turn west and help Waraiyageh, but, in either case, they do not feel any alarm about the warriors with whom they fought last night. Now and then the trail of a scout branches off from their main trail, but it soon comes back again. They feel quite sure that the warriors were only a roving band, and will not attack them again. The Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga walk side by side, and we can surmise, Great Bear, that they talk much together. Perhaps Dagaeoga was telling the Mountain Wolf where he has been these many months, why he went away, and why he chose to come back when he did out of the mists and vapors. Dagaeoga is strong and well. Look how his footprints show the length of his stride and how steady and even it is! He walks stride for stride with the Mountain Wolf, who as we know is six feet tall. Dagaeoga has grown since he went away. He was strong before he left, but he is stronger now. I think we shall find, Great Bear, that while Dagaeoga was absent his time was not lost. It may be that he gained by it.”

“I’m not thinking whether he has or not, Tayoga. I’m glad enough to get the lad back on any terms. We’re making great speed now, and I think we ought to overtake ‘em before long. The trail appears to grow a lot fresher.”

“In an hour, Great Bear, we can signal to them. It will be best to send forth a call, since one does not approach in the forest, in war, without sending word ahead that he is a friend, else he may be met by a bullet.”

“That’s good and solid truth, Tayoga. We couldn’t have our meeting with Robert spoiled at the last moment by a shot. But it’s much too early yet to send out a call.”

“So it is, Great Bear. I think, too, the rangers have increased their speed. Their stride has lengthened, but, as before, the Mountain Wolf and Dagaeoga keep together. They are great friends. You will recall that they fought side by side on the shores of Andiatarocte.”

“I remember it well enough, Tayoga. Nobody could keep from liking Robert. ‘Tis a gallant spirit he has.”

“It is so, Great Bear. He carries light wherever he goes. Such as he is needed among us. Because of that I never believed that Manitou had yet taken him to himself. The rangers stopped here, sat on these fallen logs, and ate food at noonday. There are little bones that they threw away, and the birds, seeking shreds of food, are still hopping about.”

“That’s clear, Tayoga, and since they would probably stay about fifteen minutes we ought to come within earshot of them in another half hour.”

They pressed on at speed, and, within the appointed time, they sank down in a dense clump of bushes, where Tayoga sent forth the mellow, the beautiful song of a bird, a note that penetrated a remarkable distance in the still day.

“It is a call that Dagaeoga knows,” he said. “We have used it often in the forest.”

In a few minutes the reply, exactly the same, faint but clear, came back from the north. When the sound died away, Tayoga imitated the bird again, and the second reply came as before.

“Now we will go forward and shake the hand of Dagaeoga,” said the Onondaga.

Rising from the bush, the two walked boldly in the direction whence the reply had come, and they found a tall, straight young figure advancing to meet them.

“Robert, my lad!” exclaimed Willet.

“Dagaeoga!” said the Onondaga.

Each seized a hand of Robert and shook it. Their meeting was not especially demonstrative, but their emotions were very deep. They were bound together by no common ties.

“You’ve changed, Robert,” said Willet, merely as a sort of relief to his feelings.

“And you haven’t, Dave,” said Robert, with the same purpose in view. “And you, Tayoga, you’re the great Onondaga chief you always were.”

“I hope to be a chief someday,” said Tayoga simply, “and then, when I am old enough, to be a sachem too, but that rests with Tododaho and Manitou. Dagaeoga has been away a long time, and we do not know where he went, but since he has come back out of the mists and vapors, it is well.”

“I understood your call at once,” said Robert, “and as you know I gave the reply. I came from Albany with Rogers to find you, and I found you quicker than I had hoped. We had a meeting with hostile warriors last night, but we beat ‘em off, and we’ve been pushing on since then.”