The Masters of the Peaks: A Story of the Great North Woods

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER VI

  PUPILS OF THE BEAR

  When Robert and Tayoga returned to the camp and told Willet what theyhad done the hunter laughed a little.

  "Garay doesn't want to face St. Luc," he said, "but he will do itanyhow. He won't dare to come back on the trail in face of bullets,and now we're sure to deliver his letter in ample time."

  "Should we go direct to Albany?" asked Robert.

  The hunter cupped his chin in his hand and meditated.

  "I'm all for Colonel Johnson," he replied at last. "He understands theFrench and Indians and has more vigor than the authorities at Albany.It seems likely to me that he will still be at the head of Lake Georgewhere we left him, perhaps building the fort of which they weretalking before we left there."

  "His wound did not give promise of getting well so very early," saidRobert, "and he would not move while he was in a weakened condition."

  "Then it's almost sure that he's at the head of the lake and we'llturn our course toward that point. What do you say, Tayoga?"

  "Waraiyageh is the man to have the letter, Great Bear. If it becomesnecessary for him to march to the defense of Albany he will do it."

  "Then the three of us are in unanimity and Lake George it is insteadof Albany."

  They started in an hour, and changing their course somewhat, began ajourney across the maze of mountains toward Andiatarocte, the lakethat men now call George, and Robert's heart throbbed at the thoughtthat he would soon see it again in all its splendor and beauty. He hadpassed so much of his life near them that his fortunes seemed to himto be interwoven inseparably with George and Champlain.

  They thought they would reach the lake in a few days, but in awilderness and in war the plans of men often come to naught. Beforethe close of the day they came upon traces of a numerous bandtraveling on the great trail between east and west, and they alsofound among them footprints that turned out. These Willet and Tayogaexamined with the greatest care and interest and they lingered longestover a pair uncommonly long and slender.

  "I think they're his," the hunter finally said.

  "So do I," said the Onondaga.

  "Those long, slim feet could belong to nobody but the Owl."

  "It can be only the Owl."

  "Now, who under the sun is the Owl?" asked Robert, mystified.

  "The Owl is, in truth, a most dangerous man," replied the hunter. "Hisname, which the Indians have given him, indicates he works by night,though he's no sloth in the day, either. But he has another name,also, the one by which he was christened. It's Charles Langlade, ayoung Frenchman who was a trader before the war. I've seen him morethan once. He's mighty shrewd and alert, uncommon popular among thewestern Indians, who consider him as one of them because he married agood looking young Indian woman at Green Bay, and a great forester andwilderness fighter. It's wonderful how the French adapt themselves tothe ways of the Indians and how they take wives among them. I supposethe marriage tie is one of their greatest sources of strength with thetribes. Now, Tayoga, why do you think the Owl is here so far to theeastward of his usual range?"

  "He and his warriors are looking for scalps, Great Bear, and it may bethat they have seen St. Luc. They were traveling fast and they are nowbetween us and Andiatarocte. I like it but little."

  "Not any less than I do. It upsets our plans. We must leave the trail,or like as not we'll run squarely into a big band. What a pity ourtroops didn't press on after the victory at the lake. Instead ofdriving the French and Indians out of the whole northern wildernesswe've left it entirely to them."

  They turned from the trail with reluctance, because, strong andenduring as they were, incessant hardships, long traveling and battlewere beginning to tell upon all three, and they were unwilling to beclimbing again among the high mountains. But there was no choice andnight found them on a lofty ridge in a dense thicket. The hunter andthe Onondaga were disturbed visibly over the advent of Langlade, andtheir uneasiness was soon communicated to the sympathetic mind ofRobert.

  The night being very clear, sown with shining stars, they saw rings ofsmoke rising toward the east, and outlined sharply against the duskyblue.

  "That's Langlade sending up signals," said the hunter, anxiously, "andhe wouldn't do it unless he had something to talk about."

  "When one man speaks another man answers," said Tayoga. "Now from whatpoint will come the reply?"

  Robert felt excitement. These rings of smoke in the blue were fullof significance for them, and the reply to the first signal would bevital. "Ah!" he exclaimed suddenly. The answer came from the west,directly behind them.

  "I think they've discovered our trail," said Willet. "They didn'tlearn it from Garay, because Langlade passed before we sent him back,but they might have heard from St. Luc or Tandakora that we weresomewhere in the forest. It's bad. If it weren't for the letter wecould turn sharply to the north and stay in the woods till Christmas,if need be."

  "We may have to do so, whether we wish it or not," said Tayoga. "Theshortest way is not always the best."

  Before morning they saw other smoke signals in the south, and itbecame quite evident then that the passage could not be tried, exceptat a risk perhaps too great to take.

  "There's nothing for it but the north," said Willet, "and we'll trustto luck to get the letter to Waraiyageh in time. Perhaps we can findRogers. He must be roaming with his rangers somewhere near Champlain."

  At dawn they were up and away, but all through the forenoon theysaw rings of smoke rising from the peaks and ridges, and the lastlingering hope that they were not followed disappeared. It becamequite evident to their trained observation and the powers of inferencefrom circumstances which had become almost a sixth sense with themthat there was a vigorous pursuit, closing in from three points of thecompass, south, east and west. They slept again the next night in theforest without fire and arose the following morning cold, stiff andout of temper. While they eased their muscles and prepared for theday's flight they resolved upon a desperate expedient.

  It was vital now to carry the letter to Johnson and then to Albany,which they considered more important than their own escape, and theycould not afford to be driven farther and farther into the recesses ofthe north, while St. Luc might be marching with a formidable force onAlbany itself.

  "With us it's unite to fight and divide for flight," said Robert,divining what was in the mind of the others.

  "The decision is forced upon us," said Willet, regretfully.

  Tayoga nodded.

  "We'll read the letter again several times, until all of us know it byheart," said the hunter.

  The precious document was produced, and they went over it until eachcould repeat it from memory. Then Willet said:

  "I'm the oldest and I'll take the letter and go south past theirbands. One can slip through where three can't."

  He spoke with such decision that the others, although Tayoga wantedthe task of risk and honor, said nothing.

  "And do you, Robert and Tayoga," resumed the hunter, "continue yourflight to the northward. You can keep ahead of these bands, and, whenyou discover the chase has stopped, curve back for Lake George. If byany chance I should fall by the way, though it's not likely, you canrepeat the letter to Colonel Johnson, and let's hope you'll be intime. Now good-by, and God bless you both."

  Willet never displayed emotion, but his feeling was very deep as hewrung the outstretched hand of each. Then he turned at an angle to theeast and south and disappeared in the undergrowth.

  "He has been more than a father to me," said Robert.

  "The Great Bear is a man, a man who is pleasing to Areskoui himself,"said Tayoga with emphasis.

  "Do you think he will get safely through?"

  "There is no warrior, not even of the Clan of the Bear, of the NationOnondaga, of the great League of the Hodenosaunee, who can surpass theGreat Bear in forest skill and cunning. In the night he will creep byTandakora himself, with such stealth, that not a leaf will stir, andthere will be not the slightest whisper
in the grass. His step, too,will be so light that his trail will be no more than a bird's in theair."

  Robert laughed and felt better.

  "You don't stint the praise of a friend, Tayoga," he said, "but I knowthat at least three-fourths of what you say is true. Now, I take itthat you and I are to play the hare to Langlade's hounds, and that indoing so we'll be of great help to Dave."

  "Aye," agreed the Onondaga, and they swung into their gait. Robert hadreceived Garay's pistol which, being of the same bore as his own, wasnow loaded with bullet and powder, instead of bullet and paper, and itswung at his belt, while Tayoga carried the intermediary's rifle, afine piece. It made an extra burden, but they had been unwillingto throw it away--a rifle was far too valuable on the border to beabandoned.

  They maintained a good pace until noon, and, as they heard no soundbehind them, less experienced foresters than they might have thoughtthe pursuit had ceased, but they knew better. It had merely settledinto that tenacious kind which was a characteristic of the Indianmind, and unless they could hide their trail it would continue in thesame determined manner for days. At noon, they paused a half hour in adense grove and ate bear and deer meat, sauced with some fine, blackwild grapes, the vines hanging thick on one of the trees.

  "Think of those splendid banquets we enjoyed when Garay was sittinglooking at us, though not sharing with us," said Robert.

  Tayoga smiled at the memory and said:

  "If he had been able to hold out a little longer he would have hadplenty of food, and we would not have had the letter. The Great Bearwould never have starved him."

  "I know that now, Tayoga, and I learn from it that we're to hold outtoo, long after we think we're lost, if we're to be the victors."

  They came in the afternoon to a creek, flowing in their chosen course,and despite the coldness of its waters, which rose almost to theirknees, they waded a long time in its bed. When they went out on thebank they took off their leggings and moccasins, wrung or beat out ofthem as much of the water as they could, and then let them dry for aspace in the sun, while they rubbed vigorously their ankles and feetto create warmth. They knew that Langlade's men would follow on eitherside of the creek until they picked up the trail again, but theirmaneuver would create a long delay, and give them a rest needed badly.

  "Have you anything in mind, Tayoga?" asked Robert. "You know that thefarther north and higher we go the colder it will become, and ourflight may take us again into the very heart of a great snow storm."

  "It is so, Dagaeoga, but it is also so that I do have a plan. I thinkI know the country into which we are coming, and that tells me what todo. The people of my race, living from the beginning of the world inthe great forest, have not been too proud to learn from the animals,and of all the animals we know perhaps the wisest is the bear."

  "The bear is scarcely an animal, Tayoga. He is almost a human being.He has as good a sense of humor as we have, and he is more carefulabout minding his own business, and letting alone that of otherpeople."

  "Dagaeoga is not without wisdom. We will even learn from the bear.A hundred miles to the north of us there is a vast rocky regioncontaining many caves, where the bears go in great numbers to sleepthe long winters through. It is not much disturbed, because it isa dangerous country, lying between the Hodenosaunee and the Indiannations to the north, with which we have been at war for centuries.There we will go."

  "And hole up until our peril passes! Your plan appeals to me, Tayoga!I will imitate the bear! I will even be a bear!"

  "We will take the home of one of them before he comes for it himself,and we will do him no injustice, because the wise bear can always findanother somewhere else."

  "They're fine caves, of course!" exclaimed Robert, buoyantly, hisimagination, which was such a powerful asset with him, flaming up asusual. "Dry and clean, with plenty of leaves for beds, and with nicelittle natural shelves for food, and a pleasant little brook justoutside the door. It will be pleasant to lie in our own cave, the bestone of course, and hear the snow and sleet storms whistle by, whilewe're warm and comfortable. If we only had complete assurance thatDave was through with the letter I'd be willing to stay there untilspring."

  Tayoga smiled indulgently.

  "Dagaeoga is always dreaming," he said, "but bright dreams hurtnobody."

  When night came, they were many more miles on their way, but it wasa very cold darkness that fell upon them and they shivered in theirblankets. Robert made no complaint, but he longed for the caves, ofwhich he was making such splendid pictures. Shortly before morning, alight snow fell and the dawn was chill and discouraging, so much sothat Tayoga risked a fire for the sake of brightness and warmth.

  "Langlade's men will come upon the coals we leave," he said, "butsince we have not shaken them off it will make no difference. How muchfood have we left, Dagaeoga?"

  "Not more than enough for three days."

  "Then it is for us to find more soon. It is another risk that we musttake. I wish I had with me now my bow and arrows which I left at thelake, instead of Garay's rifle. But Areskoui will provide."

  The day turned much colder, and the streams to which they came werefrozen over. By night, the ice was thick enough to sustain theirweight and they traveled on it for a long time, their thick moosehidemoccasins keeping their feet warm, and saving them from falling.Before they returned to the land it began to snow again, and Tayogarejoiced openly.

  "Now a white blanket will lie over the trail we have left on the ice,"he said, "hiding it from the keenest eyes that ever were in a man'shead."

  Then they crossed a ridge and came upon a lake, by the side of whichthey saw through the snow and darkness a large fire burning. Creepingnearer, they discerned dusky forms before the flames and made out aband of at least twenty warriors, many of them sound asleep, wrappedto the eyes in their blankets.

  "Have they passed ahead of us and are they here meaning to guard theway against us?" whispered Robert.

  "No, it is not one of the bands that has been following us," repliedthe Onondaga. "This is a war party going south, and not much stainedas yet by time and travel. They are Montagnais, come from Montreal.They seek scalps, but not ours, because they do not know of us."

  Robert shuddered. These savages, like as not, would fall at midnightupon some lone settlement, and his intense imagination depicted thehideous scenes to follow.

  "Come away," he whispered. "Since they don't know anything about uswe'll keep them in ignorance. I'm longing more than ever for my warmbear cave."

  They disappeared in the falling snow, which would soon hide theirtrail here, as it had hidden it elsewhere, and left the lake behindthem, not stopping until they came to a deep and narrow gorge in themountains, so well sheltered by overhanging bushes that no snow fellthere. They raked up great quantities of dry leaves, after the usualfashion, and spread their blankets upon them, poor enough quarterssave for the hardiest, but made endurable for them by custom andintense weariness. Both fell asleep almost at once, and both awokeabout the same time far after dawn.

  Robert moved his stiff fingers in his blanket and sat up, feeling coldand dismal. Tayoga was sitting up also, and the two looked at eachother.

  "In very truth those bear caves never seemed more inviting to me,"said young Lennox, solemnly, "and yet I only see them from afar."

  "Dagaeoga has fallen in love with bear caves," said the Onondaga, ina whimsical tone. "The time is not so far back when he never talkedabout them at all, and now words in their praise fall from his lips ina stream."

  "It's because I've experienced enlightenment, Tayoga. It is only inthe last two or three days that I've learned the vast superiority of acave to any other form of human habitation. Our remote ancestors livedin them two or three hundred thousand years, and we've been living inhouses of wood or brick or stone only six or seven thousand years, Isuppose, and so the cave, if you judge by the length of time, is ourtrue home. Hence I'm filled with a just enthusiasm at the thought ofgoing back speedily to the good old ways and
the good old days. It'spossible, Tayoga, that our remote grandfathers knew best."

  "When Dagaeoga comes to his death bed, seventy or eighty years fromnow, and the medicine man tells him but little more breath is left inhis body, what then do you think he will do?"

  "What will I do, Tayoga?"

  "You will say to the medicine man, 'Tell me exactly how long I haveto live,' and the medicine man will reply: 'Ten minutes, O Dagaeoga,venerable chief and great orator.' Then you will say: 'Let all thepeople be summoned and let them crowd into the wigwam in which I lie,'and when they have all come and stand thick about your bed, you willsay, 'Now raise me into a sitting position and put the pillows thickbehind my back and head that I may lean against them.' Then youwill speak to the people. The words will flow from your lips in acontinuous and golden stream. It will be the finest speech of yourlife. It will be filled with magnificent words, many of them, eight orten syllables long. It will be mellow like the call of a trumpet. Itwill be armed with force, and it will be beautiful with imagery; itwill be suffused and charged with color, it will be the very essenceof poetry and power, and as the aged Dagaeoga draws his very lastbreath so he will speak his very last word, and thus, in a goldencloud, his soul will go away into infinite space, to dwell foreverin the bosom of Manitou, with the immortal sachems, Tododaho andHayowentha!"

  "Do you know, Tayoga, I think that would be a happy death," saidRobert earnestly.

  The Onondaga laughed heartily.

  "Thus does Dagaeoga show his true nature," he said. "He was born withthe spirit and soul of the orator, and the fact is disclosed often. Itis well. The orator, be he white or red, will lose himself sometimesin his own words, but he is a gift from the gods, sent to lift up thesouls, and cheer the rest of us. He is the bugle that calls us to thechase and we must not forget that his value is great."

  "And having said a whole cargo of words yourself Tayoga, now what doyou propose that we do?"

  "Push on with all our strength for the caves. I know now we are on theright path, because I recall the country through which we are passing.At noon we will reach a small lake, in which the fish are so numerousthat there is not room for them all at the same time in the water.They have to take turns in getting the air above the surface on top ofthe others. For that reason the fish of this lake are different fromall other fish. They will live a full hour on the bank after they arecaught."

  "Tayoga, in very truth, you've learned our ways well. You've become aprince of romancers yourself."

  At the appointed time they reached the lake. There were no fish aboveits surface, but the Onondaga claimed it was due to the fact that thelake was covered with ice which of course kept them down, and whichcrowded them excessively, and very uncomfortably. They broke two bigholes in the ice, let down the lines which they always carried, thehooks baited with fragments of meat, and were soon rewarded withsplendid fish, as much as they needed.

  Tayoga with his usual skill lighted a fire, despite the driving snow,and they had a banquet, taking with them afterward a supply of thecooked fish, though they knew they could not rely upon fish alone inthe winter days that were coming. But fortune was with them. Beforedark, Robert shot a deer, a great buck, fine and fat. They had solittle fear of pursuit now that they cut up the body, saving the skinwhole for tanning, and hung the pieces in the trees, there tofreeze. Although it would make quite a burden they intended to carrypractically all of it with them.

  Many mountain wolves were drawn that night by the odor of the spoils,but they lay between twin fires and had no fear of an attack. Yet thetime might come when they would be assailed by fierce wild animals,and now they were glad that Tayoga had kept Garay's rifle, and alsohis ammunition, a good supply of powder and bullets. It was possiblethat the question of ammunition might become vital with them, but theydid not yet talk of it.

  On the second day thereafter, bearing their burdens of what had beenthe deer, they reached the stony valley Tayoga had in mind, and Robertsaw at once that its formation indicated many caves.

  "Now, I wonder if the bears have come," he said, putting down his packand resting. "The cold has been premature and perhaps they're stillroaming through the forest. I shouldn't want to put an interloper outof my own particular cave, but, if I have to do it, I will."

  "The bears haven't arrived yet," said Tayoga, "and we can choose. I donot know, but I do not think a bear always occupies the same winterhome, so we will not have to fight over our place."

  It was a really wonderful valley, where the decaying stone had made arich assortment of small caves, many of them showing signs of formeroccupancy by large wild animals, and, after long searching, they foundone that they could make habitable for themselves. Its entrance wasseveral feet above the floor of the valley, so that neither storm norwinter flood could send water into it, and its own floor was fairlysmooth, with a roof eight or ten feet high. It could be easilydefended with their three rifles, the aperture being narrow, and theyexpected, with skins and pelts, to make it warm.

  It was but a cold and bleak refuge for all save the hardiest, andfor a little while Robert had to use his last ounce of will to savehimself from discouragement. But vigorous exertion and keen interestin the future brought back his optimism. The hide of the deer they hadslain was spread at once upon the cave floor and made a serviceablerug. They spoke hopefully of soon adding to it.

  A brook flowed less than a hundred yards away, and they would haveno trouble about their water supply, while the country about seemedhighly favorable for game. But on their first day there they did notdo any hunting. They rolled several large stones before the door oftheir new home, making it secure against any prying wild animals, andthen, after a hearty meal, they wrapped themselves in their blanketsand slept prodigiously.

  Tayoga went into the forest the next day and set traps and snares,while Robert worked in the valley, breaking up fallen wood to be usedfor fires, and doing other chores. The Onondaga in the next three orfour days shot a large panther, a little bear, and caught in the trapsand snares a quantity of small game. The big pelts and the littlepelts, after proper treatment, were spread upon the floor or hungagainst the walls of the cave, which now began to assume a much moreinviting aspect, and the flesh of the animals that were eatable, curedafter the primitive but effective processes, was stored there also.

  Providence granted them a period of good weather, days and nightsalike being clear and cold. The game, evidently not molested for along time, fairly walked into their traps, and they were compelled todraw but little upon their precious supply of ammunition. Food for thefuture accumulated rapidly, and the floor and walls of the cave weresoon covered entirely with furs.

  Not one of the numerous caves and hollows about them contained anoccupant and Robert wondered if their presence would frighten away thewild animals, so many of which had hibernated there so often. Yet hehad a belief that the bears would come. His present mode of life andhis isolation from the world gave him a feeling almost of kinship withthem, and in some strange way, and through some medium unknown to him,they might reciprocate. He and Tayoga had killed several bears, it wastrue, but far from the cave, and they made up their minds to molestnothing in the valley or just about it.

  It was a land of many waters and they caught with ease numerous fish,drying all the surplus and storing it with the other food in the cave.They also made soft beds for themselves of the little branches of theevergreen, over which they spread their blankets, and when they rolledthe stone before the doorway at night they never failed to sleepsoundly.

  They did their cooking in front of the cave door, but it was alwaysa smothered fire. While they felt safe from wandering bands in thatlofty and remote region, they took no unnecessary risks. The valleyitself, though deep, was much broken up into separate little valleys,and most of the caves were hidden from their own. It was this factthat made Robert still think the bears would come, despite coals andflame. In the evenings they would talk of Willet, and both were firmin the opinion that the hunter had got thro
ugh to Lake George and thatJohnson and Albany had been warned in time. Each was confirmed in hisopinion by the other and in a few days it became certainty.

  "I think Tododaho on his star whispered in my ear while I slept thatGreat Bear has passed the hostile lines," said Tayoga with conviction,"because I know it, just as if the Great Bear himself had told it tome, though I do not know how I know it."

  "It's some sort of mysterious information," said Robert in the sametone of absolute belief, "and I don't worry any more about Dave andthe letter. The men of the Hodenosaunee seem to have a special gift.You know the old chief, Hendrik, foretold that he would die on theshores of Andiatarocte, and it came to pass just as he had said."

  "It was a glorious death, Dagaeoga, and it was, perhaps, he who savedour army, and made the victory possible."

  "So it was. There's not a doubt of it, but, here, I don't feel muchlike taking part in a war. The great struggle seems to have passedaround us for a while, at least. I appear to myself as a man of peace,occupied wholly with the struggle for existence and with preparationsfor a hard winter. I don't want to harm anything."

  "Perhaps it's because nothing we know of wants to harm us. But,Dagaeoga, if the bears come at all they will come quickly, because ina few days winter will be roaring down upon us."

  "Then, Tayoga, we must hurry our labors, and since the mysteriousmessage brought in some manner through the air has told us that Davehas reached the lake, I'm rather anxious for it to rush down. While itkeeps us here it will also hold back the forces of St. Luc."

  "That's true, Dagaeoga. It's a poor snow that doesn't help somebody.Now, I will make a bow and arrow to take the place of my great bow andquiver, which await me elsewhere, because we must draw but little uponour powder and bullets."

  The Onondaga had hatchet and knife and he worked with great rapidityand skill, cutting and bending a bow in two or three days, and makinga string of strong sinews, after which he fashioned many arrows andtipped them with sharp bone. Then he contemplated his handiwork withpride.

  "Hasty work is never the best of work," he said, "and these are not asgood as those I left behind me, but I know they will serve. The gamehere, hunted but little, is not very wary and I can approach near."

  His skill both in construction and use was soon proved, as he slewwith his new weapons a great moose, two ordinary deer, and muchsmaller game, while the traps caught beaver, otter, fox, wolf andother animals, with fine pelts. Many splendid furs were soon dryingin the air and were taken later into the cave, while they accumulateddried and jerked game enough to last them until the next spring.

  Both worked night and day with such application and intensity thattheir hands became stiff and sore, and every bone in them ached.Nevertheless Robert took time now and then to examine the little cavesin the other sections of the valley, only to find them still empty.He thought, for a while, that the presence of Tayoga and himself andtheir operations with the game might have frightened the bears away,but the feeling that they would come returned and was strong upon him.As for Tayoga he never doubted. It had been decreed by Tododaho.

  "The animals have souls," he said. "Often when great warriors die orfall in battle their souls go into the bodies of bear, or deer, orwolf, but oftenest into that of bear. For that reason the bear, savingonly the dog which lives with us, is nearest to man, and now and then,because of the warrior soul in him, he is a man himself, althoughhe walks on four legs--and he does not always walk on four legs,sometimes he stands on two. Doubt not, Dagaeoga, that when the stormywinter sweeps down the bears will come to their ancient homes, whetheror not we be here."

  The winds grew increasingly chill, coming from the vast lakes beyondthe Great Lakes, those that lay in the far Canadian north, and theskies were invariably leaden in hue and gloomy. But in the cave itwas cozy and warm. Furs and skins were so numerous that there was nolonger room on the floor and walls for them all, many being stored inglossy heaps in the corners.

  "Some day these will bring a good price from the Dutch traders atAlbany," said Robert, "and it may be, Tayoga, that you and I will needthe money. I've been a scout and warrior for a long time, and nowI've suddenly turned fur hunter. Well, that spirit of peace and of afriendly feeling toward all mankind grows upon me. Why shouldn't I befull of brotherly love when your patron saint, Tododaho, has been sokind to us?"

  He swept the cave once more with a glance of approval. It furnishedshelter, warmth, food in abundance, and with its furs even a certainvelvety richness for the eye, and Tayoga nodded assent. Meanwhile theywaited for the fierce blasts of the mountain winter.