The Shadow of the North: A Story of Old New York and a Lost Campaign

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER IX

  THE WATCHER

  It was with emotion that Robert came to Albany, an emotion that wasshared by his Onondaga comrade, Tayoga, who had spent a long time in awhite school there. The staid Dutch town was the great outpost of theProvince of New York in the wilderness, and although his temperamentwas unlike that of the Dutch burghers he had innumerable pleasantmemories of it, and many friends there. It was, in his esteem, too, afine town, on its hills over-looking that noble river, the Hudson, andas the little group rode on he noted that despite the war itsappearance was still peaceful and safe.

  Their way led along the main street which was broad and with grass oneither side. The solid Dutch houses, with their gable ends to thestreet, stood every one on its own lawn, with a garden behindit. Every house also had a portico in front of it, on which the peoplesat in summer evenings, or where they visited with one another. Exceptthat it was hills where the old country was flat, it was much likeHolland, and the people, keen and thrifty, had preserved theirnational customs even unto the third and fourth generations. Robertunderstood them as he understood the Hodenosaunce, and, with hisadaptable temperament, and with his mind that could understand soreadily the minds of others, he was able to meet them on commonground. As they rode into the city he looked questioningly at Willet,and the hunter, understanding the voiceless query, smiled.

  "We couldn't think of going to any other place," he said. "If we didwe could never secure his forgiveness."

  "I shall be more than glad to see him. A right good friend of ours,isn't he, Tayoga?"

  "Though his tongue lashes us his heart is with us," replied theOnondaga. "He is a great white chief, three hundred pounds ofgreatness."

  They stopped before one of the largest of the brick houses, standingon one of the widest and neatest of the lawns, and Robert and Tayoga,entering the portico, knocked upon the door with a heavy brassknocker. They heard presently the rattle of chains inside, and therumble of a deep, grumbling voice. Then the two lads looked at eachother and laughed, laughed in the careless, joyous way in which youthalone can laugh.

  "It is he, Mynheer Jacobus himself, come to let us in," said Robert.

  "And he has not changed at all," said Tayoga. "We can tell that bythe character of his voice on the other side of the door."

  "And I would not have him changed."

  "Nor would I."

  The door was thrown open, but as all the windows were closed there wasyet gloom inside. Presently something large, red and shining emergedfrom the dusk and two beams of light in the center of the rednessplayed upon them. Then the outlines of a gigantic human figure, a mantall and immensely stout, were disclosed. He wore a black suit withknee breeches, thick stockings and buckled shoes, and his powderedhair was tied in a queue. His eyes, dazzled at first by the light fromwithout, began to twinkle as he looked. Then a great blaze of joyswept over his face, and he held out two fat hands, one to the whiteyouth and one to the red.

  "Ah, it iss you, Robert, you scapegrace, and it iss you, Tayoga, youwild Onondaga! It iss a glad day for me that you haf come, but Ithought you both dead, und well you might be, reckless, thoughtlesslads who haf not the thought uf the future in your minds."

  Robert shook the fat hand in both of his and laughed.

  "You are the same as of old, Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "and beforeTayoga and I saw you, but while we heard you, we agreed that there hadbeen no change, and that we did not want any."

  "And why should I change, you two young rascals? Am I not goot enoughas I am? Haf I not in the past given the punishment to both uf you undam I not able to do it again, tall and strong as the two uf you hafgrown? Ah, such foolish lads! Perhaps you haf been spared because pitywass taken on your foolishness. But iss it Mynheer Willet beyond you?That iss a man of sense."

  "It's none other than Dave, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert.

  "Then why doesn't he come in?" exclaimed Mynheer Jacobus Huysman. "Heiss welcome here, doubly, triply welcome, und he knows it."

  "Dave! Dave! Hurry!" called Robert, "or Mynheer Jacobus will chastiseyou. He's so anxious to fall on your neck and welcome you that hecan't wait!"

  Willet came swiftly up the brick walk, and the hands of the two bigmen met in a warm clasp.

  "You see I've brought the boys back to you again, Jacob," said thehunter.

  "But what reckless lads they've become," grumbled Mynheer Huysman. "Ican see the mischief in their eyes now. They wass bad enough when theywent to school here und lived with me, but since they've run wild inthe forests this house iss not able to hold them."

  "Don't you worry, Jacob, old friend. These arms and shoulders of mineare still strong, and if they make you trouble I will deal withthem. But we just stopped a minute to inquire into the state of yourhealth. Can you tell us which is now the best inn in Albany?"

  The face of Mynheer Jacobus Huysman flamed, and his eyes blazed in thecenter of it, two great red lights.

  "Inn! Inn!" he roared in his queer mixture of English, Dutch andGerman accent "Iss it that your head hass been struck by lightning undyou haf gone crazy? If there wass a thousand inns at Albany you undRobert und Tayoga could not stop at one uf them. Iss not the house ufJacobus Huysman good enough for you?"

  Robert, Tayoga and the hunter laughed aloud.

  "He did but make game of you, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "We willalter your statement and say if there were a thousand inns in Albanyyou could not make us stay at any one of them. Despite your commandswe would come directly to your house."

  Mynheer Jacobus Huysman permitted himself to smile. But his voicerenewed its grumbling tone.

  "Ever the same," he said. "You must stay here, although only the goodLord himself knows in what condition my house will be when youleave. You are two wild lads. It iss not so strange uf you, RobertLennox, who are white, but I would expect better uf Tayoga, who is tobe a great Onondaga chief some day."

  "You make a great mistake, Mynheer Jacobus," said Robert. "Tayoga isfar worse than I am. All the mischief that I have ever done was due tohis example and persuasion. It is my misfortune that I have a weaknature, and I am easily led into evil by my associates."

  "It iss not so. You are equally bad. Bring in your baggage und I willsee if Caterina, der cook, cannot find enough for you three, whoalways eat like raging lions."

  The soldiers, who were to return immediately to Colonel WilliamJohnson, rode away with their horses, and Robert, Tayoga and Willettook their packs into the house of Mynheer Huysman, who grumbledincessantly while he and a manservant and a maidservant made them ascomfortable as possible.

  "Would you und Tayoga like to haf your old room on the second floor?"he said to Robert.

  "Nothing would please us better," replied the lad.

  "Then you shall haf it," said Mynheer, as he led the way up the stairand into the room. "Do you remember, Tayoga, how wild you wass whenyou came here to learn the good ways und bad ways uf the whitepeople?"

  "I do," replied Tayoga, "and the walls and the roof felt oppressive tome, although we have stout log houses of our own in our villages. Butthey were not our own walls and our own roof, and there was the greatyoung warrior, Lennox, whom we now call Dagaeoga, who was to stay inthe same room and even in the same bed with me. Do you wonder that Ifelt like climbing out of a window at night, and escaping into thewoods?"

  "You were eleven then," said Robert, "and I was just a shadeyounger. You were as strange to me as I was to you, and I thought, intruth, that you were going to run away into the wilderness. But youdidn't, and you began to learn from books faster than I thought waspossible for one whose mind before then had been turned in anotherdirection."

  "But you helped me, Dagaeoga. After our first and only battle in thegarden, which I think was a draw, we became allies."

  "Und you united against me," said Mynheer Huysman.

  "And you helped me with the books," continued Tayoga. "Ah, those firstmonths were hard, very hard!"

  "And you taught me the use of the bow and arr
ow," continued Robert,"and new skill in both fishing and hunting."

  "Und the two uf you together learned new tricks und new ways uf makingmy life miserable," grumbled Mynheer Huysman.

  "But you must admit, Jacob," said Willet, "that they were not theworst boys in the world."

  "Well, not the worst, perhaps, David, because I don't know all theboys uf all the countries in the world, but when you put an Onondagalad und an American lad together in alliance it iss hard to find anyone who can excel them, because they haf the mischief uf two nations."

  "But you are tremendously glad to see them again, Jacob. Don't denyit. I read it over and over again in your eyes."

  Willet's own eyes twinkled as he spoke, and he saw also that there wasa light in those of the big Dutchman. But Huysman would admitnothing.

  "Here iss your room," he said to Robert and Tayoga.

  Robert saw that it was not changed. All the old, familiar objects werethere, and they brought to him a rush of emotion, as inanimate thingsoften do. On a heavy mahogany dresser lay two worn volumes that hetouched affectionately. One was his Caesar and the other hisalgebra. Once he had hated both, but now he thought of them tenderlyas links with, the peaceful boyhood that was slipping away. Hangingfrom a hook on the wall was an unstrung bow, the first weapon of thekind with which he had practiced under the teaching of Tayoga. Hepassed his hand over it gently and felt a thrill at the touch of thewood.

  Tayoga, also was moving about the room. On a small shelf lay anEnglish dictionary and several readers. They too were worn. He hadspent many a grieving hour over them when he had come from theIroquois forests to learn the white man's lore. He recalled how he hadhated them for a time, and how he had looked out of his school windowsat the freedom for which he had longed. But he was made of wroughtsteel, both mind and body, and always the white youth, Lennox, hiscomrade, was at his elbow in those days of his scholastic infancy tohelp him. It had been a great episode in the life of Tayoga, who hadthe intellect of a mighty chief, the mind of Pontiac or Thayendanegea,or Tecumseh, or Sequoia. He had forced himself to learn and inlearning his books he had learned also to like the people of anotherrace around him who were good to him and who helped him in the firsthard days on the new road. So the young Onondaga felt an emotion muchlike that of Robert as he walked about the room and touched the oldfamiliar things. Then he turned to Huysman.

  "Mynheer Jacobus," he said, "you have a mighty body, and you have init a great heart. If all the men at Albany were like you there wouldnever be any trouble between them and the Hodenosaunee."

  "Tayoga," said Huysman, "you haf borrowed Robert's tongue to cozen undflatter. I haf not a great heart at all. I haf a very bad heart. Icould not get on in this world if I didn't."

  Tayoga laughed musically, and Mynheer Jacobus gruffly bidding them notto destroy anything, while he was gone, departed to see that Caterina,the Dutch cook, fat like her master, should have ready a dinner,drawing upon every resource of his ample larder. It is but truth tosay that the heart of Mynheer Jacobus was very full. A fat oldbachelor, with no near kin, his heart yearned over the two lads whohad spent so long a period in his home, and he knew them, too, forwhat they were, each a fine flower of his own racial stock.

  They were to remain several days in Albany, and after dinner theyvisited Alexander McLean, the crusty teacher who had given them such asevere drilling in their books. Master McLean allowed himself a fewbrief expressions of pleasure when they came into his house, and thenquestioned them sharply:

  "Do you remember any of your ancient history, Tayoga?" he asked. "Arethe great deeds of the Greeks and Romans still in your mind?"

  "At times they are, sir," replied the young Onondaga.

  "Um-m. Is that so? What was the date of the battle of Zama?"

  "It was fought 202 B.C., sir."

  "You're correct, but it must have been only a lucky guess. I'll tryyou again. What was the date of the battle of Hastings?"

  "It was fought 1066 A.D., sir."

  "Very good. Since you have answered correctly twice it must beknowledge and not mere surmise on your part. Robert, whom do youesteem the greatest of the Greek dramatic poets?"

  "Sophocles, sir."

  "Why?"

  "Because he combined the vigor and power of Aeschylus with the polishand refinement of Euripides."

  "Correct. I see that you remember what I told you, as you have quotedalmost my exact words. And now, lads, be seated, while I orderrefreshments for you."

  "We thank you, sir," said Robert, "but 'tis less than an hour since wealmost ate ourselves to death at the house of Mynheer JacobusHuysman."

  "A good man, Jacob, but too fat, and far too brusque in speech,especially to the young. I'll warrant me he has been addressingupbraiding words to you, finding fault, perhaps, with your manners andyour parts of speech."

  The two youths hid their smiles.

  "Mynheer Jacobus was very good to us," said Robert. "Just as you are,Master McLean."

  "I am not good to you, if you mean by it weakness and softness ofheart. Never spoil the young. Speak sternly to them all the time. Usethe strap and the rod freely upon them and you may make men of them."

  Again Robert and Tayoga hid their smiles, but each knew that he had asoft place in the heart of the crusty teacher, and they spent apleasant hour with him. That night they slept in their old room atMynheer Huysman's and two days later they and Willet went on board asloop for New York, where they intended to see Governor deLancey. Before they left many more alarming reports about the Frenchand Indians had come to Albany. They had made new ravages in the northand west, and their power was spreading continually. France wasalready helping her colonists. When would England help hers?

  But Robert forgot all alarm in the pleasure of the voyage. It was agood sloop, it had a stout Dutch captain, and with a favoring windthey sped fast southward. Pride in the splendid river swelled inRobert's soul and he and Tayoga, despite the cold, sat together on thedeck, watching the lofty shores and the distant mountains.

  But Willet, anxious of mind, paced back and forth. He had seen muchat Albany that did not please him. The Indian Commissioners weredoing little to cement the alliance with the Hodenosaunee. TheMohawks, alone of the great League, were giving aid against theFrench. The others remained in their villages, keeping a strictneutrality. That was well as far as it went, but the hunter had hopedthat all the members of the Hodenosaunee would take the field for theEnglish. He believed that Father Drouillard would soon be back amongthe Onondagas, seeking to sway his converts to France, and he dreaded,too, the activity and persistency of St. Luc.

  But he kept his anxieties from Robert, knowing how eagerly the ladanticipated his arrival in New York, and not blaming him at all forit, since New York, although inferior in wealth, size and power toPhiladelphia, and in leadership to Boston, was already, in the eye ofthe prophets, because of its situation, destined to become the firstcity of America. And Willet felt his own pulses beat a little fasterat the thought of New York, a town that he knew well, and already aport famous throughout the world.

  Tayoga, although he wore his Indian dress, attracted no particularattention from Captain Van Zouten and his crew. Indians could be seendaily at Albany, and along the river, and they had been forgenerations a part of American life. Captain Van Zouten, in truth,noticed the height and fine bearing of the Onondaga, but he was aclose mouthed Dutchman, and if he felt like asking questions he putdue Dutch restraint upon himself.

  The wind held good all day long, and the sloop flew southward, leavinga long white trail in the blue water, but toward night it rose to agale, with heavy clouds that promised snow. Captain Hendrick VanZouten looked up with some anxiety at his sails, through which thewind was now whistling, and, after a consultation with his mate,decided to draw into a convenient cove and anchor for the night.

  "I'm sorry," he said to Willet, "that our voyage to New York will bedelayed, but there'll be nasty weather on the river, and I don't liketo risk the sloop in it. But I didn't promis
e you that I'd get you tothe city at any particular time."

  "We don't blame wind, weather and water upon you, Captain Van Zouten,"laughed Willet, "and although I'm no seaman if you'd have consulted meI too would have suggested shelter for the night."

  Captain Van Zouten breathed his relief.

  "If my passengers are satisfied," he said, "then so am I."

  All the sails were furled, the sloop was anchored securely in a covewhere she could not injure herself, no matter how fiercely the windmight beat, and Robert and Tayoga, wrapped in their fur cloaks, stoodon her deck, watching the advance of the fierce winter storm, andremembering those other storms they had passed through on LakeChamplain, although there was no danger of Indians here.

  It began to snow heavily, and a fierce wind whistled among themountains behind them, lashing the river also into high waves, but thesloop was a tight, strong craft, and it rocked but little in its snugcove. Despite snow, wind and darkness Robert, Tayoga and the hunterremained a long, time on deck. The Onondaga's feather headdress hadbeen replaced by a fur cap, similar to those now worn by Robert andWillet, and all three were wrapped in heavy cloaks of furs.

  Robert was still thinking of New York, a town that he knew to someextent, and yet he was traveling toward it with a feeling akin to thatwith which he had approached Quebec. It was in a way and for its timea great port, in which many languages were spoken and to which manyships came. Despite its inferiority in size it was already the chiefwindow through which the New World looked upon the Old. He expectedto see life in the seething little city at the mouth of the Hudson andhe expected also that a crisis in his fortunes would come there.

  "Dave," he said to the hunter, "have you any plans for us in NewYork?"

  "They've not taken very definite shape," replied Willet, "but you knowyou want to serve in the war, and so do I. A great expedition iscoming out from England, and in conjunction with a Colonial force itwill march against Fort Duquesne. The point to which that forceadvances is bound to be the chief scene of action."

  "And that, Dave, is where we want to go."

  "With proper commissions in the army. We must maintain our dignity andstation, Robert."

  "Of course, Dave. And you, Tayoga, are you willing to go with us?"

  "It is far from the vale of Onondaga," replied the young Indian, "butI have already made the great journey to Quebec with my comrades,Dagaeoga and the Great Bear. I am willing to see more of the world ofwhich I read in the books at Albany. If the fortunes of Dagaeoga takehim on another long circle I am ready to go with him."

  "Spoken like a warrior, Tayoga," said the hunter. "I have someinfluence, and if we join the army that is to march against FortDuquesne I'll see that you receive a place befitting your Onondagarank and your quality as a man."

  "And so that is settled," said Robert. "We three stand together nomatter what may come."

  "Stand together it is, no matter what may come," said Willet.

  "We are, perhaps, as well in one place as in another," said Tayogaphilosophically, "because wherever we may be Manitou holds us in thehollow of his hand."

  A great gust of wind came with a shriek down one of the gorges, andthe snow was whipped into their faces, blinding them for a moment.

  "It is good to be aboard a stout sloop in such a storm," said Robert,as he wiped his eyes clear. "It would be hard to live up there onthose cliffs in all this driving white winter."

  A deep rumbling sound came back from the mountains, and he felt achill that was not of the cold creep into his bones.

  "It is the wind in the deep gorges," said Tayoga, "but the windsthemselves are spirits and the mountains too are spirits. On such awild night as this they play together and the rumbling you hear istheir voices joined in laughter."

  Robert's vivid mind as usual responded at once to Tayoga's imagery,and his fancy went as far as that of the Onondaga, and perhapsfarther. He filled the air with spirits. They lined the edge of thedriving white storm. They flitted through every cleft and gorge, andabove every ridge and peak. They were on the river, and they rode uponthe waves that were pursuing one another over its surface. Then helaughed a little at himself.

  "My fancy is seeing innumerable figures for me," he said, "where myeyes really see none. No human being is likely to be abroad on theriver on such a night as this."

  "And yet my own eyes tell me that I do see a human being," saidTayoga, "one that is living and breathing, with warm blood running inhis veins."

  "A living, breathing man! where, Tayoga?"

  "Look at the sloping cliff above us, there where the trees grow closetogether. Notice the one with the boughs hanging low, and by the darktrunk you will see the figure. It is a tall man with his hat drawn lowover his eyes, and a heavy cloak wrapped closely around his body."

  "I see him now, Tayoga! What could a man want at such a place on sucha night? It must be a farmer out late, or perhaps a wandering hunter!"

  "Nay, Dagaeoga, it is not a farmer, nor yet a wandering hunter. Theshoulders are set too squarely. The figure is too upright. And evenwithout these differences we would be sure that it is not the farmer,nor yet the wandering hunter, because it is some one else whom weknow."

  "What do you mean, Tayoga?"

  "Look! Look closely, Dagaeoga!"

  "Now the wind drives aside the white veil of snow and I see himbetter. His figure is surely familiar!"

  "Aye, Dagaeoga, it is! And do you not know him?"

  "St. Luc! As sure as we live, Tayoga, it's St. Luc."

  "Yes," said the hunter, who had not spoken hitherto. "It's St. Luc,and I could reach him from here with a rifle shot."

  "But you must not! You must not fire upon him!" exclaimed Robert.

  Willet laughed.

  "I wasn't thinking of doing so," he said. "And now it's toolate. St. Luc has gone."

  The dark figure vanished from beside the trunk, and Robert saw onlythe lofty slope, and the whirling snow. He passed his hands before hiseyes.

  "Did we really see him?" he said.

  "We beheld him alive and in the flesh," replied the hunter, "deep downin His Britannic Majesty's province of New York."

  "What could have brought him here at such a time?"

  "The cause of France, no doubt. He speaks English as well as you andI, and he is probably in civilian clothing, seeking information forhis country. I know something of St. Luc. He has in him a spice of thedaring and romantic. Luck and adventure would appeal to him. Heprobably knows already what forces we have at Albany and Kingston andwhat is their state of preparation. Valuable knowledge for Quebec,too."

  "Do you think St. Luc will venture to New York?"

  "Scarce likely, lad. He can obtain about all he wishes to know withoutgoing so far south."

  "I'm glad of that, Dave. I shouldn't want him to be captured andhanged as a spy."

  "Nor I, Robert. St. Luc is the kind of man who, if he falls at all inthis war, should fall sword in hand on the battle field. He must knowthis region or he would not dare to come here, on such a terriblenight. He has probably gone now to shelter. And, since there isnothing more to be seen we might do the same."

  But Robert and Tayoga were not willing to withdraw yet. Well wrappedand warm, they found a pleasure in the fierce storm that raged amongthe mountains and over the river, and their own security on the deckof the stout sloop, fastened so safely in the little cove. Theylistened to the wind rumbling anew like thunder through the deepgorges and clefts, and they saw the snow swept in vast curtains ofwhite over the wild river.

  "I wonder what we shall find in New York, Tayoga," said Robert.

  "We shall find many people, of many kinds, Dagaeoga, but what willhappen to us there Manitou alone knows. But he has us in hiskeeping. Look how he watched over us in Quebec, and look how the swordof the Great Bear was stretched before you when your enemies plannedto slay you."

  "That's true, Tayoga. I don't look forward to New York with anyapprehension, but I do wonder what fate has prepared for us there."

>   "We must await it with calm," said Tayoga philosophically.

  The Onondaga himself was not a stranger to New York. He had gone thereonce with the chiefs of the Hodenosaunee for a grand council with theBritish and provincial authorities, and he had gone twice with Robertwhen they were schoolboys together in Albany. His enlightened mind,without losing any of its dignity and calm, took a deep interest ineverything he saw at the port, through which the tide of nationsalready flowed. He had much of the quality shown later by the fieryThayendanegea, who bore himself with the best in London and who wastheir equal in manners, though the Onondaga, while as brave and daringas the Mohawk, was gentler and more spiritual, being, in truth, whathis mind and circumstances had made him, a singular blend of red andwhite culture.

  Willet, also wrapped in a long fur cloak, came from the cabin of thesloop and looked at the two youths, each of whom had such a greatplace in his heart. Both were white with snow as they stood on thedeck, but they did not seem to notice it.

  "Come now," said the hunter with assumed brusqueness. "You needn'tstand here all night, looking at the river, the cliffs and thestorm. Off to your berths, both of you."

  "Good advice, or rather command, Dave," said Robert, "and we'll obeyit."

  Their quarters were narrow, because sloops plying on the river inthose days were not large, but the three who slept so often in theforest were not seekers after luxury. Robert undressed, crept into hisbunk, which was not over two feet wide, and slept soundly untilmorning. After midnight the violence of the storm abated. It was stillsnowing, but Captain Van Zouten unfurled his sails, made for themiddle of the river, and, when the sun came up over the eastern hills,the sloop was tearing along at a great rate for New York.

  So when Robert awoke and heard the groaning of timbers and the creakof cordage he knew at once that they were under way and he wasglad. The events of the night before passed rapidly through his mind,but they seemed vague and indistinct. At first he thought the visionof St. Luc on the cliff in the storm was but a dream, and he had tomake an effort of the will to convince himself that it wasreality. But everything came back presently, as vivid as it had beenwhen it occurred, and rising he dressed and went on deck. Tayoga andWillet were already there.

  "Sluggard," said the Onondaga. "The French warships would capture youwhile you are still in the land of dreams."

  "We'll find no French warships in the Hudson," retorted Robert, "andas for sluggards, how long have you been on deck yourself, Tayoga?"

  "Two minutes, but much may happen in two minutes. Look, Dagaeoga, wecome now into a land of plenty. See, how many smokes rise on eithershore, and the smoke is not of camps, but of houses."

  "It comes from strong Dutch farmhouses, and from English manor houses,Tayoga. They nestle in the warm shelter of the hills or at the mouthsof the creeks. Surely, the world cannot furnish a nobler scene."

  All the earth was pure white from the fallen snow, but the riveritself was a deep blue, reflected from the dazzling blue of the skyoverhead. The air, thin and cold, was exhilarating, and as the sloopfled southward a panorama, increasing continually in magnificence,unfolded before them. Other vessels appeared upon the river, andCaptain Van Zouten gave them friendly signals. Tiny villages showedand the shores were an obvious manifestation of comfort and opulence.

  "I have heard that the French, if their success continues, mean toattack Albany," said Robert, "but we must stop them there, Dave. Wecan never let them invade such a region as this."

  "They'll invade it, nevertheless," said the hunter, "unless stout armsand brave hearts stop them. We can drive both French and Indians back,if we ever unite. There lies the trouble. We must get some sort ofconcentrated action."

  "And New York is the best place to see whether it will be done ornot."

  "So it is."

  The wind remained favorable all that day, the next night there was acalm, but the following day they drew near to New York, Captain VanZouten assuring them he would make a landing before sunset.

  He was well ahead of his promise, because the sun was high in theheavens when the sloop began to pass the high, wooded hills that lieat the upper end of Manhattan Island, and they drew in to theiranchorage near the Battery. They did not see the stone governmentbuildings that had marked Quebec, nor the numerous signs of a fortresscity, but they beheld more ships and more indications of a greatindustrial life.

  "Every time I come here," said Willet, "it seems to me that the mastsincrease in number. Truly it is a good town, and an abundant lifeflows through it."

  "Where shall we stop, Dave?" asked Robert. "Do you have a tavern inmind?"

  "Not a tavern," replied the hunter. "My mind's on a private house,belonging to a friend of mine. You have not met him because he is atsea or in foreign parts most of the time. Yet we are assured of awelcome."

  An hour later they said farewell to Captain Van Zouten, carried theirown light baggage, and entered the streets of the port.