expressed amazement and incredulity. Robert's quick and powerful
imagination instantly projected itself into their minds, and he saw as
they saw. To them the cry of a wolf was the cry of a real wolf, the
forest was dark, lonely and uncomfortable, but it was empty of any
foe, and the four who had come to them were merely trying to create a
sense of their own importance. They began to move restlessly, and it
required Captain Colden's whispered but sharp command to still them
again.

The cry of the wolf, used much by both the Indians and the borderers
as a signal, came now from the east, and after the lapse of a minute
it was repeated from the west. Call and answer were a relief to
Robert, whose faculties were attuned to such a high degree that any
relief to the strain, though it brought the certainty of attack, was
welcome.

"You're sure those cries were made by our enemies?" said young Colden.

"Beyond a doubt," replied Willet. "I can tell the difference between
the note and that of a genuine wolf, but then I've spent many years in
the wilderness, and I had to learn these things in order to live.
They'll send forward scouts, and they'll expect to find you and your
men around the fire, most of you asleep. When they miss you there
they'll try to locate you, and they'll soon trail us to these bushes."

Captain James Colden had his share of pride, and much faith in
himself, but he had nobility of soul, too.

"I believe you implicitly, Mr. Willet," he said. "If it had not been
for you and your friends the enemy would have been upon us when we