were silent, sharing perhaps in his emotion. The religion and beliefs of
the Indian were real and vital to them, and if Tododaho promised success
to Tayoga then the promise would be fulfilled.

"I think, Robert," said Willet, "that you'd better keep the first watch.
Wake me a little while before midnight, and I'll take the second."

"Good enough," said Robert. "I think I can hear any footfall Tandakora
may make, if he approaches."

"It is not enough to hear the footfall of the Ojibway," said Tayoga,
opening his eyes and sitting up. "To be a great sentinel and forester
worthy to be compared with the greatest, Dagaeoga must hear the whisper
of the grass as it bends under the lightest wind, he must hear the sound
made by the little leaf as it falls, he must hear the ripple in the
brook that is flowing a hundred yards from us, and he must hear the wild
flowers talking together in the night. Only then can Dagaeoga call
himself a sentinel fit to watch over two such sleeping foresters as the
Great Bear and myself."

"Close your eyes and go to sleep without fear," said Robert in the same
vein. "I shall hear Tandakora breathing if he comes within a mile of us,
at the same distance I shall hear the moccasin of De Courcelles, when it
brushes against last year's fallen leaf, and at half a mile I shall see
the look of revenge and cruelty upon the face of the Ojibway seeking for
us."

Willet laughed softly, but with evident satisfaction.

"You two boys are surely the greatest talkers I've heard for a long