upon his face the freshness of the dawn. He wondered what the day
would bring. The light that came with it would be cheerful and
uplifting, but it would disclose their covert, at least in part, and
St. Luc might lead both French and Indians in one great rush.

"Better eat a little," said Tayoga, who had returned to the center.
"Remember that we have plenty of food in our knapsacks, nor are our
canteens empty."

"I had forgotten it," said Robert, and he ate and drank sparingly. The
breeze continued to freshen, and in the east the dawn broke, gray,
turning to silver, and then to red and gold. The forest soon stood
out, an infinite tracery in the dazzling light, and then a white fleck
appeared against the wall of green.

"A flag of truce!" exclaimed Captain Colden. "What can they want to
say to us?"

"Let the bearer of the flag appear first," suggested Willet, "and then
we'll talk with 'em."

The figure of a man holding up a white handkerchief appeared and it
was St. Luc himself, as neat and irreproachable as if he were
attending a ball in the Intendant's palace at Quebec. Robert knew that
he must have been active in the battle all through the night, but he
showed no signs of it. He wore a fine close-fitting uniform of dark
blue, and the handkerchief of lace was held aloft on the point of a
small sword, the golden hilt of which glittered in the morning
sunlight. He was a strange figure in the forest, but a most gallant
one, and to Robert's eyes a chevalier without fear and without