pulses in his temples throbbed fast.

"Aye, Dagaeoga," said Tayoga, who was looking at him, "it is a great day
that has come."

"I think so," said Robert, "and what pleases me most is the sight of the
big guns. Look how they come off the boats! They'll smash down that
wooden wall against which so many good men hurled themselves to death
last year. We've got a general who may not be the greatest genius in the
world, but he'll have neither a Braddock's defeat nor a Ticonderoga
disaster."

Caution, supreme caution, was evident to them all as they moved slowly
forward, with the bristling guns at the front. Robert's faith in the
cannon was supreme. He looked upon them as their protectors. They were
to be the match for Ticonderoga.

On they went, winding through the forest and valleys, but they met
nothing. The green woods were silent and deserted, though much was there
for Tayoga to read.

"Here still goes Tandakora," he said, "and his heart is as angry as
ever. He is bitter against the French, too, because he fears now that he
has taken the wrong side. He sees the power of his enemies growing and
growing, and Montcalm is not here to lead the French. I do not think
Tandakora will go into the fort with St. Luc and Bourlamaque. His place
is not inside the walls. He wants the great forest to roam in."

"In that Tandakora is right," said Willet; "he acts according to his
lights. A fortress is no place for an Indian."